The Tapes Archive

Chapter 4: Who is Van Halen?

When Van Halen is on stage terrorizing a venue in your neighborhood with their belligerent, menacing sound and swaggering, exuberant personality, it’s sometimes hard to realize that the band is not made up of one guy with four heads but of four distinct personalities for the good of the cause. Or something like that. On stage, they join together to create powerful and distinct music, and even off stage, they continue to act (in public) as a band, as Van Halen, to carry the party line.

But in real life—which apparently doesn’t exist all that much for the guys considering most of the time they are in the superficial fantasy world of backstage dressing rooms, limos, hotels, and jet planes—the four members of Van Halen go their separate ways, lead distinct and individual lives. It’s hard to imagine Alex Van Halen running out to get milk and eggs or David Lee Roth shifting clothes from the washer to the dryer at Burt and Ernie’s Laundromat (Roth claims he still does his own wash). But it happens. They work together, and then they go home and do regular stuff, sort of. The only thing is that they’re millionaires, and their work day can last anywhere up to ten months and often as late as the sun rises.

But you have to wonder what they are really like. Life can’t be all silk stockings, Jack Daniels, 70,000 watts of ear-numbing power, and the daily adoration of millions. Really, who are these guys, and how come they’re not driving trucks or working in shipping down at the mall?

Michael Anthony

He’s the mystery man and very possibly the only member of Van Halen who wouldn’t be recognized instantly if he did get a job at the mall. Not a lot is known about Van Halen’s diminutive thumper of the bass because, let’s face it, if you had a choice of one member of the band to interview. . . .

Anthony was born on June 20, 1955, in Chicago. His father was a musician and a trumpet player in big bands, so the melodic genes were passed on. He spent much of his youth in Illinois before moving to California in 1969 and attending Arcadia High, not far from his future bandmates in Pasadena. Ever the worthy son, Michael played trumpet in the high school marching band and orchestra while secretly nurturing his talents on the four-string. And as we know, after graduation, while holding up the bottom for a local band called Snake, Anthony was invited to that fateful tryout with the Van Halens, and his future was sealed.

Little has been learned of the private Michael Anthony, most probably because he has chosen to maintain a low off-the-road profile. It certainly can’t be all bad to be in one of the world’s most popular bands and still be unknown. He has tied the nuptial knot, following Eddie into the married ranks. And his affection for Jack Daniels is a fact—he’s had a bass built to resemble a bottle of that Tennessee poison. Word also is out that Mr. Anthony thrives on food fights—is it possible that the quiet one could have something to do with the fabled brown M&M incident? And for rest and relaxation, this unlikely rock star seems to favor hopping down to the West Indies to engage in some powerboat racing. In the meantime, we’re left to wonder, “Will he or won’t he have a beard on the next world tour?”

Alex Van Halen

The eldest member of the group (by 43 days), Alex was born in Nijmegen, the Netherlands (as was Eddie) on May 8, 1955, to a jazz clarinet and sax-playing father and an Indonesian mother. Father Jan Van Halen had played music on radio, in circuses, and as a captive of the Nazis in Germany during World War II. As the story goes, Alex first was smitten by the guitar while younger brother Eddie purchased a drum set, and the two little Dutch boys whacked and wailed away in their Holland home. Unfortunately for them, Dad had other ideas, and the pair were set to studying counterpoint theory on piano and learning the music of Mozart, Beethoven, and Tchaikovsky. Taught by an elderly Russian instructor, the brothers Van Halen were targeted by their parents for careers as concert pianists.

After moving to California at the age of 12, Alex began taking flamenco guitar lessons. Meanwhile, little Eddie was out doing a paper route (note: a real job!) to pay for his drum set. And Alex, having trouble figuring out the fingering for certain chords, started working out on Eddie’s tubs on the sly. Low and behold, it wasn’t long before big Alex could smoke Eddie on the Wipe Out! drum solo, and so the brothers agreed to switch instruments.

