In case you didn't know the story of Sammy Hagar being replaced after being booted from Van Halen in '96, Van Halen's manager also manager Gary Cherone and Extreme and he pressured the band into hiring Gary to replace Sammy. The guy that Eddie wanted: Mitch Malloy, a guy who had a bit of a solo career in the 90's but never really took off. Here's the demo version of Panama he recorded with Ed, Alex & Michael


Whaddya think? Could Van Halen 3 have actually been listenable?