The Jewish boy makes good in surreal land.
Don’t get me wrong, I’m 36 and worship Van Halen in the early 80s. I learned keyboards so I could play ‘Jump’ in a cover band way back when.
He WAS the greatest rock and roll front man there’s ever been.
Funny article (wish I didn’t have to provide demo information to the Washington Post site to see it, tho). Our boy Diamond Dave seems equal parts nut case and reasonably intelligent observer. Okay, the parts might not be that balanced, but you get the idea.
And, yeah, he was one of the best.
He’s appearing out here at like a suburban casino, sandwiched between somebody like Engelbert Humperdinck and Gallagher.
[sup]THE . . . HORROR![/sup]
That makes perfect sense, somehow.
I was in an elevator with Mr. Roth last summer and didn’t even recognize him.
so the obvious question is . . .
You gotta like “Roth’s tequila-Tarzan persona” if you like rock-and-roll at all. I suspect he’s quite aware of the cheezy-ness of the whole thing and just doesn’t care. I don’t think I’d be like that if I had the opportunity, but I’m not quite sure…
lissener was that directed at me? I guess my post was a little vague. I was in a Holiday Inn elevator in Nashville with a couple of friends. There was another, unremarkable looking group of men on the elevator with suitcases (everybody had suitcases. We were checking in to the hotel), and one of them was wearing a baseball cap and sunglasses. When they got off the elevator my friend turned to me and said “Oh my god! That was David Lee Roth!” I didn’t really believe him, but later that night we picked up a Nashville Scene (alternative newspaper) and sure enough Dave and Sammy Hagar were playing in Nashville that night. He totally didn’t register with me, though.
Someday I’ll tell you the story of the time I was in line at the health food store behind Issac Hayes.
We were checking into the Royal Sonesta is New Orleans years back when I recognized Robert Plant. My friend just walked right up and said “Hey, David Lee Roth, right?”
Plant was so cool… he just looked down his nose and calmly replied “I think not.”
Bwhaa!
My favorite David Lee Roth story:
During an interview, he was reminiscing about the 80s and the wild scene that was a Van Halen concert tour. He said one morning, he woke up in his hotel bed sore as he could be, and covered with scratches. He had no idea how he got that way.
He asked someone (a roadie, or one of the managers, or somebody) what happened to him the night before. The guy said “You were wasted, and you were screaming that you could fly. You were gonna prove it by jumping out of the hotel window. People were taking bets, so you jumped.” (They were on the second floor of the hotel.) “You landed in some bushes outside. You were knocked out, so we dragged you back in and put you to bed.”
Roth said, “Why the hell didn’t you stop me, man? I coulda been killed!”
The guy said, “Stop you? Hell, I had twenty bucks that said you could do it.”
I hate to admit this but I read his book “Crazy from the Heat” and it was much better than I had anticipated. His take on life is pretty unique…he’s still a awe-struck boy about all the adventures one can have.
Of course it probably helps to conjure a “permenant vacation” attitude if your family is very wealthy. I’ll never forget seeing David’s dad profiled on “The Lifestyles of the Rich and Famous” about 20 years ago. DLR was going to do alright no matter what happened during his early rock and roll years.
The dude certainly is r’n’r. I remember an interview he did about the time when he first went solo (that was a good album, BTW). I’ll paraphrase what he said:
“The reason most rock critics hate me and love Elvis Costello, is because most rock critics look like Elvis Costello and not like me.”
I can’t help but think that there is a really big truth in there.
Oh, yeah. That’s a great quote.
He must be a blast to interview. No sniping or whining, just pure surrealism and great GREAT quotes.
Just thought of another DLR story:
Van Halen was (in)famous during their heyday for the incredibly detailed contract they worked up whenever they performed live – to the point of requiring the venue hosting them to remove all the brown M&Ms from the bowl that was part of their backstage goodies. Legend had it that Van Halen postponed some gigs due to this portion of the contract not being fulfilled.
At the time, this was something of a big deal in the industry; many folks mocked Van Halen for being so full of themselves that they were making outrageous demands.
However, in an interview, Roth explained there was a method to the madness. He said their show was very technologically advanced for the 1980s – a lot of lighting preparation, pyrotechnics, heavy rigging, etc. It was a massive undertaking, and if things weren’t done properly all the way down the line it could seriously mess up the show – and in some cases, put the band in danger. Many venues would claim they could host such a show without checking the specs outlined in the contract.
So he came up with the brown M&M clause in the contract. He said it was a quick and easy way to determine if the hosting venue had read the entire contract and paid attention to the details. The band didn’t care squat one way or the other about brown M&Ms. The candies were a shorthand way of checking the accuracy of the work. Roth said if the candies were gone from the bowl, they knew the venue had read the fine print. If they weren’t gone, the show might not work in that venue, because the promoters hadn’t paid attention to the technical specs.
I thought that was brilliant.
A brilliant cover story, true or not.
Plus, outrageous rider demands like that give the band a contractual out. If the venue is being difficult they can accuse them of violating the contract by not giving them their M&M’s and threaten legal action as a bludgeon to getting what they want.
Another explaination I’ve heard for that sort of thing is that it’s kind of like starting with an outrageous price in purchase negotiations. Bands get pushed around all the time at the lower levels. Say all the band really wants is some beer and towels in the dressing room. If all you ask for are towels and beer, you get nothing. If you ask for towels, beer, hookers, and red jelly beans, you get the easy part (towels and beer), which is all you ever wanted anyway.
Dave is an interesting character. He is also a quite well trained martial artist.
Another notable Dave quote:" He who knows how will always work for he who knows why. "