Alex Van Halen 1st Interview Since Ed’s Death

[jabps]

Here are their record sales:

https://bestsellingalbums.org/artist/13895

The first four: VH, VHII, Women & Children First and Fair Warning would have occurred on their initial record deal, where most of the proceeds went back to the record company. They are 22m of total sales, with the last having been their weakest to date, thereby reducing their bargaining position at renewal.

The other DLR records are 1984 (11m) and Diver Down (4.1m).

Total DLR sales, not counting compilation rereleases, about 35m, of 75m. Less than half.

Mix in rock star lifestyle's, divorces and addictions, and it’s not hard to imagine them not having a lot of money before Sammy arrived.

Micheal Jackson died with $500,000,000 of debt, he was far more popular, sold more records, and didn’t have three band mates to split the proceeds with.

Did they have a few million before Sammy, probably, did they have $20m each? I highly doubt it.

You are forgetting one thing, what was the deal with the label? What was the deal with their manager? Those are the two things that generally handicap artists financially. Just because one artist was in debt doesn't necessarily mean it's that way for all though. Frankly I don't think Jackson is a good comparison for anyone considering his lifestyle which was far beyond anything any regular rock star would experience.

The original album deal was a based on two years at a time. It was a piss poor deal, .70 per record sold, after the first tour they were in debt. Noel Monk whom was their road manager on the first tour, was hired to take over management from their first manager they fired. Monk then renegotiated by flooding the label with accounting and paperwork requests, the label missed the two year option, Van Halen was now a free agent. The new renegotiated deal as he said "it made them instant millionaires". Then you tack on merchandising, like Journey it was all brought in house as opposed to outsourcing which made them even more money. After the second album, money wasn't an issue for the band. Noel Monk was alot like Herbie Herbert for Journey, these are guys that weren't your typical managers - their jobs were to make their artists successful and rich as opposed to strictly lining their pockets. In fact Monk left when the brothers and Roth cut Mike out of his share.

I'd say by the time Sammy joined they were way past being multi-millionaires. As I said before, nobody profited more off Van Halen than Sammy Hagar. He was a mid level concert act, a mid level artist that stepped into the worlds biggest band. In fairness to him, he kept the machine rolling. Which allowed him to start Cabo Wabo and eventually the tequila company that was sold for hundreds of millions. All because of Van Halen. Which frankly, I think that stuck in Alex and Ed's craw. And he continues to act like a mouthpiece for the band today when it's clear Alex nor Ed wanted anything to do with him. The bad blood has to be bad because they went back to Roth. That right there says alot.

Also here is a screen shot from Billboard on total album sales as of a few years ago. I'll stick with Billboards numbers...

 

[marvcus]

Was honored to be a 'seat filler' playing with Roth and Alex was pretty awesome! Thought we sounded pretty good, we were set to do NYE gigs in Vegas the end of that year, who knows what could have happenned, At the time Alex was pretty happy with my playing I thought we grooved pretty well together!

Al, what was your jamming rig? SL68 and a single hum superstrat w/ a Floyd?

 

[VH1R2]

Van Halen 1 and 1984 have sold over 10 million units each. Ed also made zillions from his gear innovations

Nonsense. VH propped up Hagar a bazillion times more than Hagar helped VH. VH was already huge and could have gotten lots and lots of singers and kept on keeping on. Hagar just happened to be the lucky guy.

At the time, I liked the Hagar stuff but over the years the only stuff that sticks with me is the DLR era material. And that was just timing, not Hagar vs Dave. The best stuff was the early stuff…for me.

Yep, Hagar prior to joining VH never had a platinum record, VH had six multiplatinum albums.

1984 was VH's peak, every album after that sold less.

Two Classic Van Halen albums have outsold the entire Van Hagar catalog.

My source on sales is RIAA, after joining VH Montrose first record finally went platinum, Hagar also had a couple solo albums go platinum during his time in VH.

5150 went #1 vs 1984 that went #2 with VH only billboard #1 Jump.

In one year from release 1984 sold over 5 million albums over ten million total.

5150 sold 3 million one year from release, 6 million total.

