DLR – LA Times Interview

JANUARY 27, 2012  – From the LA Times:

When David Lee Roth talks, it’s ‘A Different Kind of Truth’

The Van Halen frontman discusses the band’s new tour, new album (his first with the group in 28 years), Eddie Van Halen and almost everything else.

by Geoff Boucher, Los Angeles Times

It’s an old joke, but when David Lee Roth delivers the punch line it sounds more like a mission statement: “How many lead singers does it take to put in a lightbulb? One. You hold the bulb and wait for the world to revolve around you.”

Missing from the joke is how the singer is left standing there in the dark waiting for his proper wattage.

On Feb. 7, Interscope Records will release “A Different Kind of Truth” and, as the world turns, it will represent the first Van Halen studio album featuring Roth as lead singer since “1984? — which was released 28 years ago this month, right before Ronald Reagan announced plans to run for a second term.

Time flies — or does it drag? Earlier this month, on a crisp, sunny morning in Pasadena, Roth, now 57, welcomed a visitor to his 20-room, Italianate mansion to talk about Van Halen past, present and future.

Roth actually rejoined the band “five summers and a million years ago” for the 2007-08 reunion tour, but it’s taken this long for the still-volatile collective to finish an album that satisfies all of their agendas. The amazing thing is that they finished at all; like the Beach Boys, Eagles, Red Hot Chili Peppers, Guns N’ Roses and Fleetwood Mac, Van Halen is part of the Southern California history of world-class soap operas disguised as platinum-selling bands.

Van Halen’s brawny brand of music has sold more than 80 million albums, but offstage the group has been a fragile alliance that has fallen apart again and again because of creative clashes, drug torpor, grudges and, more recently, health issues.

“We accused each other of betrayal and thievery and lies and treachery,” said the upbeat and chatty Roth. “And it was all true. We were all guilty. Dig up the past, and it’s going to get all over everybody. And, man, do we have a past…”

The history traces back to 1972, when the Van Halen brothers, guitarist Eddie and drummer Alex — a pair of classically trained teen musicians born in the Netherlands but raised in Pasadena — auditioned singers for a planned band. Roth didn’t make much of an impression at his tryout, but the brothers wanted to use his sound system and letting him in the band was better than renting the gear.

Fame and fortune would follow, but again and again it was the brothers Van Halen deciding who should hold the microphone. They could do that because of the stature of Eddie Van Halen, who is revered by rock fans as a sort of mad-genius guitar god, the heir of Jimi Hendrix. He might also be viewed as the Elizabeth Taylor of rock considering the way he divorces lead singers, including Sammy Hagar — and, if so, Roth is forever his Richard Burton. Roth, meanwhile, passed time touring with an Eddie Van Halen soundalike and at one point did a double bill with his rival Hagar to pique attention.

The reunited frenemies are a source of fascination, and fans are eager to see them share a spotlight when the reconstituted band (with Eddie’s son, 20-year-old Wolfgang Van Halen, who replaced longtime member Michael Anthony on bass) starts a 46-date arena tour in Louisville, Ky., on Feb. 18. The music industry, meanwhile, is watching the whole enterprise and wondering if the wheels will fly off; more than squabbles, the worry is also about the state of Eddie Van Halen, a rehab veteran who has also lost a third of his tongue to cancer and undergone hip replacement. There were postponed shows on the last tour (2007-08), which were explained only by vague promoter statements about medical procedures.

“He’s doing really well,” Roth said. “He’s lucid, he’s sober, he’s playing. You know, I don’t know if Ed has ever feltgood. There’s a thin line between rage and great work. He really never enjoyed his fame or success, and that might be part of what compels him.”

(All Van Halen family members, through their representatives, declined to be interviewed for this story.) Despite all the squealing guitar thunder, Eddie Van Halen seems like a man surrounded by his own silence.

A holistic talker

Roth, meanwhile, hides behind the sound of his own voice; the man never stops talking, but most of it is a jibber-jabber jive, a Cartoon Network version of classic-rock kung fu and spitball metaphysics.

In a relentless two-hour synaptic strobe display, Roth cited the deep meanings he sees in Motown, matzo, state fairs, Roy Lichtenstein, Airedale terriers, reggaeton, Neil Young, clambakes, Brazilian jiu jitsu, Plato, Johnny Mercer and the unchanging nature of the sea anemone.

The most consistent message amid the barrage was the magical legacy of Van Halen and the urgent need to live up to it with the new album and tour.

“Are there second chances? I don’t know, Mr. Faulkner, I’m tending to agree with you: No. We’ve managed to stretch our adolescence like a Chiclet to the moon and maintained the respectful dignities along the way that got us on that turnpike up in the first place. We love what we do for a living. Even in our wildest, most beer-soaked days we never missed rehearsal.”

