(We) will use any means possible to extend the library hours, guarantee the return of David Lee Roth to Van Halen , will provide [students] with many new forms of entertainment, [including] dirt bike races, monster truck rallies and discos, by means of extortion, intimidation and bribes, will help the students see where their money goes and do the best with it, a vote for them is one stop closer to beer drinking fountains.

April 3, 1997 - As mentioned here a few weeks ago, the Official Sammy Hagar Web Site will be officially launched later this month. The launch will coincide with the release of the first single, Little White Lie.

The site includes a special introductory message from Sammy Hagar, tour news and dates, discographies, exclusive photos, audio clips, and a contest to win a trip to Cabo! You will even be able to purchase CDs and Red Rocker merchandise!

Click on the link below for a sneak preview of the site. The address will change when it is officially launched. We'll have the new address as soon as it is available.

Official Sammy Hagar Web Site

April 8, 1997 - The Van Halen News Desk is now physically located on another server. If you can read this message you have successfully made it to the new location! For the next few days the URL displayed at the top of your browser will be http://207.137.117.70 instead of the usual http://www.vhnd.com. Don't be alarmed by this. Everything will be back to normal once the new IP address propagates throughout the Internet.

You don't have to change anything - the address will still be the same! If you find any errors or broken links, please email me so I can fix them up. Thanks!

April 9, 1997 - There was a small reference to Van Halen in yesterdays Wall Street Journal. The article, beginning in Column 6 of the front page, focused on the Nissan commercial which featured Van Halen's You Really Got Me.

The article noted that the commercial didn't directly help sales, but that almost every advertising magazine in the USA hailed it as the year's best ad. It seems that Van Halen didn't originally want to lend the music, so Nissan sent each of the boys their own 300ZX car (the car in the ad is a miniature ZX). Soon, Nissan had Van Halen's blessing.

April 11, 1997 - First of all, I'd like to wish Edward and Valerie a happy 16th wedding anniversary for today!

A few people have sent emails asking about the new album, so now is probably a good time for an update. Van Halen and their record company haven't been releasing a whole lot of information lately. A few radio stations have been spreading rumours about why the album has been delayed but I won't be printing any of them here - the Van Halen News Desk is here to report facts, not what somebody's second-cousin heard on the local radio station.

Here is all the information I have. It may not be news to most of you, but people have been asking, so.....

• Mike Post is producing the new album.
• At this stage the album is untitled.
• It is being recorded now, at 5150.
• I don't know if they are still demoing and writing new tracks or actually recording. Hopefully the latter.
• Van Halen is Gary, Mike, Edward and Alex. Don't believe the rumours coming out of Dallas radio stations.
• Sammy is no longer in Van Halen (people still ask this!!!!!!)
• Edward Van Halen has not yet had hip replacement surgery. He will most likely have surgery after the album is completed (before the tour).
• Van Halen will tour Australia for the first time. They may also visit South America.

Some people have asked whether there will be a new logo to represent Van Halen version 3. I've heard a few theories, but nothing concrete. The theories are:

• They will keep the most current logo (pictured above).
  
• The original logo will be brought back (see Van Halen II cover).
  
• A totally new logo will be designed.
  

I've decided to run a poll on which logo you would like the band to use for the new era. Check back here next week for more details!

April 12, 1997 - The Album Network and MCA will present a world premiere broadcast for Sammy's new album, Marching To Mars on Saturday May 17th. The broadcast will be aired on participating Album Network affilliates. The broadcast, originating live from the Cabo Wabo Cantina, will feature cuts from the new album, as well as Sammy's first national interview since leaving Van Halen. Sammy and his new band will conclude the broadcast with a mini-concert to "tease" the upcoming tour. This broadcast is station exclusive.... to find out if a station in your area will be airing it, you can call Album Network at (818) 955-4000 for more info.

The Official Sammy Hagar Web Site is promising a live Internet feed from the event so check out that page for more information closer to the date.

Thanks to Matt Wardlaw

April 13, 1997 - David Lee Roth's Greatest Hits album will be released on May 10. Unfortunately, it will be available as a Japanese import only. No reason has been given why the album won't be released in the USA, but unconfirmed reports say the reason is that Dave no longer has a record deal with Warner Bros.

Expect to pay around $37 from your local import dealer or online CD store for the disc. It is unclear at this stage whether there will be any new tracks on the album, or whether there will be a simultaneous home video release. Stay tuned for a track listing....

April 17, 1997 - Today sees the launch of a new section on the Van Halen News Desk. Titled "Snippets", the section is for those tiny pieces of information relevant to Van Halen fans, but not quite big enough to warrant a full write-up on the "Current News" page. I hope you like the concept.

As usual, if you have any Van Halen related information, don't hesitate to email it to me! To start off the snippets section, I have some information on a Valerie Bertinelli cable special, a unique election promise, info on the new INSIDE magazine and more.

April 18, 1997 - The following press release was forwarded to the Van Halen News Desk this afternoon...

April 17, 1997
Royalty Management is now in talks with Edward Van Halen to begin a Keyboard Web Site. The meeting took place yesterday with hopes of agreeing on a production model. Edward Van Halen has taken an interest in Roland and Korg keyboards. There are certain requirements that must be undertaken to accomplish this project, but Royalty web designers are already taking this as a go. Edward Van Halen has submitted two new songs that were written on a Korg last fall. Korg enthusiasts can look forward to these songs sometime in May at http://mars.cosmoaccess.net/~royalty/index.html.

Lisa Andrews

I hoped to have the two new Edward Van Halen songs available for download from the here on Tuesday, but I'm still waiting for the songs from Royalty Management.

April 20, 1997 - Until the end of April I'm running a poll to gauge the opinion of Van Halen fans on whether the band should design a new logo for the Gary Cherone era, like they did when Sammy Hagar replaced David Lee Roth. The poll will run until the end of this month. Results are updated in real-time so you can see instantly how the poll is progressing.

Poll Closed - Results Here!