Thriller was in VHs way to #1

I get so sick of the Hagar saved VH bullshit, it's horseshit.

 

[PurityS.L.G]

Also here is a screen shot from Billboard on total album sales as of a few years ago. I'll stick with Billboards numbers...

Wow, I can't believe OU812 outsold F.U.C.K. I would've figured the song 'Right Now' alone would've have been responsible for 10+ million copies. That song was everywhere (commercials, sporting events, etc.). I hated that song! LOL

 

[jabps]

Yep, Hagar prior to joining VH never had a platinum record, VH had six multiplatinum albums.

1984 was VH's peak, every album after that sold less.

Two Classic Van Halen albums have outsold the entire Van Hagar catalog.

My source on sales is RIAA, after joining VH Montrose first record finally went platinum, Hagar also had a couple solo albums go platinum during his time in VH.

5150 went #1 vs 1984 that went #2 with VH only billboard #1 Jump.

In one year from release 1984 sold over 5 million albums over ten million total.

5150 sold 3 million one year from release, 6 million total.

Thriller was in VHs way to #1

I get so sick of the Hagar saved VH bullshit, it's horseshit.

The number one albums with Hagar is a misnomer in many ways. Yes, great it went to number one but that doesn't mean it translated into gargantuan sales. Now, no doubt those albums sold big but that is where Hagar gets sidetracked - he assumes since they went number one, the band was bigger with him, not true. As you said, as I have shown, Roth era outsold Hagar era over two to one. And most of that in real time as it happened.

Here's an example of how charts can be taken out of context - Revenge by Kiss was their highest charting album since 1979, topping out at #6. And yet the album only went Gold. Whereas most of their 80's albums charted lower but are platinum and some cases multi-platinum.

 

[jabps]

Wow, I can't believe OU812 outsold F.U.C.K. I would've figured the song 'Right Now' alone would've have been responsible for 10+ million copies. That song was everywhere (commercials, sporting events, etc.). I hated that song! LOL

I know, weird right. That album seemed massive at the time, tons of radio play.

Of all the Van Hagar albums I can really on listen to that one and and a few tunes off 5150. The rest I just never got into except a few tunes here or there.

 

[crwnedblasphemy]

If Dave's solo career is any indication, VH could've faded had they stuck with that lineup. On the one hand I wish we got more material in general, on the other, how dry was the well? I try not to dwell on what never happened. There is enough action in real life that I don't need to live in fantasy land.

I agree. Hindsight here, but Alex should have some. The F.U.C.K. album especially they were in the grunge era, they dressed like Soundgarden themselves. Dave was still in spandex and washed out FL blonde hair. Wouldn't have worked.

 

[SpiderWars]

Suggesting Sammy saved VH is laughably ridiculous.

Totally agree. Maybe my post was unclear.

 

[crwnedblasphemy]

I dig 5150/OU812 a lot. I was late to those parties though...but now I do. I hate "Right Now" as well. Always have. It was on pepsi commercials all the time. Was annoying. That said there are Dave era albums that do nothing for me....Diver Down and Women and Children First I rarely ever listen to and do not own. I own the rest. Of the Sammy Era, I do not own Balance or F.U.C.K. albums.

 

[VH1R2]

I dig 5150/OU812 a lot. I was late to those parties though...but now I do. I hate "Right Now" as well. Always have. It was on pepsi commercials all the time. Was annoying. That said there are Dave era albums that do nothing for me....Diver Down and Women and Children First I rarely ever listen to and do not own. I own the rest. Of the Sammy Era, I do not own Balance or F.U.C.K. albalbumsi do like Eds

I do like Ed's playing on 5150 a lot. I like all of the original albums, I loved VH2 as a kid, I liked it more than VH1, I got a lot shit for that.

The weakest of the Roth era is DD, but in hindsight I do listen to it sometimes it's got some solid tracks.

WACF I love that record, my first concert @14 How could I not dig it.

EVH for me, his tone and playing are a pure joy to hear.

Just enjoy this no singer to F anything up.

 

[SQUAREHEAD]

I guess I’m the exception to most others here. Often the case

OU812 is my favorite Hagar era VH album, as far as the ‘songs’… but NOT the recording, which is obviously very disappointing.