In their youth, Roth and the Van Halens were clearly bonded by their love of hard rock, but Roth says they were also connected by the “immigrant energy” of their families, who were “desperate people seeking desperate fortune — with a smile.”

Roth was born in Bloomington, Ind., as the son, grandson and nephew of Jewish doctors, but the north-star figure in his youth turned out to be Manny Roth, the uncle who owned the Café Wha? in New York.

It’s one of the more illustrious dives in Greenwich Village — Bob Dylan played there, so did the Velvet Underground and Lenny Bruce — and despite the peeling paint and low ceilings it was a palace of possibility for young Roth. “I was 7 years old when I decided very specifically what I was going to be, and it was there in that room,” he said.

On Jan. 5, Roth was back in the club; the “secret show” by Van Halen was meant to stir press, rock radio and fan interest, and it did all of the above. The New York Times covered it enthusiastically, with Jon Pareles writing that Van Halen is “still one of the most limber bands in hard rock, with a higher center of gravity than most.” Even better, there was old Manny Roth, now 92, beaming at his nephew from the audience.

During the show the band played a vamping, boogie-propelled song called “She’s the Woman” that will be on the new album. The song has considerable history; a version of it was on the demo record (produced by Gene Simmons of KISS) that landed Van Halen a deal with Warner Bros. in the 1970s.

Throughout the album, the band has gone back and excavated pieces of unrecorded songs, lyrics from old notebooks and half-pursued concepts to build the 13-track collection.

“It’s material that Eddie and I generated, literally, in 1975, 1976 and 1977,” Roth said. “Usually fellas in our weight division will kind of gamely — or ironically, wink, wink — try to hail back to it [but] keep a safe, mature distance from it.”

Instead, Roth said, he and the band have tried to do a sort of collaboration with their past. They can’t be the same people — too much has changed — but Roth said there’s interesting experimentation in the era-spanning synthesis of self.

The process started with Eddie Van Halen and producer John Shanks (Bon Jovi, Keith Urban) sifting through archival material, looking for the nuggets that could be mined.

“Some of it was recorded in Dave’s basement when these guys were kids, and, sitting there next to Eddie, it was pretty cool just to go through that journey,” Shanks said last week by phone from New York. “And then when the sessions started just seeing how Eddie and Alex play together — there’s such a synchronicity in their feel and rhythm and their playing. There were times, honestly, I was just moved by it, not just as a musician but as a human being. The nuances of the way they communicate is staggering.”

The fan reaction to the album’s first single, “Tattoo,” has been mixed, but Roth and company know that the tour (which includes shows in Los Angeles (June 1) and Anaheim (June 12) will be the true proving ground for them.

Roth, who has short hair now and a lean physique earned with decades of martial arts training, displayed a few of the dance moves he’s been working on for the show. In his earth-tone overalls and cap he looked more like a Venice Beach mime than a rock star, but he still has a shark smile. What exactly drives him isn’t easy to glean — does he have the same dark engines as Eddie Van Halen?

“You’re asking for a lot of introspection here,” Roth said. “Nobody well adjusted ever got my job, much less kept it this long. There’s some grasping drive, and it precludes self-satisfaction…. You’re always questioning.”

As for his old friend and rival, Roth smiled and gave the world a bit of fair warning about the reclusive guitar hero. “There’s an old Russian saying: ‘There’s no more lines in that guy’s stomach.’ It means somebody got fat and slow. There are still a lot of lines in Eddie’s stomach.”

The New Van Halen Album!


Track listing:

1. Tattoo
2. She’s The Woman 
3. You and Your Blues 
4. China Town 
5. Blood and Fire 
6. Bullethead 
7. As Is 
8. Honeybabysweetiedoll 
9. The Trouble With Never 
10. Outta Space 
11. Stay Frosty 
12. Big River 
13. Beats Workin’

Tattoo, Tattoo

I got elvis on my elbow
And when I flex elvis talks
I got hula girls on the back of my leg
And she hulas when I walkSpeak in cherry red
Screaming electric green
Purple mountain’s majesty really talk to me
Talk to me babeSwap-meet sally
Tramp-stamp cat
Mousewife to momshell in the time it took to get that new tattoo
Tattoo-tattoo(Tattoo, tattoo)
Show me your dragon magic
(Tattoo, tattoo)
So autobiographic!Best believe that need will hurt you
Best deceive these true colors that follow one of your false virtuesHere’s a secret to make you think
Why is the crazy stuff we never said poetry in ink
Speak in day-glow red
Explodo paint
Purple mountain’s majesty show me you, I’ll show you me
Swap-meet sally
Trampstamp cat
Mousewife to momshell in the time it took to get that new tattoo,
Tattoo-tattooWoo!
(Tattoo, tattoo)
Sexy dragon magic
(Tattoo, tattoo)
So very autobiographic!
(Tattoo, tattoo)
Got a hold on me
(Tattoo, tattoo)
You put a spell on meee!Uncle danny had a coal tattoo
He fought for the unions
Some of us still do
On my shoulder is a number of the chapter he was in
That number is forever like the struggle here to winEverybody!
Swap-meet sally
Trampstamp cat
Mousewife to momshell in the time it took to get that new tattoo,
Tattoo-tattoo
Tattoo
Ta-too!(Tattoo, tattoo)
Sexy dragon magic
(Tattoo, tattoo)
So very autobiographic!
(Tattoo, tattoo)
You got a hold on me
(Tattoo, tattoo)
You put a spell on me
(Tattoo, tattoo)
I’m in love with you
(Tattoo, tattoo)
Show me, show me your
(Tattoo, tattoo)
Look at me, look at you!
(Tattoo, tattoo)
Whoa!

