They Will Not Go Quietly: The Official ILM Track-By-Track DON 'n' GLENN Listening Thread

http://www.the80sman.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/09/glenn-frey.jpg

Well, yeah.

Let's do this!

I've decided to alternate Don 'n' Glenn songs, although, of course, Don will dominate – in ILM as in art and love.

first up!

"I Found Somebody"

http://www.glennfreyonline.com/images/GFrey1982Concert01.jpg

http://youtu.be/qUw8GjHRxzE

video looks like a failed attempt to do a West Coast version of "Cheers"

is Glenn slightly ripping off "Tumbling Dice" for the verse melody?

generally speaking, early solo Glenn is far more "trad" than early Don---more meat-n-potatoes rock 'n' roll, honking saxes, big choruses. Don seems slightly artier by comparison

Thought this was a thread for dandy don wiener and glenn mcdonald.

"Barbara Alsieux
1 month ago

Excellent video; I was a former successful booking licensed in NJ agent for 25 years.
·
jill pusateri
4 months ago

He was so hot back then! Had a huge crush on him. Loved his music too!!"

Glenn looks like Scott Bakula in that pic. Worst episode of Quantum Leap ever.

It IS true that this phase is when he looked best.

http://media-cache-ec0.pinimg.com/736x/fa/b3/67/fab3678b90ae1ea1476ed9e3a5d715be.jpg

He insists so hard that he FOUND SOMEBODY. TO LOVE. that it must be because no one will ever believe Roach was capable of it. A dumb song, lacking even the competence of an Eagles album track. Cowritten with Jack Tempchin, the song hit #31.

"I Found Somebody": Yup, he's cribbing some "Tumbling Dice", which is a good thing. BUT other than that, this is Frey at his most generic. They (Don & Glenn) don't <do> sincerity well. More thought went into staging the video than making the song, which, if I'm true to my Stockholm Syndrome, is a pleasant enough trifle. The video, of course, makes this worthwhile: the first of several narrative vids showing off Mr. Frey's 'acting' chops, and prime examples of '80s cheese no one has thought about reviving. Remember Let's talk about the non- pop culture pop culture enjoyed by Real Amurricans in the '70s. ? Welcome to the '80s version.

When they try to be "merely" serviceable they're fourth-rate and awful.

I wonder how people who were Jonesin' for some post-breakup Eagles action reacted when Glenn dropped this as his opening solo salvo?

no fun aloud, bitch!

Tomorrow: a touching duet with the talented Stevie Nicks.

A lot of touching there, iirc.

how did Don explain the relationship to Glenn?

I wonder how people who were Jonesin' for some post-breakup Eagles action reacted when Glenn dropped this as his opening solo salvo?

it's as if Azoff plotted a "Lennon/McCartney" breakup template, with Glenn getting the domestic odes and Don the "angry" "political" record

The arrangement is very much "What if we slowed down the groove of 'The Long Run' just a smidge, made the rhythm guitar stupidly simple instead of Stax-y, and took away the great slide work of Felder and Walsh?"

"Leather and Lace (w/Stevie Nicks)"

http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-Fr2BPLXCa4o/UBEJp0ab7wI/AAAAAAAAT2M/qzXT3Nan7R0/s1600/nicks-henley.png

http://youtu.be/Ew4pMpzC5B8

originally written for Waylon Jennings and Jessi Colter, with Henley awkwardly cast in the role of the tough leather-wearing hombre with a sensitive side.

Forgot how minimalist this is: just guitar and keyboard, two verses/two refrains and out. Nicks dominates the closing refrain's harmony, to the point where Don seems to be drowned out in the mix at points. Fitting, as she's a much bigger star than he is in '81.

I'm as big a Nicks fan as you'll find on ILM (consult the archives) but this spongy kitsch is too much for me -- and Henley admitting he's scared and sometimes cries is too big a leap of faith for me.

― look at it, pwn3d, made u look at my peen/vadge (Alfred, Lord Sotosyn), Tuesday, December 7, 2010

and ugh that electric piano

yeah, it's not great. Feels padded, esp. with the repeat of the end of each verse. Makes her Petty duet seem like Marvin Gaye/Tami Terrell by comparison

I like this song better than I should, because Stevie really elevates it - Don's presence doesn't bother me overmuch. Would like to hear it as a Nicks - Buckingham duet tbh.

for me this was a "You had to be there" type of song

I've always hated this song. And I am mad at this thread for making we walk around caterwauling Axl's vox on "I Will Not Go Quietly."

