Reply To: Begining of the end..Eddie on DLR

Decatone: I’m not sure what the rest said as it’s blurred out

The brothers decided that Mike Anthony wasn’t making enough of a contribution to continue earning a full share of the music publishing. Truthfully, Mikey didn’t write. Ever. He basically played on bass what Eddie would tell him. He was a quick study and he would add to what he was given. Mike was a creative bass player. He had an incredible background voice that made a big difference in the sound of Van Halen. But the brothers needed money.

Al was almost broke. We were making tons of money, but Al was many million dollars in debt. Leffler helped consolidate his bills and arranged a five-year window with him just paying interest. He had a little real estate crash. He’d bought a $2 million house that he sunk even more millions into for rock-star junk like a rubber room, and then sold it for a big loss. He was making really bad deals.

We held a meeting and took a vote on reducing Mike’s partnership to 10 percent. Leffler and I voted no, but Mikey sided with the Van Halens and voted against himself, 3-2.

“I understand what you’re saying,” he said, “and I’m okay with it.”