Alex has cited Ginger Baker, Mitch Mitchell (drummer with Jimi Hendrix), and Clive Bunker as his early influences on the drums, but as the band’s show and sound have 

grown, it seems that Alex has fallen under the J. R. Ewing/Mr. T “the more (oil, gold chains, drums) the better” influence. On one tour, he actually played two full drum kits, while on the 1984 trek, he opted for a gentle four-bass-drum sound (though it has been verified that he still only has two feet). But his playing abilities have grown along with his hardware, and his skills are now, considering the volume, just plain scary.

A certified top-class partyer, Alex has a reputation for beating things with his sticks, for engaging in the kind of banter and braggadocio that’s become known as “Van Halen-ese,” and for making off with his share of backstage visitors. And why does he always seem to be wearing those sunglasses? It can’t be too early all the time, can it?

Eddie Van Halen

He’s the guitar hero who repeatedly claims that he’s just a kid who loves to play and play his guitar, then goes off and plays some more. He’s said that making music, writing music, and inventing music are his life, and listening to all he’s done bears him out.

The youngest member of the Van Halen troupe, Eddie, was born on January 26, 1957. After moving to the U.S. at age 10, the soon-to-be guitarist quickly realized that his parent-planned life as a concert pianist was not for him. All he needed was to hear Cream and Jimi Hendrix to know that getting crazy on a stage was the perfect escape from his otherwise introverted personality.

After recognizing his brother’s superior talents on drums, Eddie (continuing to deliver papers, one assumes) splurged and dropped 70 dollars on a Teisco Del Ray electric guitar. It was then that he immersed himself in the aural world of Eric Clapton solos on Cream songs like Spoonful and I’m So Glad. He still claims to know every solo Clapton’s ever played, note-for-note. Aside from those recorded lessons from Clapton and techniques taught by Hendrix’s recordings, Eddie is entirely self-taught, having never taken a guitar lesson in his life. Just sitting around for hours on end, playing every day, as he still does, has made him the most inventive and original rock guitarist around. As his father soon realized, abandoning his visions of Eddie on stage in a tuxedo at the grand piano, the kid was a guitar natural.

For a while after high school, Eddie tried a little junior college in Pasadena City and Long Beach, taking scoring, arranging, and piano classes. But life in Mammoth was consuming enough, and his real post-high school education came in bars and basements. Even in those early years he was recognized as an innovator and often turned his back to the audience at gigs during his solos so that other musicians couldn’t steal his licks.

Now, he has developed into a complete musician. His early classical training has come back to help him in working out his original melodies for the band. He’s kept up his keyboard chops, as evidenced by his work on 1984. He builds all his guitars, preferring to piece them together from custom designs rather than going for the store-bought norm. He’s installed a complete recording studio in his California home (where much of 1984 reportedly was recorded), into which he disappears whenever lapses in touring allow. He’s even developed a new “Eddie Van Halen model” for Kramer Guitars. And, of course, he continues to collect “Best Guitarist” awards and plaudits.

On stage, Eddie Van Halen is a whirling dervish, racing around with an endearing yet sinister smile accompanying him while he plays. But he’s a shy and reclusive guy who really only lights up when he’s on stage, or, the word is, when he’s drunk. On the road, he can usually be found hiding out in his room or a backstage closet doing the one thing that consumes him totally—playing guitar.

His storybook meeting, romance, and marriage to Valerie Bertinelli really is nothing more than a love between two shy people whose careers have put them in the spotlight. Glimpses of the hermit couple can be had as they cheer on Magic Johnson and the L.A. Lakers basketball team. Valerie has been known to get a bit perturbed because Eddie is either on the road or hidden away in his new studio creating. Mom and Pop Bertinelli are said to have a wall of clippings about their son-in-law, just as they do for their daughter Valerie. But mostly, their life is a private one (despite CREEM magazine voting them 1983’s “Couple of the Year”). Eddie Van Halen is a guitar-slinging maniac making great rock music in a high-energy band. Other than that, his life is private. Can’t fault him for that. 

