Note To Tommy Shaw, James Young and Steve Perry

The Rock and Roll community is still in mourning over the passing of guitar legend Eddie Van Halen. Van Halen was the band that gave us the "was the David Lee Roth era better or was the Sammy Hagar era better" debate. The common equation with the band during both eras was the guitar virtuosity of Eddie Van Halen. He was truly one of the greatest guitarists of all time.

As often happens with bands when they become famous and earn more money, you have division. It becomes a business. Egos take over. Roth left the band after the 1984 album as he sought greener pastures. Hagar joined the band and their popularity continued to soar into the 1990s. Unfortunately, that came to an end as well. Eventually, pointing fingers and assigning blame becomes a useless endeavor.

Roth was able to come full circle and reunite with Eddie and Alex Van Halen. They gave the fans new music and toured for a while. Sadly, original bassist Michael Anthony and Hagar didn't appear to be on good terms with Eddie. There were rumors of reunions, but nothing happened. When you're dealing with egos, this is what happens sometimes. We are told that Eddie and Sammy finally made amends this year, but both knew that they wouldn't be making new music or touring together anymore.

There is a lesson that can be learned among two other iconic classic rock bands. Let us talk about Journey and Styx. In both cases, the bands are at odds with their lead singers. We haven't seen Journey make new music with Steve Perry since the 1990s, which is also when Dennis DeYoung and Styx had a parting of the ways. The division is different with both groups, but it also means any sort of reunion seems unlikely.

Perry is dealing with his own personal issues with Journey, but the way in which he was replaced back in the 1990s clearly is something he's struggled to get over. You get a sense that founding member Neal Schon and Jonathan Cain are both interested in doing something with Perry. It appears as if both would be receptive to playing music with him or just meeting up with him to have a good conversation. The holdup in this case seems to be Perry himself. This is a reunion that long time Journey fans would love to see.

The surviving members of Styx voted to remove Dennis DeYoung from the band in 1999. Since that time, founding member James Young and longtime member Tommy Shaw have toured with other members and the occasional visit by founding member Chuck Panozzo. DeYoung has toured as a solo act. In recent years, he's molded his band to play not just the hits that he sang with Styx but Tommy's hits as well. When concert tours were in full swing, you could catch either DeYoung or Styx playing somewhere.

The attitudes of Young and Shaw haven't changed. In fact, the two can get quite negative towards DeYoung in interviews on occasion. With DeYoung, there is interest in doing something with the band again. Dennis has been making new music lately. As he's entered his 70s, he has been contemplating the end of his career. His interest is to come full circle and play with these guys again, if only for a little while. The holdup is the other members.

The lesson of Eddie Van Halen shouldn't be lost here. You can carry a grudge too far, and then there are regrets. At least Eddie did tour with Roth again and seemed to make amends with Hagar. Even if Eddie and Sammy didn't play together again, they were on friendly terms in the and. There is no guarantee what tomorrow will bring, and we've lost one of the greatest guitar players of all time.

Shaw and Young seem to want to dwell on just negative things that might have happened in the past with Styx, but was everything really that bad? When the band was touring all over the world to packed arenas and selling millions of records to adoring fans, was it really all that bad? The fact that they're able to tour without Dennis and play those old songs is because they made them popular with Dennis in the first place. Is there not a kernel of any kind of respect or appreciation left within Shaw and Young towards DeYoung? What if they wake up one day to bad news about DeYoung and regret that they didn't make amends?

Steve Perry is one of the greatest rock vocalists of all time. Journey was a band that was taken to a whole new level when Perry joined them. He's been somewhat reclusive over the last 20 years, though he has made new music in the last few years. Though there are some hurt feelings over the way things went after their last original album together, is there any part of Perry that would want to at least come full circle and make amends? Might they be able to do something special together one more time?

From a selfish fan perspective, there are many fans of the bands Styx and Journey who would love to hear them play together one last time. They made music that resonates with their fans to this day, and some of those songs have special meaning to them. Seeing them together one last time for a new song, a new show or whatever would give long-time fans something to be happy about at a time in which the world is in a dark place.

More than that, it's about regrets of what could have been. These bands went up and down the road together, perfecting their craft and becoming the iconic acts that they are now. It couldn't have been all bad times or they wouldn't have achieved their success. Sure, something bad might have happened that caused the hard feelings that some of these members have now, but is it worth holding on to that anger and hurt? They can hold on to it if they want, but one day they may regret not letting go and bringing some closure to those unresolved issues.

