Friday, July 28, 2023

Whatever Happened To...#33: Van Halen

Hi, everyone! This time, I'm writing about Van Halen, one of the biggest rock groups that I saw live in concert during their last tour stop in Minnesota. Eddie, Alex, and Wolfgang Van Halen along with David Lee Roth performed about two dozen old and new songs at the Xcel Energy Center in 2012. I was glad that I attended the show, which was just a few miles away from where some of my relatives lived at the time. I didn't know then that we wouldn't see them in our neck of the woods ever again, but I now realize that after Eddie's death, we probably won't see them tour in all likelihood.

Van Halen was formed in Pasadena, California in 1973. The group formerly went by the names Trojan Rubber Co., Genesis, and Mammoth. Brothers Eddie and Alex Van Halen were founding members along with bassist Mark Stone. The group had started renting Roth's sound system for $10 per night before recruiting him as a singer. They had been playing gigs in and around their hometown before branching out to venues in Hollywood and Los Angeles.

Stone was replaced in 1974 by Michael Anthony Sobolewski. A successful concert at Gazzarri's on the Sunset Strip that year led to more regular shows and a demo tape that was produced at Northridge, CA's Cherokee Studios. In 1976, Kiss bassist Gene Simmons produced a 29-song Van Halen demo tape at Los Angeles' Village Recorder studios. Gene suggested that the group change their band name to Daddy Longlegs, to no avail.

Van Morrison guitarist Doug Messenger reached out to record producer Ted Templeman, suggesting that he check this new group called Van Halen out. He apparently liked what he heard, as the band was soon signed to a two-album deal with Warner Records (although the initial contract heavily favored the record label). Van Halen's debut album was recorded at Sunset Sound Recorders studio that fall. The album was an instant hit and was well-loved by rock and metal fans alike.

The group went on the road supporting Black Sabbath and their new album before taking some time to record the follow-up, Van Halen II, in 1979. Van Halen toured heavily for years after that, only taking breaks of a week or two at the most to record albums. Women and Children followed in 1980, as did Fair Warning in 1981 and Diver Down in 1982.

By then, fans were used to Van Halen's clever original songs and crafty cover tunes. Their sixth studio effort, 1984, debuted on January 9th 1984 and went quintuple platinum after less than a year.  It also yielded their first (and thus far, only) #1 song, "Jump." Shortly after the 1984 tour ended, Roth expressed his desire to leave the band to create his own group. David Lee Roth soon developed a 4 song EP called Crazy From The Heat, which contained a pair of covers along with a pair of original songs, before writing and recording full-length solo albums.

Eddie Van Halen asked Scandal singer Patty Smyth to join his band. However, she turned the offer down. Hall and Oates singer Daryl Hall was also approached about singing for the group but also declined. Former Montrose singer Sammy Hagar (who was also a solo artist at the time) made Eddie's acquaintance in 1985. Hagar later agreed to join Van Halen on guitar and lead vocals. Their first album with Sammy, 5150 in 1986, became the group's first full-length record to reach the top spot on the Billboard album charts. It was the first of 4 consecutive #1 albums. This includes 1988's OU812, and 1991's For Unlawful Carnal Knowledge and Balance in 1995. 

Problems started to surface between Sammy, Eddie, and Alex as tunes were being recorded for the Twister movie soundtrack in 1996. Eddie wasn't satisfied with Sammy's lyrics on the song "Humans Being," so he chose to change the melody and song title, much to Hagar's chagrin. Sammy left the band on Father's Day in 1996. Eddie would go on to say that Sammy chose to leave voluntarily, while Hagar would later say that he was fired from the group.

In addition to the movie soundtrack, the Van Halen brothers were also working on their first-ever compilation album, Best Of-Volume I. This led to a temporary reunion with David Lee Roth to record two new songs for the record. When the Van Halen brothers appeared on stage with Anthony and Roth at the 1996 Video Music Awards on MTV, rumors of a Roth reunion ran rampant. Unfortunately, Roth was no longer in the group's radar after only a few weeks. 

Extreme frontman Gary Cherone would be Van Halen's third singer. He recorded Van Halen III with them in 1998. The album was eventually certified as gold, but fans didn't take to it as well as previous efforts with Roth or Hagar behind the mike stand. More songs were recorded for another album with Cherone in 1999, but they have yet to be released in any official capacity. Gary departed Van Halen in November of that year and is now back with Extreme.

