Metal Mayhem ROC- Remembering Edward Van Halen - One year after his death

https://metalmayhemroc.podbean.com/
Hello Metal Heads. It’s the weekend and Its time for a brand-new edition of Metal Mayhem ROC.
When rock legend Eddie Van Halen died of cancer on October 6, 2020, the entire world seemed to stop and grieve. Since his band Van Halen burst onto the scene with their self-titled debut album in 1978, Eddie had been hailed as an icon not only to fans of rock music and heavy metal, but to performers across all genres and around the world. Van Halen’s debut sounded unlike anything that listeners had heard before and remains a quintessential rock album of the era.
Tonight, show host Jon “The Vernomatic” Verno welcomes back Greg Renoff author of “Van Halen Rising: How a Southern California Backyard Party Band Saved Heavy Metal” and “Ted Templeman: A Platinum Producer's Life in Music to the show to take "deep dive" into the history of Eddie Van Halen and celebrate Eddies life, one year after his death.
Vernomatic and Gregg are also joined by Mike DiGiorgio, Writer/Broadcast Producer for 13WHAM-TV in Rochester NY and Ian O ‘Rourke, guitarist and Vocalist of the Hard rock band MOTORLORD.
The Four discuss how the last year since eddies death has affected them. They cover the latest David Lee Roth developments regarding his “RETIREMENT”. Greg gives us some insight on how cool it was to be a guest at the famous Sunset Sound Recording Studios, the location where Van Halen recorded the first 5 albums. Finally, Greg’s shares the plan for his next project. This a fun, celebration of Eddie and classic Van Halen.
We invite you to share your comments, Good or bad, with us at Vernomatic @metalforever.com and join the discussion at the Metal Mayhem ROC Facebook Group page https://www.facebook.com/groups/409879766475870
Thank you for your support. Please listen, like and share with even your nonmetal friends and as always remember to -KEEP IT HEAVY!!

Episode Transcript

(00:00):
In the hands of Eddie van Halen, the guitar just sounded different. He's
got style that he did. I'vealways thought that was something that he did
and nobody else did it like you. His influence was widespread, absolute musical
monster. His music will live forever. What do you get if you mixed

(00:24):
mosong and a mad scientist and givehim a guitar? Eddie van Halen.
Metal Mayhem ro OC celebrates Eddie oneyear later with special guests van Halen author
Greg Renoff and one of the planet'spremier van Halen experts, Mike d.
Giorgio. Van Halen was my alltime favorite. Now here's John the Verno

(00:48):
Matic Verno. Good evening, everybody, the Verna Mattic with you and like
the guy says, a special editionof Metal Mayhem ROC. We're here tonight
to celebrate the one year anniversary,if you will, of the passing of
Eddie van Halen. Tonight we welcomeGreg Renoff, the author of the book

(01:08):
van Halen Rising and the Ted Tepplemanbook, A platinum Producer's Life in Music.
I also have Mike to Georgio fromthirteen Waham TV here in Rochester,
New York. He's a big vanHalen fan. Greg, Welcome to Medal
Mayhem again. How are you doing, Hey, guys, pleasure thanks for

(01:29):
having me on. You're welcome.Say hello to my co host tonight,
Mike to Georgio. Mike. Greatto talk to you, Great to talk
to you in person. Greg,this is great. Condolences all the way
around. We've all had a toughyear and a tough week acknowledging the passing
of Eddie. Greg, how hasthis week been for you as the go

(01:51):
to van Halen guy around the circles? Been a lot of people reaching out
to you? Howards have been?Yeah, I have heard a lot of
people. I mean I think itkind of crept up on on folks,
crept up on me sort of yourealize that, uh, he had passed
away in October and then the datewas upon us, and uh yeah,
I mean it's really a bitter sweetthing to see the celebrations of Eddie um

(02:15):
all across social media and on theradio and playing the music. But on
the other hand, recognizing that,you know, van Halen has definitely no
more, no Eddie van Halen,no van Halen. And now David Gross
has announced his retirement, so he'snot going to be waving the Van Hill
flag, so to speak, withhis solo band, and so it's,
uh, you know, it's reallya bittersweet season to have that all kind

(02:38):
of come down in the last coupleof weeks. It doesn't seem like a
year. I mean, I'm I'min the same place in my life as
I was a year ago, andit's I feel like it it was hard,
Like as as a day unfold ofthe anniversary, I'm like, I
should be feeling like I did ayear ago. Um, and it wasn't

(02:59):
the same. The rest of theworld had moved on. I'm like,
I still want to keep talking aboutEddie here everybody in our nerdy social media
circles. Yeah, we're still talkingabout it. But I'm looking around and
everybody like, hey, do youguys don't realize what happened to your ago?
Yeah? And I think back onthat year, you know, it
was I think there was a certainlevel of awareness by most people that Eddie

(03:21):
had been ill from you know,one degree another. I mean, I
think everyone kind of knew that hehad multiple bouts with cancer and that he
may not have been doing one hundredpercent but you know, he passed away.
Obviously that was a really really shockingannouncement had that come down. I
don't think anybody you know saw thatcoming except maybe he's very very very inner
circle. They had kept it veryvery quiet, which they should have,

(03:43):
and so you had to have ithappened so fast, and now a year
later after kind of come to ripswith the fact that yeah, it's all
it's all changed. I mean,it really is. I think even I
would say, even like a weekor two before he passed away, I
think if you had asked me oranyone else had fanhim whatever tour again,
I thought, well, you know, maybe now maybe they might do like
you know, maybe they'll do Shedsnext summer or something, or do thirty
dates or something, a shorter tour. And it just never, you know,

(04:06):
kind of dawned on me at leastthat that was it was really the
twenty fifteen tour was the end forgood, and that uh, you know
that this was the end for byHelen Permanently. What really got me was
right after the Howard Stern Wolfgang appearance, when he started releasing the details want

(04:27):
about the Kitchen Sync tour, butmore importantly, What really hit me was
when he gave the timeline how howEddie progressed with the sickness, then motorcycle
accident in the February, and thenhow he just progressively how bad it really
was. Yeah, for me,it was it was not surprising that's how

(04:49):
he died, because we knew forso long he'd been sick, but just
a shock that had happened. Imean, the reason we're these fans is
these guys are superheroes there. Yeah, they're immortal to us. Greg.
Let me ask you, where wereyou when you heard the news? Yeah?
I was at home actually, umand uh, I just happened to

(05:10):
be sitting in my computer on Twitterwhen it came up and I saw Wolfe
or maybe it was TAMZ. Iguess it was Team Z and House and
I think they were probably first.And I, you know, I saw
it almost immediately when it came up, just because whatever my algorithm is set
up for Van Hale and stuff.I wasn't following TMZ, but it popped
up and it was you know,it was shocked, to say the least.

