Van Halen vs. Michael Anthony

Does anyone know why EVH seems to dislike Michael so much and kicked him outta the band? I can't find anything about it. Even in the book "The Van Halen Saga", there's never an explanation (though an interesting nugget pointed out Eddie and Billy Sheehan once had loose talks about him replacing Michael back in the 80s). It just seems one day Eddie woke up and decided Michael wasn't worthy enough to be in Van Halen.

I know Eddie played most bass on III and all on their last hits comp. Does he just not like his playing? Did Eddie want him out so it would be one less partner to split profits with?

I used to think Michael's friendship with Sammy was the cause, but I don't believe that's the case if Eddie was already considering getting rid of Mike during the early (and peaceful) Hagar years.

I guess it's because Eddie and Sammy hate each other and due to the fact that Sammy and Michael are playing together that Eddie booted him out. Thats what I got out of it. Michael didn't even know he was kicked out and found out on the internet.

Lurideath wrote:

I guess it's because Eddie and Sammy hate each other and due to the fact that Sammy and Michael are playing together that Eddie booted him out. Thats what I got out of it. Michael didn't even know he was kicked out and found out on the internet.

That's kinda what I gathered as well. While the Van Halen brothers were sitting around with their thumbs up their asses, Michael Anthony played gigs with Sammy's solo band. Eddie (probably Alex as well) took that as an act of betrayal by implying that Michael was taking Sammy's side in their fued.

I agree with all these hypotheses and posit my own that it has something to do with money. Peace.

Ed has been quoted as saying: "He joined another band...you can't be in two bands."

Eddie is a paranoid freak. He's always afraid someone is trying to get their part of the Van Halen pie. Whether it be Valerie Bertanelli, Sammy Hagar or Michael Anthony, he seems to think anyone who gets to close to him has it out for him. I've heard his own brother can't stand him.

I still dig his music though.

spectrefate wrote:

Eddie is a paranoid freak. He's always afraid someone is trying to get their part of the Van Halen pie. Whether it be Valerie Bertanelli, Sammy Hagar or Michael Anthony, he seems to think anyone who gets to close to him has it out for him. I've heard his own brother can't stand him.

I still dig his music though.

Yeah, the Saga book is actually quite sad. The band is the focus, but you can see Eddie start as a nice, happy go lucky guy and then go into his downward spiral of frustration, bitterness and paranoia as the years go on.

What's the guy so angry about? He's a millionaire, he's one of the greatest guitar players ever, he's in one of the greatest bands ever, and he SURVIVED cancer.

He and Hetfield should join up.

Quote :

The band is the focus, but you can see Eddie start as a nice, happy go lucky guy and then go into his downward spiral of frustration, bitterness and paranoia as the years go on.

Cocaine is a hell of a drug...

I have no idea what happened between Anthony and the Van Halen
brothers, and while I think Wolfgang is a very talented kid, a huge
part of the original line up's sound was Anthony's back around vocals,
his bass playing is solid and right in the pocket, nothing fancy, does
its job, but it was his back up vocals that are unreplaceable.

manny wrote:

I have no idea what happened between Anthony and the Van Halen
brothers, and while I think Wolfgang is a very talented kid, a huge
part of the original line up's sound was Anthony's back around vocals,
his bass playing is solid and right in the pocket, nothing fancy, does
its job, but it was his back up vocals that are unreplaceable.

Agree 100%, nobody could duplicate those falsetto backing vocal parts, utterly core to their sound.

Edit: Look Below

Shawn Of Fire wrote:

Quote :

The band is the focus, but you can see Eddie start as a nice, happy go lucky guy and then go into his downward spiral of frustration, bitterness and paranoia as the years go on.

Cocaine is a hell of a drug...

more movies at www.miloop.com

detuned wrote:

manny wrote:

I have no idea what happened between Anthony and the Van Halen
brothers, and while I think Wolfgang is a very talented kid, a huge
part of the original line up's sound was Anthony's back around vocals,
his bass playing is solid and right in the pocket, nothing fancy, does
its job, but it was his back up vocals that are unreplaceable.

