Tracie--Do ya have anything for a horrible headache? Too ill to go to work t'day.

Any favorite Joe songs?

Joe - I LOVE the Foot stuff!!!!! Really rocks, quite mainstream I guess so you should fill a few arenas no problems, maybe even a Grammy this time.

roo - thanks for the mail. Guess you got a new bootleg to hunt down huh? How lucky were the Best Buy people???

Tracie - hippo birdy buddy hope you had a great day, geez I wish I could go to the Chickyfoot things with you, we'd have a ball.

jblaze, back to those MD crab cakes, huh? Florida was hot, but not? What happened? Anyways, four seasons are better than hot and "chilly". lol! WB!

GG2, there are McKenna's everywhere! Funny thing is, the manager where I work has the last name Kenna, and I always have to think for a second before I say his name out loud cause that feckin MC comes before it 9 out of 10 times! Even though they're everywhere, there's only one AL.

Congrats to Ireland for whatever the hell they won today.

About 2 hours away, why?

Joe - Were you able to get Sammy to strap on his guitar and play on any of the tracks?

burly - Thanks. I'd love to have a job writing about music but I don't think there's a way I can make a living doing it. Let's face it...the stuff I like enough to talk about in-depth just doesn't have a large enough audience. And I'd have trouble writing about most pop music...not because I'm close minded, but because I think a lot of it is contrived and it'd be hard to talk about it without tearing it apart. ;-) I'd love to do the Cameron Crowe thing, though...maybe I'll get that chance at some point (A Chickenfoot tour biography/documentary, perhaps? Ha!).

Anyway, back to your post... I didn't get into Van Halen until the mid-90s, but in my mind the change in the band's musical style was just as much Eddie's doing as it was a result of the vocalist changing. The keyboards were there before Sammy (1984, Jump, I'll Wait), and I think they would have remained even if DLR stayed in the band...I can't see Dave doing Right Now, but I think something like Feels So Good could come from him. But that's a separate argument.

This is a big transition for Joe, but we all know he is a very versatile guitarist. That said, I think he's been getting too comfortable with his playing lately (on his last few albums), so I think this is a great way to shake things up. And to be honest, I think Sammy misses being in a band with a guitar virtuoso (Vic Johnson from the Wabos is excellent, but he's a different type of player).

I knew Sammy and Joe would get along, and it's obvious Sammy and Mikey would get along, but after hearing two Chickenfoot tracks I think I'm most surprised by how good Mike and Chad sound together. Chad is a funky drummer, and they're still so tight...I love it.

And to answer your question, Andy Johns produced the Chickenfoot album. He produced Satch's The Extremist and Van Halen's For Unlawful Carnal Knowledge, and worked as an engineer on a bunch of Zep and Stones albums in the 1970s...

Austin-Yeah, I usually remember.Sometimes I accidentally choose the /2004 before the /interact address, and it just blasts out of my speakers, probably waking up my roomate in the process.Other times I just forget, or I think my speakers are off.

So how was everybody's Saturday nite?

We had a trivia night fund raiser for the school - we had 2 tables of 10, hilarious night. We tried double bonus points on the music category but still not enough to win it. We agonised over who sang "Run To Paradise" and there was a collective groan when the answers were read out - of course it was the Choirboys. Many varied opinions over the lines to "Take It Easy" and who made "Grapevine" famous (Marvin Gaye) - shame there weren't any Satch questions.

Good morning T2Jers..or good evening those across the water...

Skippy- good weekend here, Last evening I went out with the family for my weekend vice,..Italian food...The wild party days are overso this is about as adventurous as it gets until Chickenfoot comes to town,..

Austin-You probably don't remember but Eddie made the comment when they announced Sammy was out of the band that he didn't like Sammy's melodies. I don't really know where he was coming from with that but if I had to guess it was part out of an inflated ego and in fairness to Ed, he may have felt that it did little for his playing style. Which in that case he was mistaken.

He recruited Gary Cherone,(I call him "Gary My Sharona"). I kinda think he dug the stuff Nuno and Gary were doing with Extreme, even though I don't think he and Nuno hit it off all that well. I never bought that album. Van Halen 3...THHHHHPPPPP!!!...Exuse that outburst but what a joke ..really.!

And you know before recruiting Sammy, he entertained the idea or actually I think may have auditioned Patty Smythe from Scandal,..("The Warrior"). I never understood the attraction there,..or at least not from a musical standpoint...Not that I don't like females fronting a band,I thinjk there are a lot of good women in rock but it just did not fit here...Our band had a female vocalist,..nice view for the drummer..I'm only kidding Lisa,..you know I am a gentleman....

Off to the gym...wish I could put some Chickenfoot in my player...What to play....HMMM...I'll figure it out!!

burly - you got mail.