(05:30):
It just kind of left me sortof breathless for a minute. I
was just just didn't feel real,but uh yeah, that was sort of
the end of uh, you know, some portion of my childhood. I
think for a lot of us,that was the you know, that was
always the thing with the next VanHalen tour, the next Van Halen album,
next fan and haal and thing.I mean, it was just that
was for me, that was alwaysthe since I was a teenager thing you

(05:54):
think about, there's something coming,right, there's another thing going to happen,
and never did you ever think,you know, Halen was never going
to tour again. And then ofcourse when he passes away, that's the
whole different thing too. So it'sit just, you know, kind of
took my breath away. The wholeday turned into like the next year,
like we talked about, you know, we've all been dealing with it and
just the outpour, just the aroundthe world. It's not that I never

(06:18):
realized how much Eddie meant to me, and I've been a fan since seventy
nine. It's just how much he'saffected everyone else to the point where,
you know, Eddie he even hadthe top of People magazine up up at
the top and the the the magazinesthat were released. Yeah, sure,

(06:38):
some of it was cash grabs bysome magazines, but just the overall a
love and affection for Eddie. Socan you comment on how you have dealt
with this throughout the year personally?Yeah, I mean I think it was
it was not surprising in one waythen surprising or there. I mean,

(07:00):
I think there was definitely a narrativeout there that amongst them, some segment
of a big segment of the musiclistening public that like Van Halen was kind
of you know, like old,you know, and a like a what's
the word he's like? One waslike an nostaalsih a band, you know,
like they're they're old and whatever.It doesn't really matter. But there
was also obviously another large segment ofthe musical listening public that understood Eddie's legacy
and his impact. And I think, you know, I think unfortunately when

(07:24):
people pass away like that, there'sso you know, sort of a reassessment
whole are like, oh, actuallyvan Halen wasn't like all these other bands.
I kind of lumped them in whenthey were different because they had Eddie
and they had different you know,song catalog and his his um contributions as
a technician and as an inventor kindof make him a different um level of
figure in music history. And sothen you start to see these, like

(07:46):
you said, the tribute magazines andthe you know the other thing. Yeah,
the the quote unquote celebrity angle ofit. You know, I think
it's uh, it's Van Hill andfans who kind of grew up like us,
loving the band. You know,we kind of lose track of like,
um, there was a whole segmentof people who maybe weren't the biggest
Van Halen fans of the world,but they knew about Eddie being married to

(08:07):
Valid Burnellie, or maybe they knewabout the Michael Jackson thing, and there
was there were other things that hedid in his life that made him transcend
just as a rock guitarist. Andso there's that as well, the kind
of you know, make him reachfarther than the met So, you know,
all in all, I was Iwas really happy that I really felt
he got his due in terms ofpublic adulation with the mural kind guards Guitar

(08:33):
Center, and you would turn onFox Sports and they would have Van Halen
music before they went to commercial andstuff like that, and there was a
lot of that, you know,billboards and there was a lot of that,
and he really felt like, youknow, this guy was different.
When they called said and done thatpeople really did recognize that that they sort
of, um, you know,the efforts to kind of say that Vanhills
just sort of rehashing their old musicand whatever. They don't matter. That
sort of fell by the wayside.I think when when Eddie passed away and

(08:56):
people really took a harder look atwhat he had accomplished. And you mentioned
about, you know, sporting broadcaststhey're going in and out of commercials,
and that went on for a whilethat and it still goes on to this
day. Granted, a lot ofthe audio guys that run those big network
broadcasters or guys our age, soyou know they're slipping it in there,

(09:18):
but um, you know, likewhen your mother's giving you a phone call
and saying, honey, I amso sorry, and you know it's just
um. He really transcended it wasit was our childhood, like you said,
and I went through that too.It was like being a widow,
if you will. Yeah, andmy phone blew up from people. You
know, you're the first person Ithought of when I heard this news,

(09:39):
and are you doing all right.Yeah, so let's talk about the Roth
announcements. What's your take on this? Well, uh, you know,
Roth didn't do any roadwork during COVID, which makes sense, and then even
this year, he sounds like hehe opted out of the Kiss tour.

(10:01):
That's what I read it as.Eventually, when all those statements were made,
that that Roth was the one whodecided he didn't want to do the
Kiss tour. Um. You know. I think again, if you had
asked me two weeks ago, threeweeks ago, is he ever going into
tour again? I would have said, well, you know what the thing
is, he'll probably maybe do somethingnext summer because of the you know,

(10:22):
maybe his age and COVID, maybehe's really hesitant to kind of go out
and and do do a tour.Um, you know. And then this
announcement comes down and it's obviously,ah, I was I was shocked.
M I knew he had, youknow, committed to do these dates Vegas,
but it's I was always in theopinion that David Roth this type of
guy who he would literally you know, um breathe his last breath on the

(10:46):
stage performing before he would you know, willingly retire. Um. You know,
and in saying that, when Ireally started to sort of mull it
over, and you know, notany based on any sort of conversation with
anybody who's in a position to knowfor sure, you know, just kind
of thinking about it. You know, Roth has been talking about how he's
had pain in his body from performingsince at least the nineties. He's talked

