Begining of the end..Eddie on DLR

Decatone: I’m not sure what the rest said as it’s blurred out

The brothers decided that Mike Anthony wasn’t making enough of a contribution to continue earning a full share of the music publishing. Truthfully, Mikey didn’t write. Ever. He basically played on bass what Eddie would tell him. He was a quick study and he would add to what he was given. Mike was a creative bass player. He had an incredible background voice that made a big difference in the sound of Van Halen. But the brothers needed money.

Al was almost broke. We were making tons of money, but Al was many million dollars in debt. Leffler helped consolidate his bills and arranged a five-year window with him just paying interest. He had a little real estate crash. He’d bought a $2 million house that he sunk even more millions into for rock-star junk like a rubber room, and then sold it for a big loss. He was making really bad deals.

We held a meeting and took a vote on reducing Mike’s partnership to 10 percent. Leffler and I voted no, but Mikey sided with the Van Halens and voted against himself, 3-2.

“I understand what you’re saying,” he said, “and I’m okay with it.”

jroundy: Seems like Mike couldn’t have been a nicer, easy to get along with guy.

It would be interesting if someone would ask Ed why he dislikes Mike so much?

Even Valerie has said very nice things about Mike.

Back in the ’80s he made comments that Mike had bought a huge house and several Porche’s off of Van Halen and didn’t contribute anything. They released that “Unpublished” interview from 1981 some time around the ’06-’07 period I think and Eddie was saying the same thing, that he felt Mike didn’t pull his weight and didn’t contribute and still got his 25% cut. I recall he also said he didn’t like Mike’s bass sound in the past, too. In 1980, Ed even approached Billy Sheehan about possibly joining the band, but I think they said that they both knew that wouldn’t work.

Ed has made it sound like, from his perspective, he wrote the music, he, Al and Dave arranged the music into songs, Dave and Al helped to come up with the melodies, Dave wrote the lyrics, Al also contributed to set designs and album art along with Dave and Pete and he felt Mike just showed up, learned what Ed had recorded and got his paycheck. That’s what I got out of Ed’s comments over the years and then, like I said, when he went out on tour with Sam after Sam left the band, Ed basically said, “Fuck you. You’re in Sammy’s band now.” but didn’t officially “fire” him, I guess. I do remember him saying, “You can’t be in two bands”, but that obviously doesn’t apply to his son, so there is a bit of hypocrisy there. I don’t think Ed doesn’t like him as a person. I think it was basically that Ed felt that everyone else contributed more than Mike and that Mike seemed OK sitting back and collecting a check off of the Van Halen name. That’s just kind of how I see it based on Ed’s comments. I have no idea if that’s really the case or not, but based on his comments, that’s kind of what I’m picking up.

mcs5150: Did you read the article? It mentions that Mike did not call Eddie when Ed got cancer and also did not call when Ed and Al’s mother died. That would piss me off.

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You know … when someone has treated you like a turd for several years … and you feel like an outsider to begin with …

I can understand why Mike didn’t call. It’s not entirely out of the realm of possibilities that he was thinking, “I really should call … but … if I do … is Ed gonna be drunk and say something like ‘What the fuck do you want?’”

Obviously, I don’t know how things like this actually transpired between them. But I can picture that.

mcs5150: Did you read the article? It mentions that Mike did not call Eddie when Ed got cancer and also did not call when Ed and Al’s mother died. That would piss me off.

Do we know for a fact Mike did not call?

Has Mike said he didn’t call?

Ed could have been so fucked up, he doesn’t even remember what happened.

Let’s not get all bent over something that may or may not be true.

Mike obviously didnt call Alex either, so its not just about Ed.

Regardless if they were all friends or not at the time, you do the right thing and call to send your condolences. Mike was in the band with them since ’74 or whatever and there are no excuses not to call. Like I said before, VH & DLR really hated each other in the mid ’80s yet Dav still called when Jan died.

By VHND contributing writer Kevin Dodds, author of Edward Van Halen: A Definitive Biography

Read more: http://www.vhnd.com/2014/06/15/jan-van-halens-story/#ixzz3e0eEykNG

After years and years of working so hard for so little, Jan finally got his due and the recognition he truly deserved. Sadly, Jan suffered a heart attack in May 1986 and passed away the following December. Even though the timing coincided with the peak of tension between the band and Dave after their split, Dave called Edward to offer his consolation and share his own grief.

Read more: http://www.vhnd.com/2014/06/15/jan-van-halens-story/#ixzz3e0e83aTv

How far is Beverly Hills from that place where they’re rehearsing?

After watching the video of DLR in Beverly Hills (in a recent post above) this was one of the suggested videos that appeared at the end of the video.

So start watching at the 4:05 mark … when Dave is talking about how the band approached a video project.

It’s purely only anecdotal evidence of Mike’s standing in the band … but I couldn’t help but notice that Dave never mentioned him.