MR

More speculation from the recently unemployed Roth courtesy of Gary Graff via billboard.com:

"Now out of one job, on the radio, David Lee Roth is seeking gainful employment in another capacity -- as lead singer of Van Halen. Again.

"I see it absolutely as an inevitability," says Roth, who was deposed by CBS Radio in late April as one of Howard Stern's replacements. "There's contact between the two camps, and they have legitimate management; Irv Azoff is part of their loop now."

"To me, it's not rocket surgery. It's very simple to put together. And as far as hurt feelings and water under the dam, like what's-her-name says to what's-her-name at the end of the movie 'Chicago' -- 'So what? It's showbiz!' So I definitely see it happening."

Despite that claim, Roth -- who was Van Halen's singer from 1974-1985 -- acknowledges that he hasn't seen Edward Van Halen "in a couple of years." The last time Roth recorded with Van Halen was for the group's "Best Of Van Halen Volume 1" album in 1996, though there have been periodic rumors ever since.

Roth isn't sitting around while he waits for the call, however. He joins the John Jorgensen bluegrass band for two songs -- "Jump" and "Jamie's Cryin' " -- on "Strummin' With the Devil: The Southern Side of Van Halen," a bluegrass-styled tribute to Van Halen. Roth calls it "a detour" as well as "an interesting return...Before there was rock 'n' roll, there was me and a single guitar, flat pickin' Doc Watson (songs)." Roth plans to make a number of TV appearances on behalf of the album, which comes out June 6.

Roth is also planning to tour later this summer to play Van Halen hits -- "I'm so proud of that music," he says -- favorites from his solo album and covers. He says he'll leave the banjos and fiddles at home, though.

"I like to bring out the brass section now and the keyboard players and the singers and so forth," Roth explains. "It's probably a little closer to the Rolling Stones' revue than to the early three-piece power trio. But the demand is amazing; I guess I'm lucky enough to be one of those guys now who can point at the map and say 'Let's go here' -- or, rather, my favorite expression, which is 'Let's follow the sun.'""

http://www.billboard.com/bbcom/news/article_display.jsp?vnu_content_id=1002576067

Let's hope the lawyres don't screw it up like they did before. Posted this 2001 interview excerpt with EVH a few weeks ago in another thread:

Meanwhile, Eddie, and his brother Alex Van Halen (drummer), and Michael Anthony (bass player)--who make up the band Van Halen--are also seriously discussing, with David Lee Roth (the band's original singer), putting out an album of new material and doing a tour. But there's a hitch. "The last time I spoke to or saw Dave was back in September of last year," Eddie says hesitantly. "I played him a few new tunes, we bulls----ed a bit, had some laughs, and everything seemed cool. He was even kind enough to turn me on to his uncle, Jack Roth, a cancer surgeon and research specialist at--coincidentally--M.D. Anderson, in Houston, where I had been going once a week for treatment."

"Everything looked pretty positive about gettin' together," Eddie continues. "But before you know it, attorneys are involved. These cats had me so beat down and confused, it made the cancer seem like a tiny zit on my ass. Everything seemed to fall apart after these guys got involved. I mean, we used to do it on a handshake. At this point, I don't have a clue what's going on."

Never gonna happen, plain and simple. If it does; then great Dave gets an influx of cash, the pople get a "for the money only" product and all the DLR fans boyz are wetting thier pants.

Put a fork in VH they're done.

Hey, we can dream, can't we?

NealIsGod wrote:Hey, we can dream, can't we?

Yeah, perhaps I was a bit harsh. I've never liked DLR.

Squidward24 wrote:

NealIsGod wrote:Hey, we can dream, can't we?

Yeah, perhaps I was a bit harsh. I've never liked DLR.

Never? Not even in his heyday?

I prefer the Roth era, but I wish they would get back with Sammy since I don't think Roth offers much anymore.

NealIsGod wrote:

Squidward24 wrote:

NealIsGod wrote:Hey, we can dream, can't we?

Yeah, perhaps I was a bit harsh. I've never liked DLR.