(11:07):
about he talked about his biography,and then I realized that, you know,
last year he talked about how hehad spinal fusion, spinal fusion surgery
in the last eighteen months or so, like a major surgery, and so
you know, there's a lot ofstuff in that statement that could lead you
to believe that it's any number ofthings that maybe he's ailing, because he
did definitely talk about his physical conditionand his doctors and that being a reason

(11:30):
why he was going to retire.But you know, I think less there's
another explanation, which there may be, and I hope to God not,
I hope he's healthy. Otherwise ofthem is worth a pedix situation. I
mean, certainly, I know peoplein my actended family have had major back
surgery, and you know, it'sit's not like your doctor advises you to
go do things like dance on stageor jump or like get on and off

(11:50):
tour buses and do sort of physicalactivity. They say you got to take
it easy, like walking. It'slike, you know, walking is pretty
much it after you've had a majorback surgery. That's kind of the suggestion,
right, It's like not to dothings that would make you at risk
with that um that surgery. Andso you know, it's thinking about it
that way. It may just bea matter of of that Roth is just
physically his body just can't take thetype of van Halen physicality that he needs

(12:15):
to do to do that type ofset. And along those lines, the
other thing I'd say, is thatRoth retiring, you know, to me,
I've read that as like I'm retiringfrom being Diamond Dave and Van Halen.
Now, does that mean he wouldnever do something like a spoken word
toward like a Henry Rowland style thing, or is he not going to do

(12:35):
stand up stand up comedy or there'sagain I'm just sort of spitballing. And
maybe Roth, you know, saylike I'm no interest in doing that.
I don't want to do that atall, And maybe he doesn't want to
do any of that stuff. Butyou know that would be you know,
I think one way of kind ofreading between the lines, it's just physically
he's had you know, a brokenankle all multiple times, he had multiple

(12:56):
orthopedic surgeries, you know, Ihad the spinal fusion. Just physically cannot
do it anymore. Um, andhe wants to do it on end,
on his own terms. He hasthese shows, which I believe are makeup
shows for ones that were canceled inVegas during the pandemic. So I don't
think these are new dates. Ithink these are probably just um fulfilling a

(13:18):
contract. I don't know that forsure, but that's my I think that's
probably right. And so he's justyou know, this is it, I'm
done. UM. In terms ofdoing that type of stuff, there's nobody
made a very big point of sayingthere's no more van Halen. You know,
Alex and I talked and there's nomore van Halen, and this is
it where it ends with us,you know, that's the end of it.
And so that that that would beone way to look at it.
But certainly it's you know, it'suh, it's a sad moment as well

(13:39):
as again especially coming right uh,right before the anniversary of Eddie's death.
That's it was pretty heavy news tohear that from Roth. Greg, What
do you think at how much he'smentioning Alex whenever the rare public appearances he's
making, He's always talking about,Oh, he's just talked to Alex.
He mentioned him three or four timesa min shortly. Yeah, you know,

(14:03):
I think there's some like multiple waysto think about that. I don't
you know, maybe he and Alextalk all the time, or maybe it's
one of these things where like,you know, people say, how often
do you talk to your mom?I talked to her all the time?
You know, really you're talking toher like once a week or something like.
You know, maybe maybe Dave Brainis like, you know, he's
like, we talk every day,three times a day, and it's really
making once every three weeks. Ihave no idea, um, you know,
but part of it I think sortof speaks to the fact that Roth

(14:26):
probably you know, feels feels nowthat it's over, that he wants to
really plant that flag to be likeyou know what it was our our version
of Van Halen. And I don'tmean that it's sort of any sort of
like nasty rivalry with Sammy. ButI think probably now with Eddie's passage,
it's probably more for foremost in hismind that it began with Roth and ended

(14:50):
with Roth, and that's sort ofhow he wants to sort of put that
out in the public um. Youknow. Then then there's been this business
about people saying that Alex is basicallywith Dave said Alex is going to join
him on stage, and I've beenlike, yeah, I mean, no,
he didn't, you know, Andthat's one of these like classic I
had to use that phrase. Butfake news things that started apparently, I
think I honestly think it started withYahoo News, where the reporter made a

(15:15):
mistake, probably misheard, probably waslike trend to write there quickly and misheard
what Roth said, and suddenly that'slike repeated over and over again, and
you know, I, uh,yeah, I dared to say to people
who have asked me, I said, you know, go to Vegas and
see Roth. I say, ifyou're if you're spending extra money that you
weren't planning on spending to see Rothbecause you think Alex is going to show

(15:35):
up, I said, it's highlyand perform. I say that's extremely I
would think that would be extremely unlikely. Now, is it possible. I
don't think this is gonna happen.I would be I would be very very
surprised as happening. But that youknow, maybe maybe Alex shows up and
watches the show and you see thatclassic picture backstage though, like kind of
an arm in arm or something like, you know, kind of closing the
door on that legacy. I don'tthink that's going to happen. And Alex

(15:58):
has never been like, let's goout to a concert TEP guys, you
guys know, like he never doesthat stuff. But maybe he would,
but um, you know, it'sit's um, it's it's uh probably likely
that Roth will say something more aboutit. I mean I think he said
like, this is the only thingyear I ever hear me say about it,
and I don't I think we allknow it's true. Probably, yeah,

(16:21):
I'll probably You know, al wasn'tin the best shape either, and
he hasn't played in five or sixyears and just to rehearse and get up
there, and he's never played withanyone else. Yeah, I would think
Alex van Hillen is retired. Yeah, I've come to that conclusion a long
time ago. Hey, when wesee the only excitings we have from him

(16:41):
is some thirty second car, youknow, it's uh And don't you think
they would buill it if you couldget Alex Vanhillen with David Lee Roth,
that would be on the Marquee.They wouldn't call it Vanhillen, but they
would call this David Lee Roth andAlex van Hillen. And I think it
may be in bigger places than MandolinBay or wherever they're playing, maybe,

(17:03):
you know, a bigger commenting onthe whole kiss thing Gene. When he
made those comments, it was prettyharsh. It was pretty um, you
know, he was sort of adick on it about Dave. And then
he quickly, you know, circledback and made good and if and I
would imagine if Dave was sick,terminally sick, I don't think he would