Cant Wait 🙂

Daughtry – Crawling Back To You

Crawling Back to You 

Lessons learned and bridges burned to the ground and it’s to late now to put out the fire tables turn
and I’m the ones who’s burning now well I’m doing all right till I close my eyes and then I see your face and it’s no surprise..
And just like that I’m crawling back to you
just like you said I would yeah..
swallow my pride I’m crawling back to you
I’m out of my head can’t wait any longer
I’m down on my knee’s I thought I was stronger
just like that just like you said I would do
I’m crawling back to you
Time can heal, but the scars only hide the way you feel
and it’s hard to forget how I left you hanging
holding by a thread,when everything is said
I regret it Yeah I was doin all right then I see your face and
it’s hard to fake it.
And just like that I’m crawling back to you
just like you said I would yeah..
swallow my pride I’m crawling back to you
I’m out of my head can’t wait any longer
I’m down on my knee’s I thought I was stronger
just like that just like you said I would do
I’m crawling back to you

If I could find away I would to give everything I know
I would take it all back If only I knew that I could. lessons learned and bridges burned to the ground
and it’s to late now to put out the fire.

Pre Order The CD!

Maroon 5 – Moves Like Jagger

Moves Like Jagger
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

“Moves Like Jagger” is a song by American band Maroon 5 featuring American pop singer Christina Aguilera. It was released for digital download on June 21, 2011 in conjunction with a live performance of the song on The Voice the same day. “Moves Like Jagger” was written by Adam Levine, Benjamin Levin, Ammar Malik and Shellback, and was produced by Shellback and Benny Blanco.[2] It was later included on a re-release of the band’s third studio album, Hands All Over (2011).

The song’s lyrics refer to a male protagonist’s ability to impress a female with his dance moves, which he compares to those of The Rolling Stones frontman Mick Jagger. The song received a positive critical appreciation, many of them complimented the vocal chemistry between Levine and Aguilera and labeled it “an irresistible summer hit”.

“Moves Like Jagger” debuted at number eight on the Billboard Hot 100, therefore making it the band’s first top 10 single since the number-one hit “Makes Me Wonder” (2007), and Aguilera’s first top-ten since “Keeps Gettin’ Better” (2008). The song topped the charts in United States, Canada, Denmark, Ireland, Netherlands, Finland, Norway and New Zealand and was also a top-five hit in most countries that it charted. The song also marks the first time two former Best New Artist Grammy Award winners have collaborated on a Hot 100 hit.

A music video directed by Jonas Akerlund was released on August 8, 2011. The video features Christina Aguilera, as well as old video footage of Mick Jagger and his iconic moves.

Just shoot for the stars
If it feels right
Then aim for my heart
If you feel like
And take me away, make it okay
I swear I’ll behave

You wanted control
So we waited
I put on a show
Now I make it
You say I’m a kid
My ego is big
I don’t give a sh*t
And it goes like this

[Chorus]
Take me by the tongue
And I’ll know you
Kiss me till you’re drunk
And I’ll show you

You want the moves like jagger
I’ve got the moves like jagger
I’ve got the mooooooves… like jagger

I don’t need try to control you
Look into my eyes and I’ll own you

With them the moves like jagger
I’ve got the moves like jagger
I’ve got the mooooooves… like jagger

Maybe it’s hard
When you feel like you’re broken and scarred
Nothing feels right
But when you’re with me
I make you believe
That I’ve got the key

So get in the car
We can ride it
Wherever you want
Get inside it
And you want to steer
But I’m shifting gears
I’ll take it from here
And it goes like this

[Chorus]
Take me by the tongue
And I’ll know you
Kiss me till you’re drunk
And I’ll show you

You want the moves like jagger
I’ve got the moves like jagger
I’ve got the mooooooves… like jagger

I don’t need try to control you
Look into my eyes and I’ll own you

With them the moves like jagger
I’ve got the moves like jagger
I’ve got the mooooooves… like jagger