Agree 100%, nobody could duplicate those falsetto backing vocal parts, utterly core to their sound.

Yep, I'm curious as to what they sound like now without his voice in the background.

Metal Misfit wrote:

detuned wrote:

manny wrote:

I have no idea what happened between Anthony and the Van Halen
brothers, and while I think Wolfgang is a very talented kid, a huge
part of the original line up's sound was Anthony's back around vocals,
his bass playing is solid and right in the pocket, nothing fancy, does
its job, but it was his back up vocals that are unreplaceable.

Agree 100%, nobody could duplicate those falsetto backing vocal parts, utterly core to their sound.

Yep, I'm curious as to what they sound like now without his voice in the background.

His voice is piped in now

Ed turned his back on Mike to give his son his 15 minutes.

I see some about the $ comments, but I'm sure Mike is still getting paid. I mean his name is on alot of still in print VH records...

thejokeriv wrote:

His voice is piped in now

I hope you're kidding.

The backing vocals on the last VH tour were new, pre-recorded tracks made specifically for the tour...they did not contain Michael Anthony's voice.

Shawn Of Fire wrote:

The backing vocals on the last VH tour were new, pre-recorded tracks made specifically for the tour...they did not contain Michael Anthony's voice.

Someone told me they did - alot of bands still pipe in background tracks (Stryper is famous for this, Def Leppard, belive it or not, doesn't)

martinsane wrote:

I see some about the $ comments, but I'm sure Mike is still getting paid. I mean his name is on alot of still in print VH records...

Sadly he is not getting paid, before the tour they did with Sammy Hagar a few years ago, Michael Anthony agreed to sign away his rights to the merch sales, and any future claims, he does still get royalities for songwriting, publishing and album sales, but he doesnot get any for t shirt sales etc. As a matter a fact some of the early tshirts designed for this tour based on the early album covers had him airbrushed out.

The reason is that Michael Anthony agreed to this so he can take part on The Best of Both World tour that they did with Hagar, figuring this could be the final tour for Van Halen, and he didnot want to miss out on it, so the Van Halen brothers had made him agree to this agreement before the tour would move further. The tour made a lot of money but it still ended badly with the Van Halen brothers taking one bus and Hagar and Anthony another. All this info is taken from Ian Christie's Van Halen biography.

Sounds like Eddie & Alex are about as bad as Gene & Paul when it comes to how they treat their ex-bandmates.

I hate that kind of back-stabbing crap.

detuned wrote:

Sounds like Eddie & Alex are about as bad as Gene & Paul when it comes to how they treat their ex-bandmates.

I hate that kind of back-stabbing crap.

I hate it too, but at least Gene and Paul are outfront about their greed. I don't understand what they have against Michael Anthony he stuck with them thru all three line ups and I am sure if he had been invited he would have taken part on Van Halen reunion with DLR. The book "Everybody Wants Some" does not really give a clear answer what happened between the two camps.

manny wrote:

The book "Everybody Wants Some" does not really give a clear answer what happened between the two camps.

Sure doesn't. I just finished reading it 2 days ago. This is why I started this thread because there's really no mention of a turning point anywhere that I can find that says why Eddie doesn't want Mike in the band. Especially with Roth in the band. It's not a real reunion unless all four are there. Mikey not being on tour this past year *had* to have let a few tickets go unsold. Right now it's just 'Van Halen & Son featuring David Lee Roth'.

thejokeriv wrote:

Shawn Of Fire wrote:

The backing vocals on the last VH tour were new, pre-recorded tracks made specifically for the tour...they did not contain Michael Anthony's voice.

Someone told me they did - alot of bands still pipe in background tracks (Stryper is famous for this, Def Leppard, belive it or not, doesn't)

Def Leppard is famous for backing tapes.