(17:27):
be saying stuff like that, what'syour take on the whole Gene Simmons and
attacking Dave? Yeah, you know, I didn't even know what to think
about that. I mean, Ithink it's like one of these things.
Now. Unfortunately, with the interviews, it's like blabbermouth is sort of pioneered
this thing like where if someone goeson an hour and a half podcast and
they say one weird thing like thatbecomes the headline. You know, it

(17:49):
doesn't. I'm not trying to likegive Gene a path. I mean I
think it was a cheap shot,and they think, like, to be
honest with you, I mean,I've seen kids over the past year,
probably over the last decade, I'veseen kiss and you know them. I
first saw them in the nineties,a little late, but I saw them,
and you know, there's definitely beenthere's definitely been a declining performance as
well. It might be a differenttype of declining performance, but it's not
the same, it's not the samething. So I did think it was

(18:12):
kind of a weird um, aweird cheap shot and this sort of you
know, this sort of like oh, you know, we're still like we're
basically like we're still killing it.But Dave is like done, and I
like, you know, I don'tI'm not going to get the details about
it. You guys can kind ofunderstand. I mean, there's been like
a lot of things with kids' performancesthat have been kind of I would say

(18:33):
under some scrutiny for reasons that,you know, like I think for good
reasons that there's some things that's likekind of yeah, yeah, it's true
Dave bailed on them. Then there'sprobably a little bitter feeling there. It's
kind of that you didn't break upwith me, I broke up with your
attitude and going out. Yeah,it could be that. I mean,
it could be that. I meanI think, like you know, at
the end of the day, Imean, I you know, I h
they clearly don't think an opening actwill sell them more tickets because, you

(18:57):
know, no no offense. There'sa guard Garibaldi the painter, right,
but I don't think anybody's going anyone'sgoing, oh, you know what,
the real thing, it's gonna begreat. I'm gonna see you know,
David. No offense to him,right, he's a great painter or whatever.
But like nobody's like buying tickets tosee him. Like if they brought
out another band whoever, that wouldbe um, you know, you bring
out the struts or something like theyjust make that up. You bring out

(19:18):
the struts, and there's there's ayou know, um, a sense this
is a good a good band andthey're a good live band, and there
may be some you know, likeI mean, I really like the Struts.
I want to go see the Strutsend test and they might sell you
know, a thousand more tickets ata venue or five hundred and more,
But I don't, you know,it's I don't even know what the what
the motivation was for kind of liketearing down Dave, you know what I
mean. For that, It's like, what's the what's the motivation? You

(19:41):
have a painter opening for you.It's not like you like upgraded it to
like this, like, oh,we got someone so much betteran I'm not
even taking this out of dare,like, you know, we brought this
amazing band. They're so young andthey're so vibrant. We you know,
you guys didn't even you defaulted toosomething. You know, even like less,
even if you're for the Preople ora person who hates Roth, it's
even less feeling them. You know. It was like even the Roth hater
I think would probably see had tosee a rock band and see a guy

(20:04):
painting, I mean with rock cell. Uh. Now you recently saw him
in Tulsa and there was a showthat you were supposed to see was the
show that when covid started, Howhow was the attendance the other night when
you saw him? You know,it was probably about eighty five percent full.
It was pretty you know, Uh, Tolsa typically turns out pretty heavily

(20:25):
for these types of shows, asyou know, like mot Laney shows have
all done done well. It's agood a good town for that. I
thought it was, you know,it was it was more um, probably
more full than I thought. AndI certainly had, um, you know,
had a a sense that there wasthe release, was some sense that
the tickets were selling not so well. But for whatever it's worth, it

(20:47):
was it was pretty you know,it was pretty full. I would say,
like I'd say, you know,eighty five percent ninety percent would be
a reasonable um estimate. And youknow, the show itself is basically the
same show they've been doing for thelast decade and something. You know,
it's just it's it's almost was almosta carbon copy of the show. I
don't remember the last time they cameto Tulsa play was the twenty seventeen,

(21:07):
twenty sixteen. I don't remember thelast time they came through, but it
was basically a carbon copy of thatshow. If I'm being honest with you
and it just was you know,those guys who were slowed down, I
would say that there's definitely you cansee there's like, you know, understandably
so they're you know, they're olderand they're not moving like they used to
move, and so there's definitely like, you know, that's what I mean
about the shot that rough and it'snot even like a shot of Gena Paula's
reality. You're aging. It's like, can't we all like be nice to

(21:29):
each other. It's not like,you know, those guys are like you
know, you know, there's likethirty year old guys like busting on the
old dude's opening it for them orsomething. We're talking with Greg Ranoff,
author of the book Van Halen Risingand the Ted Templeman Book, A platinum
Producer's Life in music. Since youdid the book, have you ever heard
from any of the people that youoriginally interviewed and did they come forward with

(21:52):
any more information? And where wasthere any regrets not following up on any
infoll and third, any questions Benanswered since the book came out that you
were wondering about, you know,um, I interviewed a couple hundred people

(22:12):
for the book, and you know, there there were there were definitely some
people who I wish I could havespoken to. I mean, I don't
even given canny to put my fingeron who they would be at this point.
There were definitely some people who probablyyou know, um had held the
backyard party or was a promoter orsomething I was able to find. I
mean, there was actually a womanwhose name is English Cathy. That's what

(22:37):
she I can't remember her her lastname, but that was kind of her
nickname was English Kathy, and sheshe booked gigs for Van Halen in like
seventy five, and you know itwas in some ways managing like you know,
managing them in kind of quotes whereshe was, you know, not
functioning like a you know, likea Irving Azoff type of manager, was
probably helping those guys get gigs.And I wasn't able to find her.
She since kind of you know,she's been around and talked to a couple

(22:59):
of other and whist. I wouldhave been interesting to talk to her because
she you know, she had somereally I think, some really cool interactions
with the band and took some coolpictures of them. But um, you
know, in terms of like answeringquestions, I mean I think, you
know, I think there's always um, there really wasn't any like major revelations
that came and came along that werelike would have like changed the narrative of
the story very much. I mean, it was one thing that I did