Never? Not even in his heyday?

I prefer the Roth era, but I wish they would get back with Sammy since I don't think Roth offers much anymore.

I'm in a weird posistion, I discovered VH with Sammy, then went back and listend to DLR era. I respect and admire what VH did, but Dave was always a "fairy with balls and long hair" as my friends and I called him. VH was always Ed, Al and Mike to me. I listen to the DLR era albums for the music, I've tuned out DLR because IMO, he's the weakest link.

I was fortunate to see VH with Sammy on every tour, except 5150. I saw DLR 4 times: Skyscraper, A Little Ain't Enuff, Your Filthy Mouth and the Sam & Dave tour. DLR was 2-2 performance wise. VH with Sammy was 13-0 performance wise. I've seen Sammy every tour since he left VH something like 8-0 performance wise.

So as you can see I'm, well you can call me a Sammy Fan Boy, that's fine.

If DLR and VH get back together, great one last go round for the boys. End your career the way you started. I won't be going, because my memories of VH are still fresh and I don't need to relive my youth.

I grew up with DLR VH, so my perspective is different than yours. Your friends call DLR a fairy boy, and my friends see VH with Sammy as watered down (Dreams, When It's Love, etc.). I LOVE SAMMY, don't get me wrong. And I like a lot of VH with Sammy. And, as I stated, Sammy has a lot more to offer these days than Roth does, IMO. But nothing I have ever experienced can touch the glory days of VH with Roth. And they can't recapture it by bringing Roth back. It would be an interesting experiment, but that's about it.

NealIsGod wrote:And they can't recapture it by bringing Roth back. It would be an interesting experiment, but that's about it.

Exactly. You said it alot nicer then I would have.

I can see your point of view about Sammy being watered down, believe me there are time when I think, "Come on Sam."

I also think it's just DLR trying to claw his way back into the public conciousness in anyway he can. His career is nhil, his radio show was bad, now he's got a show on CB radio. He was on Howard Stern the week and mentioned that. He had a perfect job and an EMT, but blew that to go to radio.

Ahh hell, if they get together for on final tour, great. Enjoy the nostalgia.

Yeah, we may have different experiences with VH, but I think we are on the same page.

I'm glad we can come to an agreement, peacefully. I just read some of that stuff in the Journey board..WHOA!!

Hehe, Schon and Hammer just came on the iPod.

Squidward24 wrote:I'm glad we can come to an agreement, peacefully. I just read some of that stuff in the Journey board..WHOA!!

Hehe, Schon and Hammer just came on the iPod.

Let me guess... No More Lies?

Nope, Self Defense.

Squidward24 wrote:Nope, Self Defense.

Ah, the second best Schon/Hammer tune, IMO. Have you heard the Journey version yet? It's on their newest.

NealIsGod wrote:

Squidward24 wrote:Nope, Self Defense.

Ah, the second best Schon/Hammer tune, IMO. Have you heard the Journey version yet? It's on their newest.

Yes I have.

I'd like to see Eddie & Dave onstage one more time as an old VH fan but I don't think it's going to happen anytime soon.

I really dont think that many fans of dlr era VH really care about the longevity of the band, or care much about the quality of the music. I like the old VH swagger that Dave brought. The music was raw and the showmanship was fun. No deep lyric inspection, just fun!
Sammy brought some real legitimacy to the music. Musically they were better, but (IMO) that didnt make the songs much better. Much of what appeared on VH/DLR era records was written in 77-79. They only to had to really concentrate on a few songs each year for the new records. Whatever the lineup, it is pretty clear that the music is not the main focus. The 3 new songs with Sammy were filler IMO and could have been better if they focused more. I doubt that any stuff they do with Dave in the future will be groundbreaking, or a hit!

The tour with Dave will likely mean the end, unless Dave and Ed can find a way to co-exist. All this is highly unlikely. You can never really go back, no matter how much you want to. Then again, the shows with Dave will make for awesome tailgate parties around the country. I will be there fo sho!

"How much you wanna bet I can throw a football over those mountains" - Uncle Rico