Product Description

"Good band, even better book . . . Essential reading."
—Record Collector

One of 2007′s Most Intriguing Books
—LA Weekly

"Highly recommended for Van Halen completists."
—Chuck Klosterman, Esquire

"Respect is due to author Ian Christe. His book is perfectly pitched, capturing both the flamboyant excitement and inherent absurdity of the rampant ego collective known as Van Halen."
—Geoff Barton, Classic Rock

"Written in jubilant, elastic prose, Ian Christe′s Everybody Wants Some is a sort of Day–Glo fairy tale . . . savvy, sympathetic, expert, funny ha–ha."
—The Boston Phoenix

"[Christe′s] not fooling around. And his prose is always playful."
—Los Angeles Times

"A new biography of the band that made metal marketable doesn′t disappoint the fans."
—The American Prospect

"Christe chronicles the sweeping scope of the Van Halen saga."
—Chicago Sun–Times

If you’ve ever wondered how two Dutch boys trained in classical music grew up to form America’s greatest hard rock band, find the naked truth in Everybody Wants Some: The Van Halen Saga. Learn all the juicy details, from the secret of Eddie Van Halen’s guitar mastery to the truth about groupies, midgets, and contract riders and the details of Van Halen’s explosive entrée to California’s hard rock scene. Read about all the strife between Eddie and the singers and find out how Eddie’s drinking affected the band and his personal relationships.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #176979 in Books
• Published on: 2008-08-08
• Original language: English
• Number of items: 1
• Binding: Paperback
• 336 pages

Review
"Good band, even better book...Essential reading for fans."  (Record Collector, December 2007)

"Respect is due to author Ian Christe.  His book is perfectly pitched, capturing both the flamboyant excitement and inherent absurdity..."  (Classic Rock UK, February 2008)

Review
"Good band, even better book...Essential reading for fans."  (Record Collector, December 2007)

"Respect is due to author Ian Christe.  His book is perfectly pitched, capturing both the flamboyant excitement and inherent absurdity..."  (Classic Rock UK, February 2008)

From the Inside Flap

What kind of a band turns rock music inside out, sells 75 million albums, and sets concert attendance records, then vanishes—not even appearing on the night of their induction into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame? Come backstage for a complete close encounter with the multitalented and misunderstood Van Halen, the ultimate American rock stars.

For the first time, Everybody Wants Some tells the complete uncensored story of Van Halen, whose charming smiles and musical chemistry survived misfit childhoods, sibling rivalry, nasty bouts with tabloid snoops, painful divorces, bitter band breakups, long–term substance abuse, and harrowing brushes with cancer.

You′ll follow Eddie and Alex van Halen from their quiet but music–filled boyhoods in Holland through their transformative years in Southern California, where seeing the Dave Clark Five on the Ed Sullivan Show turned them away from classical music and into stone rockers overnight.

You′ll meet David Lee Roth, whose hyperactive childhood was a prelude to his manic adult life as the ultimate rock showman. And you′ll discover why easygoing bassist Michael Anthony, who lent the Van Halen brothers equipment even though he played in a rival local band, responded to his first meeting with Roth by saying, "Get that guy away from me."

You′ll sit with Sammy Hagar, whose struggles for acceptance as replacement singer led the band to unexpected places—including four consecutive number one albums. And don′t forget Gary Cherone—Van Halen′s much younger, and nearly forgotten, third singer. After years of struggle as a cover band from Pasadena, ?Van Halen exploded out of the Hollywood rock scene in 1978, and the rest is history . . . and myth . . . and legend . . . and rumor . . . and gossip. Ian Christe separates fact from fiction in his account of the band′s most stunning exploits, as they elevated fun with groupies, circus–like stage spectacles, MTV videos, and bizarre contract riders to hedonistic art forms. Christe also reveals the truth behind Roth′s separation from the band, Van Halen′s great success but difficult relationship with Sammy Hagar, and Eddie′s marriage to sweetheart TV actress Valerie Bertinelli.

Now firmly ensconced in the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, Van Halen still grabs headlines whenever someone whispers the magic words, "reunion tour." Everybody Wants Some brings the saga of Van Halen—from young lions to troubled monarchs—to vivid life in all of its exuberant, decadent, vulnerable, and awesome dimensions.

Customer Reviews

Pretty solid effort, but just lacks something. Just like Van Hagar!
I`d been looking forward to this book`s release for some time. The wonderful news about the mighty Van Halen reuniting (with the absence of the great Mr Michael Anthony aside) heightened this sense of anticipation.

To be honest, there is nothing wrong with this book! My few complaints are partly elitist, in that the three different lead-singer eras are under the headings "Rothozoic", "Hagarlithic" and "Cheronean, Neo-Rothozoic and Neo-Hagarlithic". Why would you do such a thing? I read it far too quickly as well, so whilst that might well be my fault, the font size is pretty large and there is quite a lot less actual writing than you might think. I don`t know how many rock fans will care about that though.

Big plus points - obviously Christe is a VH fan, and by that I mean DLR, not Hagar. He consistently digs at Sammy, and that`s fine by me. There is even a selection of best-of Van Hagar songs to aid the DLR Army find some positives through 1986-1995. The author also claims to have learnt "Eruption", and you have to doff your cap to that. The author does make a decent stab at unravelling the truth from the rumour, particularly regarding the mess of 1985.

A good read. Perhaps the writing lacks sparkle, but, to the author`s credit, he doesn`t write like Abel Sanchez (see "Van Halen 101"). I knew a lot of the information on offer already, but you can never know too much about the mighty Van Halen. They`re the greatest.

A Workmanlike No Frills Effort
Disappointing would be the word I'd use to describe this book. I've read quite a few of the raucous accounts of top rock bands & up to this point it's a genre which I've found shocking, entertaining & funny in equal measures. This book somehow manages to circumvent what must have been/was one of the biggest blowouts in the history of stadium rock & somehow leaves you feeling that someone has ripped a number of pages out of the book before you started reading.

I don't normally review a product unless I consider it a 5 star item, but I was so looking forward to reading this book & finished it feeling so short changed that I felt compelled to change my policy

Missed Opportunity
After reading this book I felt rather disappointed, I feel as if the author has missed the chance to really tell the story of this legendary band!
The book itself is just a series of quotes plucked from the likes of Guitar World and The Inside (VH's short lived fan magazine) padded out with minimal facts that most passing Van Halen fans would already know. The problem with this book is really that it didn't tell me anything that I didn't already know, which for me was pretty poor. I've been a fan since the early 80's and have followed the band closely during their career, so I'm well aware of the highs and lows of the band members, but Christie does nothing more than skim the surface of Eddie's repeated battles with addiction. The recording of each album and subsequent tours are little more than footnotes, when really I would have liked him to explore the recording process a little more and delve deeper into the life on the road of one of rock's truly excessive bands!
One of my other niggles is that Christie pays far too much attention to David Lee Roth's, patchy at best, solo career after leaving Van Halen! He pays much less attention to Sammy Hagar's career, which is just shameful as Hagar was in Van Halen for just as long as Roth, OK the purists may counter that Roth was the true VH frontman, but, Hagar was there no matter if you like him or not!
The bottom line though, is this is another missed opportunity and we are still waiting on the definitive history of this great band! One were the author will actually get to speak with band members and get their take on what actually happened during their career, rather than tacking it together!