(23:19):
find out was kind of a bettersense of when the van Halen demo was
done with Ted Templeman, and thatwas that was something that was kind of
unknown to me when I did thebook. But you know, otherwise,
I uh, you know, Ifeel like for the type of book I
wanted to write in the story,I wanted to tell them the things I
was hoping to uncover, and doingthe book, I feel like I got
those, um those things nailed downpretty well. And it's still I think

(23:41):
it stands as the sort of youknow, the as the sort of uh,
the go to book for the earlyyear if you want to read about
how those guys came to make it. I think that still stands. My
book stands up pretty well in thatarea. So that's I'm pretty proud of
that. And Greg, I'm curiousin the year since Eddie's passed because of

(24:03):
his passing, have you learned anythingmore about him? Well, I mean,
I think one of the things Iyou know, I learned about him.
I mean, I think the thingthat really sticks out of my mind,
for instance, would be the videothat came out pretty much, you
think a couple of weeks after hepassed away from the Jason Becker family showing
Eddie going to see Jason Becker.You know, there have been you know,

(24:27):
lots of stories about Eddie being charitableor you know, doing mister Hollins
opus and these other things. Butto sort of see him one on one
with a guy who had this terribledisease that had taken away's ability to play
guitar and really see how empathetic Eddiewas, and you could see how that
really just tore him up. Youcould see it on his face about imagining
himself. I'm sure like all ofa sudden, someone took away your ability

(24:48):
to play your instrument. And thatwas very h that was very u revealing.
I think about his true character andyou know, whatever people say about
him and his you know, maybenot his best moments, and we all
have had moments life, you're gradI mean, think that really kind of
spoke to his true, uh youknow, a true person who he was,
and that was you know, thatwas something I'd obviously not seen before
he passed away, and to seethat it just was amazing. One quick

(25:11):
question too about about that. It'sit's a weird thing with celebrity death now
in this age when someone passes,you go to Twitter and you look at
what they're co stars and their friendsare all saying about him. I've been
kind of surprised, I don't knowabout you to find out who Eddie's friends
were, you know, because hewas so private. I didn't know he
was that close to Tony Iomie forinstance, and Tony Iomi's been saying oh

(25:33):
ks some nice things, or Brianmay or Nancy Wilson. Were you surprised
to find out who he knew?Well? You know, um, I
guess I wasn't super surprised about umthose relationships. I sort of assumed that,
you know, with Iomi and uhmaybe Nancy, that he would have

(25:53):
known them for a long time.But you know, even like you know,
George Lopez would be the example Iand there were you there were certainly
people who were involved in other autoracing and other things where um, you
know, the van Halens and thenames don't really are sticking out to me,
but they would come out and say, hey, you know what we
knew Eddie and Alex and the sortof you know, talking about their their
interest in these things other than justyou know, music and just sort of

(26:17):
saying because they did be transcended,um, you know, transcended music and
rock alone, and so you know, that kind of gets back to what
I was saying earlier about him beinga person who was you know, um
had the ability to meet people,NFL players and people, you know,
everyone knew who he was, andso that was you know, respecting him
visibility and so that was that wascool, cool to see. Um yeah,

(26:40):
UM, any update on what Janey'sup to. You really haven't heard
anything from her? Um, Iknow they're private people. Just have you
heard anything which she's doing and howI Yeah, I can only tell you
that, you know, whatever sheposted Instagram is all I know. And
and she supposed that picture was,which was you know definitely uh pulled on

(27:03):
the heartstrings about her and her andor her marriage to d So uh,
you know, that's got to bean extremely difficult thing obviously to have that
um in your rear view mirror inlife and have to go launch. She's
a relatively young woman and that's uh, yeah, it's sad. So no,
I don't know, I don't knowmuch about what what she's up to
then what I see on social media, any input, any communication with Wolfgang

(27:26):
ever, holding on holding one yousee on Twitter, you know it's like,
you know he's h so um,you know he's been uh, you
know, he's been uh a personwho I think It's brought a lot to
the table in terms of kind ofgiving fans the chance to interact with somebody
who was in Van Halen for alot of years and kind of kind of

(27:47):
speak to the stuff that goes onin the band. And it was you
know, that was a cool thing, I think for all of us to
have that where you know, itwas always kind of radio silence from all
the members of anhlence, you knowSammy, I mean, like the three
three other guys in the band,Wolfee and so to have the son come
out and be speaking so directly,unfortunately about stuff about Van Halen, especially

(28:08):
these interviews with Howard Stern and youknow all the other ones he did it
was really kind of a kind ofshocking in some ways, just be like,
not that I wouldn't extarting to speak, but to have someone say,
oh, by the way, allthis stuff you've been speculating for the last
five years about Van Hallen, wantme tell you? And that was you
know, it was very cool tohear that stuff. Obviously the wish was
under different circumstances after his father passedaway, but to have a member of

(28:29):
Van Halen kind of say, yeah, you know you thought this or this
is that, but this is herelywhat was going on. It wasn't amazing
and we oh wolf getting probably forthe last stuff we got from Van Halen.
If you think, oh, definitely, definitely, no question, and
then that whole kitchen sink, it'sjust like it doesn't it's nothing compared to
the loss of life. But it'sjust like, man, we're so close.