[Bridge]
You wanna know how to make me smile
Take control, own me just for the night
And if I share my secret
You’re gonna have to keep it
Nobody else can see this

So watch and learn
I won’t show you twice
Head to toe, ooh baby, roll me right
And if I share my secret
You’re gonna have to keep it
Nobody else can see this

And it goes like this

[Chorus]
Take me by the tongue
And I’ll know you
Kiss me till you’re drunk
And I’ll show you

You want the moves like jagger
I’ve got the moves like jagger
I’ve got the mooooooves… like jagger

I don’t need try to control you
Look into my eyes and I’ll own you

With them the moves like jagger
I’ve got the moves like jagger
I’ve got the mooooooves… like jagger

The Rolling Stones Reissue ‘Some Girls’

– Wait What?  THAT was the big Rolling Stones announcement this week!  Oh DRATS! 🙂  Oh well I hope someone enjoys the new release 🙂

The Rolling Stones announce reissue of ‘Some Girls’ Digital, Deluxe and Super-Deluxe editions of 1978 LP are being lined up

The LP, which has been remastered, will be available in digital, Deluxe and Super-Deluxe editions, with new packaging featuring liner notes by Rolling Stone writer Anthony DeCurtis and previously unseen photographs of the band shot by Helmut Newton around the time of the album’s original release.

The Super-Deluxe version will also include a seven-inch single of ‘Beast Of Burden’ featuring its original sleeve artwork. Frontman Mick Jagger told Spinner:

via The Rolling Stones announce reissue of ‘Some Girls’ | News | NME.COM.

Batman: Arkham City Soundtrack

– New Daughtry Track

BATMAN: ARKHAM CITY – THE ALBUM FEATURING ALL-NEW TRACKS FROM DAUGHTRY AND OTHERS!

Warner Bros. Interactive Entertainment, WaterTower Music and DC Entertainment today announced Batman: Arkham City – The Album will be released in conjunction with the highly anticipated forthcoming videogame Batman: Arkham City. Featuring 12 new original tracks by Daughtry, Panic! At The Disco, Coheed and Cambria, Black Rebel Motorcycle Club, and more (full track list below), Batman: Arkham City – The Album will be released on October 4th, two weeks prior to the game’s North American release on October 18th. The Batman: Arkham City Collector’s Edition of the game will include an album download along with additional bonus content.

The artists featured on Batman: Arkham City – The Album approached their contributions to the album with their own unique interpretations of the stories surrounding Batman. The result is an eclectic mix of dynamic, atmospheric songs for an album that will appeal to fans of both the artists and Batman: Arkham City. Coheed and Cambria frontman Claudio Sanchez said, “I write in a very conceptual format with the stories that surround Coheed and Cambria, but Batman has a much larger, defined history and rules that go along with it. My goal was to find universal themes from Batman’s existing history to help give the lyrics legs and dimension so that the song could live within that world.” <–break–>

Check out the track listing below:

1. Panic! At The Disco – Mercenary
2. Coheed and Cambria – Deranged
3. The Duke Spirit – Creature
4. Black Rebel Motorcycle Club – Shadow On The Run
5. Blaqk Audio – Afterdark
6. The Raveonettes – Oh, Stranger
7. ††† (Crosses) – The Years
8. The Damned Things – Trophy Widow
9. Daughtry – Drown In You
10. The Boxer Rebellion – Losing You
11. Serj Tankian – Total Paranoia
*Bonus Collector’s Edition track
12. A Place to Bury Strangers – In The Shadow

via BATMAN: ARKHAM CITY – THE ALBUM FEATURING ALL-NEW TRACKS FROM DAUGHTRY AND OTHERS! | DaughtryOfficial.com.

Paul McCartney, The First Play @ Citi Field!

What a GREAT SHOW!!! Although it was mega hot and sticky and it rained for about 1/2 the show we all enjoyed ourselves a lot! I wish Paul would have gone a lil lighter on some of the newer and less popular songs, but the second 1/2 of the show the rain stopped and the hits kept flowing!!!! My cousin Frank and his family, who brought me and they are HUGE Beatles Fans! You could not ask for a better crew to see ANY concert with let alone Paul! My Franny did shed some tears during “Hey Jude”, Priceless! Thanks again Frank!

There was a guy we call “The McCartney Dancing Cowboy Dancing around the field the ENTIRE TIME! From the opening bands first song, until Paul’s last song! HE WAS AWESOME!!! I did make the comment he was “Mr Met” on his night off! I want to hire him for my next party!

I was happy to see Billy Joel make a cameo for “I Saw Her Standing There”! It kind of made up for the fact I did not get to see him close Shea! At one point a big tidal wave like splash came down from the roof! Paul said he thought he was going to stay dry and we are now all in this together! We sure are Paul! 🙂 GREAT SHOW!!! It was a long time coming, but it was an honor to see a legend, Sir Paul McCartney!

