The Red Rocker. Van Hagar. Shitty tequila peddler. Montrose. AOR staple. The antithesis to most of what I listen to.

In his his own context, what's your verdict?

I am appreciative of the inclusion of both "Crap" and "CRAP" in the poll.

I voted CRAP.

Though thinking of Cabo Wabo does make me want to watch that video of the Michael Anthony drunken bass solo again.

1.5 good Montrose records doesn't excuse Van Hagar, Chickenfoot, and his other tequila-peddling horseshit.

Crap, though I admit I like VH's 'Dreams' and 'I Can't Drive 55'.

Actress and comedic writer Tami Sagher went to the same high school as I did (Kenwood Academy on the South Side, home of the mighty Broncos).

We called her “Sammy Hagar” behind her back. We did this because we came up with it one day when we were smoking the reefer. It was not meant as an insult.

“Why Can’t This Be Love?” is a great song, but the rest of his stuff is, as far as I’ve heard, CRAP. Sorry, Tami.

Damn near every time I take a look at something anymore, it's all...

I'm "THAT GUY".

I prefer Sammy over Diamond Dave as a singer, He's a great guitar player, and seems like a nice guy.

DLR seems like he's a bit of a cunt, cannot sing anymore, and should stop trying to.

As for his tequila, a dude has a right to make a living.

He's also trying really hard to get a proper VH tribute thing together, when no other members will even talk to each other.

I mean, he's got Satriani, Bonham and Mikey Anthony on board, I'd see that.

He has rock credentials for the Montrose debut alone, which is one of the best 70s rock records, hands down.

I have never really enjoyed any Van Hager material. Every so often I'll give it another shot and it frizzles a bit but never really connects. I don't think he's the problem there, though; he works quite well in the context provided.

Solo AOR stuff is kinda dull but there's enough personality there to elevate it to second-tier status.

Always got very successful but very small town business owner vibes from the few interviews I've seen over the years. Like, you can totally see him being a jerk, but generally it's all pretty wholesome.

I'm not really seeing a C vote, so an unenthusiastic / apathetic NC.

I have a high school buddy who had 5150 in his in-dash tape player for most of our senior year. Regardless of how a person may feel about either Sammy or DLR, Van Halen certainly did seem to transition to the Van Hagar years with relative ease. Personality-wise, he has a sort of endearing earnestness that jives with M.H's small town business owner assessment. He might be a jerk to some of his employees, but not a TOTAL jerk, just kind of an ass. Otherwise, seemingly a nice guy. And he always seems like he's enjoying what he's doing. And for all its nonsensical bluster, "I Can't Drive 55" is at its heart a song about sticking it to the man. Can't argue with that.

Ronnie Montrose was not crap. I traded for an old ass Bassman combo in an attempt to get that tone.