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Photo by Neil Zlozower <\/p>\nPhoto by Neil Zlozower <\/p>\n
Forty years ago, just weeks after the release of Eat \u2018Em and Smile, David Lee Roth sat down with CREEM magazine for one of the most revealing interviews of his early solo career.<\/p>\n
With the Van Halen split still fresh, Roth had just assembled his powerhouse new band featuring Steve Vai, Billy Sheehan, and Gregg Bissonette, while Van Halen was riding high with Sammy Hagar and the chart-topping 5150. The rivalry between the two camps was one of rock\u2019s biggest stories, and Roth doesn\u2019t hold back.<\/p>\n
In this candid and often hilarious conversation, Diamond Dave discusses recruiting his new band, the musical direction of Eat \u2018Em and Smile, his thoughts on the \u201cVan Hagar\u201d era, the media frenzy surrounding the split, and why he believed the race with his former band was only just beginning. Packed with vintage Roth wit, swagger, and confidence, it\u2019s a fascinating time capsule from one of the most compelling chapters in Van Halen history.<\/p>\n
Enjoy the complete October 1986 interview below.<\/p>\n
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David Lee Roth\u2019s Revenge<\/p>\n
Creem, October 1986<\/p>\n
The system of law in New Guinea involves a concept loosely defined as \u201cpayback,\u201d which means if one village has wronged another, that village is duty-bound to extract revenge. Once that indiscretion has been avenged, the entire cycle starts all over, the back and forth skirmishing fueled by the fact each tribe speaks an entirely different language.<\/p>\n
As Bwana David Lee Roth explains this law of the jungle, I immediately focus on how accurately it reflects the current feud ongoing between the lead singer and his ex-mates in Van Halen. In the weeks leading up to the release of his own solo effort,\u00a0Eat \u2018Em And Smile, the media heats up with the success story of his former band, chortling over Diamond Dave\u2019s misfortunes and expressing their relief about being rid of his overbearing presence and media manipulation.<\/p>\n
If the effervescent toastmaster general of rock has been affected by the barbs, he\u2019s certainly not letting on. Preening and fluffing his hair, he greets me in the Sunset Boulevard headquarters he shares with partner\/video collaborator Pete Angelus wearing his full stage costume, including his patented, skin-tight spandex pants. His new band \u2013 lead guitarist Steve Vai, bassist Billy Sheehan and drummer Gregg Bissonette \u2013 is a full-throttle rock \u2018n\u2019 roll outfit designed to show all of Dave\u2019s Van Halen fans he doesn\u2019t intend to merely play the gigolo. In fact, when he places the needle on the LP\u2019s first track, \u2018Shyboy\u2019, a torrent of insane metallic guitar blasts announces that a new axe hero is about to be born in the highly-touted Vai, who played on the recent PiL album and starred as the devil challenging Ralph Macchio in the Walter Hill film\u00a0Crossroads.<\/p>\n
\u201cI stumbled into Steve Vai about 60 days after \u2018The Big Guitar Search\u2019 started,\u201d Roth explains of his new collaborator. \u201cI know I can work with anybody, but finding the ultimate rock band, I figured, would be a difficult task. I went after Billy Sheehan first. He\u2019s a white tiger. You don\u2019t immediately recognize what you\u2019re looking at when you see one. Same thing with his work on the record. You\u2019re not immediately aware of what you\u2019re listening to. There\u2019s a lot of action in the bass and that gives the music layers. Plug in the ole Walkman and the CD and you\u2019ll be amazed at what\u2019s going on beneath the surface. Then, I listened to records of different guitar players, and I just thought Steve had the most potential.\u201d<\/p>\n
Talking about the similarities between his new outfit and vintage Van Halen, Dave flashes some of his famed modesty. \u201cI was responsible for a great deal of Van Halen\u2019s sound,\u201d he boasts. \u201cThat kind of rock \u2018n\u2019 roll is my driving wheel. So, you\u2019ll hear elements of this record that sound like great, old Van Halen. You can hear the difference in the band since I\u2019ve been gone. Which is not to say it\u2019s any better or worse, but it is different. What people will hear in this is what sold the old Van Halen and is nowhere to be found in the new Van Halen. They\u2019ve taken their approach, God bless, but my heart was always in the same place. I\u2019ve just got my money where my yap is now.\u201d<\/p>\n
The unflappable one even insists he wasn\u2019t too surprised at the commercial success his old band experienced without him.<\/p>\n