[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yWDk_wW-ak4]

Here is a perfect article posted today in the NY Times, describing the show perfect:

A McCartney Homecoming, at Citi Field

Paul McCartney came to Citi Field on Friday night to bring a new ballpark one thing that can’t be built in: memories. No one was better qualified.

As a 23-year-old Beatle, Mr. McCartney introduced rock to a stadium audience on August 15, 1965, when the Beatles played a 34-minute set at Shea Stadium, which Citi Field replaced. The Beatles returned to Shea in 1966 on what would be their last tour.

Mr. McCartney was also at the final concert at Shea Stadium, joining the headliner, Billy Joel, on stage last year. Mr. Joel returned the favor on Friday night, singing, whooping and splashing piano chords in “I Saw Her Standing There.” In case the Mets weren’t enough, now Citi Field has musical continuity.

On Friday night, Mr. McCartney reminisced about 1965, imitating the muffled and distorted sound the Beatles got through the old stadium’s P.A. system, which by all accounts was drowned out by screaming girls. (Nearly 44 years later, somewhat older women seized their cue to scream.)

He also had other memories: of his fellow Beatles John Lennon, to whom he dedicated his memorial song, “Here Today,” and George Harrison, who had given him the ukulele he used to play Mr. Harrison’s song “Something.” He dedicated the ballad “My Love” to his late wife Linda, who sang with Mr. McCartney’s band Wings in the 1970s; she was part of the video backdrop when Mr. McCartney played “Band on the Run.”

The Citi Field audience brought its own memories: Beatles T-shirts and talismans, held aloft to soak up the occasion. When Mr. McCartney sang Beatles songs, in arrangements that nearly replicated the studio versions, there were loud, fond sing-alongs.

But Mr. McCartney wasn’t fixated on looking back. Although he has enough hits to fill his two-and-a-half-hour set with oldies from Wings, the Beatles and his solo albums, he chose to stay current as well, stumping the nostalgia crowd with songs from the album he released in 2008 as the Fireman, “Electric Arguments.” At 67, he is still a vigorous musician: writing tuneful and wily songs, playing assorted instruments, crooning his ballads ardently, hitting the high notes and howling like a rock and roller.

Of course, Mr. McCartney wasn’t about to return to the primitive conditions of a 1965 Beatles show, when the band performed isolated on an empty ballfield with fans far away in the stands. (There was field seating, on covered turf, along with the stands at Citi Field.) Stadium concerts have evolved mightily, and Mr. McCartney had all the paraphernalia to make his music fill the stadium as the sound and image of the Beatles could not (which didn’t make the Beatles concerts any less exciting). Video screens rendered Mr. McCartney visible to the upper decks, and they illustrated songs like “Back in the U.S.S.R.” (with old images of Russia) and “Got to Get You Into My Life” (with the computer-animated Beatles from the video game “The Beatles: Rock Band”). Flash pots and fireworks blazed to underline the explosive transitions of “Live and Let Die.”

As always, Mr. McCartney was boyish onstage, making faces and tousling and re-tousling his hair. His genial and straightforward presence made some of his songs even more enigmatic, like “Jet,” “Helter Skelter,” “Flaming Pie” (the title song of Mr. McCartney’s 1997 album) and “Mrs. Vandebilt” (a song he resurrected from the Wings album “Band on the Run”).

Mr. McCartney performs like a musician cheerfully doing his job. He made no fuss over how many paths he opened with the Beatles and how much he can do. At Citi Field, the delicacy of “Yesterday” and “Blackbird,” the near-gospel of “Hey Jude,” the mandolin-strumming skiffle of “Dance Tonight,” the quasi-classical string parts of “Eleanor Rigby” (digitally simulated) and the lusty blues-rock of “Let Me Roll It” were all part of Mr. McCartney’s music, and all performed neatly and deftly. Mr. McCartney keeps his songs familiar; his band members barely deviated from the solos played by the Beatles and Wings. So when Mr. McCartney did make changes, they were striking — particularly when he segued from the middle of “A Day in the Life” into “Give Peace a Chance,” with a peace sign on the video screen and the crowd raising two-fingered V-signs while singing along.

When Mr. McCartney and the Beatles played Shea Stadium in the 1960’s, they were brash young rockers. It was before the orchestral ambition of “Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band” or the introspection and style-hopping of “The Beatles” (known as the white album), with songs the Beatles themselves would only perform in the studio, though Mr. McCartney has taken them on tour. It was before Mr. McCartney’s songs became something parents introduced to children and grandchildren. And it was before Mr. McCartney had another four decades of experience, losses and memories to sing about, in a stadium that awaits history of its own.

