February 1, 2008, - 4:39 pm

Hilarious: David Lee Roth’s Screaming Vocals

By Debbie Schlussel
If you are a Van Halen fan, as I am (minus Wolfie–bring back Michael Anthony!)–and even if you are not–you will find these David Lee Roth solo vocal tracks, below, from the original studio recording of “Running With the Devil” (one of my fave Van Halen songs–I work out to it), hilarious. It’s amazing what the absence of Michael Anthony’s background vocals does.
The screams, especially just after the 2:30 mark and from the 3:00 mark until the end, are funny (and painful). It’s amazing how high and loud he screamed. Oy. Some smart aleck (with a great sense of humor) at Van Halen’s record company released these.


For the record, I’ve always sort of liked the nutty DLR because, like me, he is the kid of a Jewish ophthalmologist (mine did not bankroll a rock band, though, and didn’t have any kids who could sing; nor, perhaps, did DLR’s). He is one of the few Jews with two first names. You rarely hear of a Mary-Kate Horowitz or Mary Pat Cohen. Just not in our culture.
Exit question: What would Simon and Randy say about these vocals? Well, it’s safe to say he would not be going to Hollywood. Glad “AI” wasn’t around then.
Thanks to my friends Marc Fellhauer and Mike Wolters of Drew & Mike for the tip.
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15 Responses

This is great. Thanks to a great bunch of Van Halen fan friends of mine I got to hear it back on January 10th when it was posted at another site.
By the way, I saw VH in Worcester, MA on November 6, 2007. Michael was NOT missed.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rUyVa90EOSc
Going to see them again in about 6 weeks in Manchester, NH.

Mr.C_5150 on February 1, 2008 at 9:24 pm

I always thought dlr was a lot more interesting and entertaining than his bad. US election coverage is at the top of http://www.darrellepp.com.

dorothee on February 2, 2008 at 11:00 am

Agreed.
Van Halen without David Lee Roth is simply NOT Van Halen.
Van Hagar.
This is what The Flying Curmudgeon’s two teenage sons call the group, when referring to the period when The Red Rocker was their Front Man.
This is not a slam against Sammy, however.
Sammy Hagar is a classic rocker in his own right. For a time, he put his own stamp on Van Halen’s sound and style. (Check out Sammy’s vocals on the classic hit “Dreams,” as the soundtrack to an inspiring Blue Angels video on The Flying Curmudgeon’s blog.)
There is simply something special about the sound (and style) that Diamond Dave brought to V/H.
With his towering vocals and over-the-top antics, Van Halen without David Lee Roth is just not the same.
Enjoy the show.
TFC

TheFlyingCurmudgeon on February 2, 2008 at 11:25 am

I’m a huge fan too but this is still funny ass hell. Just listening to this comedic singing got me nostalgic. Too bad musicians are such a goofy bunch. Who would’ve guessed that the Stones would still be around. Occasionally.

samurai on February 2, 2008 at 11:31 am

Alex Van Halen said somewhere once that in the early days when DLR first unsuccessully auditioned for the band as its lead singer, he “couldn’t sing for [expletive].”
If you look on the back of Van Halen’s self-titled debut album, it offers “special thanks” to Dr. Roth (ostensibly for bankrolling the band) and Gene Simmons (who originally discovered the band, produced their 15-track demo and tried unsuccessfully to get Kiss’s label to sign them. Bill Aucoin, Kiss’ manager, passed thinking that Van Halen would not have any commercial success).
Being able to sing is subjective. To me, Joe Cocker and AC/DC’s Brian Johnson cannot sing. Bon Scott–listening to him sing was like hearing a fork dragged across a dinner plate. Then there are the countles indie band frontmen and women who CAN sing but never get the lucky breaks.

richardzowie on February 2, 2008 at 12:33 pm

I’ve actually heard lots of rave reviews of Wolfie’s playing…Alex and Eddie were talking about how blown away they have been and that if he wasn’t any good, he wouldn’t have been put into the band.
A friend who’s a professional musician calls Michael Anthony the luckiest guy in the world–a so-so bass player who happened to be on a band that just really took off.

richardzowie on February 2, 2008 at 12:37 pm

My daughter came into the room toward the end and asked me if that guy was being tased. She couldn’t believe I used to listen to this stuff on purpose – even after I played the full track on Rhapsody for her.
In any event, it seems clear that the Dean Scream was an homage to DLR.

