Tuesday night, at the Van Halen show at MSG in NY, prior to the band taking the stage, 3121 was played over the PA in the usual pre-show mix. And during the concert, David Lee Roth was doing some vocal riffing & uttered "You sexy motherfucker...."

both were in their hey day around the same time so it wouldn't be a surprise to think they know his music or maybe even like it...

very cool.

Eddie=guitar master

Prince=guitar master

I'm sure they're interested in one another. I'd like to hear what Prince thinks of Van Halen.....

roodboi said:

I'm sure Dave is familiar with and respects Prince's music. Eddie, on the other hand, not so much (as a hopeless recluse, Eddie tends to close himself off from the rest of the world and has never seemed to be too interested in any type of soul-related music). I'd even go so far as to bet that Ed probably felt a little threatened by Prince's guitar playing and "musical genius." In the late 70s and early 80s Eddie was predicted to be the premiere genius of the decade, carrying on the legacy left by Hendrix....but Prince is the artist who ultimately won that particular distinction.

I had a bootleg from the 5150 tour (1986) and between songs Sammy Hagar says something like "the next thing you know these guys will be playing for Prince." I always thought it was a compliment to the musicianship of the Van Halen trio as well as a jokingly smart-ass remark.

The only comment I've heard from Eddie was I think around the time of the Gary Cherone debacle (1998) where Ed was doing an interview and both he and the interviewer slammed the ego and eccentricities of Prince in an effort to show how much of a "normal, down-to-earth type of guy" Eddie really is....which IMHO is total bullshit.

---

as a matter of fact, david lee roth and prince have some interesting similarities and connections

Snap said:

Like what? They're not both sons of Jewish doctors...

Well come on Prince made a song about it, but he sure didn't invent the Phrase.

wlcm2thdwn said:

I should have mentioned the way Roth said it...it was drawn out a bit like Prince delivers. And yeah, Prince didn't invent the phrase, but hearing that along with 3121 playing before the show makes one wonder.

I saw van halen when I was in high school, with david, I remember the song Pictures on the silver screen and thought how cool this is. I saw this way before my first Prince show. I didnt c prince till 88. It was never the same without david for some reason I didnt like sammy very much. Very Interesting tho, thanks for the info.

David Lee Roth is a fan of Apollonia6.

Xodus said:

I saw VH on the 5150 tour in SF and at one point during the show Sammy was "taking requests" and mentioned something about Prince and then Eddie started playing the first few cords of "Let's go crazy".....

Sowhat said:

I would have DIED to see that!!!

David Lee is a big time soul/funk/r&b fan and has a musical vocabulary up there with the best.

His short lived excellent radio show on KRock NY after Howard left was brilliant. His longtime guitarist Brian Young, also is super talented and would play over old 70's jams in and out of breaks.

Just fantastic. He would dissect old 70's albums compared to newer sh*T acts and show where the true talent was. He was a big fan of Pointer sisters and Mother's Finest.

So yes DLR played it on purpose as well as picking a Marley as opening act for their tour.

aalloca said:

On Dave's old radio show, he really gushed over 3121 and reviewed it on his show. Even had someone on to break down the album track by track.


Later
[Edited 11/16/07 10:02am]

liltalkm said:

Here's the thing about DLR. He may not be the best singer. But he is endlessly creative. He's eccentric as hell and hi-energy, but out of a 1000 ideas, he sometimes hits things right on the head.

Didn't he name the band "Van Halen"?

WillyWonka said:

He and Apollonia dated back in the day, he could of married her if Prince had'nt stole her for Purple Rain.

His book 'Crazy from the heat'is an exellent read.

DLR for me, is pure entertainment. He has the best on the spot quotes and retorts of any entertainer I have ever heard.

He has great ideas about a lot of things, not just music.

I really hope that after the tour and VH thing dies down he comes over to Sirius and has a show at least once a week.

I love Howard, but I think I was one of the rare few who felt Dave's show was perfect. Nothing like Howard but just as brilliant and cutting edge.

The fact that he reviewed 3121 as fantastic though.....knocks him down a few notches..... LOL.

Alasseon are you familiar with Brian Young from the atomic punks and Dave's guitarist when VH is not touring? Talk about some tasty licks. Some of those old radio shows have to be avail online, I was blown away daily with how good he is at just picking a key and going to town.

One more thing of all the Prince gems to play to a VH show, which by the way I was at last week, and let me tell you most of the audience were so sh&tfaced they would have told you Mike Anthony was there, why would he play 3121?? He used to play Sexy Dancer all the time in NY Radio...12 inch version.

aalloca said:

Brian Young? No, and I'm ashamed to admit, I live in NYC and don't get out enough to listen to anyone any more.

My opinion of DLR keeps going up. When you see him in his prime, he brought an energy to VH that not even guys with better voices did. The fact he even knows Prince's name is a testament to his musical taste.

And wasn't DLR the guy who hired Steve Vai AND Billy Sheehan to be in the same band? The man knows talent... LOL.

Sowhat said:

Yep, I'm hip to that. They were both signed to WB and both of their albums were released in 78. There is no way on earth that VH weren't hip to P. Especially during P's global takeover in 84. But I've heard for years that Eddie was a fan of P's. Not only as a guitarist but just digging P as a whole.

blackguitaristz said:

Eddie actually laid down his guitar to focus more on synths during the recording sessions for 1984, Van Halen's most synth-heavy album, possibly inspired by Prince's 1999 album, not to mention the titles of both records.

How strange this topic comes up now- I was messing around the piano the other day and started playing the chords/synth line of Dirty Mind, then ws suddenly reminded of the famous synth riff from Jump! Not that I think there's any real connection between the two songs, just thought it a funny coincidence for that to have happened and then to stumble upon this topic in a forum...

David Lee Roth is back as the singer for Van Halen???



i gotta get out more...


Prost!

CJanssen said:

Prince will sue you for that

Didn't Prince say that Chaos & Disorder was recorded in one week because he heard the first Van Halen album was. It was a challenge he tried to rise to.

NDRU said:

Really???

Well he failed miserably didn't he because the first Van Halen album is still fucking awesome and C & D is contract filler throwaway

mynameisnotsusan said:

hey all he mentioned was recording it in a week. He didn't say anything about making it good!

Some of Prince's guitar work in live versions of both Guitar and Shhh are very Van Halenesque! SOunds kinda like he is riffing on Eruption.