"Leather and Lace": This is one of those radio staples I just somehow missed--pretty sure I didn't actually hear it until about 6 years ago. What stands out for me is how sonically Jessie & Waylon this is, what with the blend of acoustics, electric piano, and so subtle you'd think they weren't even there drums (just snare rim & kick)--just erase Stevie & Don and it's ready for their vocals. Remember too that Waylon covered "Gold Dust Woman" AND "Take It To The Limit". As is, it's definitely the third best Belladonna single.

DON: It was a wonderful experience to launch both Stevie's and my own solo career with "Leather and Lace". Given our history, and how it seemed like nothing was working right in our then-present lives, it was quite cathartic for us to get together and sing a song those unique problems we were facing.

GLENN: What I don't get is how I never got a chance with Stevie: She and Don had a thing, and she had JD [Souther] and Joe [Walsh]...I mean, Jow FUCKING Walsh but not "The Teen King" himself? Leather? Lace? I was down for whatever. It's not like she didn't know where to find me or anything.

DON: [snickering] Well, yeah.

wait she was with JD

From the Stevie/Courtney Love interview:

SN: Yeah. So I started going out with him. And this is not popular. Sure, Lindsey and I are totally broken up, I have every right in the world to go out with people, but...I spend most of my time with the band, and it’s not real conducive to having a relationship. So, I went out with Don for awhile. I went out with [Eagles songwriter] J.D. Souther for awhile. We had an incredible time.

now I'm wondering if JD went to bed with Geffen because why not

http://images.wolfgangsvault.com/cvfeatures/JD_Souther_130304.jpg

"I fucked 'em all..."

The start of this thread coincided with the onset of norovirus infection (or some similar gastrointestinal horror) in Jeff and me. Coincidence???????? Or do Don Henley and Glen Frey make us want to barf?

Anyway, I forgot I Found Somebody existed, and thought I'd never heard it, until the "and she loves me in the midnight hour!" line and then I remembered it. I seem to recall this being one of those songs that was always on the radio, whether you liked it or not.

I always liked Leather and Lace, but now I can't listen to DH's part without cringing.

I used to hate Leather & Lace but the melody just captivates me so much now i find it kind of undeniable? i am embarrassed to say that I really love it!!!

leather and lace is a terrible song that i will always be happy to hear

it needs you to love it
it needs you today

"The One You Love"

http://i.ytimg.com/vi/gxCwfEyqivM/hqdefault.jpg

http://youtu.be/qmV9vk2950o

"Remember how much people liked 'I Can't Tell You Why?' I know I'm no Tim Schmidt, but can we get one like that on here?"

Random thoughts:

- This song is easily 20% slower than I remembered it being. "Plodding" would be generous.
- Love how the video cuts at 1:00 from "Glen's eyebrows have ALL THE FEELS" to "ASS SHOT!!!"
- This song was a lot better done as Prince's "The Beautiful Ones." Here the sentiment is just repugnant.

"Remember how much people liked 'I Can't Tell You Why?' I know I'm no Tim Schmidt, but can we get one like that on here?"

lol otm

No one can pop a collar in the snow like Glenn. NO ONE.

- This song is easily 20% slower than I remembered it being. "Plodding" would be generous.

good lord yes. This is "mixer at the senior center" speed.

the "I Can't Tell You Why" comparisons are OTM, to the point where I wonder if Glenn/Tempchin originally wrote it with Schmidt in mind (Glenn can't quite hit the high notes: see the strained "your mind" at 1:41)

"Lady In Red" seems its natural successor, though to be fair "Careless Whisper" seems to take a bit from it too

Oh ugh oh man I hate this song. I hated it when it came out and now that I look at the "nice guy anthem" lyrics I hate it even more.

I am LOLing pretty hard at Glenn singing menacingly at the woman on the bed though. I'm not sure threat-singing is the way to convince her to stay with the one who loves her, Glen!

can Glenn "do" menacingly?

yet a couple of you on Facebook admitted to liking this dirge.

