Don't agree with everything the guy says, but it's well written.

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I wanna rock and roll all night ... but get to bed around 9:00

By Sean Bartlett

Published: Thursday, February 2, 2006

According to Don McLean, "the day the music died" was Feb. 2, 1959, when an airplane carrying rock legends Buddy Holly, Ritchie Valens and the Big Bopper crashed in a cornfield just outside of Mason City, Iowa. The accident brought an abrupt end to the lives of three highly influential rockers, but perhaps more importantly, signaled the premature demise of Rockabilly culture. '50s dance music was effectively laid to rest on that day, leaving a void that would soon be amply filled by pot, flower children and all things psychedelic.

Such significant shifts of the American zeitgeist are usually best represented through the medium of pop culture. As each decade moves toward new sets of values and social mores, our icons, who were once truly gods amongst men, are thrown by the wayside into states of relative cultural obscurity. It is a heinous fate for many pop idols, as the struggle to find a life after fame is perhaps the megalomaniac's version of an earthly purgatory; a once vibrant soul is now but a shade that prays for a death that refuses to come.

Many believe that Nirvana slew the proverbial hair-metal hydra that dominated the American music scene for an entire decade. Generally, the release of Nevermind in 1991 has been rightly pinpointed as the end of many aqua-net fueled careers. I hoped, however, that metal's raucous spirit had lived on in some regard, if only for my personal sanity. The recent, albeit mild, comeback of Motley Crue this past summer was a sign that the sentiment of the deliciously depraved 1980s had not yet yielded to our increasingly conservative society.

But if there was ever a day I would have seriously considered getting plastered on whiskey and rye at my local levee, it may have been Jan. 3, 2006. It was the day that David Lee Roth took over Howard Stern's timeslot in several East Coast radio markets after the latter made the move to uncensored satellite radio. It was also the day I realized that rock and roll hedonism was officially dead, and that the terrorists had, in fact, won.

When I think of important men who truly defined eras, three names come to mind: Lincoln, Churchill and Roth, as there is no better personification of the decadent 1980s than Diamond Dave. As the front man for Van Halen, the most influential rock band of the period, he embodied a lifestyle of impish excess that every man, woman and child in America wanted to be a part of, if only on some subconscious level. And reaching him was as simple as guiding a turntable's needle into the appropriate groove, whereupon listeners would be offered three-minute teasers into a lifestyle they could never know, transported far from their banal existences to a better place where there is no more valuable a commodity than a ripping guitar solo.

Unfortunately, Roth has now been reduced to the rock-god approximation of a nine-to-five job. As a morning disk jockey, he is locked into a Monday through Friday, four-hour gig that starts at 6:00 a.m. The only way I feel comfortable thinking of Dave up at that ungodly hour is if he's stumbling into a random hotel room after a night of strippers, Jack Daniels and misdemeanors.

Instead of discussing topics like the effects of an incredibly sexy teacher on a young student or driving cars as fast as humanly possible, Roth now goes as far as to devote his insight to more serious topics like the war in Iraq. It is a subject he is strangely conservative about, promoting a view completely antipode to everything I was taught in the school of rock. One thing is for sure: There has never been a time I have been more conscious of the fact that he is old enough to realistically be my father. Sure, the same is true for Steven Tyler, but for some reason he's exempt from such a negative characterization. At the very worst he's that cool uncle who gives you alcohol from the open bar at your cousin's wedding.

On Van Halen's self-titled debut, it is proclaimed that the protagonist of "Running with the Devil" lives his life like there's no tomorrow, and this may have been true for the David Lee Roth of 1979. But for the DLR of 2006 there is a tomorrow, one that arrives all too soon, his former self but a memory to be briefly revived in discussions on VH1's I Love the '80s. But I will always remember how that music made me smile, regardless of the fact that its godfather can no longer wear his badge of chemically-altered honor.


Sean Bartlett, a junior in the College of Arts and Sciences, is a weekly columnist for The Daily Free Press. He can be reached at srb@bu.edu.

If the guy who wrote this didn't take time off before heading off to the college of Arts & Sciences, he was likely BORN in 1984.

Whoa...

Great article though.

Kids know it all these days don't they. :rolleyes:

He knows from nothin.

If the author is looking for a medium to revive the "raucous spirit of metal" then I think he's looking in the wrong place. As he pointed out, this is the radio at 6am in the morning. Maybe he should try hanging out at bars and strip clubs for that "lifestyle of impish excess".

