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THE FREE LANCE-STAR
David Lee Roth says his shotgun speaks Martian and 81 other languages.
Maybe that kind of communication will help him sell his upcoming album of cover songs, "Diamond Dave," to the people of Earth.
The former frontman for Van Halen, who plays the 9:30 Club on May 27, was hailed as a hero by some after detaining an intruder on the grounds of his Pasadena home early on April 26.
He talked about the incident on his cell phone while pacing in circles in his back yard during a manic interview at the ungodly hour of 7 a.m. California time.
"This fella came over the back wall here, which is 15 feet tall, at 3 in the morning," Roth said Monday. "I heard him come running around the side of the house. When I yelled out to him, he started speaking in Martian and took off and came around the side of the house. I was waiting there [on a balcony] with my trusty old shotgun."
Roth said he fired into the air. "Firing a shotgun can say, in 82 languages, 'Hey, what ya doin'?'" he said.
Police were called initially when neighbors allegedly saw 47-year-old Charles Cooley, who lives next door to Roth, throwing rocks at the windows of his own home.
Cooley then allegedly scaled the wall of Roth's property to hide from police, who arrested him and charged him with possession of methamphetamines.
But Pasadena police department spokeswoman Janet Pope said there was nothing in the police report about Roth capturing Cooley with a shotgun.
Roth said that's because he put the gun away before police arrived.
A British tabloid called him a "super hero."
Roth has always taken pride in being able to take care of himself.
"My life is pretty clearly defined in two departments," he said, "the fine arts and the martial arts."
He said that if he had not hooked up with Van Halen, he might have gone into the military.
The band continues to be a part of Roth's life.
Roth filed a suit alleging that his former Van Halen bandmates--guitarist Eddie Van Halen, drummer Alex Van Halen and bassist Michael Anthony--signed a deal with Warner Bros. Records in 1996, without his knowledge, for increased royalties from sales of the group's back catalog. He filed the suit Dec. 11 in California Superior Court for Los Angeles County.
Roth claims that the new deal caused him to lose out on a total of at least $200,000 as of the end of 2001.
The lawsuit seeks unspecified damages and calls for an accountant to review the group's royalties to determine the amount, including interest, that Roth is owed.
Roth, Van Halen's original frontman, released six albums with the band between 1978 and 1984. He left the group amid bad feelings in 1985 and was replaced by Sammy Hagar.
Hagar was axed in 1996, and was replaced by former Extreme frontman Gary Cherone, with whom the group recorded one album--1998's "Van Halen 3," before Cherone quit in 1999.
Last summer, Roth and Hagar teamed up for a lucrative co-headlining tour.
"Somehow, a large part of my royalties ended up in their bank account over the last decade," Roth said Monday.
During last year's tour with Hagar, Hagar was quoted as saying some unpleasant things about Roth.
"I had a great time with Sammy--I'd have him open for me any time," Roth said. "That Sammy had been saying things didn't surprise me.
"The person who seems to take everything like pancreatic surgery is usually the most frightened. What animal in the jungle makes the loudest sound? The scared elephant trumpets."
Roth has hosted some morning radio shows recently and said he'd like to have his own show. But he said he'll always be a musician first.
The same thing that made him a great frontman for Van Halen might make him a good radio personality.
Roth defines that quality as "belligerent enthusiasm."
"There a thin line between rage and really great art," he said. "As soon as people settle in and get relaxed, it's over.
"You've got to have fury. If you're gonna laugh, laugh to win. If you're not gonna laugh, let me see a war face."
Where did that rage come from?
"Maybe," Roth said with a laugh, "somebody didn't pay enough attention to me as a kid."