AVN Associate Editor and part-time rock star Frank Majors gives readers a monthly guide to all that is cool and hip in the world of sex, rock and rap. With rockers and rappers alike appearing in and/or producing pornos and mainstream media slowly but surely embracing the genre, it seems high time that we make the connection between those that rock and those that fuck and everything that lies in between.
This edition of Frankly Speaking finds our AVN.com scribe
going head to head with none other than notorious rock
‘n’ roll hedonist "Diamond" David Lee Roth. Dave
and Frank go way back, having first spoken for a POPsmear
magazine cover story back in 1998. With a new album out on
Magna Carta, the appropriately titled Diamond Dave, and a
summer tour kicking off as you read this, it seemed high time
to get these two together for another chat. This time,
however, the former Van Halen frontman gives his fans some
insight into his love and admiration of the art of porn. So
without further ado, ladies and gentlemen, the one and only
"Diamond" David Lee Roth!
| Click here for a gallery of David Lee Roth live at the House of Blues |
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| Photos by: Neil Zlowzower |
There is a rock ‘n’ roll spirit in porn, a kind of belligerent, fun enthusiasm there. It’s a bit of a Texas get-right-after-it attitude, that go-get-behind-the-mule attitude...that’s an expression in Texas, but in North Carolina it’s a felony! Not to mention, it certainly makes the road a lot easier. We didn’t used to have cable on the bus!
You have used porn stars like Felicia and Rebecca Wild in
your photo shoots in the past. What is it about porn that
goes so well with your attitude?
It’s like me posing for a picture with Wonder Woman or
Lois Lane. Everybody knows who they are. These girls are
heroes. They represent what every fella wished he had access
to and what every woman wishes she was capable of. Do we
really love what Elton John wears? Not necessarily, but we
always love the confidence to wear it. Whether or not you
wish you actually did what somebody’s doing in adult
video, you definitely wish you had the confidence to do it
and that’s probably what people get off on the most.
Most guys never have access to beautiful girls like that,
much less girls who are capable of talking like that.
That’s prime commodity.
As far as my attitude, what I sell are big wraparound smiles. I’ve brought smiles to the hips of people around the world and after two or three songs live or on record, you feel like fuckin’. Probably not me, but you feel like fuckin’ somebody! A lot of people depend on the music for that.
Do you handpick the girls for these shoots?
Just like in music, there are really good actresses and
really lousy ones. And I won’t take pictures with lousy
musicians.
Do you remember the first porn you ever saw?
It was in the early ‘70s, stuff like Deep
Throat. I knew of all of those characters because they
were also part of the rock ‘n’ roll club scene.
As Van Halen was working our way up through the cantinas and
beer bars, the porn producer was also the guy who hired the
band for a party, his buddy was a record producer who
introduced you to the record company, and you used the porn
producer’s recommendation as the accountant. It may
well still be to this day.
The porn industry has grown to become in and of itself, whereas in the ‘70s it was way more intertwined. Also, you have the whole sex, drugs and rock ‘n’ roll thing and the drugs part was really intertwined. You had Freddy Nash and the Starwood Club, which was also part and parcel of owning all the porn theaters. Remember, back then you had to go to a movie theater, the Pussycat Theater or what have you, and...uh...it was great!
Who are your favorite porn stars now?
Janine Lindemulder is to adult video what Led Zeppelin is to
popular music. All roads lead back to Janine. Jenna Haze.
She’s the girl next door. That’s part of the
fantasy. You could go anywhere with Jenna. My fantasies are
way more intelligent...no, that’s a bad word... are way
more complicated than that. In order to really get off in
that fantasy playing, I have to create a really unique,
exciting back-story. You can do that with Jenna. She ’s
literally someone you might see standing in line at the bank.
Little Gauge looks like that, too. She looks like you would
run into her at the Club Med in the Bahamas. She looks like
someone you’d run into serving buffalo wings at a
little Tex Mex place somewhere in Houston. And Felicia is a
kick in the pants. She’s a firecracker, man. And it
comes through in the pictures and stuff. She also represents
a whole neighborhood. She looks like she’s from four
different countries.
So you like to think about having more than just sex with
these girls?
I’m a fantastical imaginator, ok? For me to look at a
picture of a gal like that on TV, my fantasies go well beyond
just sleeping with somebody. When I see one of these girls,
I’m always looking for the one with the best sense of
humor. Which one would actually have the most fun at the
beach? Which one would be the most fun at the BBQ? I
can’t just look at a chick without having to create a
back-story. I'm an optimist. When I go fishing I bring a
Nikon and a frying pan. Part of the fantasy is that I could
actually meet that girl. Which one will I meet? Whether or
not that actually happens is beside the point.