David Lee Roth

Many words have been used in attempting to describe David Lee Roth—obnoxious, perverse, vulgar, bawdy, confident, sexy, sybaritic, acrobatic, shameless, beautiful, peacockish, unpretentious, hammy. He’s the perfect counterweight for Eddie Van Halen, the ultimate extrovert. While Eddie, the musician, gets interviewed by GUITAR FOR THE PRACTICING MUSICIAN, David, the entertainer/ sex symbol, gets a spread in OUI. Love him or hate him, respect him or hold him as far away from you as you can, Roth makes you react. You can’t walk away from an encounter with him feeling nothing, and that’s the way he wants it, and, apparently, the way he always has been.

Roth came into this world (from who knows where) on October 10, 1955, in Bloomington, Indiana. He has said that his early days were spent on a farm, but his family was on the move early, settling for periods in Massachusetts and Chicago before coming to rest in Los Angeles. In his grade school years, Roth was diagnosed as being hyperactive, and his penchant for running wild through the house drumming silverware and singing along to TV commercials inspired his parents to call this post-meal active period “Monkey Hour.” Roth likes to say he’s turned Monkey Hour into a career, and no one’s denying it.

At age nine, it seems his future career was ordained when he was given a radio by his Uncle Dave and heard Ray Charles call forth. He also discovered a love for the stage while taking on the role of Mr. Bookworm in a school play. But the turning point, apparently, on Roth’s way toward a pact with devil rock and roll, was getting his driver’s license. Borrowing the car from Dad, a respected Pasadena surgeon, Dave would cruise around the neighborhood for hours singing along with the radio, shriveling the plush interior with his scream practice.

At Muir High, David Lee became known as a skilled class cutter, holding forth with guitar and voice in some shady spot, serenading anyone who dropped by. It soon became apparent to both his parents and teachers that David had only one thing on his mind—becoming a rock and roll singer. And, he’s said, once that became obvious, his family always supported his desire for a life on the stage.

So it is no wonder, then, that the pre-Van Halen singer of the Redball Jets owned the P A. system. There was no way he wasn’t going to get his chance to perform.

Nowadays, the not-so-larger-than-life Roth, who comes in at about five foot-eleven and 155 pounds, remains every bit the big-talking, fun-loving wildcat. Everyone’s heard about his supposed exploits on the toad (probably because he’s told the stones), whether women, booze, women, practical jokes, or women are involved. And he truly lives his motto—”It doesn’t matter if you win or lose, it’s how good you look”—to the hilt.

In his off-the-road life, Roth likes to keep his hand on the pulse of L.A.’s new music scene, haunting the local clubs to search for new and vital sounds. In the early days, he retained his small Hollywood apartment, staying close to the heart of the city and thriving on the urban grit and noise. Lately, he’s opted for a bit more luxury, taking a high-rise pad off the Sunset Strip, but he has by no means taken the usual star route to a Malibu mansion with guard dogs and an electric fence.

Rumor has it that Roth can be seen doing his six-plus miles of running through the streets of L. A. or cruising the nearby canyons in his Mercury convertible. He spends much of his free time off in the Pacific, traveling to Tahiti over a dozen times or taking little strolls through the Amazonian jungles or around the Himalayas. But the truth is that Roth chooses to keep his real life under wraps, too. Who knows, maybe we’d be disappointed if we found out what he’s really like. Probably not. He’s definitely a California boy, bronzed and ready for action.

Producer Ted Templeman may have the inside track on the real guys who have become the number one rock band in America. He says that they are every bit as crazy as they claim to be, driving four-wheeled vehicles, jumping over barrels on rollerskates, and living life to the fullest. And that’s why their music is so alive, so real, so fresh— they play the life they live and live the life they play. They get up on stage and misbehave. Alex Van Halen once said that he thinks of the road as his home. Don’t you believe him?

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