Mr. McCartney’s Citi set list:

“Drive My Car”
“Jet”
“Only Mama Knows”
“Flaming Pie”
“Got To Get You Into My Life”
“Let Me Roll It” (with a “Purple Haze” coda)
“Highway”
“The Long and Winding Road”
“My Love”
“Blackbird”
“Here Today”
“Dance Tonight”
“Calico Skies”
“Mrs. Vandebilt”
“Eleanor Rigby”
“Sing the Changes”
“Band on the Run”
“Back in the U.S.S.R.”
“I’m Down”
“Something” (on ukulele)
“I’ve Got a Feeling”
“Paperback Writer”
“A Day in the Life”/“Give Peace a Chance”
“Let It Be”
“Live and Let Die”
“Hey Jude”
“Day Tripper”
“Lady Madonna”
“I Saw Her Standing There” (with Billy Joel)
“Yesterday”
“Helter Skelter”
“Get Back”
“Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band” (reprise)/“The End”

Guess Who’s Back In Circulation!

WAIT! Could it be ? The Van Halen reunion is REALLY HAPPENING! We’ll I really hope so! There have been 2 false starts in the past for this wild original Van Halen line up with David Lee Roth! First the greatest hits fiasco, then last years announcement shortly followed by Eddie Van Halen going into rehab 🙁 I got tickets for the first week of October in Philly to see them and am getting the old gang back to see the show! I am excited to see the almost original line up minus Michael Anthony because I have never seen Van Halen live with Dave! I read an article about a rehearsal show in LA and it does sound like it is going to be an amazing night!

VH Article about the show!

Counting Crows, Big Yellow Taxi

If you haven’t noticed I am digging You Tube lately! So I am doing searches of things on my mind! I saw The Counting Crows last week in concert and was reminded what an amazing band they are! I was a little disappointed in some of the song selections they had choose, but they are still an great band! This is my one of my favorite songs that they do next to Mr Jones (although it is a Joni Mitchell song) I still Love it! The video is even more awesome that it was shot in Coney Island, another one of my obsessions, Amusement Parks! I wish I was alive to see Coney Island in it’s Hey Day! Awesome song and video, enjoy!

A Little History :

‘Big Yellow Taxi” is a song originally written and performed by Joni Mitchell.

Mitchell got the idea for the song during a visit to Hawaii. She looked out of her hotel window at the spectacular Pacific mountain scenery, and then down to a parking lot. The phrase “they paved paradise and put up a parking lot” was referenced in Eric Schlosser’s book Chew on This regarding urban development and how small towns are losing their small town feel.

Joni said this about writing the song to journalist Alan McDougall in the early 1970’s :

“Living in Los Angeles, smog chocked L.A., is bad enough but the last straw came when I visited Hawaii for the first time. It was night time when we got there, so I didn’t get my first view of the scenery until I got up the next morning. The hotel room was quite high up so in the distance I could see the blue Pacific Ocean. I walked over to the balcony and there was the picture book scenery, palm tree swaying in the breeze and all. Then I looked down and there was this ugly concrete car park in the hotel grounds. I thought “They paved paradise and put up a parking lot” and that’s how the song “Big Yellow Taxi” was born.”

Big Yellow Taxi Lyrics

They paved paradise and put up a parkin’ lot
With a pink hotel, a boutique, and a swingin’ hot spot
Don’t it always seem to go
That you don’t know what you got till it’s gone
They paved paradise and put up a parkin’ lot

They took all the trees, and put em in a tree museum
And they charged the people a dollar and a half to see them
No, no, no, don’t it always seem to go
That you don’t know what you’ve got till it’s gone
They paved paradise, and put up a parkin’ lot

Hey farmer, farmer, put away your DDT
I don’t care about spots on my apples,
Leave me the birds and the bees – please
Don’t it always seem to go
That you don’t know what you got till it’s gone
They paved paradise and put up a parking lot
Hey now, they’ve paved paradise to put up a parking lot
Why not?

Listen, late last night, I heard the screen door swing,
And a big yellow taxi took my girl away
Now don’t it always seem to go
That you don’t know what you got till it’s gone
They paved paradise and put up a parking lot
Hey now now, don’t it always seem to go
That you don’t know what you got till it’s gone
They paved paradise to put up a parking lot
Why not, they paved paradise
They put up a parking lot
Hey hey hey, paved paradise and put up a parking lot

I don’t wanna give it
Why you wanna give it
Why you wanna givin it all away
Hey, hey, hey
Now you wanna give it
I should wanna give it
Cuz you’re givin it all away, no no

I don’t wanna give it
Why you wanna give it
Why you wanna givin it all away
Cuz you’re givin it all givin it all away yeah yeah
Cuz You’re givin it all away hey, hey, hey