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\u201cVan Halen\u2019s been hammering away at this for many years,\u201d he says. \u201cThe name has come to symbolize more than just a type of music. People were curious how the new band would sound, and you can\u2019t detract from Edward\u2019s guitar-playing. They accomplished what they set out to do, which was make a #1 record. It\u2019s a different kind of music, though. Perfectly acceptable, but it\u2019s not what I want to play for a living.\u201d<\/p>\n
Dave gets on a roll when he\u2019s asked about the in-concert antics of his replacement, Sammy Hagar. \u201cWhat kind of person draws a sign that says, \u2018Screw David Lee Roth\u2019 and carries it from show to show to hold up in front of the audience? Many of you have already seen that sign. It\u2019s in orange magic marker. He doesn\u2019t open up any of the other signs unless he\u2019s sure they say \u2018Screw David Lee Roth,\u2019 because I understand, earlier in the tour, he opened one up that said, \u2018Where\u2019s Dave?’\u201d<\/p>\n
Roth also noticed how in the\u00a0Rolling Stone\u00a0cover story on the band, they spent more time bad-mouthing him than they did talking about themselves.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cI guess I\u2019m still the frontman,\u201d he laughs with an infectious guffaw that sounds a little too boisterous. \u201cDavid Lee Roth: Big Enough For Two Bands, America!!\u201d<\/p>\n
Confronted with the article\u2019s implication that Van Halen\u2019s following has abandoned him, he suddenly warms to the task. \u201cI take the football approach,\u201d he smiles. \u201cWhen it seems to be getting darkest, I go, \u2018Men, we\u2019re just gonna outwork\u00a0they\u00a0ass!!\u2019 \u201c<\/p>\n
In fact, Roth insists the band split occurred mainly because he wanted to work while the rest of the group preferred staying in bed. But his competitive fires have been stoked, with a summer-long blitz, including the release of the new album and a worldwide tour commencing in August.<\/p>\n
\u201cI can understand how the Van Halens would be pissed,\u201d he admits. \u201cWhenever you have a big, ugly divorce, there\u2019s hurt feelings. On the other hand, Sammy\u2019s angry because he knows I\u2019m better than he is.\u201d<\/p>\n
Dave denies he ever woke the others up in the middle of the night to go roller-skating, but he does cop to the fact he insisted the wives be nowhere in sight when\u00a0Life\u00a0magazine showed up to do a piece on the band.<\/p>\n
\u201cI was tired of the boys fighting with their wives, not talking to the press, and then making up with their wives and refusing to come out of the bedroom for two days,\u201d he says. \u201cThey\u2019d always blame that on me because I had that romping, crazy image. Fact is, when one of the wives wanted to know why they couldn\u2019t come, they\u2019d always go, \u2018Dave won\u2019t let ya.\u2019 I was the bad guy.\u201d<\/p>\n
Is he anti-marriage?<\/p>\n
\u201cThat\u2019s a lot of bullshit coming through clenched teeth and squinted eyes,\u201d he claims. \u201cI guess I\u2019m just a case of arrested development. I skipped a groove when I was 15, and it\u2019s been repeating ever since. I may get married one day. If I fall in love, I\u2019ll be the first one to stand up and say, \u201cThis is it.\u201d But it hasn\u2019t happened yet. And now it\u2019s time for the road again \u2013 and maintaining some kind of relationship over the telephone is ridiculous. You\u2019re asking for trouble with that.\u201d<\/p>\n
Actually, the only time the effervescent Roth shows any sign of introspection is when he\u2019s asked about his own family. The flamboyant clown prince of metal refuses to show you the Dave behind the mask \u2013 what you see of the media-savvy, larger-than-life rock star is what you get.<\/p>\n
\u201cWell, there are elements you\u2019re not going to read about in the press,\u201d he agrees. \u201cWhen you put on a show, it\u2019s a big magic trick. And the audience will always scream to see the mirrors and wires. They just want to know how you did the trick. If you show \u2019em that, you\u2019re out of business. If I\u2019m guilty of any sin, it\u2019s the sin of omission. I\u2019m not lying when I tell you something; it\u2019s what I don\u2019t tell you. I mean, who wants to hear about the hard work, the slaving in the studio, and the political problems you have to go through? You can read about that in every other interview in this magazine.\u201d<\/p>\n
