Paying tribute to Van Halen BAY AREA BAND CAPTURES FEEL OF THE CLASSIC DAVID LEE ERA By Jon Matsumoto Friday January 7, 2005 In the late '70s and early '80s, Van Halen was the definitive party rock band. Spearheaded by guitar ace Eddie Van Halen and flamboyant frontman David Lee Roth, the Pasadena-bred quartet ruled the heavy-metal roost with its rowdy odes to wine, women and life with the top down. Now the tribute band HOT FOR TEACHER is attempting to bring back some of that celebratory rock 'n' roll spirit. On Saturday at Slim's in San Francisco, the Bay Area outfit will be serving up its platter of Van Halen tunes from the classic Roth era. Roth was replaced by Sammy Hagar in 1985, but although Van Halen has racked up numerous hit albums since then, it has never been able to duplicate the infectious energy and swagger of its early years with Diamond Dave. "The David Lee songs are a whole lot more popular, if you listen to classic rock radio,'' says Randy Monroe, the vocalist for HOT FOR TEACHER. "It's like the Sammy stuff is "la de dah." Sammy's a lot more melodic. The David Lee stuff is like, "Whoa!' He's in your face." Some tribute bands go all out trying to duplicate not just the sound but also the look of the group they are honoring. But you won't catch Monroe dressing up in Spandex à la Roth or guitarist Terry Lauderdale donning a shaggy, early '80s Eddie Van Halen-type wig. HOT FOR TEACHER is about capturing the feel of the music, something it claims to do better than any other Van Halen clone. "We try to look rocking," says Monroe, "but we look like ourselves, which means no girls' clothes. There's another Van Halen tribute band in Los Angeles called the Atomic Punks. They dress a little more like Van Halen did back then. The singer looks a hell of a lot like David Lee Roth. I'm not slagging on them - they're friends of mine - but my band has shredding musicians."
HOT FOR TEACHER formed five years ago. Monroe says the group has played countless bars in the Bay Area. More recently, word of mouth has brought the quartet higher-profile gigs. The band, which also includes bassist Jimmi Ward and drummer Larry Howe, has played for thousands of people at festivals and has performed at events in places such as Reno, Seattle and Phoenix and Washington, D.C. Monroe may not look like Roth, but he has the singer's confidence and self-assurance. "I guarantee any bar that I perform in that they will get a 50 percent above increase in bar receipts the night that I play,'' he says. "When HOT FOR TEACHER is on stage, people are drinking and partying. I check the receipts when I play. It's pretty discouraging when all they want to pay you is $500, and the bar has just doubled its receipts for the night." Last year, Van Halen bassist Michael Anthony actually joined HOT FOR TEACHER on stage for a bevy of the band's tunes, such as "Panama", "Dance the Night Away" and "Unchained". The two joined forces when HOT FOR TEACHER performed at Anthony's bass-guitar dedication at San Francisco's Hard Rock Café. "He was going to do two songs, and he ended up doing the whole set with us,'' says Monroe. ``I couldn't get him off the stage. He was having a blast. He gave me props, too. He told the crowd, `Give it up for HOT FOR TEACHER. These guys rock!'... The ultimate compliment for a tribute act is for one of the original musicians to play with you and give you the thumbs-up." HOT FOR TEACHER is the title of a Van Halen rock hit from the band's "1984" album, its last with Roth. But the name was also chosen for the band because Monroe is a science teacher at Glenbrook Middle School in Concord, where he also directs the school's program for gifted and talented students. Because school kids are apt to show up at HOT FOR TEACHER gigs, you won't find Monroe imbibing whiskey or acting overly obnoxious on stage. The members of HOT FOR TEACHER (which will also perform at the Little Fox in Redwood City on Jan. 28) are recording an album of original music. Monroe says he's unsure whether the CD will be released under the name HOT FOR TEACHER or Acid Tongue, a group in which he and Lauderdale played before HOT FOR TEACHER. As he approaches 40, Monroe says Van Halen-type rock stardom isn't the goal of his life. "I love teaching and seeing the light bulbs go off on the faces of these kids. This is something that keeps my feet on the ground. I wouldn't want to be partying with some prima donna rock star dude in limos. You just lose touch with reality." HOT FOR TEACHER • WHEN: 9 p.m. Saturday |
