“You should call him”: The mechanic that got Sammy Hagar into Van Halen
It’s not unusual for rock bands to split up. By their very nature, rock bands are born out of rebellion, so when you hear about musical outfits such as Van Halen having members leave and switching around their line-up, it shouldn’t come as a surprise. The hot-headed nature of their music was wholly reflected in the band members, which meant it wasn’t long before the original lead singer, David Lee Roth, called it a day.
Lee Roth was an excellent vocalist and was considered by many to be one of the best frontmen in the world at the time. Gene Simmons once commented that other artists looked like children next to Lee Roth because of how much of a presence he had on stage. That wasn’t enough for the other members of Van Halen, though, and when tension became too much, they parted ways.
Van Halen was left in need of a singer. As previously stated, it wasn’t unusual for many rock bands to be left without specific members because of clashing pride and egos getting in the way of making music. Often, when bands find themselves in this position, they attempt to find the best carbon copy of the member who left as they can. Van Halen decided it was time to try something different; their sound was evolving, so why not get a different style singer in, too?
They managed to find Lee Roth’s replacement in the form of Sammy Hagar. Hagar brought a brand new energy to Van Halen that allowed them to explore new avenues of music. His presence led to the band making some of their most successful albums in history, but there was a lot to overcome before Hagar joined and this new chapter started.
Hagar was adamant that he wasn’t just going to join the band as David Lee Roth’s replacement. His appointment had to reflect a change in the band, a new chapter, and a new style of music. This meant that he point blank refused to sing any of David Lee Roth’s music at risk of looking like a bland replacement for the original frontman.
“What I brought to Van Halen was just who and what I am,” he said, “It was Sammy Hagar, who and what I was at that moment, but very inspired by Eddie Van Halen’s musicianship… He inspired me to write songs… Goosebump songs.” The only songs that Hagar performed which were carried over from the previous version of the band were ‘Jump’ and their cover of The Kinks ‘You Really Got Me’.
These initial obstacles had to be overcome before Hagar joined the band permanently; however, before the band could even have these discussions, there was one unnamed hero who played a pivotal part in Van Halen’s resurgence. The person who doesn’t get enough credit in this new chapter is Eddie Van Halen and Sammy Hagar’s mechanic, who was responsible for putting the two in touch in the first place.
“My car mechanic, Claudio Zampoli, was also Eddie’s mechanic,” said Hagar, “One day, when Eddie was picking up his car, he was telling Claudio that Dave quit – nobody knew, it wasn’t public knowledge. And that’s when Eddie saw my black Ferrari 512, the car I used in the video for ‘I Can’t Drive 55’. He said, ‘Wow, nice car, whose is it?’ Claudio said, ‘It’s Sammy Hagar’s car – you should call him and get him in the band’.”
Rock history in the hands of a mechanic. Eddie did contact Sammy Hagar, and we know what happened after that.