That's part of why it's so hilarious.

Although the whole song and video has an angry men's rights activist vibe that definitely has menace potential.

that attitude goes all the way back to "Take It Easy." It's what makes the Eagles so loathsome.

xp to Alfred: I've hated this piece of dreck since I was 10, when it was on constant rotation on seemingly every Virginia radio station

think DJs liked it in part because the sax intro is so damned long they could spend like 45 seconds on chatter, listener requests, etc. before Glenn kicks in

hey guys, what have i missed so far?

http://alumnus.caltech.edu/~markowit/interviews/eagles/latimesbu/eaglesbu.jpg

"The One You Love": Can I just bypass the song and talk about how much I'm lovin' Glenn's cheesy videos? I'll wait. It's funny how a lot of the elements of this song (the sax, electric piano, glacier pacing, orchestration, druggy vocal calmness) would fit right in on Random Access Memories. but this is Glenn were talking about, so his combination of this stuff doesn't quite work. Could stand to have some key or tempo change going into the chorus, something to make it go bigger. I foresee much rough sailing ahead on days we peruse Mr. Frey's Yacht Rock.

The video: Where do I begin? How about the ending, with the camera pushing back revealing the obvious artificialness of it all! The 'other man' and the video babe making out...in a Mercedes convertible...in the snow...as Glenn plays bystander! All those black soundstages! SAXMAN!

I can imagine him at the electric piano shouting across the room, "Yo, Henley, where's your bit? I'm stuck."

The room is empty.

Tempchin, on speaker phone: "just put in some more sax there, Glenn"

Meanwhile Henley faxes lyrics to Danny Kooch, with annotations and demands for "Backing Tracks Next Week...Bitch".

tomorrow!

"I Can't Stand Still"

https://rbhsjukebox.files.wordpress.com/2013/01/henleystand.jpg

http://youtu.be/QVexTpKmHI8

The guitar/synth combination tips is into L.A. New Wave, and for a few bars I thought it was not a palate cleanser after Frey's meathead rock but an advance over the Eagles. The lyrics let it down though. As usual with this dude, the tempo drags too.

*I thought it was not only

I like this one! A bit. Well, the verses: the refrain's soggy and draggy. Lyric is basically the same gross scenario as "the One You Love." But there's some fun stuff going on, too: the synth riff that's a bit like Duran Duran's "The Chauffeur," the poor man's Eno synth solo and some of Don's phrasings remind me of Get Happy-era Costello. Don's thudding drumming does its usual damage (wisely, he used Jeff Porcaro on most of this record)

backing vocals by Max Gronenthal, notable for releasing an album called Who Is Max Gronenthal? The Answer Is In This Album.

LP cover is your standard 1982 MTV set. Just need something on fire:

http://www.donhenleyonline.com/images/DHenleyICSS02.jpg

besides the match, of course. also, breaking glass and dry ice.

such a wonderful person
but he's got problems

the era when Don could've been Gary Hart's stunt double

Don's vox are so perfectly suited to '80s synth-rock schlock.

Glenn's vocals are perfectly suited for a Honda salesman jailed for lewd and lascivious.

Butt-head's Dad: Hey, one of you bastards got a match?
Butt-head: Uh, yeah. My butt and your, uh, butt. Uh huh huh

Glenn would bring out the books of his Honda dealership, show how successful he's been, then tell the judge to fuck off.

Frey's the better musician but the more generic songwriter. Henley undercuts the often surprising arrangements with TED Talk crankiness. What a pair.

You've got the brawn, I've got the brains, let's make lots of ...

0-0 on both counts

http://smg.photobucket.com/user/ozeagle/media/Solo%20Years/RockHard.jpg.html

"Wait, you saying I'm the smart one?"

Boo. Picture Glenn lifting weights.

already posted upthread

i'd rather not xp

"I Can't Stand Still": You look at the gatefold photo from The Long Run, and Glenn Frey looks like the only guy in the band ready for the '80s. But here we are in 1982: Glenn's still after-partying like it's 1979 and the Donster's got the big drums, synth-Farfisa, glossy guitars, keys to the Car(s). The comparison to "The One You Love" is apt. It's like one of those "How I Think I Look.../How I Really Look" memes: Glenn plays phony sensitive sincerity, while Don is clearly arrogant, tossing off some of his whiniest singing to date--it's much more honest to the scenario. And lyrically he's looking forward to "The Boys of Summer".

