Source:www.right-thinking.co
Lately the big celebrity news centers on music and radio.
Howard Stern's departure from 92.3 FM in New York has resulted in his seat being filled by former "Van Halen" front man, David Lee Roth.
Regardless of whether you consider Roth to be an A-Hole or an A-Lister you can always count on him to at least be unpredictable, unusual, and entertaining.
Reports on his performance as a "morning-drive" radio talk show host are mixed. Apparently listeners have found him to be OK but not what they expected. He's more laid back, but at the same time a bit twitchy, often changing topics in mid-thought.
Well, he's only been at it a few days so we'll see how he develops over time.
Roth has already rekindled the fires of controversy regarding a possible reunion with Van Halen by saying that such an occurrence was "inevitable."
Roth also claims that he listens to their old repertoire, "all the time."
I always wondered about musicians and their own listening habits, and whether or not they grooved to their own tunes, and David has answered the question, as least as far as his own tastes.
The comparison to a writer reading his own works for entertainment comes to mind, and somehow I just don' t picture John Clancy, or Steven King, cuddling up with their own books for a bit of escapism.
Of course one has to temper Roth's actions with the knowledge that he is a bit, er, different, than most people.
I was always a fan of Van Halen, and eddie van halen, in particular. He's an amazing axe grinder, and as a frustrated lead-guitarist, listening to him play is a near religious experience for me.
One of my regrets in life is not yet having learned to play the guitar, even though I own three pricey electrics.
Why three if I can't play, you ask? Well, see, I didn't know that I sucked as a guitarist when I bought the first one. I thought I got stuck with a sour sounding lemon, so I bought a different, even more expensive one. That one didn't sound any better, so I figured it was just bad luck, and I bought a third, which cost more than the other two combined.
Unfortunately that one sounded like the other two and my wife finally clued me in to the fact that it was me.
D.L. Roth used to come into a coffeehouse on the Ventura Marina where I worked years ago. I can assure you that he’s a A-hole. On the other end of the spectrum, John Davidson was nice, but harried. Well, who could blame him? He’d sail in on his yacht with all his kids. Can’t remember how many there were, but they all ordered at once and poor John just looked overwhelmed. Cheech Marin is a genuinely nice guy, never too good to share conversation while you’re frothing up his cappuccino. Herb Edelman (Bea Arthur’s ex in Golden Girls) was very cultured, very polite, and liked his corned beef sandwiches v-e-r-y lean. A great patron of the arts, too. I was fortunate to have dinner with him one night (with a number of high-ranking officials from the Ventura County Symphony for which I was Conductor’s Assistant), and he was always very refined, yet friendly.