Laura on February 2, 2008 at 2:03 pm

richardzowie
Since I went to Junior and High School with Mike Sobolewski, aka Michael Anthony, I can tell you are just plain wrong that he was lucky to be in a band that “just took off”. I first met him when I was in the marching band in Junior High School where we both played trumpet.
Mike’s popularity was a result of the block parties that were very popular back in the 1970’s. The parties started out with 50 or so people and grew to over 500+ people showing up to hear the bands Snake and Mammouth.The local police were not impressed but that is another story.
The Van Halen brothers auditioned Mike mostly because of the popularity of Snake and the HS weekend parties that were drawing huge crowds.
Mike’s bass lines and vocal harmonies became a distinctive part of the Van Halen sound that resulted in 80 million records sold.
The rest is history.
See the Arcadia HS webpage to learn more:
http://www.arcadiaapaches.com/memories/rock_history/vanhalen_story.htm
BTW-Mike is a regular guy and a family man still married to his high school sweetheart.

ScottyDog on February 2, 2008 at 3:48 pm

ScottyDog: thanks for the comments but, again, it was my musician friend (a bass player) who said this–not me. His opinion…I’ve heard from other bass players who like M.A. a lot.
Also read that he has his own line of hot sauces. And, yes, he’s one of the few rockers who’s been married 20-plus years to the same woman.

richardzowie on February 2, 2008 at 4:11 pm

    I know I’m chiming in VERY late here, but…

    I’ve been a professional recording/touring bassist for 20 years and I’ve done my fare share of fast and complicated stuff at times. Michael Anthony isn’t a fancy bass player, so a lot of young guys who idolize acrobatics will think he’s sub par. A more experienced player would say he held it down perfectly in a band where your main claim to fame is how awesome your guitarist is. Plus, whether you know it or not, if you’re a VH fan, his feel, his 8th note grooves and support work are a huge part of what gives you that VH feeling. Not to take away anything from Wolfgang, but the kid is just playing like Mike… as he should, because Mike did it right. Oh and his backup vocals are a big part of the sound as well, so fucking high. I understand Eddie’s choice to bring his kid into his namesake, but at this stage in the game? Mike got fucked out of his life position… whatever the reasons, it’s ain’t because he sucked… it’s really too bad.

    Mike MacDougall on November 19, 2013 at 6:46 am

He looks an awful lot like Gollum in the picture on the right. Eewww.

kishke on February 3, 2008 at 10:09 am

Oooh! Gave me douche chills. Somebody get me a doctor!!!

jeff on February 4, 2008 at 12:03 pm

Great posting! Thank you
For all, please review this link to see DLR in all his glory.
http://www.liveleak.com/view?i=64e_1196279818
as for Michael Anthony- I agree he was not simply lucky to be there. His backing vocals were critical to their sound and his easy going manner helped grease the friction between DLR and Eddie.

tyler durden on February 4, 2008 at 11:26 pm

Great band, BUT…..why do Jews always shove the Jew angle down everyone’s throats?! Leave religion out of it nobody cares….

Gentile Anti-Defamation league on October 10, 2010 at 3:15 am

This article wouldn’t be here if David Lee Rothschild wasn’t Jewish. This is a pro-Zionist Muslim bashing blog.

Zionism is an evil, racist ideology. Hitler actually borrowed ideas from it. History is full of morose irony.

Of course I fully expect this comment to be censored. It’s the Zionist way.

the ugly naked truth on April 30, 2013 at 12:29 pm

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