Poor Dave. He just can't win. He spends the last 2 decades pretending
it's 1984, and he's a parody of himself. He decides to grow up and he
single-handedly kills rock n roll. Alas.

That was an excellent read by a future, fellow BU alum. But, I'm left wondering what he thinks of the radio show.

That was an excellent read by a future, fellow BU alum. But, I'm left wondering what he thinks of the radio show.

BU alum right here also..SMG class of 1990!

DLR's problem is that he's human and he got old. Old age destroyed the Diamond Dave myth.
If Dave had killed himself on January 1st 1985, he'd be revered as the greatest rock frontman ever.

WTF??? :wtf:

I don't think anyone is immune from the ravages of time. :drunk:

Even the Diamond One. :sssh:

DLR's problem is that he's human and he got old. Old age destroyed the Diamond Dave myth.
If Dave had killed himself on January 1st 1985, he'd be revered as the greatest rock frontman ever.

Diamond David Lee Roth IS the greatest rock frontman ever. Natch'l fact, Jack!!:devil: That's the truth nah.

DLR ain't human, he's an action figure.

I blame Eddie and Al for helping bust the Diamond Dave myth... they've never been able to STFU and protect the Van Halen legend.

I done got old, cain't do the things I used to do...cuz I done got old...--Junior Kimbrough

I blame Eddie and Al for helping bust the Diamond Dave myth... they've never been able to STFU and protect the Van Halen legend.


Ah yes, the Diamond Dave myth. :devil:

It didn't help that he quit the greatest American rock band ever on his own accord.

Or alienating the members of his next super-band ala Sheehan and Vai, furthering the perception that perhaps he's somewhat difficult in nature.

Or getting busted for dime bags in the park.

Or doing a Vegas sideshow review with members of the Miami Sound Machine.

Or doing lame cover albums again and again.

Or going off half-cocked or half-baked in virtually every interview he's ever done, Ever.

Or wearing purple and gold spandex post-forty, at anytime, in any place, for whatever reason.

Or taking even a smidgen of the Dee Snider route and tossing sound bytes on hack VH 1 nostalgia shows.

Or replacing the biggest DJ on the planet and having members of his family come in to do interviews, all the while hawking label makers and Cadillacs.

In short, Davey has done more than his fair share to lower the defenses on the once great fortress of Van Halen. He is no more or less guilty than Edwina, Alexia, and Spambo. :)

The sole members still retaining their honor with little to no fuckstain, remain as always one Michael Anthony and one Gary Cherone.

In my opinion, of course. :D

Diamond David Lee Roth IS the greatest rock frontman ever. Natch'l fact, Jack!!:devil: That's the truth nah.

DLR ain't human, he's an action figure.

I blame Eddie and Al for helping bust the Diamond Dave myth... they've never been able to STFU and protect the Van Halen legend.

I done got old, cain't do the things I used to do...cuz I done got old...--Junior Kimbrough

Man,..my first concert was when i was 14....and i will always be an ED fan but vh was so fucking massively huge and almost "action figurish" that whole fucking 1984 tour was talk of the town when they came to town , yes it was an amazing thing , parents were fookin' cringing, priests were praying, pastors were passing out,Dads were lockin' doors, Moms were horny....drugs and booze were a plenty...and we all got along....http://i34.photobucket.com/albums/d120/craigstacey/ffvh.jpg

Yep. Those were good times.

Damn good times. :sssh:

btw - I believe I'll be taking all four of them to go. :drunk:

Van Squalen, that's what I say. Public perception of someone like Roth would be totally different if he died on January 1985.
If Lennon had grown old, he would've made some mistakes and the myth, while still huge, wouldn't be as big as it is now.
If he was still alive, Jim Morrison would probably be bald and weighing 300 pounds. Cobain marred in lawsuits against Courtney, and Hendrix embarassed by guest appearances on Michael Jackson records.

Yeah DRL made some mistakes but the DLR myth had an expiration date from the start coz it only worked with a young Dave.

There's two entities here. Diamond Dave the rock star, of a one, kickass rock and roll machine from days of yore. Then, there is David Lee Roth. The mostly private, guarded man we don't really get to see or hear from as much as we'd like.

Sure, DLR has probably hurt his cred a little bit, but he's a person who takes chances. People get older. They change. But you can't take anything away from the old days of Diamond Dave.

The writer of this review sounds young. I think too many people are wanting Dave to be just like Stern, who caters to the dumb and dumber. Dave is far more intelligent. He needs a better crew to make his radio show better and certain other things. It wasn't going to be spectacular right away. He needs a little time to find the groove.

