Van Halen Angers Fans With Anthony Snubs
08/20/07
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(antiMusic) Van Halen fans were ecstatic when the band announced that they will be returning to the stage this fall with their original frontman David Lee Roth. Some fans were disappointed that original bassist Michael Anthony will not be a part of the reunion with Eddie Van Halen's son Wolfgang taking his place. That disappointment turned into anger when Anthony's image was replaced with Wolfgang on album artwork posted on the band's website. Although, the original images were quickly reinstated, now fans are angry that Anthony is being written out of the band's songwriting history.A fan wrote us on Saturday with the following: "On every single Van Halen song (with exception to the three new songs on the Best of Both Worlds compilation, ) credits have always gone to Eddie Van Halen, Alex Van Halen, Michael Anthony, and the lead singer who is featured on the song (Roth/Hagar/Cherone). However, during the credits of the film 'Superbad', which features the song 'Panama', the song is only credited to the two Van Halens and Roth! Anthony continues to get snubbed by his former band as they attempt to erase him from the history of the band." We looked a little further into this and discovered that Anthony has been removed from the credits for all of the songs from the band's Diamond Award winning album 1984 in the ASCAP database. The All Music Guide credits for the songs on the album include Anthony, Eddie, Alex, and Roth. However, Michael McDonald is missing from the credits for the track "I'll Wait". A check of other Van Halen releases still list Anthony as a co-writer. Anthony was reportedly forced to sign a reduced royalty contract in order to take part in the 2004 reunion tour with Sammy Hagar. His Wikipedia entry states" For the band's reunion in 2004, Anthony was not allowed to write/record the three new songs for The Best of Both Worlds. This time however, he was [correctly] not credited for songwriting involvement. The album's credits don't mention his non-involvement in the actual performance however. On a separate reduced royalties contract he performed on the tour however, at Sammy Hagar's insistence. The contract drawn up was for the duration of the tour only, with his role within the band resting in the hands of the Van Halen brothers there after. Throughout this time, and during the Van Halen III period, the public was unaware that Anthony's status within the band was fading over time."
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