Movie Review: Just One Of The Girls Starring Corey Haim

A couple of years ago, I noticed that Corey Haim had made this direct-to-video movie called just one of the girls. Back in the 1980's, he was one of the top child stars in Hollywood, but he sort of slipped under the radar in the 1990s. Most of what he was doing by then ended up going direct to video, including this 1993 production. Unless you were a big video movie fan, you might have missed some of his movies. Generally, when we went to the video store, we were renting videos of movies that had already had their runs in the theaters.

Admittedly, this movie isn't something that critics would rave about, but it's actually enjoyable. It stars Corey as Chris Calder and Nicole Eggert as Marie Stark. Chris is a top student who's on track to go to college and become a doctor, which is what his father would like him do. However, his passion is music, and he's hoping to get a record deal and be involved in the music industry. Marie is a cheerleader and ultimately the object of Chris's affection.

Chris has another problem. There's a bully who is terrorizing him. His name is Kurt and he's played by Cameron Bancroft. Chris's father advises him to stand up to the bully, but this is not something he really wants to do. One day while helping his sister pick out an outfit, the bully notices that Chris is at the women's clothing shop. Chris thinks fast and disguises himself as a girl to avoid the fight. Later, he realizes that his solution to avoiding a confrontation with the bully is to dress up as a girl at school. 

Chris thinks he's got the plan all figured out. He'll get through the doors dressed as a girl and then go into the bathroom and change back into his male clothing. However, his music teacher and his PE teacher both see him as Chrissy, his female persona. He's now stuck having to play Chrissy full time at school, and he digs in deeper when he has an opportunity to save Marie from her boyfriend, who is pressuring her to go all the way.

Of course, the plan has its obstacles. Kurt is now attracted to Chrissy, unaware that this is really Chris in disguise. To complicate things even further, Kurt is Marie's brother. The music class seems to be going well, and Chris is becoming closer to Marie as a friend. You don't expect it to go that easy for him, do you? This means the plan will start to fall apart, but will it work out for the best in the end?

Obviously, there are the cliche moments. For instance, does dressing up as Chrissy make him gay? His parents inevitably find out, and his PE instructor is on to him as well. He convinces her to back off by claiming to be transgender. She agrees not to tell on him, but he has to agree to counseling with her after school. She wants him to come out as Chrissy to his parents. We watch as this whole thing begins to spiral out of control. There's also the fact that Maria convinces Chrissy to join her on the cheerleading squad. There are several amusing moments, but I don't want to give away all the secrets.

We're not watching Shakespeare here, and a bit of suspension of disbelief will help the viewing process. Corey actually makes a presentable high school girl in this movie, though his voice would likely give him away. He makes the stereotypical attempt at a female voice to bluff his way through school. Haim has always had a charm about him. While the story may not be perfect, it's one that you can relax in front of the TV and enjoy. 

Corey and Nicole were actually dating around this time, and they do a good job of carrying the plot along. The movie had a good cast as well. I will go one better and say that this was a movie that could have played in the theaters and could have been a minor hit, especially if this happened in the late 1980s instead of the early 1990s. It's definitely a movie with a 1980s feel to it. It's a movie that does what you'd expect it to do, isn't meant to make you think and is enjoyable. I'd say it's an above-average movie.

It's a shame watching Corey and knowing that he was an actor with such potential who never really got the opportunity to shine on the big screen as an adult. He had charisma and a certain quality that, given the right story, would have made a studio backed movie a hit. Unfortunately, his personal struggles meant that he wasn't given those types of opportunities and had to make the best out of what he was given.

If I were putting together a list of my favorite Corey Haim movies, Just One Of The Girls would make it into the Top 10. I recommend it as something you can watch with your friends. There is a bit of nudity that might not be suitable for younger viewers. It's not the best movie you'll ever see, but it's not the worst either. A fan of his would enjoy this movie, but I don't think you have to be a fan to like it.

Movie Review: Prayer Of The Rollerboys

I finally got around to watching Prayer Of The Rollerboys. I was aware of this movie when it came out, but I opted not to see it back then. As I recall, I figured there were other movies with similar types of themes that were more interesting to me. Since then, I've noticed people tend to slam this movie and don't say very nice things about it. Was it really that bad?