There's two entities here. Diamond Dave the rock star, of a one, kickass rock and roll machine from days of yore. Then, there is David Lee Roth. The mostly private, guarded man we don't really get to see or hear from as much as we'd like.

Sure, DLR has probably hurt his cred a little bit, but he's a person who takes chances. People get older. They change. But you can't take anything away from the old days of Diamond Dave.

The writer of this review sounds young. I think too many people are wanting Dave to be just like Stern, who caters to the dumb and dumber. Dave is far more intelligent. He needs a better crew to make his radio show better and certain other things. It wasn't going to be spectacular right away. He needs a little time to find the groove.

I agree with you, Sum.

Ah yes, the Diamond Dave myth. :devil:

It didn't help that he quit the greatest American rock band ever on his own accord.

Or alienating the members of his next super-band ala Sheehan and Vai, furthering the perception that perhaps he's somewhat difficult in nature.

Or getting busted for dime bags in the park.

Or doing a Vegas sideshow review with members of the Miami Sound Machine.

Or doing lame cover albums again and again.

Or going off half-cocked or half-baked in virtually every interview he's ever done, Ever.

Or wearing purple and gold spandex post-forty, at anytime, in any place, for whatever reason.

Or taking even a smidgen of the Dee Snider route and tossing sound bytes on hack VH 1 nostalgia shows.

Or replacing the biggest DJ on the planet and having members of his family come in to do interviews, all the while hawking label makers and Cadillacs.



Or doing "JUMP" with the Boston Pops :p :wtf:


From what I've heard so far, I don't think his radio show is as bad as alot of these reviews coming out, and with time it could have devolped into something better. But it was not a smart idea to decide to step into Howard's shoes (in NYC no less) and NOT do a comedy-type show. They are looking for someone to come in and light'em up immediately. No time for experimenting. Maybe he should have tried comedy at first and develop it into something else once the listers are hooked in. I don't know. It's really a no-win for any dj coming in after Stern.

With Dave's big paycheck, high expectations and a less than spectacular start.....unfortunately his days on radio 'tis numbered. IMO

Van Squalen, that's what I say. Public perception of someone like Roth would be totally different if he died on January 1985.
If Lennon had grown old, he would've made some mistakes and the myth, while still huge, wouldn't be as big as it is now.
If he was still alive, Jim Morrison would probably be bald and weighing 300 pounds. Cobain marred in lawsuits against Courtney, and Hendrix embarassed by guest appearances on Michael Jackson records.

Yeah DRL made some mistakes but the DLR myth had an expiration date from the start coz it only worked with a young Dave.

Little Dream-a, I get the whole live fast, die young story(Jim Morrison, James Dean, Robert Johnson, Kurt Cobain, Janis Joplin, Jimi Hendrix, Brian Jones, Keith Moon, Lenny Bias, John Bonham, & John F. Kennedy). Son House lived to be 86, R.L. Burnside lived to be 78, John Lee Hooker lived to be around 80, Howlin' Wolf lived to be 66, John Lennon lived to be 40, and Wilson Pickett lived to be 64--these gentlemen are all LEGENDS to me.

I'm glad that Diamond Dave and King Edward are still with us. An' ya'll can point out all the mistakes DLR has made, but I agree with Billy Sheehan, Roth taught us all how to live life like you mean it.:devil: I believe you can learn a lot from Dave's approach to livin' large, livin' so large you need a barge, Marge!!!...an' you got to believe in somethin'...I believe I'll have another drink:D...

Man,..my first concert was when i was 14....and i will always be an ED fan but vh was so fucking massively huge and almost "action figurish" that whole fucking 1984 tour was talk of the town when they came to town , yes it was an amazing thing , parents were fookin' cringing, priests were praying, pastors were passing out,Dads were lockin' doors, Moms were horny....drugs and booze were a plenty...and we all got along....http://i34.photobucket.com/albums/d120/craigstacey/ffvh.jpg

Awesome, awesome post! That's what I'm talkin' 'bout nah! :devil:

Yep, the clock's ticking.

The only real question is, what's next for the Diamond?

Let's face it, the only way Dave's gonna come back successfully in the public eye is reuniting with Van Halen. Anything else, in regards to commercial and cultural longevity, is gonna fall short. His track record is pretty consistent in recent years as far as what people want from him and what they don't. They don't want cover albums; heck, they don't really want any solo albums period. They don't wanna extended Vegas variety shows. They don't want guest starring cameos on VH1 or the Sopranos.

