Comments on: yes, rock is dead

yes, rock is dead

tsarfan — Wed, 07 Jun 2006 14:00:31 -0800

David Lee Roth singing "Jump" with a bluegrass band on national tv - 6/6/06

By: Gungho

Gungho — Wed, 07 Jun 2006 14:02:33 -0800

Well I guess he does have to seek other career paths after his radio career went down in flames...

By: SweetJesus

SweetJesus — Wed, 07 Jun 2006 14:04:17 -0800

I heard that on the radio yesterday, and I assumed it was a joke... But no, Strummin' with the Devil is all too fuckin' real.

By: strangeleftydoublethink

strangeleftydoublethink — Wed, 07 Jun 2006 14:08:46 -0800

Does not work. Sorry, Dave. Should have had a blues band and sung it with cotton in your mouth. That might work.

By: mischief

mischief — Wed, 07 Jun 2006 14:10:51 -0800

No wonder I spend less than 15 minutes a day on MeFi lately.

By: donpardo

donpardo — Wed, 07 Jun 2006 14:11:50 -0800

Wow. This makes me appreciate Aztec Camera's cover that much more.

By: bcveen

bcveen — Wed, 07 Jun 2006 14:12:41 -0800

"I ain't the worst that you've seen."

By: jonson

jonson — Wed, 07 Jun 2006 14:12:58 -0800

Jesus it's horrible.

By: doctor_negative

doctor_negative — Wed, 07 Jun 2006 14:13:00 -0800

Shouldn't the quotes be on "singing"?

By: TheDonF

TheDonF — Wed, 07 Jun 2006 14:14:54 -0800

Is it me or does Diamond Dave seem to closely resemble Robin Williams on that clip? Oh, and WTF - how desperate can he get? Still, that'll probably put the dampeners on this year's press release from him begging for a Van Halen reunion. Still, maybe he could take up rocket surgeory in his spare time instead...

By: parki

parki — Wed, 07 Jun 2006 14:17:36 -0800

"rocket surgeory" I'm going to be using this one.

By: JT

JT — Wed, 07 Jun 2006 14:29:25 -0800

Fact: David Lee Roth's smile makes children cry.

By: TheDonF

TheDonF — Wed, 07 Jun 2006 14:29:29 -0800

"rocket surgeory" I'm going to be using this one. It's a DLR original (except he could have probably spelt it better)

By: spock

spock — Wed, 07 Jun 2006 14:34:24 -0800

oh my god that is one of the most painful things I have ever seen/heard i could not watch it to the end and i think my ability to use the shift key and punctuation have been permanently impaired

By: bardic

bardic — Wed, 07 Jun 2006 14:36:37 -0800

It looks bad for DLR but let's face it, bluegrass doesn't come away unscathed either.

By: barnacles

barnacles — Wed, 07 Jun 2006 14:37:31 -0800

Speaking as a bluegrass banjoist, that's atrocious.

By: disgruntled

disgruntled — Wed, 07 Jun 2006 14:37:53 -0800

Unwatchable. Like listening to a cow being sodomized.

By: Optamystic

Optamystic — Wed, 07 Jun 2006 14:38:14 -0800

Diver Down

By: bobo123

bobo123 — Wed, 07 Jun 2006 14:40:15 -0800

Is it me or does Diamond Dave seem to closely resemble Robin Williams on that clip? Yup, that's the first thing I thought of.

By: barnacles

barnacles — Wed, 07 Jun 2006 14:40:58 -0800

For much better covers of metal music, people should try out Fade to Bluegrass, instead. Bluegrass covers of Metallica. Not the easy-listening, watered-down, bluegrass-lite type of instrumentalism you hear in "Jump", either. In fact, I think I'll put it on now. I feel like I need to wash my ears out.

By: fandango_matt

fandango_matt — Wed, 07 Jun 2006 14:44:04 -0800

Sit down, Waldo.

By: BillBishop

BillBishop — Wed, 07 Jun 2006 14:44:12 -0800

Hot For Earplugs

By: wsg

wsg — Wed, 07 Jun 2006 14:53:08 -0800

The band sounds good. Dave? Not so much...