Hey, paved paradise, to put up a parking lot
la,la, la, la, la, la, la ,la ,la ,la ,la
Paved paradise, and put up a parking lot

WPLJ Summer Kick Off With The Beach Boys

Another Year, Another WPLJ Summer Kick Off with Scott And Todd! 🙂 This is at least my 7th year covering this massive Jenkinson’s event. In the past, I have shot it for Jenks, but the past two years, Coors Light have hired me to cover the event. It kind of SUCKS waking up at 5am, just working the Thursday Night Kick Off at Jenks the night before with my boys, Big Orange Cone, but I grin and bear it and get down there! I have seen Melissa Melissa Etheridge, Hootie And The Blowfish, The Go Go’s, Train, Goo Goo Dolls, Bowling For Soup and this year, The Beach Boys!

At first, I was a little disappointed with the musical guest. I was like, what the hell! Looking back at all these other amazing artists, I kind of felt ripped off! After going to the event and the more I thought of it, who would be a more perfect band to kick off summer! I was thinking, come on, these guys are like legends in the music industry! I have grown up liking the Beach Boys over the years and I guess I forgot how many songs I actually know and enjoyed! After seeing them live and meeting them, I was in this total Beach Boys mood for the past 2 weeks! They were actually really good and Mike Love was a great guy! I downloaded their greatest hits CD and have been enjoying it ever since!

David Lee Roth: Lowdown Reports High Anxiety

David Lee Roth: Lowdown Reports High Anxiety: “David Lee Roth: Lowdown Reports High Anxiety – Jan. 25, 2006 By Chuck Taylor

It may be free, but it sounds anything but easy.

The New York Daily News is reporting in Lloyd Grove?s ?Lowdown? column that David Lee Roth is behaving like a first-class diva at his home base, CBS Radio talk WFNY (Free FM) New York.

The rocker, who has already weathered a storm of bad reviews as the eastern region morning show successor to Howard Stern, ?is impossible to work with, a real arrogant, self-righteous ass,? said an anonymous Free FM staffer.

The source told Grove that Roth fails to prep for his show and ?is out the door 5 minutes after the show, unless he is forced to record a commercial or re-record ones he made errors on. All the execs know they made the two biggest errors in radio history: letting Stern go to Sirius and hiring this moron Roth.?

The report goes on to say that Roth insisted that WFNY GM Tom Chiusano extensively remodel Stern?s former studio, but now he refuses to use it, claiming that it is infested with asbestos. ‘He swears he is allergic to dust and smoke, but smells like an ashtray,’ the source said.

The staffer claims that Roth and his manager Matt Sencio ?are totally out of control and out of their league when it comes to producing a radio show.?

In addition, said the source, Roth ‘hates Tom and is vocal about that to almost everyone he talks at. It’s almost like he wants to get fired, and take the money and run.’

CBS Radio had no comment on the report.

David Lee Roth @ 6am

The Official David Lee Roth Website

So it’s REALLY OFFICIAL Howard is out and David is in! I dunno if I can take David Lee Roth on a daily basis. I mean yeah I grew up loving the guy and loving Van Halen and think he is great as a guest, but can he hold down the fort for 4 hours a day 7 days a week all year long? Well if his debut show is any indication, NO! Ok i was intrigued for about 15 mins but after that i am zoning out 🙁 He just went off at 9:57 with defiantly no fireworks! He did have his uncle on, Manny Roth who did many monumental things in NYC and he was a little bit interesting, but as a whole it was pretty boring. i missed the first 2 hours but it appears that he does have a bunch of people in the studio, although he barely went to them. I did hear them laugh and make some noises, but that was about it. He also mentioned that he probably won’t have any guests for the first 2 weeks! What the hell! After David’s show they had these other 2 guys on that were 10 times WORSE! With these 2 less then stellar shows, I am looking forward to Howard even MORE now! I am guessing they just sold another Million or so Sirius Radios 🙂 O well, goodbye KRock 🙁

Van Halen Live 6/23/04 with MSG :) It’s About Time!

vhnd.net – VH News Desk – Great New Photos!

Self Portrait Photo By Rob Fuzesi

What can I say! Van Halen and Sammy for that matter are BACK! I had a great time going with my long time, since birth pal Mike Gilligan! Mike first introduced me to Van Halen in the 8th grade with the album Diver Down and then 1984. I fell in love with the band and they have been one of my favorite bands ever since. It was also Mike, who I went with, 18 Years ago in 1986 (god i am getting old!) to my first REAL concert, at the very same location at the Meadowlands. We saw Van Halen on the 5150 tour! It was an amazing night! Since then, I have seen the band many times as well as seeing David Lee Roth over the years. Well its been 8 years since VH have toured and I really had missed them!