So if he wants to keep head above celebrity water, continuing to tour small venues with a tight band, great.

Otherwise, retire from the public eye, keep doing something cool and real like the EMT gig, write, travel, whatever.

But for the luvva pete, stop fucking around with ventures rife with further potential tarnishing of the once legendary David lee Roth. And for heaven's sake don't be a fucking guest celebrity judge on American Idol.

Actually, I've got a long list of DON'Ts for ya, Dave. You've DON'Ted me too many times, ya nimrod.

Shut yer piehole, learn the definition of humility, and beg Edward for one last album. That is, if you want to end it on top.

Yeah I agree.


But that with potential reunion/farewell carrot is dangling in front of everyone, what to do?? :confused:


Let's face it, it's gonna be there til one of them - and I hate to say/write it - kicks (God forbid).

As weird as it sounds, I think "Crazy From the Heat," Roth's bio, was one venture that DLR explored that was unanimously accepted. It's a really good read. Maybe Dave should stick to books.

From what everyone says (including Dave), there's close to zero chances of another CVH reunion happening - DLR gotta settle on the next best thing.

The DLR we all know and love has been gone for a loooooooong time.

The "DLR Band" CD was the last look at a legend long gone.

The radio show...is almost unlistenable. And, I don't want it to be. I want it to be amazing. Having been fortunate enough to interview Dave on several occasions, I know the guy's smart. I know he's capable of intelligent conversation. He's an extremely charismatic guy when he wants to be. And that seems to be the problem.

Dave gets bored easily. I think he took the gig, and then said "aw shit man..I don' wanna get up every day and do a job." His ego says he can do it. His attention span isn't long enough to fill one good four hour show much less 5 a week, over two years.

David Lee Roth is one of the best interviews in Rock. But, one of the worst radio hosts ever. Those who look at it differently just ain't listening objectively. He CAN do the gig. But, honestly bit off too big a slice before he was ready. I've been doing radio 20 years...I'm not saying I'm good at it...I'm saying even after 20 years, I'm not ready to do mornings in 6 cities. Dave's only experience is doing the occasional one-week trial run.

Radio's not as easy as some people think it is. Especially talk radio. Dave's schtick is based on audience reaction. And in radio, you get none of that immediate gratification that indicates whether the story's working, or not.

The trick to doing it right, is to know your out, and work backwards. Know where you intend to go. Dave hasn't even tried that. He's trying stream of consciousness. He doesn't know how to do it for radio yet. And he's honestly probably not going to get a chance to refine it enough.

Too much money dependant upon a guy who just isn't that good. Ratings are expected to be horrible, and CBS Radio knows it.

Dave's the sacrificial lamb. Nobody could follow Stern. Dave will be well-paid to take the hit.

I predict he's done by June 30

I could be wrong.

The trick to doing it right, is to know your out, and work backwards. Know where you intend to go. Dave hasn't even tried that. He's trying stream of consciousness. He doesn't know how to do it for radio yet. And he's honestly probably not going to get a chance to refine it enough.
I think to complain that he's not executing "the craft" as everybody else does, but trying this improvisational style, is a little bit hidebound (used the dictionary for that word :D ), because he apparently is trying to create something new and very different.

The show is in my opinion always good, when he's with guests. It can get very tedious, when we get to the same story we heard yesterday already and last week before that, although some repetition is valid. Please no more explanations about "trackblasting" :brickwall

What I really like is, that he's doesn't mind taking a risk, like slamming all the grammy records. I think everybody else woud falter under the pressure of commercial interests. Maybe he will also in time, but I don't think so.

All in all, I see improvement over the weeks.

Poor Dave. He just can't win. He spends the last 2 decades pretending
it's 1984, and he's a parody of himself. He decides to grow up and he
single-handedly kills rock n roll. Alas.

Okay....and your living in the world of Hallmark Card Lyrics???? That AINT
Kick A@% IN YOUR FACE ROCK, which is what Dave's product has always been.

There is an interesting twist that when I was in the doctor's office the other day, I heard "Van Hagar's" "DREAMS" on the soft-rock station they usually play. Now i n contrast, you'll never hear the Doctor or Dentist playing Classic Rock stations and drilling your teeth to "UNCHAINED" or "MEAN STREETS" - those tunes get you so fired up the physician might get aggressive with those tools they use on you!

With Van Hagar, the patient AND the doctor end up falling asleep before the surgery is over...