TAKE FIVE: David Lee Roth

Thursday, July 20, 2006 | 7:29 a.m.

Who: David Lee Roth

When: 8 p.m. Thursday, doors open at 7 p.m.

Where: House of Blues at Mandalay Bay, 3950 Las Vegas Blvd. South

Tickets: $30-$40; 632-7600

David Lee Roth was the prototypical rock star - long blond mane, skintight spandex, sky-high karate kicks, party-hearty attitude. Now the 52-year-old rock dinosaur is bobbed, blown dry, battered and gleefully hawking a bluegrass tribute album to Van Halen, his former band.

Rock star

The first - and many would argue best - of Van Halen's lead singers was the perfect foil for Eddie Van Halen's guitar histrionics. They were on top of the rock world in the late '70s and '80s with hits such as "Jamie's Cryin'," "Runnin' With the Devil," "Jump" and "Panama." But the two superstars had massive egos, and their legendary fights pushed Roth out of the band in 1985.

I want my MTV

His androgynous good looks, thousand-watt smile and sense of high camp made Roth an instant hit back when MTV really meant music television. Roth's solo hits "California Girls" and "Just a Gigolo" introduced his Vegas sensibility - top hat, tails and bikini-clad models. His solo career flared brightly then sputtered - including a failed attempt in Las Vegas showrooms. He wrote an autobiography, "Crazy From the Heat," and couldn't seem to shake the teasing rumors of a Van Halen reunion.

Rescue me

Can you imagine coming back from the dead to see that manic rock star grinning back at you? By 2004, even Roth seemed to have gotten on with his life, training as a paramedic in New York City and reportedly saving at least one heart-attack victim by using a defibrillator. It didn't appear to be a publicity stunt; he'd made some 200 ambulance runs before the tabloids caught wind. "Not once has anyone recognized me, which is perfect for me," Roth told the New York Post.

Radio killed the video star

Roth was tapped as the East Coast replacement for Howard Stern when the shock jock jumped to satellite radio earlier this year. Roth was typically upbeat about his early-morning time slot: "If we get up early, this will be the best thing to happen to our hangover - a bottomless cup of attitude. Four o'clock in the morning feels the same whether you stayed up or whether you just woke up." Roth lasted just three months. How bad was he? Don Imus called him "a loudmouth punk," and Rolling Stone said he was "skin-crawlingly bad."

Tribute or parody?

Roth returned to the studio to record two songs - "Jump" and a weird waltz version of "Jamie's Cryin' " - on a bluegrass tribute album titled "Strummin' With the Devil: The Southern Side of Van Halen." One critic called it the worst rock album of all time. But the real horror is watching Roth - backed by banjo, fiddle and Dobro - doing TV appearances to promote the album. Is this a bad career decision by a man trying to reinvent himself as John Mellencamp? Or a nod and wink from the master of self-parody?