Also:

I know you love me
You know I love you too
You know I always will
No matter what you do

Only Don Henley could start off his solo career with a couplet like that.

we know you love him

He loved me until I stood up during a ballad.

uggggggggggggh god I totally forgot about The One You Love
i hate that I even kind of know it! in my mind I'm in a glass elevator in a shopping mall full of potted palm trees & haaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaalp

i like the sax melody but like all good things glenn frey just ruins it all by showing up

Can't Stand Still

kind of a good bookend to The One You Love for the same plodding drum beat
both songs seem like they could stand to go just a shade faster but annoyingly, stubbornly stick with the plod. So Henley. So Frey.

Henley at least has some good phrasing, there's a bit of a hook

but what the fuck is with the keyboard bullshit

the thing I hate about don henley is that I find the quality of his voice v appealing

it's maddening
because I hate him so much

VegemiteGrrl, why don't you come to your senses?

>:(

(Yrs truly,)

http://media-cache-ak0.pinimg.com/236x/63/30/d0/6330d0f3a43c0501b4521a34d0ba5c16.jpg

It's unreal how many extreme closeups Old Guy Don gets during his interview segments in the doc. You could "Hi Bob!" them and be legless by the time Hell Freezes Over.

"Party Town"

http://i.ytimg.com/vi/54NWWRGLPA4/hqdefault.jpg

http://youtu.be/54NWWRGLPA4

jesus fuck that is limp

well, at least we got this one out of the way quickly. Just as shitty as I remembered when we unearthed it last year. Drummer manages to be duller than Henley; last minute devolves into half-assed busking. "Party" backing vocals sound like they were recorded at 3PM in a song publisher's office.

this, from the old thread, is totally otm:

listening to "Partytown" and I feel like I'm in a Chevy Chase movie

― lorde willin' (upper mississippi sh@kedown), Sunday, October 20, 2013 8:59 PM (1 year ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

this is like the real 80s, the 80s that no one ever revives, this kinda lame rock n' roll pastiche done with bad sounding drums and instruments and synths and shit.

― lorde willin' (upper mississippi sh@kedown), Sunday, October 20, 2013 8:59 PM (1 year ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

No Fun Aloud

otm

"Party Town": There was a feature story in Mojo some years back about the band Squeeze, a full-on overview of their career. In a sidebar, we got a detailed account of their last tour in the U.S. before breaking up in '82. At one point a contemporary interview was recounted about how offended Difford & Tillbrook were by a song then in microwave rotation on American radio, a song with what they felt carried a ridiculous, irresponsible, and stupidly juvenile message.

That song was "Party Town".

I'm no Difford and Tillbrook, but...well, Bob Seger could do this stuff better in his sleep. Oddly enough though, if you upped the twang quotient 50%, this would have been at home on early '90s Country radio. Perhaps every decade gets the "Chug All Night" it deserves? (in the '90s, it was "Get Over It")

Mmmm, Georgia Satellites on the related video list.

"You Better Hang Up"

http://www.wikimusicguide.com/images/thumb/f/f3/Donhenley.jpg/230px-Donhenley.jpg

http://youtu.be/gf1H7uHdGe4

"If Don answers/You better hang up."

sounds half-written, esp. the barely-there refrain. nice of Don to give an Adultery 101 guide, though. inspirational verse: "You're from New York City/ where they don't say no prayers"

Kootch's lead line sounds feral. Kootch is consistently impressive on this album.

"You Better Hang Up": Great Riff! This feels very...sunny? Could use a third verse, because--Henley being true to his roots--even at just over three minutes, this still has a pointless coda. I see this being in something above a Chevy Chase movie.

Related:

http://media-cache-ec0.pinimg.com/236x/06/ff/75/06ff75a3a8d7f235b5fcc9757143e847.jpg

Checking the amg, I see this was a Kootch solo comp.

