Because I love guitarists...

... and Eddie Van Halen has always been near the top of my list of all time favorites, I am SO looking forward to the season premier of Two and a Half Men (CBS, Sept 21 , 9pm Eastern).

Edddie is reportedly a big fan of the show, and one of the producers approached him to do the cameo.

Eddie Van Halen revealed to Rolling Stone that he is recovering from delicate hand surgery due to a bone spur, a twisted tendon, and a cyst in the joint of his left thumb. He explained that the hand problems first popped up during VAN HALEN's last tour, saying, "During the last leg of our tour, I started developing pain in my thumb and my pinky. I didn't think much of it at the time. It got progressively worse to the point that about three months ago I wasn't able to play at all. My pinky and my thumb were totally locked up and felt like there was something broken."

He sought help from hand specialists in Dusseldorf, Germany, who at first were treating him for arthritis before further examinations showed the extent of the problem: "They said the only way to fix it was surgery, which of course scared the shit out of me, but I was told it was the only way to fix it. Surgery was a success, now I just have to let it heal. I am totally jazzed that they found the problem, fixed it and in about four months my hand will feel like I am 18 again. Thank God."

The stitches came out within a few days, and so far Van Halen's hand has regained its full reach. His recovery will be complete in four-to-six months. "In the meantime I am able to write a bit, but cannot overexert my hand because it needs to heal properly," he said.

Even better? Van Halen (featuring brothers Eddie and Alex, Eddie's son Wolfgang, and David Lee Roth) are expected to record a new album and tour sometime in 2010.

How much fun would that be? Call DLR a man-slut if you must (because admit, he SO was) but he was also one HELL of a frontman.

Anyway. Eddie. CBS. Sept 21. Monday. Be there.




~ Hath

Jon will NOT be on Criminal Minds

Gwen Stefani's rocker husband Gavin Rossdale has stepped in to replace Jon Bon Jovi in an upcoming episdoe of Criminal Minds.

Bon Jovi was the first choice to play a rock star FBI profilers believe is a serial killer in an upcoming episode of the hit CBS show, but the singer had to back out of the project.

I think that would have been a good dramatic role for him to try.

Not that Gavin isn't worth watching *drool*...

~ Hath

JonBon: UK Radio 2 Interview

http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b00mtndr

Jon is going to be on Steve Wright in the afternoon on radio 2 on Sept 24th. The show is on from 2-5 local time.

Who loves her Goddess, and can record the show?

~ Hath

Absolute Radio Pics ~ No Watermarks

Judith, you're two for two on my THANK YOU scale! These pics are great.



~ Hath

David Eye Candy

Thank you, Judith for these yummies in my inbox.

David and Lexi hung out after the VMAs earlier this week, and they spent some time with Sebastian Bach (who I absolutely ADORE).

I would be very interested to hear David's take on the whole anye-Key est-Way thing. He's been around the block a time or two; wonder if he's ever seen anything like it before. *shakes head*. Not wasting any more time on KW.

On to the CANDY!


David and Sebastian


David and Lexie

I love the little Joker teaser. My friend Willow still has the signs we made for Boston that says "HEY DAVID!" and "SHOW ME JOKER!" and I can't wait to put them back in rotation this tour.

~ Hath

Guitar Hero 5

For a week now, I've been reading articles about Courtney Love's dismay (to put it politely) over late husband Kurt Cobain's avatar on GH5 "singing" Bon Jovi and other artists. I dismissed it as "yeah, whatever, if this is the biggest thing you have to worry about, then you're pretty damned lucky."

Now I see that JonBon is "supportive" of her anger. C'mon, now. You DO know this is only a game, right? Granted, the latest in one of the most successful, if not the most successful game franchises in gaming history, but that's just until GH6 comes out, and everybody forgets about this one.

Jon went on to tell the BBC that he had declined the offer to appear as a playable character in Guitar Hero.

"I had the paperwork, they wanted me to be on that game and I just passed," he said. "But no-one even broached the subject with me that I would be singing other people's stuff. I don't know how I would have reacted to that. I don't know that I would have wanted it either."

By "the paperwork", do you mean an actual contract? Or an email saying, "Hey we wanna pixelize you"? My bet would be the latter. Any contract sent, had Jon intended to take it seriously, would have been scrutinized six ways to Sunday, and any "missing clause" explored and every "loophole" firmly closed. Call Jon what you will, but nobody can argue that he has shrewd lawyers and is very, VERY careful about what he puts his name and likeness on (crappy pens notwithstanding).

Jon, I submit that you absolutely don't want to be a cartoon character (being anime on a slot machine in Japan is different). Not because, in your words, "To hear someone else's voice coming out of a cartoon version of me? I don't know. It sounds a little forced," but because your avatar would probably suck at lip synching just like you.

Oh come on, reader. You've seen it. I know you have. That horrid TV appearance when Jon couldn't manage to get his lips to match the studio track. (I'm sure at least one of you have the YT bookmarked, I can't seem to put my fingers on it this morning).

