Joey Kramer...

"Happy 62nd Birthday"

Joey Kramer...

For more than 30 years Joey Kramer has combined emotional feel with technical virtuosity to convey the musical ideas of his band mates in Aerosmith while evolving into one of rock's greatest drummers. His meticulous timing and solid grooves have contributed as much to the sound of Aerosmith albums such as “Toys In The Attic,” “Rocks,” “Permanent Vacation,” “Pump,” and “Just Push Play” as Steven Tyler's voice and Joe Perry's guitar.

Joseph Michael Kramer was born in Bronx, NY on June 21,1950. By the age of 14 he was cutting his musical teeth as part of a Ventures-type instrumentals band named The Medallions. However, it wasn't until Joey started drumming with an 11-piece rhythm and blues outfit during his late teens that he discovered the music that would serve as his main source of inspiration.

In 1970 he reconnected with a friend, Steven Tyler, who had joined forces with Joe Perry and Tom Hamilton and were in need of a drummer. Kramer jumped in and Aerosmith took off. Brad Whitford joined the group in 1971.

For two years the group played throughout New England and got their break on August 5, 1972 at Max's Kansas City Club in New York City. That night the famed record executive Clive Davis was in attendance and was so impressed with Aerosmith that he signed them to Columbia Records on the spot.

(Max's kansas City Nightclub in the 70's)

In 1973 the band released their self-titled debut album, “Aerosmith,” and took to the road. They toured relentlessly over the next two years, taking time off only to record their follow up album, “Get Your Wings” which went Gold.

“Toys In the Attic” was released in 1975 followed by the 1976 release of “Rocks” and the band turned a significant creative and commercial corner in this era as the hits came fast and furious with the likes of “Last Child,” “Sweet Emotion,” “Back in the Saddle” and “Walk This Way.”

Their endless roadwork paid off in Platinum and exploded into sold out pandemonium culminating before massive crowds of over 80,000 at the legendary Texxas Jam, and to a sea of over 350,000 at the famous CAL Jam in 1978. Aerosmith’s status as one of the most popular live acts of the decade was achieved.

It wasn't long though before the intoxicating pace of rock stardom took its toll. The fire that had fueled them now began to burn them from within. As the decade drew to close, half-hearted albums -- 1977’s “Draw the Line” and 1979’s “Night In the Ruts,” -- canceled performances and internal strife dogged the band, weakening them at their core. 

After a dressing room blowout in July 1979, Perry announced his departure from the group to form The Joe Perry Project. Brad Whitford followed suit shortly thereafter to form Whitford-St. Holmes. The remaining three members soldiered on to eek out 1982’s “Rock In a Hard Place,” but the magic was gone. By the early 1980s, Aerosmith was all but over.

Cooler heads finally prevailed and in 1984, Perry and Whitford rejoined the group and Aerosmith hit the road for the Back in the Saddle Tour.

In 1985 the group signed a new record deal with Geffen Records and released “Done With Mirrors.” That was followed by “Permanent Vacation,” which hit record stores in 1987. This was the first in a string of releases that brought Aerosmith more fame, success and accolades than ever before. Their videos tormented the senses and raised the bar for music video excellence with “Dude Looks Like a Lady,” “Angel” and “Rag Doll.”  

The band succeeded “Permanent Vacation” with 1989’s “Pump,” which spawned hits;  “Love in an Elevator,” “Janie’s Got a Gun,” “The Other Side” and “What it Takes.”

The groups’ strong showing continued into the 1990s at it released “Get a Grip” in 1993 that featured radio slam dunks “Livin’ on the Edge,” “Cryin,” “Eat the Rich,”  “Crazy” and “Amazing.” 

“Nine Lives” was released in 1997, debuting at No. 1 on the Billboard charts and boasted the hit singles, “Pink” and “Falling in Love is Hard on the Knees.” 

They closed out the decade with their first No. 1 hit single “I Don’t Want to Miss a Thing” from the 1998 movie “Armageddon” soundtrack.

More recently the band made “Just Push Play” in 2001 and “Honkin’ on Bobo” in 2004.

After the band released “Just Push Play,” Joey went back into the studio with producer Marti Frederiksen to work on a different type of solo project. “Drum Loops and Samples” entailed laying down a comprehensive array of drum tracks for artists of all skill levels to be able to utilize. The two-disc piece has over 340 loops and samples with a range of beats per minute from 71 to 148.

Kramer and Aerosmith have enjoyed tremendous success through their career. The group has sold over 100 million albums and have had concert dates sold out, not only North America, but in Japan, Australia, South America and Israel. They were inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 2001. 

