DLR is the one who had the vision for VH to become a band with cross-over appeal because of his cultural awareness, style, wider music palette & knowing the value of mass entertainment.
People forget that back then the Pasadena demographic & its surrounding areas was primarily white/Caucasian with many schools still segregated,
with non-white kids being bused into the non-segregated schools. The white (male) kids listened mostly to bands like Black Sabbath, Zep, Cream, The Who, etc. which the pre-VH played during the backyard parties, battle of the bands, park venues. It was DLR who got the pre-VH band doing top 40/glam rock covers, being astute & observant to know the VH brothers had the chops to do so.
DLR was also the one who got EVH to move around instead of standing still in one spot. It took DLR years to get EVH to do that, as well as change the VH brothers clothing style from t-shirts & jeans.