A couple college dudes won an MTV contest to tour with Van Halen.
Then all hell broke loose.
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Their destination: Detroit.More accurately: oblivion.
Youll have no idea where youre going and probably no memory of it after you go.
That turned out to be partially true.
The contest represented another high-water mark for MTV.
That its a part of MTV and rock-and-roll history is really unbelievable, says Winnick.
People dont party like that anymore.
Can you imagine the release youd have to sign?
No lawyer would ever allow that to happen.
In 1984, Van Halen was arguably the biggest thing in American hard rock.
Its always amazing to watch how long people last on the road when they come out with us.
How long do they usually last, Ed?
the front man asked his head of security, Ed Anderson.
They usually burn out after four or five days.
In support of its sixth album,1984which peaked at No.
2 on theBillboardalbum chart, contains the No.
Were not going to say whats going to happen.
The only thing were going to promise is that theyre going to have a good time.
For Jefferis, a card-carrying member of the Van Halen fan club, it all started with a postcard.
Well, eight postcards, technically.
I mailed in eight the first time.
And then a week before the deadline, I bought five more postcards.
When Barb Fleeman from MTV called, she said, Wow, you really waited until the last minute.
One of the five [from the second batch] was the winner.
Jefferis opted not to take his girlfriend (She said, Are you going to take me?
And I just laughed or something), instead enlisting his best friend, Winnick, then 19.
Phoenixville buzzed with the media attention shining down on one of its own.
They seemed like the perfect winners.
A couple of college kids from Anytown, U.S.A. Like, right out ofHappy Days PotsieandRichie Cunningham.
Amid the unglamorous environs of a cinder-block dressing room, the two met Eddie Van Halen.
That was the starting line for the debauchery for sure, Winnick remembers.
We were not without a drink for the rest of the time.
[It was] Gentlemen, start your engines pretty much when we walked through the door.
Onstage that night, Van Halen barreled through a cavalcade of hits and deep cuts Everybody Wants Some!
Detroit, youre No.
1, and Kurt, youre No.
Roth exclaimed to a roar from the crowd.
Its gonna be party city tonight, the contest winner observed before the MTV cameras.
As MTVs cameras retreated, the rock-and-roll depravity began in earnest.
Cant film the rest, Eddie said, making a cutting motion across his throat.
Lets go get drunk!
There was also no shortage of young women the spandex queens, as the groups road crew called them.
Usually, the only people let backstage were girls.
It was rare that they would even let guys in.
But it was a free-for-all that weekend.
Roth regaled Jefferis and Winnick with stories about his love of flying and his recent mountain-climbing expedition.
More fatties were passed around.
At some point, a folded magazine page containing a pile of cocaine made its way onto the table.
And did Roths pinkie make its way toward Jefferiss nostril?
As the backstage partying ground on, the singer made a fateful proclamation: I think Kurt needs Tammy.
She strips down for me.
What happened thereafter remains a matter of some uncertainty.
I could hear him howling from where I was sitting.
Jefferis doesnt remember the egg-salad incident, not to mention whether he actually cheated on his girlfriend.
I stood inches above the ground inhaling and imbibing mind- and mood-altering drugs and alcohol.
That part he (conveniently) cant remember either.
Jefferis rehabilitated in the hospital for three months, undergoing speech, physical, and occupational therapy.
I had a clot on the brain, Jefferis says.
He calls the fall a wasnt-supposed-to-live kind of accident.
Alcohol and drugs, needless to say, did not help things.
Because, boy, Ill tell you, he jumped in full on.
I guarantee he had a great time.
I think he almost ended up in the hospital from drinking too much.
They had to scrape him off the floor a couple of times, Weiss says.
So I know at some point they had to put a stop to it.
After a certain period, by both winners accounts, Jefferis didnt know when to say when anymore.
Band handlers and web connection executives encouraged Winnick to help rein in his friend.
He didnt trash a hotel room.
But he wanted to go in and drink more and be out of control.
But who the hell did know that at that age?
Day two of the contest provedfairly anti-climactic.
Roth scuttled a planned wild limo ride due to an unspecified yet lingering malaise.
I dont know if it was a bag of saline or what.
I dont think the guy was ready for prime time because of the previous night.
Meanwhile, Jefferis was nursing a Monsters of Rocksize hangover himself.
His partying stamina was tested during an encounter with Alex Van Halen prior to the second Cobo Arena show.
I said, Dude, Im hurting, man.
Then I open it and he opens his and says, Okay, go!
He chugs the can down.
I just took a sip.
A roadie was guarding me.
Then I crushed the can with my hand.
When Alex came back he said, Ah, Ill let you go at your own pace.
(I remember talking to Michael Anthony about doing some kind of investments, Winnick says.
Winnick cant recall the precise food item that started the Lost Weekend With Van Halen backstage swan song.
But the outcome remains beyond dispute.
Life pretty much went back to normal.
I felt larger than life for a while, Jefferis says.
I mean, dude.
I smoked a fatty with David Lee Roth.