Van Halen worked on a few new tracks with Roth again in 2000, some of which would be further fleshed out for A Different Kind of Truth in 2012. Hagar and Roth went on the road together for a co-headlining tour in 2002. A new compilation record, The Best of Both Worlds, had a disc with Roth classics and another with Roth hits, with 3 songs that were newly recorded with Sammy. Hagar embarked on a tour with Van Halen that summer. Anthony didn't play bass guitar on the new songs (he only sang backing vocals) and was only on the tour after Hagar insisted on his inclusion. 

Michael was officially replaced on bass guitar in Van Halen by Eddie's son Wolfgang in 2006. By then, Anthony was regularly playing gigs with Sammy's solo band and related side projects. Eddie, Alex, David and Michael were inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in January 2007 but none of them attended the ceremony. 

A rumored new best-of recording featuring Roth hits that spring didn't come to pass. A world tour with Roth began in the fall of 2007 and was extended into the following year. Van Halen entered the Henson Studio C in Los Angeles in January 2011 to produce their first new album with Roth in decades. Small gigs were performed and a few other musicians were allowed to hear the new tunes before its official release in 2012. Another tour soon followed, which did quite well financially. 

Another tour was announced in 2015, with plans to record another studio album with Roth. Eddie Van Halen's passing was announced by Wolfgang via social media on October 6, 2020 from cancer, just 10 days after original bassist Stone's passing from the same ailment. Wolfie confirmed the band's end in a Howard Stern interview the next month. Several tribute concert lineups were rumored to be in the works, but as of this writing, none of them have been formalized.

Eddie Van Halen was a unique talent. He was one of the best guitarists in history, and definitely one of the top 5 guitarists that I've ever seen play live. Eddie is greatly missed, and I can understand why Van Halen won't go on, It just wouldn't be the same without him. 

Well, that's all for now. Writing this a day early as I have plans to attend my hometown's summer festival tomorrow. Next up will be Type O Negative, a brilliant metal band that I never got to see in concert. Until then, have a great week!

Saturday, July 22, 2023

Whatever Happened To...#32: Soundgarden

 Soundgarden was one of the giants from the Seattle metal scene. I always respected the band, but I never saw them perform as a group. However, I did see frontman Chris Cornell perform in Minneapolis not long before he passed away. Without him, they can't ever re-form.

The band was created in 1984 by bass guitarist Hiro Yamamoto, lead guitarist Kim Thayil and singer/drummer Cornell. A year later, Chris moved over to rhythm guitar and was replaced behind the kit by Scott Sundquist who later gave way to Matt Cameron. Yamamoto left the group in 1990, and Jason Everman took over on bass for a while until Ben Shepherd stepped in. Their initial label was SubPop, which released their debut EPs Screaming Life and Fopp in 1987 and 1988, respectively. Soundgarden's first full-length album, Ultramega OK, was issued on SST Records in 1988.

Their first record with a major label was Louder Than Love, which was released via A&M Records in 1989. It helped Soundgarden find new fans, while some loyal followers gave up on the group that they thought had lost its punk roots. A video compilation entitled Louder Than Live and another EP, Loudest Love, was issued in 1990.

1991's Badmotorfinger was the first Soundgarden album recorded by the band's now classic lineup. It garnered considerable praise and in part helped them tour with rock contemporaries such as Skid Row and Guns N' Roses. Album singles "Rusty Cage" and "Outshined" were in heavy rotation on MTV, although the video for the song "Jesus Christ Pose" was eventually banned from the channel due to fears of it being anti-Christian.

Their fourth release, Superunknown, catapulted Soundgarden to the top of the rock charts. Songs like "Black Hole Sun," "The Day I Tried To Live," "Spoonman" and "4th of July" established their signature sound. A CD-ROM called Alive in the Superunknown and an EP, Songs from the Superunknown, would follow in 1995. 

Soundgarden's fifth album, Down on the Upside, was different from any of their previous efforts. It wasn't quite as heavy as the songs from earlier albums that their diehard followers had come to expect. The group appeared on Lollapalooza with Metallica and toured worldwide to support what would be their last record of the 20th century. 