Knowing all this, you can see I was VERY excited to see the band again. I went into the show asking not to know anything at all. The show turned out to be really good and it was great seeing the band again! Sure I was kind of disappointed that, hey they haven’t done anything with Sammy in 8 years and what the hell, its the same show i saw 8 years ago, with the exception of two new songs! Lots of songs were missing and I wished this reunion tour was not so rushed and they did some more classic Roth era songs as well as some classic Sammy songs!

Cool Shot Of Eddie And Wolfgang From LA Rehersal Show

That aside, it was really good seeing the band back together! I look very forward to seeing what the future will hold with VH! A few highlights of the evening was seeing Eddie’s son come out and jam with Eddie during his guitar solo! The kid is talented and hey, he has the best guitar teacher EVER 🙂 Eddie’s solo was awesome! It is great seeing a living legend “Guitar God” perform again on live on stage! Sammy mentioned Chris Rock was in the house! A few songs later, I saw him by the sound board enjoying the show! Later Sammy came closer above the audience and said HEY CHRIS! His cover was blown! Another highlight was seeing all those VH fans in one location! Seeing all the classic VH shirts was GREAT! I found it funny, my fellow VH brothers brought their 8-12 year old sons to the shows, wearing the same shirts I wore in my youth 🙂 All in all it was a great night and a great time spending it with Gilligan, Jay Tames And Al Roth 🙂 all my high school buds! Thanks for the tickets Chris Lee who could not make it 🙁

Cool Shot From Philly The Other Night

Van Halen – Meadowlands – 6/23/04 – Set List – 120 mins

01. You Really Got Me

02. Runaround

03. Humans Being

04. Up For Breakfast (New Song)

05. Mikey’s Solo (with the JD bass)

06. Somebody Get Me A Doctor (with Mike on lead vocals)

07. Poundcake

08. It’s About Time (New Song)

09. Al’s Solo

10. Top Of The World

11. Unchained

12. Why Can’t This Be Love?

13. Eagles Fly

14. Seventh Seal

15. Best Of Both Worlds

16. Eddie’s Solo (With his Son Wolfgang joining in)

17. Dreams

18. Ain’t Talkin’ ‘Bout Love

19. Right Now

Encore:

20. Jump

21. Panama

22. When It’s Love

Great Shot From Opening Night

The Latest Official Van Halen News

van-halen.com – Latest Van Halen News: “THE BEST OF BOTH WORLDS

The band’s forthcoming release, titled ‘The Best of Both Worlds’ will hit stores July 20 (July 19 overseas)! The two disc set features the following tracks, including three BRAND NEW tunes (not necessarily in this order):

Eruption, Ain’t Talkin’ ’bout Love, When It’s Love, Finish What Ya Started,

You Really Got Me, Feels So Good, Jamie’s Cryin’, Black and Blue, Runnin’ With the Devil, Poundcake, Beautiful Girls, Runaround, Dance the Night Away, Right Now, And the Cradle Will Rock…, Top of the World, Everybody Wants Some!!, Can’t Stop Lovin’ You, Unchained, Not Enough, Dancing in the Street, It’s About Time (NEW!), Learning To See (NEW!), Up For Breakfast (NEW!), (Oh) Pretty Woman, Hot For Teacher, Jump, Panama, I’ll Wait, Why Can’t This Be Love, Dreams, Best of Both Worlds, Love Walks In, Ain’t Talkin’ ’bout Love (Live), Jump (Live), Panama (Live) ”

WOW VH HAS 3 NEW SONGS! Good to see Sammy And The Boys BACK! 🙂

Its gonna be a GREAT SUMMER 🙂

Goo Goo Dolls – Memorial Day Weekend 04

Photo By Rob Fuzesi – 360 Multimedia LLC

Just got back from Jenkinson’s this morning for the annual WPLJ summer kick off! it RAINED again this year 🙁 I am feeling like memorial day weekend is the weather “Ground Hogs Day” of the summer! It rains and 6 more weeks of crappy weather 🙁 Well I HOPE it does not go that way! did I mention I am BEAT? hehe The Goos never sounded better! Although they are impossible to photograph 🙁 Johnny Resnick always has his damn hair covering his face! SUCKS! But I managed to climb on the bar and get some good shots that will be posted on JenksClub.com and 360mm.com 🙂 Here is the set list : Black Balloon, Iris, Slide, Here Is Gone, Sympathy and Broadway Robbie the Fake Red Headed Bass player did a song as well I think called Smash! hehe The Benjamins were in the house as well! Good to see the boys in front of that huge crowd. Jos and I are off to the Blueclaw game tonight! Hopefully it does not rain 🙁 Off to take a nap!

Got to see our great friend Liz and her new man Steve (great guy) on Sunday and got to see my Brothers Family and my parents on Monday! 🙂

Photo By Rob Fuzesi – 360 Multimedia LLC