The group has received two People’s Choice Awards, six Billboard Music Awards, eight American Music Awards, 23 Boston Music Awards, 12 MTV Video Awards, four Grammys, and an Academy Award nomination for Best Song, “I Don’t Want to Miss a Thing.”  They were selected as one of the Best Rock Bands by Rolling Stone and Hit Parader magazines and were chosen as the first rock band to be honored as MTV Icons.

(People’s Choice Awards)

(Billboard Music Awards)

(American Music Awards)

(Boston Music Awards)

(MTV Video Awards)

(Grammy Awards)

(Academy Award nomination for Best Song)

 

(One of the Best Rock Bands by Rolling Stone)

(Hit Parader)

( Honored as MTV Icons)

Kramer extends his rock n’ roll lifestyle off the stage to his appreciation for cars. To get him from place to place, Joey relies on the fastest, strongest and most powerful cars available. He owns some of the most beautiful automobiles in the world and can often be seen cruising in his Lamborghini.  His need for speed transfers back into his playing.  

-Joeykramer.com

(J. Kramer's memoir)

(Joey Kramer and his wife April)

Michael Anthony...

"Happy 58th Birthday"

Michael Anthony...

Michael Anthony Sobolewski (born June 20, 1954), known professionally as Michael Anthony, is an American musician who is currently the bass player in the rock group Chickenfoot. Anthony is the former bass player for the hard rock band Van Halen.

Anthony is known for his stage antics, his effects-laden live solos, his number of custom-made bass guitars including a Jack Daniel's model shaped like a whiskey bottle, and his background vocals in Van Halen. He also has a signature Yamaha bass guitar series. In total, Anthony is known to have in excess of 150 bass guitars. In addition to his musical career with Van Halen and other acts, Anthony markets a line of hot sauces and related products named Mad Anthony.

Musical career begins

While Anthony was a promising catcher in baseball, he also competed on the Dana Junior High School track team (long jump) and played in the marching band there from 1967–1969. He took an interest in guitar as a teenager, but picked up the bass instead since most of his other friends already played guitar or drums. Anthony's friend Mike Hershey gave him a Fender Mustang electric guitar that Anthony converted by removing its top two strings and playing it as a bass guitar. Eventually, his father bought him a Victoria copy of a Fender Precision Bass and a Gibson amplifier. Anthony modeled his bass playing after Jack Bruce of Cream mostly, but also admired Led Zeppelin's John Paul Jones and Harvey Brooks of Electric Flag. His first band was called Poverty's Children. Other bands he played in included Black Opal, Balls, and Snake. Although Anthony is naturally left-handed, he plays right-handed.

Snake, a three-piece group featuring Anthony on lead vocals and bass guitar, was the last band Mike played in before joining Van Halen. Snake played covers of ZZ Top, Lynyrd Skynyrd, and Foghat, along with some original songs. They played a lot of the same types of gigs as did the Van Halen brothers' band Mammoth. Snake even opened for Mammoth at a show at Pasadena High School one night. Mammoth's PA failed that night, so Anthony lent them Snake's PA.

While attending Pasadena City College, Mike pursued a degree in music. Eddie Van Halen took classes there too and they would often see each other on campus. During this time, bass player Mark Stone parted ways with Mammoth and the Van Halens decided to audition Anthony as a replacement. Anthony was impressed by their skill during subsequent jam sessions even though he had seen the brothers play before. After the session, the Van Halen brothers asked Anthony to join their band. One story claims that he said he had to think about it and consulted Snake guitarist Tony Caggiano who advised Anthony to go ahead with joining Van Halen. However, according to Michael Anthony's web site, when asked if he wanted to join Mammoth, Anthony immediately said yes. This has become the accepted version of events.

Van Halen

In 1974, Eddie Van Halen, Alex Van Halen, David Lee Roth and Anthony became known as Van Halen, dropping the name Mammoth because they discovered that another local band was using that moniker. They were signed to Warner Brothers in 1977 and released their self titled debut album on February 8, 1978. Anthony's high vocal harmonies became a distinctive part of the Van Halen sound. The band released a total of ten studio albums from 1978–1995, along with a live album in 1993 and a compilation CD in 1996 that featured two previously unreleased songs.

Anthony has been married to his wife Sue since 1981. Both attended Arcadia High School and they have two daughters: Taylor (born 1992) and Elisha (born 1985). Anthony and his family reside in Newport Beach, California.

(Mike Anthony/Sobolewski & Family)

 (Five-bedroom Tudor-style home is in the Silent Ranch Estates gated community.)

 Diminishing role with Van Halen and side projects

As early as 1996, rumors periodically surfaced that Anthony had been fired from Van Halen. Despite claims to the contrary and his continued work with the band, these persisted until his final departure.