Jack Tempchin's "I Volunteer" unavailable! So we plunge into:

"I've Been Born Again"

http://bonnieblue828.tripod.com/images/J118_Year1980.jpg

http://youtu.be/crzqD0RIfNY

Key lyric: "I'm not a Casanova/My playa days are ovah"

wait, what? He covered that? The original by Johnnie Taylor is one of my favorite soul tracks from the '70s: http://youtu.be/oEWNIMW-se8. I can't listen to Glenn slaughter it.

go for it

It's his manifesto, col.

I must be a masochist. I very nearly get my palm sliced open after doing an afternoon of yardwork, and now I head to grooveshark to find the missing Glenn tune.

"I Volunteer": Another slow jam. Nice-sounding rhythm guitars and organ. Tries to be too cute by half lyrically. A bit doo-wop. Wouldn't sound out of place sung by Mike Love or Al Jardine on a late '70s Beach Boys album that Brian didn't have a say in.

"I've Been Born Again": Johnny Taylor did this originally? I can hear him doing it. Glenn's giving it the old college try, and you can tell he genuinely loves this music, but he can't quite meet the demands of the lyric, vocal-wise. Sounds like they mastered this clip off a cassette found under the passenger seat of a 280Z in a Van Nuys-area junkyard just prior to the upload.

the album's middle stretch is covers or song donations

Listening to the col's JT clip--now this is the shit.

...and a minute shorter!

I dont understand this gluttony for punishment

You should see our "Pushing Ahead of The Don" Blog...

I dont understand this gluttony for punishment

― Οὖτις,

yes you do

"Nobody's Business"

http://s31.photobucket.com/user/Lulabelle_/media/Continued/DonHenleyStare.jpg.html

http://youtu.be/S-GRclYgudM

http://www.natevandenbos.com/images/DonHenley.jpg

co-written with J.D. Souther and Bob Seger.

oy, did we skip a Don? "Long Way Home" is before this one, no?

anyhow "Nobody's Business" is fine. Russ Kunkel on drums and the droning organ lets the song actually build, the solo's great (a bit "Telstar"). Lyric is a mush of cliches and dull observations, but you can drown it out easy enough. Wonder what Seger contributed.

my sequence has it after it. I'll get it posted on Wednesday.

so I'm reading To the Limit, Marc Spitz's decent 1998 biography. A few things emerged:

(1) Frey snorted so much coke that he required an operation to restore the lining of his nose
(2) Henley and Kootch did loads of drugs well into the late eighties
(3) Henley sat on his porch for hours with his legal pad, sober, for hours, thinking of lyrics. I can't imagine where the effort went.

Wait till I post the "Johnny Can't Read" comments.

Henley internal monologue excerpt, from the porch: "you got a WAY about you..nah...what was her name, anyhow? Judi? Where did I meet her? She was dating that guy from San Diego?....should I get another fireplace? I mean, then we can open up that whole section of the basement?...christ, I'd like a drink...Jodi. Jodi? Julie?..."got a WAY about the WAY you move"...oh, fuck this, when's Kooch coming?"

Apologies: Marc Eliot wrote the book.

"Nobody"s Business": Wow, this sounds so much like Seger--add some sax and this would easily slot in on any of his 'elder statesman' albums (which start with...Against The Wind, maybe?). Not prime Seger, but worthy. You have to hand it to Henley: Three tracks in on the debut, and (A) He's not repeating earlier work & (B) Aside from some of the subject matter, I can't see any of these as Eagles songs.

I read the expanded version of the Eliot book about seven years ago, when I has buying loads of 70s SoCal stuff cheaply on vinyl. Punches are pulled, but it's a pretty compelling page turner.

You have to hand it to Henley: Three tracks in on the debut, and (A) He's not repeating earlier work & (B) Aside from some of the subject matter, I can't see any of these as Eagles songs.

which is why I look forward to Building a Perfect Beast, to which I'm relistening as I type.

Somewhere in storage I have a not played my me in at least 10 years copy of I Can't Stand Still on vinyl. IIRC, he stays the course for the full set.

My brother (who I haven't seen or spoken with in 18 years) gave me a copy of I Can't Stand Still for my 17th birthday. I think I listened to it once and that was it.

I recorded a few songs from my older brother's LP of this as filler at the end of a tape: "Dirrty Laundry" and "Them and Us."