(28:52):
It was I wonder if it wasgoing to happen. Honestly, I
don't. I don't know, butyou know, we always hope. I
hate to be that guy. Greg. I want to quickly segue into get
some input on the Sunset studio sessions, and I'm going to introduce Ian or
Rourke. Ian is a musician.He's a guitarist and vocalist of the New

(29:12):
York band Motor Lord. Ian.Welcome to Metal Mayhem, Say hello to
Greg Ranoff. Hey, Greg,it's very nice to speak with you.
Hey, it's a pleasure. Greatto talk to you. So I had
some questions, and I know thatI've watched your interview with Sunset Studios extensively

(29:37):
several times. Did you get afeel that there was maybe more material that
was captured there, that maybe istucked away in some of the old Van
Hill and vault that maybe someday we'llsee. Well, yeah, I mean
I think that there there is probablyenough material if Alex and Wolf would want

(30:02):
to release it that would you know, would would could provide a few bonus
tracks on each album. And againI'm not talking about like, you know,
five or six out of things,but um, you know, a
couple of songs to hear, acouple of songs there, um that could
you know, could really provide somereal interest for fans of the band.
I think it all comes down tothe last thing I heard about this definitively
was from Alex dan Halen, maybelike fifteen years ago. Saying, you

(30:26):
know, in effect, we don'twant to put other stuff out because we
think the albums were put together atthat time to be the best they could
be. Meeting in nineteen eighty four, eighty three, eighty two. Whenever
the albums came out and they're youknow there, you'd just be cheapening what
they were by turning around and puttingmore stuff on them. So um,
the answer to the question is yeah. I mean, if I were up

(30:48):
to me, I think I wouldsay, yeah, you should, the
stuff should should come out. It'suh, it's Van Halen at their peak,
and you know, even if it'snot, like you know, the
song might have been a little bitlesser than some of the songs put on
their album, people would still wantto hear it, appreciate the band for
what it is. Greg, whenyour aunt Sunset Studios in you're with Brian

(31:10):
Key Hugh, I believe that's agentleman's name. First of all, the
god talk about being in the candystore that just wants have been amazing being
in there. When the camera stoppedand you walked around. What did you
take out of that? What wasshared with you about this whole experience that

(31:30):
left you in awe where you saidto yourself, oh my god, I
can't believe I'm here, And wasthere any what was it really like in
there? Well, you know,when you go to the studio itself,
there's you know, a little entrancelobby and there's a little there's a couch
in there, and there's what theGold records are, and then you know,
then you kind of walked in thedifferent rooms and uh, you know

(31:52):
when you go into studio two andthat's the spot where the famous uh you
know photoshoot was done with their ampsand the McDonald's rappers and peer cans all
over the ground and where they werethey recorded a lot of the a lot
more probably they did most of therecording for the Van Halen records in that
room. It's the bigger of thetwo rooms. You know, it's kind
of takes your breath away because it'shere there, in that same spot where

(32:14):
all these great albums were recorded byVan Halen. But also realizing that fans
like let that one Little Feet andyou know, Fleetwood, Mac and the
Doors and all these other groups uhworked in these rooms. It was it
was really incredible to to stand inthose spots and kind of look around and
kind of imagine it in fact,you know, I um uh it really

(32:36):
was you know, kind of hardto hard to take it all in at
that moment. And they also gotto see into um where they have basically
an equipment room, and they showedme some of the microphones and different equipment
that dated back to Van Halen times. And they pulled that one mic in
particular, which they call the Princemicrophone, and it's a microphone that probably
dates back to the nineteen sixties thatPrince liked and used and sang on.

(33:00):
And they actually have a label onit says the Prince mike. And you
know, so they have that becauseum, you know, don't they have
equipment for all the years. Butif people requested, they're like, what
Mike, did Prince sink through?Because they when they want to record something's
down, they want to use thesame microphone the Prince used. And so
it's like you know that actually youknow, like you're looking at that,
you're like wow, like the guyssaying like little Red Corvett into that microphone

(33:20):
that was you know, that wasreally incredible, and you know, it
just is, uh, it's afacility that's been there since the sixties and
even before. It was an interestingenough even before like rock music was recorded.
There a lot of the early earlyDisney movies, like I'm talking like
you know, bed dobs and broomsticksand all of these are sort of live
action, like the live action Disneymovies from the sixties that had songs in

(33:43):
them. That was the studio thatwas used for that stuff that they used
to you know, they used todo the songs for the movies. And
just when you had that in theback of your head, you're like,
wow, this is really you know, this is really an amazing facility.
So, you know, it definitelygives you a sense of history and a
sense of appreciation for what was accomplishedin that room, in those that studio

(34:05):
and everything that really was game changingabout the music, greg the reverb chamber,
the room that they use. Growingup as a kid, you know,
you would hear these stories about thisroom and you just think it's this
big monolith, you know, that'sthis gigantic room. The truth is,
it's I guess it's not really thatbig. It's just the way that it

(34:28):
is constructed and laid out. Isthat the case, Yeah, you know,
I didn't get the stance to seeit. Now, the River Room
is off of Studio one, andso Studio one was occupied that they actually
did not go into Studio one,which is the smaller of the two studio
rooms, and it's actually it's yeah, it's only accessible from Studio one.
But I see pictures of it likeyou have, and uh, yeah,

(34:50):
from what I understand, it looksvery similar to the way it did back
in the sixties seventies. It wasjust a you know, kind of a
small room that has these very veryum you know us smooth walls that when
a guitar part, for examples,recorded out in the studio me and studio
room, and then it's what theprocesses is. Then that is played back
through a speaker which is sitting insidethe reverb room, and there's a microphone

(35:14):
there so that that guitar sound comesout of the speaker and it's recorded again
basically by the microphone. It's capturesthe rever But yeah, it's uh,
that's something if I ever get thechance to go back, which I hope
to you one day, you know, kind of see that those other little
NOx and Granny the sunsets down thatwould be that would be incredible. Um.
You know Pete Thorne who's a greatguitar player. He did a video
if you guys want to check itout on his YouTube where he was able

(35:36):
to show UM kind of I thinkthat the layout of Studio one and maybe
a little bit of the rever room, it's a it's uh, you know,
it's it's kind of beyond comprehension whenyou think about like, oh,
that's where you know the Doors firstalbum. Jim Morrison's vocals were done through
there, and you know the Doorsand Van Halen and all these other groups.
It's just, you know, it'sit's uh, it really was a
special special day I got to spendthere. I was going to mention about

(36:00):
Pete Thorne when you were talking aboutall of the you know, the the
charitable actions that the Eddie is asyou know, conducted over the years and
different people that he's Matt and Petehas gone extensively to talk about the handful
of times that he's got to spendwith Ed and actually going to fifty one
fifty and you know has pictures youknow, UHD took with him with a