I just wish OU812 was recorded as well as ‘For Unlawful Carnal Knowledge’ or even ‘Balance’ was. Sonically, those are huge sounding.

 

[VH1R2]

I guess I’m the exception to most others.

OU812 is my favorite Hagar VH album, as far as the ‘songs’… but NOT the recording, which is very disappointing.

I just wish OU812 was recorded as well as ‘For Unlawful Carnal Knowledge’ or even ‘Balance’ was. Sonically, those are huge sounding.

OU812 wasn't that the record that ruined VH and Don Landee's relationship, I thought the drums/bass in the mix was missing lol.

 

[311splawndude]

Very good article. Glad to see Alex finally 'speak' if you will and also get some things off his chest. I couldn't help but copy paste some of the highlights here. Maybe for posterity. Maybe for those who don't click on links. Maybe for those that feel tl;dr

The whole ChatGPT thing at the end has me scratching my head a bit



From the Rolling Stone interview:

He (Alex) was awash in what he calls “oceanic grief,” an onslaught of suffering so profound it left him with a diagnosis of post-traumatic stress disorder. “I shut down,” he says. “I was yelling and screaming. I was beside myself.”

Alex’s spine finally gave way when he went to a shooting range with some friends in 2022. “The rifle kicked me on my ass,” Alex says, “and broke my back, instantly. And then I spent a year on the floor. Just staring at the ceiling. We became best friends.” As an addict in recovery, he forewent opiates, so the agony was boundless. He’s still in pain right now. “Pain is good for you,” he says.

Alex Van Halen is, indeed, pretty philosophical for, well, the drummer in Van Halen, who used to bang a flaming gong with a flaming mallet onstage, who once registered 4.5 on a bar’s breathalyzer machine. (“4.0 was ‘dead,’” he notes. “

He immersed himself in Buddhism and other spiritual modalities early on, but also started drinking “from the moment I woke up to the moment I went to sleep.” He had his first drink at age six. His father gave it to him.

“There is a part of me that’s common sense,” Alex says. “If this is going to fuck me up, why would I do that?… Common sense was not Ed’s strong point.”

Alex says, “was I said, ‘Dave, at some point, we have to have a very overt — not a bowing — but an acknowledgment of Ed in the gig. If you look at how Queen does it, they show old footage.’ And the moment I said we gotta acknowledge Ed, Dave fuckin’ popped a fuse.… The vitriol that came out was unbelievable.” As Alex tells it, Roth simply refused to pay tribute to his brother, found the very idea offensive, for reasons he can’t comprehend. Alex was … displeased. “I’m from the street,” he says. “‘You talk to me like that, motherfucker, I’m gonna beat your fucking brains out. You got it?’

“To have all that talent was probably the biggest curse he ever carried. The fact was that Ed was an incredible player, but in the end he paid for it with his health, paid for it with his life.” When people told Eddie he was the greatest guitar player alive, at least part of him believed it. “You ate it up,” Alex writes in his book, “and then you were overwhelmed with the burden of it.” A toxic mixture of (justified) near-arrogance, self-doubt, and self-loathing — a sense he was unworthy of his own genius — left Eddie with paralyzing anxiety about his playing.

There’s tons of unreleased music in the Van Halen vaults, but very few finished songs, and even fewer with vocals. “They’re all little pieces,” he says. “A bunch of licks don’t make a song.” That said, there is a group of songs that Alex would like to find a way to release, though he warns it could take years. He’s reached out to OpenAI, the company behind ChatGPT, about the possibility of analyzing “the patterns of how Edward would have played something” so that they could help generate new guitar solos. And he has a singer in mind for this material. “Ideally, it’d be Robert Plant,”

 

[311splawndude]

I guess I’m the exception to most others.

OU812 is my favorite Hagar VH album, as far as the ‘songs’… but NOT the recording, which is very disappointing.

I just wish OU812 was recorded as well as ‘For Unlawful Carnal Knowledge’ or even ‘Balance’ was. Sonically, those are huge sounding.