What the heck is with the toaster next to Don? I think there was a bit of an appliance fetish going on in the 80s...trying to think of examples...'got to install microwave ovens' etc

"Science Oven"

proletariat chic

http://download-screensavers.biz/images/flying-toasters-screensaver-windows-7-2-jpg3.jpg

http://assets.rollingstone.com/assets/images/album_review/d63cdf56c82ca2e98775f92425ef4e01b040cc84.jpg

Boomer angst looking back at the Atomic Cafe era.

http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/1/18/TheCureThreeImaginaryBoysalbumcover.jpg

Henley's fellow Texans

http://wastedtalentrecords.com/images/pic_washarama.jpg

back to Glenn...

"Sea Cruise"

http://alumnus.caltech.edu/~markowit/interviews/gf/musician/cool.jpg

http://youtu.be/R6jEbIqk8ow

yes, the Huey "Piano" Smith tune.

yes, he sounds like he influenced Bruce Willis.

No Fun Aloud is Glenn adhering to your typical B-rate 60s band sequencing. Put the hit(s) up front, fill the rest of the LP up with soul covers, slow jams and anonymous rockers (I think there's one more single buried on Side 2 though). This is okay: high-end bar band music, or the sort of thing you'll hear at a lunchtime performance at some city-sponsored park event.

for once his lyin' eyes were tellin' the truth. He wanted to have Big Fun on this record, which for Glenn Frey means not even trying.

yeah "All Those Lies" (heh) is comin' up.

man, today's Glenn photo is basically "married guy who harasses the au pair"

That, or "(1) Frey snorted so much coke that he required an operation to restore the lining of his nose"

which is why I look forward to Building a Perfect Beast, to which I'm relistening as I type.

A Vision Quest track comes before dessert.

you bet!

Meanwhile, a flashback to 1989:

Glenn Frey of the Eagles signed an endorsement deal with Jack LaLanne fitness centers, showing off his muscular body, which he described as the result of 1,500 sit-ups a day, five days per week. What motivated him? "They offered me a shitload of money," he said, and made a spirited defense of commercial endorsements: "I do not cling to this antiquated hippie mentality that says it's us against them. I personally do not consider Pepsi-Cola or Old Style Beer or the Health and Tennis Corporation to be the enemy. This is the age of adult rock stars."

man, today's Glenn photo is basically "married guy who harasses the au pair"

GLENN: 'Au pair'? More like 'Nice Pair", amirite?

DON: Well, yeah.

"Sea Cruise": Wow, Glenn applies himself quite well here. Easily my favorite track of his thus far. In the Eliot book, there's a passage about how in the 70s Linda Ronstadt & Glenn used to go on drives together listening to mix tapes Glenn made of oldies, and that's where Linda would find vintage songs to cover. It's then pointed out that Frey couldn't latch onto the material the same way. Well here he does, and all the better for it.

BTW, for my birthday today, I picked Building The Perfect Beast from the $5 bin at Fr(e)y's.

Speaking of Glenn'n'Linda, i didn't know he was the one who inducted her into the RHOF: http://youtu.be/RkBZDI1LgXs

ha -- I just read that anecdote. Linda musing aloud about how once they were poor and now they talk about ski trips in Aspen.

Now she's poor again.

"Long Way Home"

http://www.elektra.com/sites/g/files/g2000000486/f/styles/large/public/avatars/a92/fa3/a92fa3618854504f8be429ba9a78857b.jpg?itok=MNulUD7n

http://youtu.be/XcYw7QgT__A

He and Lindsey must have had some intense afro-ed glare-offs.

LP cover photo tie-in lyric: "the toaster don't work...this house don't work no more"

"Long Way Home": Reminds me some of Randy Newman, particularly in the verse about stuff not working. Once again we get a harbinger for future successes, as this looks forward to tracks like "Not Enough Love In The World" and "The Heart of The Matter". Nice (non-Don, I presume) brushed drums. Fine harmonies.

Believe it is the legendary, late Jeff Porcaro.

"That Girl"

http://s38.photobucket.com/user/williehoo/media/Glenn%20Frey/GlennFrey24.jpg.html

http://youtu.be/KTu0AE5jkxo

http://glennfreyonline.com/images/GFreySSShirtless.jpg

not a Sexy Girl -- you know, THAT girl.

Oh lord that picture.

Bob Seger gets a songwriting credit on this one

Whoever's playing the drums has a much lighter, more effective touch than Don's thud.