(36:24):
guitar up on the roof of thestudio and things like that, and you
know he's he's probably one of theU I guess we all are. You
know, I know the deep downinside, you know, I'm the reason
I play guitar is at Van Halenand uh you know, I'm sure that
Pete is probably in that same conversationand you know, would be kindred spirits

(36:46):
with the rest of us, soto speak. Yeah, I thought it
was. I thought it was reallyuh great that Pete got a chance to
go to Sense of Sound and youknow, uh set up some amps and
playing the same spot that Ed played. It's uh, you know, it's
got to be uh as you asyou said before, kind of a you
know, a thing where you lookback on the friendship that you had with

(37:07):
him and he was able to uhHee was able to spend time with him
and stuff, and then enough togo and kind of stand in a spot
where I stood inside the studio oneand sunset sound. It's uh yeah,
it's um it's got to be avery uh a bitter suite feeling for Pete.
But uh, you know, he'sbeen a great uh asset I think
to the Van Halen fan world,and he's really you know, waved the

(37:29):
flag for Van Halen and and reallygiven people who are huge guitar fans a
chance to sort of think about theway I had different different things and sort
of unlocking some of those secrets andjust kind of chasing tone. Like every
other guitar player loves that Van Halen. The one thing out of those videos
that I found fascinating was that littletidbit about they did the cowbell to hear

(37:49):
about it later share that story.What are the details behind it? Yeah,
there's um. So there's a littlebasketball court. Um like a little
um in between the studio buildings.You can step outside into fresh air and
there's a brick walls, but there'sthe walls of the studio and there's a
basketball court there. And the waythen Don Landy told me the story was
that they recorded the cowbell for hereabout it later after warning inside studio too,

(38:15):
presumably where they had Alex's drum setup, and then Ted Templeman and
Don Landy decided that it wasn't loudenough. That basically they thought it could
be louder, and they tried todo another take of it, and they
did. They put the cowbell outsideand set it up and had Alex hit
the cowbell in between these two brickwalls, which are fairly close together.

(38:35):
I think if by another spot.I never went there with Don and I
don't know if I know Zacker thespot where it was done, but you
know, it would be like,you know, like an alley way almost
like a kind of a between twobrick walls, and sort of that's where
he did it to kind of likeget that real loud cowbell sound. And
he told me that. I waslike, oh, wow, that's that's
cool. Um, you know,that was a cool little thing that I
had not heard before. So yeah, that's what that's about. That's awesome.

(38:59):
Before we finish up here, Ian, you wanted to ask Greg about
what's on the doctor for the futurefor him professionally, Well, I think
a person that, especially after Iwatched your you know, your interview with
Izzie recently, and I think thatRodney Bingenheimer you would be the ideal person

(39:23):
to tap him and get some ofthose old stories flushed out, you know,
not just Van Helen, but Imean he's been involved with so many
bands throughout the years. He waskind of like the you know, one
of the central pulses of the scenein LA and stuff back in the day.

(39:44):
Yeah, I appreciate you saying that. You know, I um,
I was told and interesting enough thatRodney still eats breakfast or lunch or I
don't know what the word or wheneverat Denny's on Sunset Boulevard every day.
He's been doing that since like seventies. Like if you're like, We're like,
if you want to talk to Rodney, just go sit in Denny's all
day and like just keep drinking coffeeand eventually he's going to show up.
Um. You know, I'm gladyou brought up Rodney. Rodney is I

(40:06):
think one of the most unsung andunderappreciated people in rock history. Um.
You know, if you talk toanybody who was on the scene about Rodney,
they will talk about how he wasalways around and promoting bands, whether
from his radio show or just beinga guy who was just a connector who
would introduce people to other people andhelped bring you know, he's the guy
who brought David Bowie to him toHollywood first I remember correctly, and you

(40:30):
know, he brought me he poppedto Hollywood, if I remember correctly,
and you know kind of Um wasalways the one who was right there in
the middle of it, and uhyou know the uh the stories that Rodney
has told on them the documentary hedid were really really cool. But you
know, I think, yeah,I mean, there's that's an interesting person
to think about in terms of anotheranother thing to write about, because he's

(40:53):
a he's he's definitely an unusual figurein so many other ways too. I
mean he's definitely not um kind ofa cookie cutter, you know, rock
rock guy. I think he's definitelygot sort of a very uh, eccentric
taste. And you know, thisguy who promoted everything from the Ramones and
Blondie to Van Halen and really uhhe was uh yeah, he was one

(41:15):
of the first guys to kind ofget Van Halen on the radar Hollywood and
all the credits to Rodney Bean andhim. Yeah, I just what it
was the first thing that popped intomy head when you were conducting that interview.
I was like, you know,that would be the ideal person for
Greg to maybe set focus on atsome point in the future because his connection

(41:36):
with Van Halen, I mean connectionwith the Runaways you said, Bowie,
I mean there's just so many andendless. I mean endless go Goes,
I mean, yeah, yeah,less, it is absolutely endless. The
Bengals, I mean all these groups. I mean, were you know,
all sort of you know, pushedby Rodney early or were they you know
they they were. He was there, he was at the center of all
of it. Yep. Amazing Andthank you for taking the time to join

(42:01):
us tonight. Uh we'll stay intouch, yes sir, Thank you,
Greg, and thanks Mike and Vernalfor having me on the show with you.
Hey, pleasuring Thanks. All right, Well we're gonna wrap this up,
Mike again, parting shouts and comments. I guess the question is we
got Greg here to ask about whatthe next project might be. I want

(42:21):
another van Halen book. I wouldlove a don Land book. You know.
The last year or so for mewas was kind of a challenging one
because of COVID and my family situation. I wasn't able to get a lot
of writing done, and so I'mjust trying to get my feedback under me
here and look towards trying to doanother book. You know, I definitely
have another van Halen book in me. I'm not sure when that's going to

(42:43):
be one that I'm gonna write.But that's definitely true. I mean,
I think I have more to sayon that, but yeah, I appreciate
you guys interested. I already toannounced anything just yet, but you know,
it's it's a nice, nice thingto have the two books out and
people really have responded well to them, and I know that Ted was really
really surprised at the response. Ithink he you know, I think Ted