Anthony's involvement in the 1998 album Van Halen III was less than for previous albums. Anthony performed on only three songs; Eddie Van Halen recorded the others. Anthony is credited as a songwriter for the album along with the rest of the band as is always the case for Van Halen albums. Anthony performed with the band for the 1998 tour, and was credited for messages from the band thereafter. He participated in the band's three reunion attempts with David Lee Roth from 2000 through 2001. Anthony's name was also credited in a few band newsletters during this time, and he appeared in band interviews. Sometime after this, however, Anthony disappeared from public view until the 2004 reunion.

(Van Halen Tour '98 with Singer Gary Cherone)

In interviews, Eddie and Alex Van Halen suggested they were jamming and writing/recording new material during this time period but appeared to be working without Anthony.

Anthony began periodic appearances with Sammy Hagar during his solo tours. He usually played as part of both The Waboritas and Los Tres Gusanos, two of Sammy Hagar's bands. During 2002's David Lee Roth/Sammy Hagar tour, both Michael Anthony and ex-Van Halen vocalist Gary Cherone made guest appearances at concerts, sometimes together. Anthony never performed during Roth's segment however due to Roth's refusal to collaborate with Hagar or Anthony on stage.

In 2002, Anthony, Hagar, Neal Schon, Deen Castronovo, and Joe Satriani formed the "supergroup" Planet Us and Anthony began making more frequent performances at Sammy Hagar concerts. Planet Us recorded two songs, including "Psycho Vertigo," which was intended for the original Spider-Man soundtrack but ultimately did not make the album. That and the other Planet Us song written for the band, "Peephole," were later released on the 2008 Sammy Hagar solo album Cosmic Universal Fashion.

(Planet Us)

(M. Anthony & Sammy H.)

Van Halen reunion

Initially when Eddie and Alex asked Hagar to rejoin at the end of 2003 for a 2004 tour, the plan was not to invite Anthony back. Hagar, however, refused to perform if Anthony did not rejoin, and Anthony agreed to play but on a reduced royalties contract. The contract drawn up was for the duration of the tour only, with his role within the band resting in the hands of the Van Halen brothers thereafter. Throughout this time, and during the Van Halen III period, the public was unaware of Anthony's tenuous status within the band and was led to believe that he was still a full-time member.

In 2004, Van Halen released the compilation album The Best of Both Worlds which included three new songs. Anthony did not participate in the writing or play bass on the new songs and was not credited on the album for the new material (Anthony did sing backup vocals on all three tracks).

Anthony now states in media interviews that he has not spoken to the Van Halen brothers since the 2004 tour (except to Alex Van Halen at Van Halen drum-tech Greg Emerson's funeral). He has also speculated that since the brothers were not pleased with Hagar's commercial ventures such as the Cabo Wabo product line, their similar displeasure with Anthony's hot sauce brand may have caused the rift that ultimately separated Hagar and Anthony from the band.

(Sammy's Cabo Wabo Tequila line)

(Micheal Anthony's hot sauce brand)

 Departure from Van Halen and formation of Chickenfoot

Anthony spent the Summer of 2006 touring as a member of The Other Half during a segment of the Sammy Hagar and the Waboritas tour. The Other Half featured Anthony and Hagar performing classic Van Halen songs from both the Roth and Hagar periods.

Sammy Hagar & the Wabos /

The Other Half / Mad Anthony Express

On September 8, 2006, Eddie Van Halen announced that his son Wolfgang was replacing Michael Anthony as Van Halen's bass player. On February 2, 2007, it was announced that Van Halen was reuniting for a tour with original vocalist David Lee Roth. The tour began on September 27, 2007. Anthony commented that he heard about his replacement "on the Internet" and stated, "I'm a little miffed that they're calling it a Van Halen reunion. If I was dead and they needed someone to play, that's one thing, but to me this is not a reunion." At the tour press conference David Lee Roth stated "this is not a reunion, this is a reformation".

Anthony joined his former band-mate Sammy Hagar on live national TV on February 25, 2007. During a pre-race performance for the California NASCAR race on Fox television, the bassist jumped onstage and joined Sammy Hagar during a performance of "I Can't Drive 55".

Michael Anthony and Sammy Hagar were the only members, former or current, to appear at Van Halen's induction into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame on March 12, 2007. Eddie Van Halen was in rehab at the time, and Alex Van Halen and David Lee Roth declined to appear.

Anthony is currently the bassist and backing vocalist for the band Chickenfoot with Sammy Hagar, Red Hot Chili Peppers drummer Chad Smith and guitarist Joe Satriani. The band released their first studio album in Europe on June 5, 2009, followed by the North American release on June 9. The world tour officially started May 14, 2009, in Seattle, WA at El Corazon. Anthony has stated that this group intends to continue with further albums and possible tours.

-Wikipedia.com