My Hero

**Goo** · 04.28.01, 02:16 AM

Since Gary left? MAN, thats some prime lurking you been doing man LOL!

Great post dude, welcome aboard, and dont wait 18 months to make your second post [img]smilies/biggrin.gif[/img]

**OLO** · 04.28.01, 02:24 AM

Welcome out of the shadows [img]smilies/smile.gif[/img]

Great first post, hope to hear from you again soon. [img]smilies/biggrin.gif[/img]

**seenbad** · 04.28.01, 02:27 AM

Well, it looks like all the mods meet here on the board at a certain time from the looks of it. lol Not the case though [img]smilies/smile.gif[/img]

Great post man. I had fur stand up during parts of the read. [img]smilies/cool.gif[/img]

**I'LL WAIT** · 04.28.01, 01:28 PM

Hi all, this is my first post here. Excuse the length, I've been lurking since shortly after Gary left the band, but never really felt like I had much to share until now.

I still remember the night, while sitting in my room with my headphones on listening to the radio, way back in 1978 - I was a teenager then, man how time flies. That night is still as clear to me today, as if it was yesterday.

Sitting there in my room. The black light is on. Zeppelin posters leave no square inch of the walls or ceiling uncovered - my idols. I'm running my fingers over the fretboard of my new "Les Paul" copy while listening to Rick Emmet of "Triumph" rip out a little ditty called "Rock and Roll Machine", and all the while thinking to myself "man, that was heavy, how the fuck did he do that?" So I began "noodling around" trying to figure out "how", when the next song comes on the radio...

At this precise moment in time, something happened that changed my life. Something so monumental that a mere 5 minutes later, would literally leave me in a state of shock. I'm hearing what sound's like air raid sirens. "Air raid sirens"? I paused to take my headphones off, to see what the fuck was was going on - "hey man, it 's in the headphones, on the radio - cool!" The headphones go back on and the sirens are replaced with the sound of a thundering Bass guitar repeating a single "E" note... "Bomp, Bomp, Bomp, Bomp, Bomp, Bomp, Bomp, Bomp"... Then, the most awesome fuckin' badass amazing soundin' guitar I had ever heard in my life, shot out of my headphones, blasted into my ears, ripped into my soul, reached down into my body, grabbed me by the balls and squeezed them so fuckin' hard, that I leapt into the air and dropped my guitar! I ran over to the radio, cranked it up, picked my guitar again, but I couldn't play - I was spellbound.

"What a sound! Who is this? It's different, it's earth-shattering, this is gonna' be fuckin' HUGE", and I decided all this within the first few moments of the song [img]smilies/smile.gif[/img] uncanny! Then... "I live my life, like there's no tomorrow..." Holy shit, they've got a great vocalist and he WAILS! "What a fuckin' amazing song! Who is this? What Attitude!" By the time chorus is cookin', I'm singin' along with the song and scrambling for a piece of paper to have it ready so I can write down the name of this band when the D.J. announces it, so I could hit the record store first thing the next morning! Heart beating faster and faster, I spent the next 3 minutes literally bouncing off the walls of my room. As if all of this wasn't good enough, the song ended, and there was a split second reaction "SHIT, it's over", before the "SHIT HIT THE FUCKIN' FAN!" I mean REALLY, how often does the title of an instrumental song so accurately describe the song itself? ERUPTION! All I remember saying to myself over course of the next minute and a half, was "You've got to be fucking kidding?", "You've got to be fucking kidding?", "You've got to be fucking kidding?" 1 minute and 42 seconds later, I lay shaking on the floor in a state of shock.... and as the saying goes, "the rest is history".

Edward Van Halen, you're a crazy bastard [img]smilies/smile.gif[/img] and I Love you. I wish you well in your personal fight and hope to see you back doing what you do best, when you're ready. Your health and family come first. I know you'll beat it, Michael Jackson said so [img]smilies/smile.gif[/img] If you decided today, to hang up the guitar and devote the rest of your life to your family, I would be happy in the knowledge that I can always listen to your legacy, gratefully, and still have it affect me, like it did that first night.

You are my Hero

P.S. Call Dave [img]smilies/smile.gif[/img]

**YankeeRose** · 04.28.01, 01:49 PM

Cool story I'll Wait, welcome to the Links. [img]smilies/smile.gif[/img]

**Down In Flames** · 04.28.01, 01:58 PM

Excellent opener, I'll Wait. [img]smilies/cool.gif[/img]

(When you took your headphones off because of the "air raid sirens"... Priceless! [img]smilies/biggrin.gif[/img] )

Welcome to VHForums, man. It's great you decided to step out of the shadows. [img]smilies/wink.gif[/img]

**track 5** · 04.28.01, 02:43 PM

He is a hero of mine as well man. Always will be. As long he is healthy and lives a long life, I really don't care about another album. It would be nice to have some new Halen tunes, but at this point I just wish the best for Ed and family. Good post btw. Out.

**Glenn** · 04.28.01, 02:49 PM

How did this I'LL WAIT fella get into the Mod's Forum?

Oh, this isn't the Mod's Forum?? [img]smilies/redface.gif[/img]

[img]smilies/cool.gif[/img]

**noodeling** · 04.28.01, 02:49 PM

I´m no mod ( thanks god [img]smilies/biggrin.gif[/img] )
but I like to say
WELCOME.
Your post is like a deja vu for me -
I think I will check the archives [img]smilies/wink.gif[/img]

**JWS_5150** · 04.28.01, 02:51 PM

Thumbs WAY up.

That's some pretty excellent writing. What a story! [img]smilies/smile.gif[/img]

Van Halen isn't just a band. It's a state of being. This proves it right here. [img]smilies/cool.gif[/img]

Welcome to VHForums. [img]smilies/cool.gif[/img]

**I'LL WAIT** · 04.28.01, 03:09 PM

Thanks for the welcome people, I feel I already know many of you just from reading your many posts. I guess I've held off this long without posting, because I don't like to speculate about things. If the reunion happens, it happens and I'll be the happiest guy in the world [img]smilies/biggrin.gif[/img]. If it doesn't, at least in my mind and many of you share the same view, the MIGHTY VAN HALEN has nothing to prove.

I'll Wait!

**Wolfman** · 04.28.01, 03:20 PM

Thank God I showed up - not enough Mod influence in this thread. [img]smilies/wink.gif[/img] lol

Welcome, I'LL WAIT. [img]smilies/biggrin.gif[/img]

DIF is right, the air raid siren comment is priceless. [img]smilies/cool.gif[/img]