By: Dreamghost

Dreamghost — Wed, 07 Jun 2006 14:55:54 -0800

Might as well JUMP... off a bridge.

By: ludwig_van

ludwig_van — Wed, 07 Jun 2006 15:08:51 -0800

Wow. There are no words.

By: konolia

konolia — Wed, 07 Jun 2006 15:11:30 -0800

I saw/heard that live. Just about the weirdest thing I have ever heard. And bad. Really really bad.

By: ROU_Xenophobe

ROU_Xenophobe — Wed, 07 Jun 2006 15:16:22 -0800

For much better covers of metal music, people should try out Fade to Bluegrass *cough*HAYSEED DIXIE*cough*

By: cribcage

cribcage — Wed, 07 Jun 2006 15:17:43 -0800

I had no idea that David Lee Roth was gay.

By: ROU_Xenophobe

ROU_Xenophobe — Wed, 07 Jun 2006 15:19:30 -0800

Whatever happened to him being an EMT? In the best of all possible worlds, Bruce Dickinson would fly DLR around the world to save people whose heads exploded because of the "You've Got Another Thing Comin'" video. Sort of a rockin' International Rescue. Perhaps they could be the Metalbirds, or the ThunderthunderTHUNDERbirds.

By: AspectRatio

AspectRatio — Wed, 07 Jun 2006 15:20:37 -0800

This is awesome on so many levels. Thanks for the post.

By: es_de_bah

es_de_bah — Wed, 07 Jun 2006 15:21:58 -0800

not much of a vocalist, is he?

By: boo_radley

boo_radley — Wed, 07 Jun 2006 15:28:53 -0800

WOO! *desparate grin, desparate grin*

By: anarcation

anarcation — Wed, 07 Jun 2006 15:37:07 -0800

I don't listen to much bluegrass, but is the singer supposed to be able to cover the rest of the group? I kinda feel sorry for the guy.

By: Relay

Relay — Wed, 07 Jun 2006 15:41:38 -0800

Jesus! Where's my mallet and stake? This moron's time is most definitely up.

By: liam

liam — Wed, 07 Jun 2006 15:42:30 -0800

Van Hayride did it first.

By: Meatbomb

Meatbomb — Wed, 07 Jun 2006 15:43:33 -0800

Well bless his soul, the poor old bastard. It must be difficult being an ex-famous person / sex symbol. Props to him for being willing to look old and plain up on stage.

By: well_balanced

well_balanced — Wed, 07 Jun 2006 15:48:07 -0800

I am now significantly less upset w/ the rest of Van Halen for ditching him.

By: rdone

rdone — Wed, 07 Jun 2006 15:50:43 -0800

Some top quality musicians backing up Roth the Abominable, though: Scott Vestal, on Stealth banjo Rob Ickes on dobro World class players, both. The fiddle player and mandolinist were also doing the best they could in a lost cause, but I didn't recognize them. Good to see a bluegrass ensemble on Leno, even if in a rather bizarre context.

By: ktoad

ktoad — Wed, 07 Jun 2006 15:51:02 -0800

Van Hayride did it first. A comment from their myspace page: "You guys are one of the top two Van Halen country tribute bands." I'm no linguistic expert, but that sounds like damning with faint praise to me.

By: StickyCarpet

StickyCarpet — Wed, 07 Jun 2006 15:54:28 -0800

Is it me or does Diamond Dave seem to closely resemble Robin Williams on that clip? I'm seeing Wink Martindale.

By: ginger rootless

ginger rootless — Wed, 07 Jun 2006 15:56:33 -0800

The Asylum Street Spankers' version of NIN "Closer".

By: isopraxis

isopraxis — Wed, 07 Jun 2006 15:58:22 -0800

. . . proof that classic rock belongs in the pasture.

By: felix

felix — Wed, 07 Jun 2006 16:11:58 -0800

Jeez, what snark. The guy is probably (at the time) one of the most famous rockers, gets more tail than a monkey proctologist, he goes on to become an EMT (!) in NYC (!!), replaces Howard Stern as a talk show guy, and now ends up at age 52, still alive (!!!), singing in front of a bluegrass band on a nationally broadcast television show. How many of you guys have swung around stage on a giant bungi cord in your own MTV video? Hmmm?