Dave also insists he has no problems maintaining his antic, party-hearty image, mostly because that person is really him.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt all comes right from my very own mouth and heart,\u201d he says. \u201cI\u2019m not a prisoner of any persona. I do all the talkin\u2019, and I think I express myself pretty clearly. It\u2019s not like I\u2019m trying to make you think something, although I do remember one of my uncles once telling me, \u2018Dave, the key to success is sincerity. Once you can fake that, you\u2019ve got it made!\u2019 \u201c<\/p>\n
Commenting on whether his new outfit will be a band in the Van Halen mode, or merely a backup assemblage, Roth is most adamant. \u201cI see it as a team,\u201d he says. \u201cAnd as long as I\u2019m in the backfield somewhere, I\u2019m happy\u2026as long as I get to handle the ball at least every third play. You hear these guys represented. You see them in the video quite liberally. These are constant characters. I\u2019m best when I have somebody to bounce ideas off of, somebody to argue with.\u201d<\/p>\n
Asked about comparisons with his old group, who have gotten off to a head start with a #1 album and single, Roth flashes a Cheshire grin. \u201cI\u2019m built for distance, not for speed,\u201d he laughs heartily. \u201cIf this is, in fact, a race, the outcome will be decided a year from now.\u201d For those, like me, who didn\u2019t really like Van Halen until they realized David Lee Roth was lampooning himself, the new video for \u2018Yankee Rose\u2019 is a bit of a disappointment, concentrating as it does on Dave\u2019s buns and crotch in a fairly straightforward performance clip.<\/p>\n
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\u201cYou have to show the band off to its best advantage,\u201d says Roth. \u201cBecause that\u2019s what\u2019s going on the road. We had to put \u2019em on the screen because, pretty soon, we\u2019re going to be asking people to buy tickets. So, you\u2019ve gotta see what you\u2019re gonna get, unlike another act we all know\u2026\u201d<\/p>\n
As for his narcissistic preening, Dave insists he\u2019s not pandering, though it seems pretty ironic that Roth\u2019s body parts will be paraded on MTV for every impressionable young mind with access to a television set, while poor Jello Biafra gets busted for including an H. R. Giger poster in one of his albums.<\/p>\n
\u201cI do what comes naturally to me,\u201d says Diamond Dave. \u201cAt the time, I felt real sexy. So, I throw it all around, I point it into the camera, and I make it to the chorus by the skin of my teeth. But then, just like you, when I sit back after 14 days of editing and color correcting, it looks like a 12-year-old mugging for the nation\u2019s TV sets. I guess we\u2019ll just have to write it off as \u2018charming.\u2019 People giggle and squirm when they see it. It\u2019s that kind of humor and sexiness. It all reminds you of yourself, making believe you\u2019re a rock star in front of your bedroom mirror. You see yourself reflected in my eyes every time I stick my booty in the camera. And a little bit of you goes, \u2018I\u2019d like to do that, but I shouldn\u2019t\u2026\u2019 So, you squirm, and that squirm is worth whatever it costs to turn on that TV to find it, to buy the ticket to see it live, to get the record and put it on your turntable. It\u2019s worth it to me, at least\u2026\u201d<\/p>\n
With the aborted\u00a0Crazy From The Heat\u00a0film project tied up in court after CBS Theatrical Films, the original backer, went out of business, Dave insists that forming a touring band was always on the agenda.<\/p>\n
\u201cI wanted to go on the road, that was the main thing,\u201d he says. \u201cThe movie was just icing on the cake, part of the whole program.\u201d<\/p>\n
What about those Van Halen fans who are convinced he abandoned the band to go Hollywood?<\/p>\n
\u201cI think the music may yell at them for that,\u201d he giggles. \u201cI\u2019m delirious with this record and this band. We\u2019re going for the Guinness Book of World Records with this tour. \u201997 Tons of Fun.\u2019 We\u2019re taking it all over the continental U. S., Canada, Japan, South America, Europe, Australia, Hawaii, you name it. How can you beat it? Everything\u2019s been coming up roses so far. We don\u2019t even have a real manager around here anymore\u2026haven\u2019t for about a year. So, without any real adult supervision, we\u2019re allowed the opportunity to be creative and think ahead.\u201d<\/p>\n
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Photo by Neil Zlozower<\/p>\n
