Well, when you're out of options, all you have left is what you've denied for years.
Roth Hot for Van Halen Reunion
05/26/2006 2:49 PM, E! Online
Josh Grossberg
David Lee Roth is ready to jump for Van Halen again.
After he was unceremoniously booted from his morning show in April, four months after replacing Howard Stern on CBS Radio, Diamond Dave opened up about his future job prospects, telling Billboard he foresees a day when he and his old bandmates are bound for a reunion.
"I see it absolutely as an inevitability," Roth told the magazine. "There's contact between the two camps, and they have legitimate management; Irv Azoff is part of their loop now."
But will the rest of Van Halen's members welcome back their first and most popular vocalist, who led the heavy metal band to superstardom, with open arms?
"To me, it's not rocket surgery," added Roth. "It's very simple to put together. And as far as hurt feelings and water under the dam, like What'shername says to What'shername at the end of the movie Chicago--so what? It's showbiz! So, I definitely see it happening."
It was during the acrobatic frontman's tenure from 1974 to 1985 that Van Halen scored its greatest success on the charts, with such classic rock gems as "Jump," "Hot For Teacher," "Panama," "Jamie's Cryin'," "Dance the Night Away" and "Runnin' With the Devil," among others.
But bad blood between Roth and guitarist Eddie Van Halen, bassist Michael Anthony and drummer Alex Van Halen surfaced over his increasingly showman-like stage antics. After the release of Van Halen's sixth and most acclaimed album, 1984, the flamboyant crooner left the group in 1985 and launched a middling solo career.
He was replaced by Sammy Hagar and Van Halen entered a softer, more pop-oriented phase (an era many fans refer to as the Van Hagar years).
The original lineup did get back together briefly in 1996, when Roth was invited to join Eddie and the boys in the studio to record two new songs for Van Halen's Best of Vol. 1. However, a bizarre appearance by the foursome at the MTV Video Music Awards that year revealed the old tensions were still there.
Talk of a full-blown reunion has been on and off since then, heating up in 1999 after Van Halen ended their two-year ill-fated collaboration with their third frontman, Gary Cherone.
Instead, the rockers went on a four-year hiatus, only to resurface in 2004 with a second greatest-hits album and a modestly successful summer reunion tour fronted by Hagar, who returned to his solo career shortly thereafter.
Meanwhile, when he wasn't touring on his own tours or recording solo albums such as 1988's experimental Skyscraper or 1990's more conventional rocker, A Little Ain't Enough, the "Just a Gigolo" singer wrote his autobiography, Crazy From the Heat and tried his hand at being an EMT before turning to radio.
Roth took over the morning drive slot from Stern on CBS Radio in January after the shock jock jumped to Sirius Satellite Network, but low ratings prompted his ousting in April and he was replaced by Opie & Anthony.
However, rumors of a Van Halen reunion got going again when the rocker told the Pittsburgh Tribune-Review that he had spoken with Anthony and that a reuion was in the offing.
Whether it happens or not, Roth plans to press ahead with his own tour this summer, telling Billboard he's looking forward to playing all the old Van Halen hits with a large band he's assembling.
"I'm so proud of that music," he added. "I like to bring out the brass section now and the keyboard players and the singers and so forth. It's probably a little closer to the Rolling Stones revue than to the early three-piece power trio."
I have some serious doubts about this even being viable. Even if Dave is accepted back "Me Wise Magic" was evidence they Eddie doesn't have another "Unchained" or "Panama" up his sleeve.