Agreed in that I thought some of the songs were good - just not the best recordings/mixing/production. AFU-Naturally Wired and Finish What You Started are favs for example.

Also, I think OU812 sold more than F.U.C.K. probably because it was coming off the heals of 5150 and then people were let down by OU812 so not as many sales of F.U.C.K.

 

[SpiderWars]

Way before Sammy, Ed had really embraced the tapping part of his playing. Listen to VH1 and notice how little tapping there is. That’s the Ed I really love, some tapping but mostly just ‘regular’ playing. By the time Ed went full-tap-mode I already was at the “I like the earlier stuff better” point. Then they released Jump and I damn near checked out, but Girl Gone Bad and others kept me in.

 

[SQUAREHEAD]

Agreed in that I thought some of the songs were good - just not the best recordings/mixing/production. AFU-Naturally Wired and Finish What You Started are favs for example.

Also, I think OU812 sold more than F.U.C.K. probably because it was coming off the heals of 5150 and then people were let down by OU812 so not as many sales of F.U.C.K.

Agreed, 311!

AFU, Black & Blue, Source of Infection, Finish What you Started, Cabo and Sucker in a 3 Piece are all great songs, (in my opinion).
When it’s Love, probably not so popular here on R/T, is a beautifully written song.

But, with very little Bass and Drums, sonically, the tracks have no punch…

 

[VH1R2]

Way before Sammy, Ed had really embraced the tapping part of his playing. Listen to VH1 and notice how little tapping there is. That’s the Ed I really love, some tapping but mostly just ‘regular’ playing. By the time Ed went full-tap-mode I already was at the “I like the earlier stuff better” point. Then they released Jump and I damn near checked out, but Girl Gone Bad and others kept me in.

Terry Gilgore said that about Ed, he said he liked his playing more without all the tapping.

Girl Gone Bad and House of Pain are killer.

I disliked Jump at first, I love 1984 as an album.

5150 the guitar work on that is really good, he had written a lot of that album with Roth.
I like how Ed stole Paul Gilberts drill trick on F.U.C.K !

I've lost two brothers in the past 4 years, I hope Alex can find peace and live out his life without the pain of loss, it sucks for sure.
I'm glad he is telling his story.

 

[jabps]

5150 the guitar work on that is really good, he had written a lot of that album with Roth.

That's why I disagree with a few on here who think the Roth fronted VH wouldn't have fared well as time went on. The music was always mostly Ed, lyrics were Dave. In fact it wouldn't surprise me if "some" of Summer Nights lyrics were Dave's.

One thing is for sure the difference in Hagar and Roths lyrics are night and day. Roth at that time was the master of lyric innuendo. Further Roth's attire changed with the times as well. From leather to spandex like the rest of the rock world at that time, he certainly would not have been oblivious to the trends.

Now one thing Hagar did allow Ed to do is evolve deeper into commercial corporate style rock. You would have had Dreams, Summer Nights with Roth but more of the cheesy stuff like When It's Love, no. Just no way they would have gone in that direction with Roth.

 

[VH1R2]

That's why I disagree with a few on here who think the Roth fronted VH wouldn't have fared well as time went on. The music was always mostly Ed, lyrics were Dave. In fact it wouldn't surprise me if "some" of Summer Nights lyrics were Dave's.

One thing is for sure the difference in Hagar and Roths lyrics are night and day. Roth at that time was the master of lyric innuendo. Further Roth's attire changed with the times as well. From leather to spandex like the rest of the rock world at that time, he certainly would not have been oblivious to the trends.

Now one thing Hagar did allow Ed to do is evolve deeper into commercial corporate style rock. You would have had Dreams, Summer Nights with Roth but more of the cheesy stuff like When It's Love, no. Just no way they would have gone in that direction with Roth.

My new best friend jabps, spot on Jabps

 

[Stradazone]

Al, what was your jamming rig? SL68 and a single hum superstrat w/ a Floyd?

Yes SL68, Charvel guitars..btw my guitar coming out of the Suhr IR load box was the only thing in Alex's in-ear monitor, at the first rehearsal he pulled out his ears and said 'it sounds just like the record!'