The group officially announced their breakup in April 1997. A greatest hits compilation, A-Sides, was released that November. Chris Cornell went on to record solo works and join the musicians in Rage Against The Machine in forming the supergroup Audioslave, which released three albums before breaking up. Cameron and Shepherd worked on songs for their side project Hater and Cameron drummed for the Smashing Pumpkins for a while before joining Pearl Jam. Thayil also worked on other live and studio projects. 

Fans were excited to hear rumors of a possible Soundgarden reunion, which proved to be true in 2010. Previously unreleased recordings were issued on Record Store Day in April, and the band played Lollapalooza once more before another hits album, Telephantasm: A Retrospective debuted in September. Soundgarden started work on another studio record in 2011, which became King Animal. The disc was issued in November. 

Soundgarden continued to tour in 2014, but with Matt Chamberlain behind the drum kit, as Cameron had prior commitments with Pearl Jam. A 3-disc box set, Echo of Miles: Scattered Tracks Across The Path, with live tracks and rare tunes, was released that year. The group had recorded several new songs for another studio album before Cornell was found dead in his hotel room in May 2017. The official cause of death was listed as suicide by hanging. Cornell's widow Vicky was embroiled in a legal battle with the surviving members of the band over those recordings for several years afterward. Cameron, Shepherd, and Thayil had decided in September 2017 to not continue as Soundgarden.

In April of this year, the legal battle was concluded, and it appears that the 7 songs that Chris Cornell worked on with his band may finally see the light of day. I'll be interested to hear them. I regret not having ever seen them live in concert, but their songs have been and will continue to be loved for decades.

Well, that's all for now. I'm off soon to enjoy live baseball later today. Next up, I'll try to do the legendary band Van Halen justice. I'll probably write that article on Friday, as I have a volunteer commitment next Saturday. Until then, take care and have a great week, everyone!

Friday, July 14, 2023

Whatever Happened To...#31: Hole

 Hole was an alternative rock/punk-inspired band best known for its lead vocalist and former wife of Kurt Cobain Courtney Love. I was never a big fan of this group, but I respected the music that they put out. They haven't been active in years, but you never know what Love and crew will do next.

Courtney put an ad expressing her interest in forming a rock band in Recycler magazine in 1989. It caught Eric Erlandson's attention, leading to the group's formation. Lisa Robertson was later recruited to play bass guitar and Caroline Rue later became their first drummer. Mike Geisbreicht joined as the third guitarist before the band's first gig in October 1989 in Hollywood, CA. Roberts was replaced by Jill Emery and Geisbreicht departed before the group released their first single, "Retard Girl," in 1990. The song was followed by the track "Dicknail" a year later.

Hole signed with Caroline Records in 1991 and went to work with Sonic Youth member Kim Gordon on developing their debut album. Pretty on the Inside was issued in September of that year, and the songs "Garbadge Man" and "Teenage Whore" helped generate interest in the new band. Hole went on the road in the UK and the U.S. that summer and fall to support their new music.

Erlandson and Love started writing songs for their next record in 1992. By then, several major labels had shown interest in their band. Hole would eventually sign with DGC, a Geffen offshoot, for an 8 album deal later that year. Emery had left the group by then, citing Love's interest in making their songs more radio-friendly as a reason for his departure. Love and Jack Endino filled in on bass guitar during some of their recording sessions. Kristen Pfaff played bass for Hole when they toured the UK in 1993. Their major label debut album, Live Through This, was recorded in Marietta, GA at Triclops Studios that October and was released the following April. 

The new record surfaced just a week after Cobain's death. The album tracks "Miss World," "Violet" and "Doll Parts" went multi-platinum and garnered more interest in the group worldwide. Love later acknowledged that her late husband contributed backing vocals to the songs "Softer, Softest" and "Asking for It." Hole continued to perform until June 1994, when Pfaff, who had previously taken time off for drug treatment, was found dead from a heroin overdose. 

The group returned to the road in August after enlisting the services of Melissa Auf der Maur on bass. They also made several national TV appearances during that time. An EP entitled Ask for It was released in September 1995, which included a few cover tunes and songs that were left over from their Peel recording sessions.

