What happen in 1984??

**Eddie wilkinson** · 01.14.03, 08:10 PM

Does anyone know exactly what happened in 84; was Dave pushed or did he leave.

I always got the impression that Eddie was dirty on Dave for breaking up what was a sucessful band.

If these guys had stayed together, I'm telling you now they would be as big (worldwide) as the Rolling Stones!!

**LittleGuitars99** · 01.14.03, 09:07 PM

Dave " I am God " left the band because he thought he was bigger than the band itslef...OOPS!!

**skiler78** · 01.14.03, 09:31 PM

Well, I think DLR would be better off today had he not left (but who knows?) but I think the band itself was better off without him.

**Take Your Whiskey Home** · 01.14.03, 11:02 PM

Eddie Wilkinson,
You are an idiot. If you were anywhere near a halfway decent Van Halen fan you would know that they broke up in 1985. There are a million different reasons why they broke up, but if you ask me it was the death of Van Halen when Dave left. Sad......

**Loop Dee Loop** · 01.15.03, 12:20 AM

Dave's the party? Yeah the one full of bitter old codgers at the rest home. Sam's not too far behind though

**The Van Baron** · 01.15.03, 06:24 AM

....check my sig

**pardo** · 01.15.03, 06:45 AM

Well, I've heard Dave say in interviews a number of times after the '84 tour that he had to make a decision weather he was gonna be a hot do or a little wiener. He was gonna be a little wiener for 1 more season.

Here's my interpretation. In '78, Van Halen began their global acent up the rock mountain. By '84, they had reached the top of the mountain - they knew it, they enjoyed it. Just watch the bootlegs.

Unfortunately for Dave, he didn't stop at the top of the mountain and tryed to keep going up, leaving Van Halen behind. Unfortunately, he didn't have solid ground under his feet any more and after '88 began his decent back to earth.

**Zahzoo** · 01.15.03, 07:06 AM

Originally posted by Take Your Whiskey Home:
Eddie Wilkinson,
You are an idiot. If you were anywhere near a halfway decent Van Halen fan you would know that they broke up in 1985. There are a million different reasons why they broke up, but if you ask me it was the death of Van Halen when Dave left. Sad......

Geez Whiskey... no need to get all pissy about it... it could be altogether possible Wilkinson was born in 84 or later and just discovering the band... you consider that?

Dave left the band because he had visions or delusions depending on how you view it...of something bigger than Van Halen. If I recall Dave wanted to do solo work and thought he was going to be some big Hollywood movie star or something to that effect. Dave's 1st two solo releases were his best post Van Halen work... never made it to the silver screen, although he did produce a few great videos... then he's pretty much been trying to reinvent himself or recapture his former self or just fucking around or whatever since then...

**Grover** · 01.15.03, 07:32 AM

Originally posted by Eddie wilkinson:

If these guys had stayed together, I'm telling you now they would be as big (worldwide) as the Rolling Stones!!

I used to think along those lines... But I think the truth is if DLR had stayed with the band, there would have been either a backlash against the antics of Roth or they might have ended up on the state fair circut with Slaughter.

I remember getting a little tired or bored of Dave's act. It seemed like VH on 1984 was heading towards writing songs for 14 year old boys (lyrics like "reach down between my legs..." and things like "Hot for Teacher"). I know I'll take heat for saying it, but when they brought in Hagar, it felt like VH was growing up at the same time I was.

I have to go back to some of Eddie's comment in one of the last interviews he did. That he didn't want to become a nostalgia act. If Dave was back in the band or had never left that is exactly what they would be.

[ January 15, 2003, 06:33 AM: Message edited by: Grover ]

**THE MARD** · 01.15.03, 09:34 AM

Dave has said he didn't like the musical direction the band was taking. He also had said that Ed was getting lazy and was starting to do it just for the money.

I believe that around the time of "Fair Warning" Dave started thinking about leaving. Diver Down was Dave's album. Insidently, Ed hated it.
With the success of 1984, Dave saw his opportunity to leave. BUT being the coy guy that he is, he released "Crazy From The Heat" to test the solo waters. With the success from that EP, he left. He felt so sure of himself, he left Van Halen "with nothing but the shirt on my back". Pretty much figured they would fizzle away and die without him.

Ironic, isn't it?

**Glenn** · 01.15.03, 11:28 AM

Dave has alternately stated that VH didn't want to work and that he didn't like the new musical direction. My question is, if VH didn't want to work, how did Dave have any idea what their new musical direction was?

Word is that half of 5150 was written while Dave was still around. And when Dave left the band they were only 7 months removed from their last tour finishing. This is a tour, mind you, that was the bands' sixth in as many years. Did Dave think they were going to record and tour every year until the end of time? Perhaps he did, but then why did he not do that when he was on his own and calling the shots? He wound up recording and touring at the same pace as those lazy Van Halen's once he was free of them.

Anyway, no real slight on Dave because all of these guys wouldn't stand up to a half decent cross examination of their statements and actions over the years. My feeling is that Dave felt they had to get right back out there after the huge success of 1984. Which is crazy, because 1984 wasn't their first record, they had been building an audience for several years through hard work and quality music. Surely the follow-up wouldn't have sold as well, but that would have been the case regardless of timing, because you have to know that a lot of people bought that album because of the singles, particularily Jump, and wouldn't be around to buy the next one.

Combine the fact that Edward didn't seem as interested to finish recording immediately, and the fact that I believe that Eddie was in a bad place with chemicals, and I think Dave got scared enough to decide to take his shot right away, even if it had to be alone (Crazy From the Heat gave him the extra time to pull it together). All of these things have ramifications to this day, because I think Eddie still views 1985 as a huge betrayal year, putting all of the blame on Dave and none on himself for being out of it. But because of Dave's decision, Eddie will never trust him again, and here we are today knowing they can't get it together.

I agree with THE MARD that Crazy From the Heat wasn't as off the cuff as Dave would like us to believe. He needed to know if his image could sustain sales without the band. Of course that's problematic because in early 1985, Dave could have released an album of farting and it would have gone platinum, so using a solo sales figure at that point in time as a decision maker was dangerous in the long term.

This is a topic for the Opinions forum, so it's heading over there now. [img]smile.gif[/img]