By: theredpen

theredpen — Wed, 07 Jun 2006 16:27:56 -0800

I like Dave. And if he needs a couple of bucks, I'm happy to help him out, if it means avoiding this sort of thing.

By: ryoshu

ryoshu — Wed, 07 Jun 2006 16:36:28 -0800

Queer Eye for the Old Rocker Guy

By: theredpen

theredpen — Wed, 07 Jun 2006 16:38:54 -0800

But it was worth watching to learn about "Van Hayride" -- HA HA HA HA. Priceless name.

By: swift

swift — Wed, 07 Jun 2006 16:39:06 -0800

Better: Astrograss and (the late) Bad Livers.

By: black8

black8 — Wed, 07 Jun 2006 16:51:55 -0800

Werd felix. I think it's a big lark and he was having fun. Dave's never been afraid to take a chance. Good on him.

By: stevil

stevil — Wed, 07 Jun 2006 16:55:20 -0800

I saw the DLR band a few years ago, and Duck Dunn was playing bass with them!

By: melt away

melt away — Wed, 07 Jun 2006 16:55:57 -0800

I'm no DLR or Van Halen fan. Or any hair metal junk. But I thought it was kinda cool that he's doing this particular project at his age. Looked like he was having fun too.

By: nyxxxx

nyxxxx — Wed, 07 Jun 2006 17:07:05 -0800

I've been working on a bluegrass bands that covers funk hits of the 70's and 80's. You should hear us doing, "Play that funky music white boy". It's how the song was meant to be heard. BTW, P-Funk's "Flashlight" is harder to play on a mandolin than you would think.

By: quin

quin — Wed, 07 Jun 2006 17:10:02 -0800

ROU_Xenophobe : *cough*HAYSEED DIXIE*cough* Amen, brother. If this thread does nothing else, i hope it turns one more person on to the genius that is that band.

By: planetkyoto

planetkyoto — Wed, 07 Jun 2006 17:13:15 -0800

I'm glad to see comments in here. That was the first link I opened since waking up this morning, and I thought I'd been left behind.

By: drstein

drstein — Wed, 07 Jun 2006 17:13:51 -0800

"Whatever happened to him being an EMT?" He still holds his certs in NY, apparantly. And from what I've heard, he's actually decent at the job. He claims that nobody has ever recognized him while he was on the job either.

By: PhatLobley

PhatLobley — Wed, 07 Jun 2006 17:14:06 -0800

I think it's a big lark and he was having fun. Looked like he was having fun too. He looked so uncomfortable to me. His smile seemed very forced and I think he wanted to actually, you know, JUMP! a little bit. I have a hunch he hates it as much as I do.

By: numbers

numbers — Wed, 07 Jun 2006 17:15:46 -0800

On the other hand, the bluegrass version of "Jamie's Cryin' " is not too bad. Almost listenable.

By: ab3

ab3 — Wed, 07 Jun 2006 17:22:03 -0800

he looks like robin williams doing an impression of david lee roth singing with a bluegrass band.

By: Songdog

Songdog — Wed, 07 Jun 2006 17:26:11 -0800

Now I've got the mandolin hook that replaced the synth hook stuck in my head.

By: zoogleplex

zoogleplex — Wed, 07 Jun 2006 17:55:48 -0800

I saw VH live eight times before the split, and this is about as well as he ever sang in a live show. He's not a great singer - and he knows it, too - but he was IMO about the greatest frontman in rock for many many years. They were such an explosive, ridiculously entertaining band, bigger than big and then some. The problem is that what Dave did as that frontman doesn't translate well to a small stage - he was all about the Big Moves and Big Mouth in front of a Big Band with Big Big Sound. I agree with PhatLobley that he looked like he was a bit caged, though I doubt he hates it... he's still living on a 150-foot by 40-foot stage somewhere in his mind, which is understandable to me. He's a wacky guy, yeah. But he's still kinda doin' what Dave Does. I can't bust his balls for keepin' at it. Actually he looked a lot better physically than most of the times I've seen him in the past decade. His hair looks all right like that, actually. Queer Eye for the Old Rocker Guy Yeah, maybe! :)

By: bwg

bwg — Wed, 07 Jun 2006 18:02:08 -0800

Thank you, thank you! I'm here 'til Thursday. Try the veal!