Funny you mentioned Jenna Haze. She seems to represent a
new trend in porn, going back to the natural, girl-next-door
beauty, instead of the Pamela Anderson stripper look.
Maybe people are getting a bit more sophisticated in their
fantasies. When you’re taking on a really festooned
character, a whole lot of tinsel and not much tree,
there’s nothing to wake up with in your fantasy. In my
fantasies I wake up and go swimming with these girls. We
actually go somewhere and have a real good time before
retiring for the evening. Of course, I live in my own little
world 100 percent of the time. I’m a rock star.
I’m paid to do that.
All the rappers are doing porn nowadays. They don’t
actually have sex in them, but they host these wild parties
where everyone is fuckin’.
OK, just as an idea, it sounds like a great opportunity to
do something super cool. For example, VH1 asked me to pick
some of my favorite videos. So how do you combine a Busta
Rhymes, who is funny, with a Sade, who is sexy? Dig?
So how do you make a porn that’s particular to you? I like Snoop’s work if it’s Long Beach low riders. From someone like Snoop, I want a Long Beach that kind of vibe. Superb, man. I speak fluent jive. I can gang-sign the whole Mickey Mouse song. I own a ’51 drop Merc, you know that.
Would you ever do one?
If I was gonna host something like that, you would depend on
it to have a lot of production value in terms of what the
girls are wearing and what the characters are supposed to be.
You know who’s cool with costumes but can keep it
really blisteringly sexy is Devinn Lane. There wouldn’t
be a lot of plot development. It’d be more like a
modern comic strip.
So all of a sudden, we’d have art direction and costuming and whatnot. There’s a place for everything. But my personal taste says, Hey, cut to the crash. A low rider car crash is different than an off-road car crash and a Ferrari car crash is different from a Harley crash.
So what might we see in a Diamond Dave porn?
Well, let’s lay it out right now. First we go to Mrs.
Nelson’s homeroom. How about the lifeguard gal at the
beach? That’s always a good one. Just combining the
gals and directing, that’s a piece of cake. As far as
the sex scenes, I would get a pro to do that, I don’t
know how to direct a sex scenes - with a camera, that is!
I had a girlfriend a while back and I’d say, "Honey, let’s put on some porno." Sometimes I’d fast forward and she’d say, "Damnit, you gave the ending away!" She really meant it, too. I thought that was kind of cute. We all know the ending. It’s the during that you can make particular. And I don’t mean telling stories. I’m not big on story lines. If I want drama, I’ll argue with one of these girls. I’ll be late to pick somebody up.
I would also make a music video with the gals and get it to MTV and VH1. Then, even if it gets banned, it’ll be the most well-known banned video. I wouldn’t even have nudity in it!
The hard part would be, like they say at the bakery, not eating where I work. That would be a distraction. What, I’m gonna go sit next to Taylor Hayes and discuss this without completely being distracted. Be serious!
Now that porn is becoming more mainstream, what do you
think is the next step?
At some point it’s not even going to be separate
channels. It won’t be even cable TV, it will be part of
regular seven-channel programming. At that juncture you will
have to answer the question, is this every bit as acceptable
as MTV or is it sterile outré. I think it’s
every bit as acceptable...and way more popular than MTV.
There ain’t a whole lot of cowboy hats watching MTV,
but I guarantee you they all know who Jenna Jameson is.
Do these girls help break down the barriers as far as porn
in the mainstream goes?
We’ve seen the ice broken superbly with the character
of Samantha in Sex in the City. These girls represent
that lurking Samantha in every working gal that wishes she
was able to let her hair down and do what she does. Samantha
is literally one of these girls minus the camera. What
Samantha tries for in every single episode, what Samantha
prays for, is literally what these girls are creating.
So when can we expect Diamond Dave’s Backyard
Bar-B-Cue Sex Olympics?
How do I get started? Geez, listen to me, I sound like Vince
Neil. Now we’re about to get to the part that got me
kicked out of group therapy!
For more Diamond Dave go to www.davidleeroth.com. Make sure to score his latest album, Diamond Dave, due out July 8 through Magna Carta and catch him on the road this summer.
To read Davie and Frank’s many other interviews go to the Music section of www.popsmear.com.
To check out Frank's own brand of rock 'n' roll go to www.thestreetwalkincheetahs.com.
Stay tuned next month for the next edition of Frankly Speaking: The Rock and Porn Connection or email Frank at [email protected].
