Diamond Dave - Someone Get The Guy To Sign A Trading Card!

Collecting autographed trading cards is one of the easiest ways to find certified, authentic autographs of almost anyone. While not 100% policed, there have been some issues of autopen over the years, and I've heard a story or two about someone allegedly stepping in to sign someone else's trading cards. Still to me it is the safest route to go when you can't get the signature yourself. Also, I'm not keen on those situations where you stand in a line and wait for your 3 seconds of time with someone while they are signing your item. If I add a signature to my collection, it usually has a story attached to it that lasts longer than 3 seconds.

Sometimes collecting cards of musician autographs can be limiting. With products like Pop Century, Music, Music, Music, Allen & Ginter, Americana, and sets featuring Elvis & KISS that changed. We began seeing amazing autographs from artists like the Beatles, Billy Idol, Janis Joplin, Stevie Ray Vaughn, Henry Rollins, Lita Ford, Johnny Cash and many, many more. A few names that I have yet to see are ones that I think are must haves if you are putting a music set together. Eddie Van Halen and David Lee Roth. Along those lines, how about Joan Jett? I could keep naming names, but if I had to pick 3 those would be the ones I'd want to see.

Since there are no official autographed cards of Diamond Dave, I had to take a different route. I think Dave is the man. He played the rock n' roll game by his rules. Who the heck leaves the biggest band in the world to go solo? If you've seen any of his music videos from the 80s, the man set the bar for what music videos would become. California Girls, Just a Gigolo, Yankee Rose and Goin' Crazy are iconic, comedic and just plain awesome. Now gimme a bottle of anything, and a glazed donut to go!


I was lucky enough to get this autograph when I wrote music reviews back in 1996-97. I hope to add a trading card autograph of Dave and Eddie at some point in my life, but for now this will do the trick. I get to enjoy the signature and the best of David Lee Roth.

Van Halen at the Rosemont, No April Fools

Eddie Van Halen and David Lee Roth have combined their talents to sell millions and millions of records. A lot more than the guy that replaced him in 1985, but that's another story. I grew up on KISS, AC-DC, the Stones, and Van Halen. Those were my bands. When Dave left in 1985, I was devastated. To me Dave was and still is the consummate showman, the best front man in rock. He is more than a little bit country and a little bit rock n' roll. If you could dissect him, you'd find that his mojo is made up of the same magical elixir found inside James Brown, Jim Morrison, Charlie Chaplin and Don Rickles.

I've seen Dave with Van Halen and solo more than any other artist, and I've seen a LOT of concerts. You can only imagine how happy I was when the news that the band was reuniting for a tour in 2007 was made public. If you could mulitply that by infinity, that's how thrilled I was when they announced a second tour and a new CD in 2012.

There's something in the blood of the Van Halen family that simply rocks. Eddie, Alex and now Wolfgang have this ability to capture your imagination like no other musicians. On the new CD, A Different Kind of Truth there are many memorable moments. The haunting close to As Is, the catchy She's the Woman and the explosive Chinatown are just a few strong points. Their musical elegance, and make no mistake about it; Eddie's sound is the greatest of all-time, and Alex and Wolfie accentuate it, combined with the lyrical genius of Diamond Dave provides you with perhaps the best straight-forward rock album in the past 15 or so years.

Here's a couple clips from their April 1st show. Sure they've slowed down a bit, certainly Dave's voice isn't perfect, but then it never was. Still, I'd rather pay to see them 20 times than to pay and see someone lip sync or use auto tune to try to sound good. I want the real thing. Van Halen delivered the goods.

If you want to rock, do yourself a favor and check them out.  To quote Dave, "When was the last time you did something for the first time?"