TTP | Shine On, You Crazy Diamond
DLR Turns 56! -
October 8th, 2010
Sure there have been stronger voices, deeper lyrics penned by wiser souls, and less ornate attire sported onstage, but when it comes to being the greatest rock n' roll front man of all time no one can come close to David Lee Roth.
What's that you say? What about Mick Jagger? No spinning high kick, dude. Axl Rose? He has zero sense of humor. Freddie Mercury? We must have missed his kung fu sword routine.
A wrecking ball of bombast deep fried in fearlessness and dusted with genius, Roth was never better served than with a side of Van Halen. This Sunday our old hero turns 56, and we want to say thanks, Diamond Dave, for providing the soundtrack to so many of our Saturday nights. "Bottoms Up!"
[Join the conversation about ... Diamond Dave.]
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$35
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Amount for which Roth rented out his PA system to two young brothers named Alex and Edward Van Halen. The brothers were then in a three piece band called Mammoth. Eddie hated singing lead and later asked Roth to join the band not only to sing, but to also alleviate the PA rental expense. |
What kind of poem are you going to get out of a glass of iced tea?
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David Lee Roth, Lipton's last choice for spokesperson on Earth
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minutious
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adj. paying undue attention to minutiae.
Used correctly in a sentence: Early promoters found Van Halen's tour rider requesting a bowl of M&M's excluding the brown ones to be minutious.
In fact, the purpose of the band's request was to confirm their contract had been fully read.
Roth wrote Van Halen's biggest hit, "Jump," after watching a suicidal man on the evening news stand on top of the Arco Towers in LA. The crowd below kept shouting, "Don't jump!" Roth thought, "Jump" and wrote it down.
An insensitive artist would have titled the song "Splat!"
Crazy Uncle Dave
| 1995 | Vegas Show | Still wanting to perform for crowds but not finding them responsive to his more recent work, DLR shimmies to Vegas with a lounge act and a bunch of hot strip… uh, showgirls. |
| 2002 | No Holds Bar-B-Que | Dave takes $600,000 of his own cheese and shoots video of himself cavorting around his pad in Pasadena, singing to gorgeous ladies, and doing some really weird sh*t. |
| 2004 | Paramedic | Who needs a mic?!? DLR picks up a defibrillator, hops on an ambulance, and becomes an EMT saving lives in NYC. "Somebody Get Me a Doctor!" Nope, how about a Dave? |
| 2006 | David Lee Roth Radio Show | When his buddy Howard Stern heads to Sirius XM, Diamond Dave steps into his slot for his own nationally syndicated radio show. It lasts four months. |
| 2006 | Bluegrass Album | Depending on your level of fandom, this could be incredibly hard to watch. In fact, had Dave seen this 20 years ago, he would have hanged himself with a pair of fishnet stockings after gouging out his eyes with stiletto heels. |
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Perhaps the kinship we feel with Dave is due to our shared athleticism, bravado, gift of gab, and closet full of tight, colorful pants. Then again, maybe it's because the cat truly embodied our idea of what it meant to be a rock star. It's Friday, folks… Dance the Night Away! |
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