From http://www.hardradio.com: Backstage at the MTV Video Awards, SAMMY HAGAR said that a reunion with his former VAN HALEN bandmates is "inevitable" he told MTV. "I mean come on, how could it not happen?" Hagar added that he hasn't spoken with Eddie or Alex Van Halen brothers (Eddie and Alex) in quite some time, although he has spent a lot time with bassist Michael Anthony, who has been a regular during the Sam & Dave tour. "Mikey hasn't even heard from Eddie or Alex. I just think when they're ready to surface, they'll do it. It's not that I'm crying for a reunion. I'm happy. I'm totally happy. But I don't think I could say I am never going to play with those guys again and it will never happen. And God forbid something happened to one of us and then it could never happen. I'd be very regretful. So I think it's inevitable." -- TotalRock posted a funny interview with WINGER guitarist Reb Beach recently about the tarnished Winger name: It's no secret that Winger has had the worst name in rock for the last 10 years. All the people that I meet, especially musicians, have only great things to say about Winger. I was in Dokken for four years. Do you know how many times I've heard "man, it's so cool you're in Dokken because Kip Winger was a ***; dude, that band was so gay." You know, and they only know 'Seventeen' and 'Miles Away'. The thing that I love is that nobody can play 'Seventeen'. I've never seen a guitar player, with the exception of Andy Timmons, do it correctly. It definitely has a great groove. I've always had that lick, and Kip's the one that told me it was a song. On Beavis and Butthead, that kid in the Winger t-shirt is in almost every episode. Metallica, in their biggest video they ever had, showed throwing darts at Kip Winger - and they showed it in their live show. You know, 50,000 people every night laughed when they saw it!" -- About their forthcoming studio album, AEROSMITH bassist Tom Hamilton told Billboard.com that "We're going to delve back into our musical roots and try recording some blues songs and maybe some blues-based rock riffs. So, everybody is turning back inward toward their individual instruments with that in mind. It's funny because it triggers all of the competition and uncomfortableness that we've always had going into the studio, and it's going to mean everybody is going to have to be open, vulnerable, and brave, and go in there and do that process like we used to do it. We're probably going to take a bunch of blues songs, cover them, learn to play them together, and see about using stuff like that. In that process, it's going to generate new ideas. We've been calling it a blues album but really it's just going to be an AEROSMITH rock album and maybe a lot of blues." -- The Rock and Roll Hall of Fame has named 15 acts to its final ballot for 2003 including such metal kingpins as BLACK SABBATH (sixth nomination) and AC/DC (three). Other notables include LYNYRD SKYNYRD (four times), SEX PISTOLS (twice), THE POLICE, THE CLASH, MC5, ELVIS COSTELLO and STEVE WINWOOD. -- On November 11th, LED ZEPPELIN are said to be releasing a four-DVD set that will feature the following shows: Albert Hall 1970, Earls Court 75, Knebworth 79 and material from '70-'71.
LOL! Man, what an arrogant ass this guy is (talking about the Winger guitarist). I am sure that Dimebag Darrell of Pantera, Andreas Kisser of Sepultura, and Adam Jones of Tool could play his "precious little lick" of Seventeen. And I am sure that there are others. He probably was talking only about Ratt, Poison, Warrant, Europe, etc. and bands like that. That has to be one of the funniest things that I have ever read!
He said he'd never heard anyone play it right. I think I know why. It's kind of like the quote from Spinal Tap: "No one plays like Nigel, man. No one even tries".
Its just styles man. I am sure Reb would have a hard time playing some of Pantera's stuff. But "seventeen" is a bi*ch to play and Reb Beach is talented as hell, even though he is no Lynch. I have to admit to owning Winger's "pull" album which was pretty good stuff.
Yea, you are probably right, Scary. It's just that if anyone could play a riff it would be Dimebag Darrell. I know a lot of people think that Billy Corgan is a pompous whiny ass, but he said that DD is the best guitar riff writer he has ever heard. I respect his opinion, so I would venture to say that DD could tackle "Seventeen". BTW - I am ashamed to admit that I love and still do, "Heading for a Heartbreak" (which has some good guitar parts in it).
Dimebag could play it if he wasn't stoned out of his freakin' mind at the time on heroin, which is more common for him than not. Man, I remember when that guy was in Houston every weekend hanging out at Backstage and trying to get guys to come record at his dad's giant studio in Dallas. I'll never forget the night he got drunk and stood in front of me all night yelling, "BASS SOLO!" and hitting all the buttons on my midi pedal ****ing up my sound. I finally had to move it way back by my amp. Reb Beech is a TREMENDOULSY talented guitar player. I've met him twice and he is also an infinately nice guy. Everybody took shots at Winger, but Kip is a monster musician. He was classically trained and is like Prince in that he can play about 20 different instruments. I never liked Winger, but the musicians in that band were amazing. Rod Morgenstein, the drummer, was in the Dixie Dregs and has recently been playing with the bassist and keyboardist from Dream Theater and Ty Tabor, the guitarist from King's X. Rod was a stud drummer LONG before he ever made money playing in Winger. He's been on the cover of Modern Drummer something like 6 times and at least 2 of them before Winger ever existed.
