"Rock Candy" was my first record. I had never been in a studio, so I was in shock and I had no idea if it was great or if it stunk. I was just putting in my heart and soul, and closing my eyes and keeping my fingers crossed. I gave it everything.

I'm a co-writer, publisher of that song ["Right Now" ], so for it to get accepted, we had to sign off on it. I signed off in a second. "You bet that anyone can use this. I don't care. You can use it for anything." If it is to inspire people in the positive sense.

I had written lyrics to a song called The Silent Extreme, which Alex later renamed Humans Being.

When we were on the road, I found out that my greatest hits album went Gold. They freaked out. Things really came to a head when we started arguing about a Van Halen greatest hits package.

I had been in Africa for six weeks on a safari with my family. I said, "You know, I made a lot of money. I am getting kind of burned out. I really want to do something special." So I went on this extended trip to Egypt, Kenya, Sardinia - I really did it, man. I was coming home, and while I was gone, they changed the speed limit from 65 to 55.

I'm a songwriter. I've got ideas in the closet that just didn't work out with my band, that I think, "This is a great idea, it's just the wrong guys."

I looked at Mick Jagger and Keith Richards and the boys up there thinking, I want to be that.