Their History Revisited as David Lee Roth Retires One Year after Eddie’s Death
If this columnist were calling the shots, he’d make sure Smithtown’s McClain Laboratories featured within the film in some capacity.
The late Eddie Van Halen, who died of a stroke at age 65 last October after a 20-year battle with tongue, throat and lung cancer, first announced the aforementioned pathology lab in a 2006 interview with Howard Stern.
“The money I make off making music, I apply to helping people even more,” Van Halen told Stern while revealing his partnership with Dr. Steve McClain. A noble collaboration indeed, though certainly not the most famous pairing of which he’s been involved.
His spats with lead singer David Lee Roth led to the latter’s departure from the band bearing Eddie’s namesake during the height of their fame in 1984; divisions that alone could provide the bulk of a hypothetical Van Halen feature film, should the band become the next in a running slew to recently receive a movie treatment documenting their mythos in scripted fashion.
“Eddie’s virtuosity, David’s flamboyance, the constant evolving of their tone while maintaining their distinctive sound, and never following a fad – they could even cover a song from any genre [like The Kinks’ “You Really Got Me”] and make it sound like original VH. This is what sets the band apart from the rest,” said a Van Halen lifer, 26, of Commack.
Whether it’s titled “Jump,” “Runnin’ with the Devil” or something else entirely, there are many avenues through which to pursue translating the story of Van Halen to the silver screen. Each oft-told anecdote, and each yet to be unearthed all run through the beautiful mess that was Eddie and David’s decades-spanning on-again/off-again saga.
Roth’s ultimately unrequited pursuit of movie writing himself, combined with Eddie’s detour from the band to iconically sling electric on Michael Jackson’s “Beat It,” helped contribute to the initial separation that would become routinely reversed across years of kinetic reunions.
Soon after the elder Van Halen’s passing, son and band-member Wolfgang announced the group’s disbanding. Then, earlier this month, Roth would send shockwaves through the music-loving world by announcing his intentions to retire following his December slate of Las Vegas performances.
Doctors have encouraged Roth to “calm down” in recent years, according to an interview the energetic 67-year-old showman gave with the Las Vegas Review-Journal. He’s expected to remain an active poster of always candid, truly “crazy from the heart” Instagram testimonials.
A GoFundMe page called “Pasadena4VanHalen” raised money to erect an Eddie Van Halen plaque outside the Pasadena Civic Auditorium eventually unveiled in conjunction with the one-year anniversary of his death. Attempts to name a park after him in the same area have gained steam as well.
From coast to coast, and beyond the States too – with the popularity of Van Halen-loving soundtrack selector Adam Sandler’s movies across streaming continentally and overseas – Van Halen diehards are still dancing the night away, and won’t slow down anytime soon.
