10 years ago...

[AUGuy5150]

Sammy was fired/quit VH. Share your thoughts about how you felt when you heard the news.

I heard about it on the VHML. I was bummed because I basically grew up with the Hagar era. I didn't get into VH until sometime in '84. I really thought Humans Being rocked and was looking forward to hearing more tunes with that sound in the future.

[LLFHS]

Sammy was fired/quit VH. Share your thoughts about how you felt when you heard the news.

I heard about it on the VHML. I was bummed because I basically grew up with the Hagar era. I didn't get into VH until sometime in '84. I really thought Humans Being rocked and was looking forward to hearing more tunes with that sound in the future.

I remember hearing the news on KLOS and thinking to myself....."You gotta be kidding!!"

With no internet back then, I truly didn't see this coming and wasn't privy to the behind the scenes turmoil. Last thing I knew, the Balance tour had just ended (I saw the final show at Irvine Meadows Amphitheatre), and Sam was gonna go to Hawaii and wait for Kama to be born. Next thing I know.......he's out.

I hated that week. My GF at the time (also a VH fan) couldn't even conceive of anyone else singing for them.

She was a little young and didn't know who DLR was really.

[Foamfoot]

A friend called and told me he heard on the radio (Brandmeier.. WLUP) Sammy was out of the band... and his wife yelled in the background, "And Dave is back!"
I thought, "Naaaaahh".

We were both right!

[LLFHS]

Dave was (sadly) back for about five minutes.

[Turbo]

It's funny this topic came up, because I just today pulled BOV1 out of the rack and was playing it on the drive to and from work. I was working 12+ hour days back in '96, so I was behind the curve on the news. First I heard, was that Sam was out and Dave was back in. I grew up on the Roth era, so I was excited at the idea of new music with Dave. Same as above, I loved Humans Being, and thought there'd be an album with that music on it. After I heard the two songs with Dave on BOV1, I was more than ready for a new album with the original four.

I won't go into the disappointment of getting III instead...

[LLFHS]

After I heard the two songs with Dave on BOV1, I was more than ready for a new album with the original four....

We all were.

[Menlow]

I heard that Sam was out and Dave was back all at the same time. I still remember being in my car and hearing it on the radio. I was shocked, I had no idea there were even problems within the band. I was also excited though, because Dave was doing new music with VH. By the time of the MTV show I was really excited.

We know how that turned out.

[Limecuda]

The "Welcome Back" commercials on mtv were cool. I couldn't get enough.

[DLocRoth]

I was in the car, punching the roof.....

In glee, mind you.

[vistadelrey]

I wasn't around. I was in Santorini Greece for six months getting american news on a weekly basis. Most of the news I got was headline only and so what I got was very filtered.

Crazy enough i brought a walkmen and vh balance. I think I had Queensryche Hear in the now frontier also. I knew about humans being yet didn't get the whole soundtrack. My companions were not american so I was very alone and away from influence. all i can say is that i loved the music so much and couldn't imagine what the hell was going on. My feelings? I don't know. I guess I was just curious.

I prefer cvh but didn't really know shit about the mtv thing at all until i got back to the u.s. I was spared it you will. i was so detached from it all that it all just flew by in a flash. I guess you could say i wasn't really there.


I don't know what the "welcome back" commercials are.

[vh_chick]

My feeling was the same as when you get some really bad news. "Oh noo!" Jaw & shoulders dropped, total disappointment. We'd already been thru the loss of a lead singer! Not again!!! Then I thought, "Well, time to make the 'Sammy Era' tape."

Seeing them onstage with DLR and the standing ovation they got, it was like... I don't know what to compare it to. I wasn't so much excited as "what the hell are these boys doing now???" Then I figured, "OK, bring it on!" I thought Dave made an ass of himself. I remember Ed moving him away from the mic because he wouldn't shut up. And Dave's clothes being too puffy and pleated. LOL!

That was over before it began, as we all know. *sigh* Ah, what could have been. They had just made their best Sammy-era song ever, Humans Being. Such promise. Then the almost-Dave thing. And then...III. (Cue Squalen).

Shari

[Menlow]

The "Welcome Back" commercials on mtv were cool. I couldn't get enough.

I didn't watch MTV anymore by that time and didn't see any of the commercials. My roommate was watching the VMAs because he knew KISS was performing but neither of us had any clue about VH. I'll never forget the electricity when Dennis Miller introduced them, the place really went nuts.

In 1996 the reunion tour would've been the biggest music news of the year.

They totally blew it.

[VH-is-Alive]

I said to myself, "Self, well at least they are replacing Sam with Dave." I couldn't imagine them having a lead singer other than one of those two...we see how that turned out...

[Mario VH]

Absoluet disbelief. When you look at it now it was the beginning of the end for a band that up to that point were untouchable. Nice job tarnishing a wonderful legacy. It still pisses me off that grown men can't put aside their differences for one of the greatest gigs on the planet.

[I'm_your_IceCreamMan]

How did I feel back then? Not very happy, obviously. Sam leaves/quits, Dave's back, Dave's not back, Ed and Al and the MTV Loder interviews (you guys know it, the "cup" bullshit) just blasting both singers...

Yea, '96 was a pretty significant year in the downward freefall for our boys. I hate thinking about all that shit that went down. None of it was positive (except maybe those few minutes at the VMA's), and I grind my teeth thinkin' what coulda been (w/either SH or DLR), teasing us w/HB, then CGTSNM and MWM...