In a recent ‘Storytime with Sammy’ episode, Sammy Hagar shared the behind-the-scenes of the first two songs he ever wrote for Montrose before joining Van Halen. The Red Rocker explained:
“The first song I ever wrote, and what was it about? Well, first of all, I’m probably the luckiest guy in the world because the first two songs I ever wrote in my life were ‘Bad Moto Scooter’ and ‘Make It Last,’ and quite honestly, they both ended up on Montrose’s first album and sold five-six million copies over the years. I don’t think most people have that good of an experience in their first songs.”
After sharing his luck with his first two songs, Sammy told the story of what inspired one of them; ‘Bad Moto Scooter.’ Hagar continued:
“‘Bad Moto Scooter’ I was driving my beat-up old car across the Golden Gate Bridge. I saw a guy on a chopper with a good-looking girl, long hair flying back behind her, sitting in a sissy bar, and I’m going, ‘Damn, you’re on your bad boy scooter,’ and honestly, I just went home and wrote my first song; it was so crazy.”
Besides having hits in Montrose’s debut album before joining Van Halen, Sammy shared during his 2019 appearance at the Grammy Museum what he learned from his time with the band. He said:
“When I left Montrose — when I got thrown out of Montrose — I said, ‘I don’t want to play in a band with people I don’t like.’ Friends first that can play. That’s kind of my motto because you’ve got to live with these people. That was a good lesson for me.”
You can watch Sammy Hagar’s ‘Storytime with Sammy’ episode on Youtube short and listen to ‘Montrose’ below.