Damn Tired of Media's Lack of Respect for VH, Dave and Sam!

[Music Heals]

Will someone please help me to understand why the majority of the curent music and entertainment media overwhelmingly continue to downplay the contributions made to Rock n Roll by the VH Bros, Dave and to a lesser extent Sam. I know that the guys have brought a lot of it on themselves the last few years, but this does not take away from their cemented history of bringing style and substance to the world of music when it was sorely needed in the late 70's.

This excerpt was taken from an article on EW.com, the reporter took his 17yr old daughter to the MTV awards to get a different perspective on the nights event:
"When Hayley took a trip to the restroom, she returned to report that ''some older guy with long blond hair'' was being interviewed just outside the men's room, and a few minutes later, when David Lee Roth shambled onto the stage, she said, ''That's the guy!'' Roth and his copresenter Sammy Hagar proved their worthlessness (as if it needed proving after this past summer's dueling Fired Van Halen Lead Singer tour) by announcing proudly that they didn't know a single song by the winner they were anointing, Linkin Park."

What was that? "Worthlessness?" I mean really, who would you rather sit across from at dinner for an hour? Dave or the guys from Linkin Park. At least Dave tried to bring some personality to an other wise bland show. I mean the reporter should have leaned over to his daughter, and with a sly grin said" Honey, that is Rock N Roll!"

This excerpt was pulled from a caption from People.com, underneath a picture of Dave in his Black Jump Suit:
DISCO DUD: Former Van Halen front man David Lee Roth attempts to relive his rock-god glory days with a 1970s-styled tight black jumpsuit. Ouch.

Again another jab at Dave that will filter into the minds of the nations youth, giving them encouragement to perceive him as a joke.

This kind of reminds me of Elvis vs The Fat Elvis. At his peek, Elvis was bigger than life. At the end of his life he was perceived as sorry, cartoon-ish, and after his death, a joke. Of course his hard core fans new different but the rest of the country thought it was vogue to laugh at him. Now, 25 yrs later he is starting to be recognized by the Majority of the American public as an Icon.

In short, what I'm saying is that even though we can't compare VH directly to Elvis, VH did contribute to the progression of Rock music, musicianship and style. The media should Give credit where credit is due. It would be nice to see every once in a while "A former member of one of the greatest and most influential American Rock groups" used to describe the VH bros, Dave or Sammy in a published article or picture caption.

[55starfire]

if you ever read dave's book "crazy from the heat" - he has an interesting quote (that he remembered from his childhood) in one of the beginning chapters about how american society would eventually stop having enemies like the "russians" or "communists", and would gradually turn its animosity towards itself, and its public figures and celebrities- and he remarks about how that is happening now...

the media makes a living trying to belittle and disgrace celebrities and public figures... that is what sells magazines and TV commercials... its the society we live in today- love it or leave it (figuratively speaking of course...)

[ August 30, 2002, 11:13 AM: Message edited by: 55starfire ]

[joe318]

the guy is just an asshole, he does not know what rock n roll really is.
all the new bands rap dance boybands is just plain shit.

[joe318]

one more thing rock n roll is van fuckin halen. i wish these people would get it though their thick heads.

[55starfire]

joe318- is there enough room in naugatuck for 2 VH-freaks like us?

[Brett]

It just proves they have good taste. No one with good musical taste should know a crappy Linkin Park song anyway. What a joke.

[zero discipline]

What one has to realize is that kids today are somewhat stupid. Not inherently stupid, just lack of knowledge stupid. They detest disco and classic rock; but unknowingly love songs that are based on borrowed riffs from America, John Cougar, Van Halen, Chic, Bill Withers, Police, etc.

[55starfire]

"lack of knowledge stupid" = ignorant [img]graemlins/thumb.gif[/img]

[aftershock5]

The music & contributions VH has made through the years will remain timeless gems. Someday, VH will get the long overdue recognition they deserve. Fuck that asshole reporter, his fucking opinion and his fucking whore daughter
Not angry y'all-just venting [img]graemlins/thumb.gif[/img]

[Crazy from the Hemp]

Do we really care what a mainstream media that's elevated the likes of Justin Timberlake and Eminem to the status of cultural icons thinks? Except for a small time frame in the late eighties and early nineties when hard rock dominated the sales charts, awards shows have always sucked, and will inherently continue to, because they represent the mass record buying public - many of whom have absolutely no taste in music whatsoever.

Most people will never appreciate a real musical composition like EVH's Cathedral or Eruption, because it didn't arrive as part of a carefully planning marketing presentation designed to satisfy the widest demographic. Britney Spears is Burger King for people who think of music like background wallpaper, Van Halen is a five course, five star meal for people who truly appreciate and LISTEN to music. I could give a flying fuck that an Eminem fan despises Fair Warning, but I sure enjoy cranking it up to piss them off.

As for this quote...