If the redeeming grace of the old Van Halen was David Lee\u2019s self-mocking sense of humor, the canny veteran is more than well aware the average metal fan takes his music very seriously.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe lyrics of the new stuff are funny, but the sentiments are hard-felt,\u201d he points out. \u201cThey\u2019re very sincere and severe at the same time. It\u2019s balanced. And that\u2019s more human than anything else. I\u2019m having a blast at what I do and I think people, especially the kids, pick up on that first and foremost. There\u2019s conviction there. When I laugh, I\u2019m really laughin\u2019. I\u2019m not faking it. When I make fun of the industry or what it is I\u2019m doing, I point at myself first. Because there is a sense of humor to it. I just refuse to go too far uptown.\u201d<\/p>\n
Again, when the conversation turns towards Dave\u2019s personal life, the jocularity seems to cover up deeper feelings he refuses to confront.<\/p>\n
\u201cSomebody once asked me what religion I followed, and I told \u2019em sugar, refined sugar,\u201d he laughs. \u201cSomewhere along the way, I drove off the road and kept on going. The whole idea of that is a little ironic, a little laughable. That someone could do this and actually make a career out of it. ZZ Top does the same thing. Somebody asked Billy how he would define his music and he answered it sounded like \u2018four flat tires on a muddy road.\u2019 It\u2019s that kind of sentiment that tempers the real metal stuff.\u201d<\/p>\n
The conversation turns to the current crop of El Lay glam-rockers, like Poison, Guns \u2018N Roses and L. A. Guns, who have taken their cue from the rags-to-riches success of groups such as Van Halen and Motley Crue.<\/p>\n
\u201cWell, I feel like a shining example, Roy, but I\u2019m not sure of what,\u201d he cackles heartily. \u201cI think the key is to steal from more than one influence, though. Van Halen\u2019s computer program wasn\u2019t written by any one programmer. We lifted from a variety of places, everything from Black Sabbath to Motown, from Deep Purple to the Ohio Players, and what you get is something you don\u2019t recognize instantly. You recognize parts of it, though you\u2019re not exactly sure what you\u2019re listening to. And that\u2019s going to be a lot more intriguing for somebody than shelling out eighteen bucks for an album knowing what to expect, getting it, then simply moving on to the next record.\u201d<\/p>\n
Certainly, the\u00a0sturm und drang\u00a0of Van Halen was put into perspective by the inclusion of off-beat ditties like \u2018Big Bad Bill\u2019 (featuring the Van Halen\u2019s clarinet-playing dad), \u2018Ice Cream Man\u2019 and \u2018Could This Be Magic?\u2019 just as the thunder and lightning of\u00a0Eat \u2018Em And Smile\u00a0is relieved by the playfulness in Dave\u2019s faithful cover of the Chairman of the Board\u2019s \u2018That\u2019s Life\u2019. Don\u2019t think Roth\u2019s turning into some Catskills crooner just yet, though\u2026<\/p>\n
\u201cI have no idea what kind of music I\u2019ll be making in the future, but I know I\u2019m going to be making music,\u201d he says. \u201cI\u2019ve always been into doing \u201920\u2019s and \u201930\u2019s blues send-ups (like the jumpin\u2019, jivin\u2019 \u2018I\u2019m Easy\u2019 on the new LP). Most bands have to make the decision how to temper their albums one way or another. You can blast your way straight through, but I think the greatest bands in history always do something a little different to balance that. Rolling Stones albums, for instance, always had great rock \u2018n\u2019 roll, but there was always a bit of country, a bit of blues, something to put it into relief. So you know what it is you\u2019re looking at. You don\u2019t know how big something is until you have something little next to it to compare it to. Bands have to make a choice. Are they going to be creative or are they just going to play power ballads? Obviously, I chose the former, something with more spirit to it, something with a little bit more pizazz.\u201d<\/p>\n
Yes, VH fans, don\u2019t give up on Diamond Dave just yet. In Steve Vai and Billy Sheehan, he\u2019s got two monstrous musicians capable of achieving quite a rock \u2018n\u2019 roll din. Like the tractor pulls he now attends for entertainment, David Lee\u2019s new group can make some noise.<\/p>\n
PPayback. The still-simmering VH\/DLR feud has been going back and forth for months and now it\u2019s Safari Dave\u2019s turn to fight out of the corner. Tell the\u00a0CREEM\u00a0readers what your new band will do to those Van Halens, Dave!<\/p>\n
\u201cWe\u2019re gonna eat \u2019em and smile,\u201d he roars, his head rearing back so that his hair resembles a lion\u2019s mane. Roth\u2019s Revenge has begun.<\/p>\n
David Lee Roth \u2018The Warner Recordings 1985-1994\u2019 5CD Box Set<\/a><\/p>\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/CD59_VHND_1000_720-720x541.jpg\")
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