A pair of retrospective albums, another EP (The First Session), and a compilation record (My Body, The Hand Grenade) soon followed. Hole began work on their third studio album at Conway Recording Studios in Hollywood in 1997. Love was having some difficulty at times creating new material, so Smashing Pumpkins frontman Billy Corgan was brought in to help. Celebrity Skin was issued in 1998 and the songs "Awful," "Malibu" and the title track helped to ensure the album's success. 

Hole continued to tour supporting their newest record in 1998 and 1999. They even joined Marilyn Manson's tour for a few dates in 1998, but public squabbles, disagreements over their payouts from each concert and the fact that many fans were at those shows for Manson instead of Hole led to Love's group backing out of the tour. By then, drummer Patty Schemel (who had joined the group in 1992) was out of the band. She was credited as the drummer on Celebrity Skin, even though her parts had been recorded by Deen Castronovo in the studio. Samantha Maloney was hired to play drums on tour and appear in the group's music videos. 

Love made a habit of asking fans to join her onstage to help sing the last song of their sets. Hole's last concert of 1999 was at Vancouver's Thunderbird Stadium on July 14, a month after one of their fans was killed at one of their shows in Sweden after she was crushed behind the mixing board by a surge of fans from the mosh pit at the concert. Auf der Maur left Hole to join the Smashing Pumpkins that October and Maloney left a few months after that.

Although Love had professed that more music had been written, she and Erlandson posted on the group's website that Hole had called it quits. Auf der Maur and Love went on to solo careers, while Erlandson resumed work as a studio musician and music producer.

Love announced in 2009 that Hole had been reformed. Auf der Maur was puzzled because Courtney stated that she wasn't aware of any such reunion. Erlandson also protested Love's news, stating that he had to be involved in any such group re-formation because of their existing contract. The band launched a new website in January 2010 and their first new song in years, "Skinny Little Bitch" was released 2 months later.  The song was the first single from Hole's 4th album, Nobody's Daughter, which debuted that April via Mercury Records. The album received lukewarm reviews and never lived up to the popularity of prior efforts. The group embarked on another national and international tour from 2010 to 2012 to support the record.

Auf der Maur, Love, Schemel and Erlandson appeared in public together for the first time in over a decade on March 28th, 2011 for the New York Museum of Modern Art's premiere of Schemel's documentary film Hit So Hard: The Life and Near Death Story of Patty Schemel. At the event, Schemel stated that she would like to record with the band again, but nothing materialized beyond that. Stu Fisher was in the group by then, but he was replaced by Scott Lipps in September 2011. Love booked solo gigs in 2012 and teased possible new music in 2013 and a reunion of group members in 2014. However, nothing came out of those posts. 

No new music has been released by Hole since their 4th album in 2010. The group rehearsed in 2019 for the Hollywood Walk of Fame but did not perform. Auf der Maur and Love intended to play at the "Bans Off My Body" event in 2010, which was canceled due to the Covid-19 pandemic. Love now lives in the UK, and her former bandmates are now involved in other ventures, so it's unlikely that Hole will reunite once more any time soon. 

Even though I didn't really get into the band until their second album, I did like some of the music that they made. It's no surprise that Love's sometimes caustic personality got in the way of the group becoming superstars of the rock world. I don't know if Hole will resurface, but anything's possible. After all, there are rumors of Creed getting back together, so who knows? 

Well, that's all for now. Finished this article a day in advance so that I can relax and enjoy my birthday tomorrow. Next weekend, I'll be back to write about Soundgarden. Until then, have a great weekend, everyone!

Sunday, July 9, 2023

Whatever Happened To...#30: Hurt

 Hurt was a band that my brother got me interested in. I listened to his copies of their Vol. I and Vol. II albums before picking up copies for myself. Unfortunately, I never saw them live in concert before they disbanded. 

The group was created by drummer Wil Quaintance and guitarist/singer J. Loren Wince. Bass guitarist Steve Fletcher before the trio settled on the name Hurt. Around 1,200 copies of their self-titled debut were developed in 2000. Their sophomore effort, The Consumation, was issued in 2003 with Quaintance, Wince, and bassist Shawn Sawyer performing on the album. 

Hurt caught the attention of former Universal Records artists and repertoire employee Tom Lewis in 2005. They soon started working on a demo and later performed at a showcase to multiple record labels. Capitol Records eventually signed Hurt to a contract. 