What one has to realize is that kids today are somewhat stupid. Not inherently stupid, just lack of knowledge stupid. They detest disco and classic rock; but unknowingly love songs that are based on borrowed riffs from America, John Cougar, Van Halen, Chic, Bill Withers, Police, etc.

...I would have to disagree strongly. Kids like the rest of us are one part genetics and one part a product of their environment. Left to their own devices, they will be inundated by and come to appreciate the popular pap of the day. But speaking as a Dad of two boys, age 8 and 6, consistently expose them to good music from any genre and they'll start to figure out the good from the bad on their own. In the car or in the house, my kids are hearing everything from classic VH to Miles Davis to Bob Marley and I'm proud to report at this time that their favorite bands are Nickleback and Aerosmith and hip hop/rap has no place in our home.

Still working on the VH though, but I'm sure they'll figure that one out when they start borrowing Dad's guitar

[Red-Diamond]

Originally posted by Brett:
It just proves they have good taste. No one with good musical taste should know a crappy Linkin Park song anyway. What a joke.

preach it . . . excactly [img]graemlins/bounce.gif[/img]

[pissmonkey]

WTF??? Someone set me straight. I must be way out of it. Who the fuck is Lincoln Park? My parents own one......And what in the hell is with a band called Enema? I've never even heard of that? Is it new? I thought Ed Van Halen was supposed to be in NY? Well, where the hell is he? Someone tell him to get back to work. The world needs rock, not this hip hop street trash with a contract now I live in big house in Beverly Hills bullshit. Brittany Spear? I didn't know she was a singer. I just gave her $25.00 for a blow the other day. She was really good at that...........Hey Ester, Fuck You!

[Ashe]

Van Halen and their various frontmen have never been critical successes. This is one of the reasons that I think made Van Halen so popular. The more the critics dogged them, the more people liked them. But ultimately, the media only builds up celebrities so they can utterly destroy them later.

That said, I do think Roth and Sammy, especially Roth, are stuck in the past. Sammy tried to do his own thing after the break up, but he just couldn't resist had to try and cash in on the Van Halen name one more time, with or without the Van Halen brothers. And Roth is a living, breathing joke at this point. Dave, don't call Eddie. Eddie, please don't call Dave!

As for the Elvis analogy, I'm not a fan, but he was a huge contributor to music and I don't think people ever forgot that. He is, after all, known as the King of Rock and Roll. His biggest problem wasn't him or the way he acted, but all those stupid Las Vagas impersonators and over zealous hardcore fans over the years that turned him into a joke.

[aftershock5]

Originally posted by pissmonkey:
WTF??? Someone set me straight. I must be way out of it. Who the fuck is Lincoln Park? My parents own one......And what in the hell is with a band called Enema? I've never even heard of that? Is it new? I thought Ed Van Halen was supposed to be in NY? Well, where the hell is he? Someone tell him to get back to work. The world needs rock, not this hip hop street trash with a contract now I live in big house in Beverly Hills bullshit. Brittany Spear? I didn't know she was a singer. I just gave her $25.00 for a blow the other day. She was really good at that...........Hey Ester, Fuck You!

LMAO [img]graemlins/thumb.gif[/img]

[Majestic]

...I would have to disagree strongly. Kids like the rest of us are one part genetics and one part a product of their environment. Left to their own devices, they will be inundated by and come to appreciate the popular pap of the day. But speaking as a Dad of two boys, age 8 and 6, consistently expose them to good music from any genre and they'll start to figure out the good from the bad on their own.

I couldn't agree with you more. Good point.

One problem: My guess......and it's only a guess...is that most "kids" today aren't being exposed to Van Halen by their parents.....not that you insinuated that. You didn't.

I suspect that most kids lump Van Halen in with other 80's bands, mostly due to their inclusion on the popular retrospectives on VH1, and old videos on MTV2 (just saw 'Yankee Rose' the other day).

So where's the problem??? One word: IMAGERY

It's probably very difficult for these information savvy, "real motherf*ckers" to interpret the fire & energy in a song like "Panama" when they see Roth prancing around the stage in spandex and poofy hair.

Maybe I'm overdoing it...I dunno.....I just think that a channel like VH1, who in their own way are trying to re-tell the "old days", are making everyone look ridiculous.

It's one thing to say the previous generation's music is "old", "out of style", or "uncool". That whole schtick is NEVER gonna go away.

It's another to communicate that everything happening during the 80s was a waste of f*cking time, and that nothing worthwhile came of it.

That's the INITIAL "vibe" I get from VH1's retrospectives.

"...the 80's were fake, what a joke, everything sucks, blah blah blah...."

And you know, maybe I have too much of a positive bias towards Van Halen. After all, this whole "charade" that's been going on since 1996 actually *is* disgusting.

I can see where it would be pretty tough for some shallow reporter to look at a glammed-up 50 year old millionaire like Roth, and try and spin a sympathetic story for the masses.

OK, I'm bummed out now, I'm leaving! [img]graemlins/drunk.gif[/img]