By: Ethereal Bligh

Ethereal Bligh — Wed, 07 Jun 2006 18:15:04 -0800

What zoogleplex said. Though I couldn't stand to watch more than forty seconds of that video. DLR was incredibly entertaining live. I saw them, what?, three times before the breakup. And I grew up in eastern New Mexico. I can't overstate how much me and my pals were VH fans. I was bitterly disappointed when DLR was kicked out of the band. That was the end of hard rock for me. All rock, really, until the early 90s. So I have a big soft-spot in my heart for Diamond Dave. But, damn, was that video horrifying.

By: stupidsexyFlanders

stupidsexyFlanders — Wed, 07 Jun 2006 18:22:21 -0800

He may indeed be having fun up there. I'm sure John Wayne Gacy had fun butchering young boys and burying them under his house. Doesn't make it art.

By: ROU_Xenophobe

ROU_Xenophobe — Wed, 07 Jun 2006 18:40:41 -0800

Does if he arranges them. In a vase. NICELY.

By: Ethereal Bligh

Ethereal Bligh — Wed, 07 Jun 2006 18:51:04 -0800

Is it alarming if I can honestly think of all sorts of ways that buchering young boys and burying them under one's house could actually be art? Yes? Forget I mentioned it.

By: StrasbourgSecaucus

StrasbourgSecaucus — Wed, 07 Jun 2006 19:05:15 -0800

IT WOULD HAVE BEEN FINE WITHOUT DAVID LEE ROTH FUCKING IT UP BY SINGING

By: yhbc

yhbc — Wed, 07 Jun 2006 19:06:56 -0800

Here's the bad news - the particular link in the post has been removed from YouTube due to copyright violations. Here's the good news - there are plenty of other versions of the video still available on YouTube. Now, since I have watched one of those versions, please switch "good" and "bad" in the preceding two sentences. Thanks.

By: craniac

craniac — Wed, 07 Jun 2006 19:19:46 -0800

DLR really drunk on stage.

By: Alvy Ampersand

Alvy Ampersand — Wed, 07 Jun 2006 19:39:53 -0800

I dunno, I think he looks like a cross between Corbin Bernsen & John Delancey. And that may have been the first time I've ever listened to any version of 'Jump' in its entirety, so hey, props to Diamond Dave.

By: Mr. Six

Mr. Six — Wed, 07 Jun 2006 20:23:11 -0800

I don't get it. Might I as well jump from listening to this?

By: Afroblanco

Afroblanco — Wed, 07 Jun 2006 21:18:22 -0800

This video has been removed due to copyright infringement. They couldn't think of a better reason?

By: tsarfan

tsarfan — Thu, 08 Jun 2006 02:23:59 -0800

the same video on Buzznet for the record, i have mixed feelings about the performance/song myself. on one hand its so sad. and on the other hand i really liked that paul anka cd of covers and this seemed like a very sweet cover. however dave looks like a caged animal and its pathetic that the rest of van halen wont do the right thing.

By: jonmc

jonmc — Thu, 08 Jun 2006 07:06:53 -0800

Amen, felix & black8. Diamond Dave was always all about the fun, and the rockin' and the boozin' and the pussy-chasin'. The DLR haters just like their grapes sour, I guess.

By: StarForce5

StarForce5 — Thu, 08 Jun 2006 08:09:57 -0800

Could DLR at least try to sing the damn song if he's going to bother at all?

By: zoogleplex

zoogleplex — Thu, 08 Jun 2006 12:06:09 -0800

That's as good as he ever got live on stage, StarForce. Seriously. He's not a good singer. In the studio, they were able to clean him up pretty well. And besides, we didn't go see Van Halen to listen to dulcet crooning vocal tones, dude! :) Might I add that I was highly disappointed with the change in the music when Sammy joined, mostly because I was anticipating similar incredible rockingness with a great singer. Not quite... Ah well.

By: mikojava

mikojava — Thu, 08 Jun 2006 15:01:44 -0800

Might as well Jump the shark...