Hagar and Van Halen Plan New Albums
Sammy Hagar has set a March 23, 1999, release date for his next album, "Red Voodoo." The album will feature the Tower of Power horn section on two of the 11 tracks and slide guitarist Roy Rogers on one.
The first single, "Mas Tequila," is due out February 24. Hagar and his band, the Waboritas, shot a video for the tune at his famed Cabo Wabo Cantina nightclub in Baja California, Mexico, last month.Hagar's manager says to expect a tour in the spring again with the Waboritas, who also hit the road with Hagar to support his previous solo album, "Marching To Mars," last year. The band consists of guitarist Victor Johnson (formerly of the Busboys), relative newcomer Mona on bass, and longtime Hagar cohorts Jesse Harms and David Lauser on keys and drums respectively.Fans looking to take a quick vacation can catch Hagar and friends, including former Grateful Dead drummer Mickey Hart, jamming at Cabo Wabo this coming weekend.Meanwhile, Hagar's former bandmates aren'twasting any time returning to the studio, either. Van Halen wrapped up their world tour with a jaunt through Japan earlier this month, and they have one more date December 11 in Puerto Rico for a show to make up for a concert previously cancelled in the wake of Hurricane Georges. Then it's back to the studio full time. The guys in the band have apparently been writing songs on the road and are planning on buckling down sans a break with the hope that they can issue another album before the millenium. No production personnel are in place yet, however.
For more information on Van Halen's future plans, keep checking the official Van Halen website for a soon-to-be-scheduled chat with current singer Gary Cherone.And finally, on the Van Halen singer front past and present, David Lee Roth's management seems to be denying that the singer is planning a tour with his band. Roth had imparted to a correspondent fromthe Van Halen News Desk website at Puff Daddy's birthday party last week that he was planning on touring "really soon." But all his management had to say was: "With stops in Miami and New York leading him up to the first of the year, Dave will be spending the early part of 1999 kayaking in Thailand." Roth reportedly has homes in Miami and New York.