(43:06):
was always a guy who kind ofunderappreciated his m his impact in the world
of music. He's not a bigyou know, not a big eagle maniacs
have a guy. I mean,I know he knows he did hit records,
but he's not walking around like youknow, reading his own press clippings
are like wandering like, you know, what are people saying about me the
internet? So, you know,it's been nice for him to see that
people really liked the book beyond likeoh just Van Halen stuff. The said

(43:28):
always a good story, you know, a good story about a guy who
you know, wanted to be amusician and got involved in music and was
a pop star and then became aGrammy winning producer. So he's been really
pleased with that. So you knowthere'll be another there'll be another book.
Um, you know, I don'tthink on the topic of Don, I
don't think you know, Don,it's got a guy who I don't think
would ever ever agree to do abook. I feel fortunate that I've got

(43:51):
to chance to talked to Don ona number of occasions, and he's you
know, shared that like those tidbitsabout like the cow balanced stuff. But
you know there's a reason why someguys are on one side of the glass
to the other, and you knowthat's uh, you know, he's a
pretty uh, pretty private person anduh, you know he would I think
he would be uncomfortable with doing abook. But I you know, I
listen, you know, I can'tget enough Van Halen stuff, and he

(44:14):
would be an ideal person that youknow, get more, you know,
obviously more stories from the great guy. So here's a fun little connection that
I learned from the Templeman book.Paul Curcio associated with Ted and Doobie Brothers
and all that. Well. Cursiowas originally from Rochester, New York,

(44:35):
and after that period he moved backand he owned the studio where Metallica recorded
to Kill Him All album. Solast fall, when it was the anniversary
of the observance of Cliff Burton's deathin late September, I happened to do
an exclusive interview with the second chairengineer on to Kill Him all this guy

(45:00):
Andrew Robleski, and the whole tiecame together with Cursio and the studio and
Metallicas tied us ties to Rochester andit's a whole fascinating um you know,
early early eighties metal connection, Megaporth, Johnny z Metallica, Rochester, Cursio,

(45:21):
how they Zazula brokaged a deal withCurseo too. He didn't have any
money, but he needed a studioand it was just just fascinating. But
it all went back. I'm likethat name Cursio, and it went back
to the Templeament book. And yeah, he was a Bay Area guy and
yeah, like you said, likeit was involved with the Dubis and some

(45:42):
other and some other groups here.He was involved with that beginnings of the
seventies and so yeah, so allright, well, Greg Um, Mike
wanna say goodbye before we let Greggo. I do, Greg, this
has been a lot of fun,love both books. One quick question actually
for you as you approach your nextsubject or subjects you consider because you're you're

(46:04):
a historian, do you look atsomething it's too recently think I can't go
there? And are you a biographeror you a historian? What what do
you go for with us with yoursubjects? Yeah, I mean I think
that's a good question. I meanI think, you know, I don't
really consider myself a journalist, man. I think sometimes that will kind of
come up with people, you know, asking me about what I'm a journalist
and I'm not really a journalist.I am a historian, and so you

(46:25):
know, covering like, you know, things that I've just you know,
just transpired. Yeah, I thinkit's probably always best as a historian to
sort of have that um, youknow, that time lag, and certainly
I would, you know, definitelyfeel more comfortable writing about something where you
have that historical perspective going back thirty, you know, twenty thirty years if
possible to kind of look at somethingthen sort of like try to make sense

(46:45):
of something that happened like two monthsago, you know. So yeah,
I definitely think I'm a my storian. Van Hill is still fun for you,
Yeah, I mean I think Ithink it is in a lot of
ways, and like with you know, just the um the legacy band and
mean all the things that I enjoyabout it. It's uh, it's definitely
become a different thing, you know, since it's passed away. It's just

(47:07):
not even the fact that he's gone, I mean just more it's just um,
just that it's it's over, youknow, like you really have the
finality. It's one thing to belike, well, Eddie van Halen has
passed away, and that's a sadthing personally for me and for millions of
other people. But it's also thereality that it's um, you know,
there's no more van Halen, youknow, and that's a different type of
thing. It's not like any otherband where you can set you right and
see who are they gonna get right? Right? It's definitely over. So

(47:30):
well this is over because it soundslike your dog has to get out.
So Greg Rundow, thank you foryour time, and you know, well
we'll stay in touch. Appreciate itanytime, guys, happy to do it.
Enjoyed it very much. Okay,do you have a good night,
sir? Thanks bye bye. Wow. That dog was either hungry or had

(47:51):
to go for a walk. Itwas time all right. Well, hey
Mike Georgio, thanks for staying uppast your bedtime and coming up here and
um sort of celebrating the life ofEddie van Halen. I could talk van
Halen for hours. Yeah, sohe can anytime, and we're gonna I'm
gonna get you back on a showat better hours and we're gonna go over
Mike to Georgio's top one hundred,top one hundred and thirty three Van Halen

(48:14):
songs. It's a it's a fantasticlist. And um, I have a
question for that. How have youhow have you been doing that? It
did you? Um? Uh writeit all out and then just schedule posts.
I made the list about a yearago. Um I just I literally
every few hours go over the computerand post a new one. Okay,

(48:38):
So if you're listening out there,um, my Facebook friends have been subjected
to my posting love it thirty fourposts. If you go to the Metal
Mayhem roc group group Facebook group page, you'll Mike and I are friends.
You'll see it on there and justfollow us, follow Mike to Georgio and
Twitter and Facebook and you'll see whathe's talking about. So having to defend

(49:00):
some choices. Yeah, all right, well that's tonight's show. God bless
Eddie and you know what has theSaint says um, keep it heavy.
I'm the Vernomatic. This is MetalMayhem r OC. We'll see you next
week, Folks, Metal for Live. Thanks for listening to Medlemayhem ROC.
Check out our websites at Meddlemayhem rocdot com and metal Forever dot com for

(49:24):
information on upcoming concerts, podcast archives, and all sorts of info. Please
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Catch us next time on wlf EDV Radio Ust