We all know, I know, that Jon is a fantastic singer. A phenominal frontman. A veritable force of nature when he's on stage. But he can't lip synch his own stuff never mind someone else's. I could just see someone at Activision playing that up.

That would be hysterical.

Almost as funny as grungemaster Kurt Cobain singing You Give Love a Bad Name, Stevie Wonder's "Superstition", Dire Straits' "Sultans of Swing", Elton John's "Saturday Night's Alright (For Fighting)", No Doubt's "Ex-Girlfriend", or any of the other non-Nirvana tracks on the game's soundtrack.

As an aside, note that Richie didn't seem to mind being a Lego character and having his little avatar dude "air guitaring" to someone else's stuff. No lawyers, no lawsuits, no f-bomb-laden tweets.

I respect Courtney's right to be pissed off. I support her right to deal with that in whatever non-violent way she sees fit. I even get Jon jumping in -- I mean, any publicity is good publicity, right? With the new record coming out, getting his name out there on as many RSS feeds as possible can only do good things. But:

It's....

Only....

A....

Game....

People!

Besides, the more you complain openly about it, the more people want to buy it just to see what other tricks they can make Kurt do.

~ Hath



source

Thank You, MrsDavidSambora!

Oh my!

Sabine, aka MrsDavidSambora tweeted my blog :)

@MemphisBroadway asked the question: Bon Jovi fans -- what are your favorite Bon Jovi fansites?

The lovely Sabine told them ME. Which means, if Joe and Dave are checking in on tweets *gulp* I'm firmly on the radar.

Just in case that's true:

Joe and Dave: Loved LOVED Toxie. Can't wait for Memphis. Dave, I've got my "show me Joker" sign all ready for you this tour (remember Boston and CP? That was me...thanks for the flash, btw...raaawwwwrrrrr....) and congrats on the upcoming nuptials :)

Love, Hath

JBJ Absolute Radio Interview

So, the pics from the Eye Candy post -- some of them were of Jon outside the offices of Absolute Radio as he was going to do an interview (the blue shirt ones; the all-black was from dinner the night before). One of the devoted let me know that she saw on Absolute Rradio's website that there are 4 parts to Jon's interview, which will be aired across four nights:

Monday 21st Sept 8pm LONDON TIME
Bon Jovi interview - part 1

Tuesday 22nd Sept 8pm LONDON TIME
Bon Jovi interview - part 2

Wednesday 23rd Sept 8pm LONDON TIME
Bon Jovi interview - part 3

Thursday 24th Sept 8pm LONDON TIME
Bon Jovi Interview - part 4

http://www.absoluteradio.co.uk/event

The devotee was an absolute peach and did the math for me: The segments will air at 3pm New York time.

UPDATE: The interview can be found in my MediaFire space here.

~ Hath

WWBTF: Real Guitar Solo on Album

I love MusicRadar. It's a great site for interviews with great musicians. I've read quite a few articles on this site that were either written by or about Richie Sambora. The most recent one, about the new album, has some good news:

The album version of WWBTF will actually have a guitar solo after Jon enthusiastically calls out "Guitar!":
The first single from The Circle, We Weren't Born To Follow, has been blowing up at radio, but Sambora reveals that the version currently being spun will ultimately differ from what fans can expect to hear on the album.

"When I recorded the solo to that song, I played a very melodic, kind of Beatles-esque break. That was the mood I was in. As soon as the song got leaked to radio, people went crazy, sending e-mails and Twittering and everything: 'We love the song, but what's with that solo? We want a rippin', burnin' Richie Sambora solo.

"So I said to Jon, 'Hey, do you want me to change it? We got time. And John was like, 'Sure. Go lay down another solo and we'll drop it in the song on the album.' So that's what I did - I cut it yesterday, in fact. It's a monster."

But does the guitarist mind having fans, in effect, 'produce' part of a song? "Nah!" he says, with a laugh. "When I played sessions, it was all about serving the song. Sometimes you have to test things out and see what works. I'm totally cool about the whole thing. And I guarantee that when people hear the new solo, they'll be stoked. Ask and you shall receive."

Hmmm. "Ask and you shall receive?" Richie, baby, I've got a WHOLE list of things to ask for, some dirty, some not. Where shall I begin?

Seriously, though, this is great news. Not only because I was really disappointed that the one prospective area of shining brilliance in an otherwise ordinary song was missing and will be "fixed", but also because this means our emails and other messages are heard.

When the album comes out, I will give WWBTF antoher listen and try REALLY hard to like it. Or, I'll edit out Richie's solo, and make another ring tone.


~ Hath

Jonny Eye Candy

Someone's favorite front man is in London.... Sorry there are so many... wait, you probably don't care :)



I am liking the 'do, though he needs more AquaNet so he doesn't get the rooster tail thing going on.

So, local promos for the new record can't be far behind. I wish they'd publish a list of where the guys's be during the promo circuit. Though (here comes the cynic) since they couldn't charge people to stand in the street, and therefore make no money off the endeavor, it's not going to happen.

GAIL! Are you stalking? We want photos without watermarks!

And where's Richie? Doesn't R-man usually do the London circuit w/Jon?

~ Hath