After Van Halen’s 1984 tour, the band broke up. I saw Sammy Hagar and Eddie Van Halen perform together at Farm Aid. They did a Led Zeppelin song and a some from Sammy and some from Van Halen. I didn’t know it then but the new Van Halen was just around the bend.
David Lee Roth assembled some key musicians for his band and soon we were enjoying Eat ‘Em And Smile. Listening to the opening bars of this album makes me smile. This is another one of those time capsule albums that I listened to frequently back in The Roach Days but then it got shelved. It wasn’t until just about a year ago that I finally upgraded it to Compact Disc.
The great thing about these Time Capsule musical experiences is that the memories and emotions that the music draws out of my brain are clean and not polluted with associations outside the original scope. If I had been playing Eat ‘Em And Smile every month since 1986, the waters would be muddier. As it is, if I close my eyes while listening to Shy Boy, I’m standing in the living room of The Roach Motel right in front of my bass amp and speaker cabinet. I can almost visualize every detail and even tap into the feeling of being there in that space and time.
I took Lynette to see David Lee Roth when he came to town on tour. The show was amazing. Diamond Dave knows how it’s done. Somebody threw a banner onstage that said “Van Who?” Dave held it up and that photo made it into the paper. Lynette and I were right there. You might recall the post where Lisa and I went to see Van Halen. I mentioned how things are a little different when you are out with a pretty girl. It was true here at David Lee Roth too. Lynette was so beautiful that people just got out of our way as we were on the floor and we went right up to the stage. Normally, I used the Twist & Turn technique to get up to the front of the crowd at concerts. I haven’t been to one like that for years but I imagine that liability issues have eliminated the open floor area at concerts. Back in the day, there was always a crowd down in front on the floor. It would routinely undulate in waves of pushing forward and pushing back. I found that if I turned toward the stage during the push toward the stage, I would get pushed forward. Then, when the push back occured, I’d turn 90 degrees and the scrum would slip by me while I stayed in about the same spot. Turning to face the stage for the push forward and repeat. I’d eventually get dumped right at the front. There would always be some guy up front that would turn at yell at the pushing crowd to stop the pushing. It was just the nature of the beast.
I would see Van Halen on their 5150 tour and I still maintain that David Lee Roth’s show was much more entertaining. David did his solo stuff and a lot of Van Halen stuff. It is a lot easier for David’s band to sound like Van Halen that it was for Sammy Hagar to sing old Van Halen stuff. David’s show seemed bigger and more energetic. It could have been or maybe it was just that I was there with Lynette and that always seemed to make things a little more.
Yankee Rose
Shy Boy
I’m Easy
Ladies’ Nite In Buffalo
Goin’ Crazy
Tobacco Road
Bump And Grind
That’s Life