Work soon began on Vol. I and Vol. II. The band initially wanted to produce a double album, but their label quickly nixed that plan. Vol. I debuted in March 2006 and featured the singles "Danse Russe," "Falls Apart" and "Rapture." Vol. II followed the next year which included the popular track "Ten Ton Brick." In 2008, Hurt re-issued their independent Consumation album (titled the Re-Consumation) to make those songs more readily available for their growing fan base. 

Unfortunately, the two records weren't as popular as Capitol Records had hoped, which led them to drop Hurt from their label. Undeterred, the band released their next album, Goodbye to the Machine on Amusement Records in 2009. Hurt later signed with Carved Records in 2010 and continued recording new music. Their final album, The Crux, debuted in May 2012. It reached a top spot of #75 on Billboard's top 200 chart, which would be the band's highest ranking ever.

Reports surfaced in 2014 from Amusement Management about re-releasing Hurt's original debut album. The record was reissued in a limited quantity of 2000 copies and included the original version of "Talking to God" and a previously unreleased song called "Cellophane." That was the last that most of us have heard about the band. I used to see J. Loren post on social media every once in a while, but  I haven't seen any of his posts in years. 

Hurt wasn't one of my favorite rock bands, but tunes like "Rapture," "Falls Apart," "House Carpenter" and "World Ain't Right" (featuring Shaun Morgan from Seether on vocals) are ones that still get stuck in my head from time to time. Maybe we'll see more new or previously unheard songs from the band at some point. Until then, I guess we have the albums to remind us how good this group really was. 

Well, that's all for now. Next time, I'll write about Courtney Love's former band Hole. I'll probably write that article on Friday, as I'm planning on taking next weekend off for my birthday. Until then, have a great week and don't forget to be kind to one another. 


Saturday, July 1, 2023

Whatever Happened To...#29: Velvet Revolver

 Velvet Revolver was another supergroup that I admired but never got to see live (although my brother saw attended two of their concerts). They had a very talented lineup and released a pair of albums that were very well-received. However, the death of lead singer Scott Weiland in 2015 made it virtually impossible for this band to ever reform again. 

The group began in 2002, a year after Slash's Snakepit ended for the second time. Slash and his former Guns N' Roses bandmates Duff McKagan and Matt Sorum performed at a benefit concert for the late drummer Randy Castillo that year and later started rehearsing with session guitarist Dave Kushner and Buckcherry frontman Josh Todd. Izzy Stradlin, another Guns N' Roses alumni, briefly joined the new group but left after only 2 weeks.

Todd wasn't a permanent singer for the new group and vocalist auditions were held. The band finally selected Weiland, whose original group Stone Temple Pilots called it quits in 2003. Scott was then available to join the group who would eventually be named Velvet Revolver. Their first studio album, Contraband, was released in June 2004.

"Slither," ""Fall to Pieces" and "Set Me Free" were some of the album tracks that helped the new group gain popularity. They toured around the world for 19 months to support their debut record. Their second disc, Libertad, was issued in July 2007. Velvet Revolver toured off and on for that album as well, sandwiched around rehabs and Weiland's legal issues related to his addiction issues. It was also around that time that tensions within the group started to surface.

Scott left Velvet Revolver in April 2008 and later rejoined STP, where he would stay before being kicked out of that band in 2013. Velvet Revolver looked for new singers for a while but wouldn't record any more new music. They briefly reunited with Weiland for a concert that honored John O'Brien in January 2012. Afterward, Scott expressed interest in returning to Velvet Revolver, but Slash soon denied stories that Weiland had in fact rejoined and that new music and a new tour were in the works with him. 

Scott Weiland was found dead in his tour bus on December 3, 2015 of a suspected drug overdose. He was scheduled to perform with his group the Wildabouts in MN the next night. McKagan and Slash would later go on to rejoin Guns N' Roses. Sorum performed on the Hollywood Vampires' first album in 2015 and Kushner continued to perform on soundtracks and working with other artists. 

I've heard a few VR songs sung by Myles Kennedy at a few of Slash's solo band's concerts, but it's not the same. Velvet Revolver was fun while they lasted, but I know we probably won't see them again. Maybe the kids of these musicians might revive those songs and their legacies at some point. One can only imagine how those shows would be!

Well, that's all for now. Next week, I'll write about the band Hurt. Until then, have a great weekend, everyone!