The movie stars Corey Haim and Patricia Arquette. Corey plays Griffin, a rollerblade enthusiast who has been taking care of his younger brother since their parents died. A nice older man named Speedbagger, played by Julius Harris, has taken the two brothers into his home and cares for them. Griffin is hoping that one day he can get into college and make a better life for himself. Arquette plays Casey, who seems to be in the drug scene at first. However, it turns out that she is an undercover cop. Her performance, while adequate, just didn't grab me

This is another one of those dystopian society movies, where the future of the United States looks grim. People are being herded into camps, and you do what you have to do to get by. Thanks to Speedbagger giving Griffin and his brother a place to live, Griffin manages to find work as a pizza delivery boy. Though he has a plan to make a better future for himself, he's not without compassion. This is demonstrated when he backs his delivery van into the wall of a burning house to save somebody, much to the chagrin of his boss Pinky, played by John P Connolly.

We do see early on that gangs pretty much do what they want, but the Rollerboys are more than just a gang. They are the corporation that runs things in the area by using gang tactics. They are also racist and preach a message that all of the immigrants caused the downturn of society. After Griffin saves the person from the burning building, it's revealed that he was a member of the Rollerboys. We soon get a meeting between their leader Gary Lee, played by Christopher Collet, and Griffin. It turns out that these two knew each other when they were younger, and Collet would like to recruit Griffin into his group.

Griffin knows better than to be a part of the gang. They are dealing a destructive drug within the community called Mist, and Griffin wants no part of it. Unfortunately, his younger brother is enamored with the group and becomes a drug runner for them. It's explained that the Rollerboys use the young kids as runners so they can keep their hands clean. Though Griffin doesn't want any part of this, he realizes that he needs to join them to protect his brother and to ultimately try to bring the Rollerboys down.

For those who like rollerblading, which was a big deal back in 1991, you'll get lots of that. There are some explosions, though not on par with some of the other dystopian movies that are filled with more special effects. This story is more plot driven. Everybody in the cast gives a solid performance, but I'm particularly impressed with the way Haim, Collet and Harris carried this movie. Though it starts slowly, it picks up the pace from there and builds to an exciting conclusion.

Even though the movie wraps up well enough in the end, there's the hint of a sequel. I can only imagine that when they started the process of putting this movie together, they had dreams of making a nice little franchise. When you look at this movie, you could certainly make a case for a TV series being created based on the story. Unfortunately, box office numbers dictated that this would be the only movie. I can't help but think that Corey was disappointed as I've seen interviews where he was very enthusiastic and proud of this movie. He had reason to be proud. It wasn't a bad movie.

It is a bit ironic, given the fact that he was battling his own demons with drugs at the time, that Haim would pick a movie with an anti-drug message. While some might call that hypocritical, you have to look at it from his eyes. He was aware that he had a problem, and you can damn well believe that he wasn't happy about that. So, if making a movie with a message like this could steer anybody away from the path that he had taken, he was going to do it. I can't help but respect him for that, and it makes me sadder knowing that he was an actor who had great potential. His demons prevented him from achieving the big success that he deserved.

I find it interesting that Haim talked about wanting to play the older brother in his mini documentary Me, Myself And I, and he got that opportunity here. The other thing is this movie was an opportunity for Haim to get a more adult role as he set his sights on transitioning from child actor into adult actor. His acting in this movie was solid, but it didn't manage to help him move his career forward. The movie quickly became lost in the shuffle.

If I can make an observation about that, I can't help but be a little surprised that this movie didn't perform better. According to Box Office Mojo, it was released at a time when there was nothing big going on at the box office. The Pope Must Die, Beastmaster 2 and Child's Play 3 came out that weekend. Dead Again came out the week before and performed well, and Freddy's Dead: The Final Nightmare came out two weeks later. In theory, it should have performed better in the theaters. 

Corey's drug issue was known by then, so it might have affected his younger audience. The fact that this movie, much like Dream A Little Dream, starts off slowly didn't help. To the younger crowd, that would probably have been a turn off and affected the word of mouth negatively. New fans just didn't join the party. That's all speculation. Whatever the case, this movie didn't do good numbers, and unfortunately, we didn't see much of Corey Haim in the theaters after this. It was pretty much direct to video from this point on.

While I would say that other movies did the dystopian thing better, that isn't a reason to dismiss this one. It's an above-average movie that has its good points. I like the connection between Griffin and his younger brother. I like the connection that they had with Speedbagger. Not only was Collet impressive as Gary Lee, Morgan Weisser did an exceptional job as Bullwinkle, the character that Griffin saved from the burning building who ultimately became his rival.

It's always easy to go back and look at things through hindsight. You think about what could have been and what should have been, but the bottom line was the movie-going public was not ready for this movie. With the benefit of hindsight, it does have its merits. If you were planning to have a Corey Haim movie marathon that excluded The Two Coreys movies and Lucas from the list, this movie belongs in the rotation. You'll start to appreciate just how good of an actor he was.