One funny story... A former roommate of mine was close friends with all the guys in King's X. He moved down here with them from Missouri in the 80's and is a terrific sound man. Anyway, he invited Doug Pinnick (bassist) over one night to eat and right before I got home, the phone rang. When he picked it up, the guy on the other end asked, "Is Doug there?" My friend started laughing because Doug has just gotten there and he was trying to figure out how anyone managed to find him. I guess the guy on the other end didn't want my friend to think he was nuts, so he said, "This is Kip Winger, how ya' doin'?" They were in town and Kip wanted to invite Doug out to the show. Pretty funny.
Winger is proof that talented musicians do not always equal great music. But I'd guess that musical integrity and respect were pretty low on the members' priority lists in the first place. I hope they invested the money they made while they were hot. Even so, I wonder if Kip ever played his bass or if he just danced around with it.
Jeff, That is a funny story about Dimebag. It doesn't surprise me. However, it is one of those things that wasn't funny to you at the time it happened, but looking back it seems comical to an outside observer. I have no doubt that Beech is a talented guitarist and musician; however, in reading the article that Freak posted, his attitude annoyed me. I got the impression that he was trying to make himself look good despite being in a band that has been universally derided & only wound up (at least to me) making himself look worse. It is almost like he should just let his playing do the talking, i.e. like an athlete that is told that he is no good and he goes out and proves his detractors wrong with his play. But that is how I interpreted it, which I know, the way of relating that could have been better.
The problem is that no one will let him forget he was in Winger just like I'm sure it is still tough for guys from Warrant or whoever else. The irony is that most of those bands weren't all that great and could be deserving of the same treatment. I mean, how does George Lynch from Dokken get more respect than Reb Beech? They were't all THAT different despite what anyone thinks. I'm sure Beech has developed a pretty big complex about playing in a band like that. The fact is, most music that falls into a pop category (and that is anything rock, r&b, country, rap, industrial, alt, etc) is not high art. It was never meant to be. It is "commercial" music meant to sell records and turn people into rock stars. Yes, some people express themselves through that music quite eloquently, but they are all in the same business and it is a BUSINESS first and an artform second. It's like saying Miller Beer tv ads are better than Continental. They're all still ADS, ya know? The real irony is that the best musicians often don't write the most memorable songs, nor are they well-recognized. The best musicians are guys who 99 percent of the world have never heard of. That's the reality.
Perhaps he could employ the Glen Danzig method of dealing with annoying remarks about old bands and just beat the **** out of anyone who mentions he was in Wingers (like Danzig does with Misfits).
If ANYONE has earned the right to have an attitude, it's the guys in Winger. I'm surprised they haven't killed Mike Judge yet. I wouldn't blame them.
That's a good point, Jeff, but I get tired of people who were in bands like Winger, or Warrant whining about the lack of respect they receive. *They* chose to prance around like morons and write those cheesy songs. They also benefited from the record company hype machine that made their insipid music sell a lot of records for a brief ammount of time. If Winger are bitter about their treatment by the industry they ought to talk to, oh, most black musicians who ever lived before 1970. Live by the aquanet, die by the aquanet.
Reb Beach is very different from Lynch. For me its all about tone and George is just WAY on the other end. Much more evil vibe. Some of his earlier stuff (tooth & nail) shows this. Reb was just more "happy" sounding. I see where they get grouped together because of the music at the time. I guess I could see Lynch playing with say Metallica and fitting in and Reb would be out of place.
Sorry for bringing this back up....I know that the "hair metal 80s" are only closely rivaled by such unfortunate occurrences as slavery as far as embarassing moments in American history. That being said, I don't think the "hair bands" ever cared about respect. They were out to have fun, that's it. I think it's more about not wanting not to be laughed at everywhere you go or made fun of at every turn. Beavis and Butthead made it hip to bash hair bands. I mean, come on -- KISS, Cheap Trick, and Ozzy Osbourne (ever see the 'Shot in the Dark' video?) all made hair metal when it was cool, among others. Yet no one ever made fun of those bands incessantly. The Rolling Stones, Queen, and many others hopped on the disco bandwagon, yet they aren't laughing stocks today. Hair bands are disproportionately slighted when you look at the history of pop music. I don't think there's any good reason for it, other than "it's cool to do so". Maybe a little "decade of greed" backlash type stuff as well, I don't know. I don't think being pissed at that has much to do with wanting respect.
I disagree. Bands loose the right to choose whenever they sign with a label. Case in point, at the end of the 80s all hair metal band release ballads, since ballads could get played on more types of radio stations (and more often on MTV who only played the hard stuff on the Head Bangers Ball after midnight). It was a business decision by the labels and not an artistic one by the bands. At the time B&B stick against the Wingers of the rock world had a lot of traction with the MTV audience who were being drilled with extra cheese rock ballads. Back when MTV actually played music videos, those were days. Here is a cool rock site everybody should have book marked: http://www.melodicrock.com/
