SHORT TAKES : David Lee Roth Draws Trouble

Rocker David Lee Roth has caught the wary eye of city officials with a 20-foot-high portrait of a scantily clad woman on the outside wall of a recording studio.

The portrait, with Roth’s name emblazoned across the woman’s chest, is on the rear wall of Little Mountain Sound studio, where fans waiting for a peek of favorite rockers who record there have sprayed a montage of graffiti.

Roth, former lead singer of Van Halen, commissioned the airbrushed artwork that went up last month as a “poetic and symbolic tribute to the city of Vancouver,” said his road manager, Eddie Anderson.

“What better (tribute) than a beautiful woman sitting amidst the city?” Anderson said.

City officials don’t see it that way. They’re getting complaints and have told the studio’s owners they must apply for a wall mural permit. Even with a permit, the city may decide to order the portrait’s removal, said Jack Perry, deputy chief license inspector for the city.

Among other rockers who use the studio are Bon Jovi, Aerosmith, Motley Crue and Whitesnake.