Glenn thinks he's being sweet here but there's still a layer of contempt brewing just underneath. that girl

The guitars (assuming they're his) are played and mixed nicely.

yeah, some of Glenn's phrasing is rank--the whiny "that girl"s, as Lee said, and you don't believe him when he says "IN LUHHVE!"---but this is still competent, even pleasant light rock and as such a triumph by Glenn's typical standards. The ponderousness of "The One You Love" is here too: wouldn't hurt to lop 45 seconds off and maybe nudge the tempo up a notch.

I'd long thought "The One You Love" was some generic late-'70s yacht-rocker, had no idea that was Glenn Frey.

I like the production on both of these, actually. The One You Love could have been pleasant AC background music if not for the better-do-what-i-say-or-else lyric

they just wished Timothy B. Schmit a happy birthday on the radio after playing a Meisner-era Eagles song, I'm offended

well, yeah

"That Girl": This is nice. I can't comment much on the lyrics cause I was doing other stuff while listening, and zoned out on them. The opening bit about driving is more evocative than usual. Seems like he's trying to do "I Can't Tell You Why" again tho.

http://www.dvdtalk.com/reviews/images/reviews/190/1189085544_1.jpg

"Dirty Laundry"

http://img001.lazygirls.info/people/nicole_kidman/nicole_kidman_to_die_for_meTThik.sized.jpg

http://youtu.be/h0xr31XbSOU

Quick fact: when first single "Johnny Can't Read" flopped, the company got nervous until this thing sailed into the top three.

Are we getting Donstered for Halloween?

XP Nevermind! We skipped a song again tho.

I'll get to it Sunday; flipping from album to album has gotten confusing, I noticed.

"Dirty Laundry": Obviously this has been played to death on radio, but with good reason! A+ Groove, enough ideas to sustain the running time (imagine if there'd been a club mix!), two cool guitar solos (Walsh and/or Steve Lukather, iirc). The downside: This is the grand reappearance of Cranky Don, and if you're one for subtext, the 'inspiration' behind this one is truly gagworthy. But this time the hectoring smugness has some economy, and...that groove, man. It's kind of crazy that there wasn't a proper music video done for this.

Related:

80s Toronto News Guys (Clemenza might know 'em) have fun w/"Dirty Laundry": http://youtu.be/YHimia_Fxzs
The Donster serenades his close personal friends Bill & Hillary in 1993: http://youtu.be/7NmYpJ2R9Ps

Always dug "Dirty Laundry." I had no idea Henley had been in the Eagles until years after first hearing this; it sounds positively anti-Eagles.

at least he sounds rarin' to go and hip to MTV-esque New wave a la Rod Stewart's "Young Turks."

Whereas Glenn was still stuck on "Hot Legs"

GLENN: You would be too!
DON: Well, yeah.

when I reviewed the 2003 Eagles show and they took their solo turns (Schmitt wasn't allowed "Boys Night Out" though) "Dirty Laundry" was pretty ferocious, thanks to loud drumming not by Henley and Walsh's solo. Frey choosing the dinkiest keyboard preset almost ruined it though.

No Glenn for this post-Monstered day?

was at the picture show

"All Those Lies"

http://www.moosedenied.com/images/2008-11/gf.jpg

http://youtu.be/gxCwfEyqivM

Third single and Frey's only solo composition.

Man, Glenn days are tumbleweed time in Freytown.

"All Those Lies": Ah, nice groove, Glenn at home with a sleazy (read: honest) lyric. The shift to chorus doesn't quite fit in for me. A little bridge would have been nice. Did Hawkins & Hood play on the whole album? Explains all the soulboy posturing and why the rhythms are more pleasing than general Eaglefare.

My favorite Glenn song so far.

been off line for most of the weekend but will catch up tomorrow: these are both good songs!

"Talking to the Moon"

http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-3kcWvkN2hLM/Uf5qIpJj8iI/AAAAAAAAAKk/DSCuNoQ5AOY/s1600/moon+boy.jpeg

http://youtu.be/O2gfBzlBkM8

"Talking To The Moon": Once again very-Newman-esque. Quite pleasant. Seems like it would lend itself well to a Country cover by George Strait or somebody. This also feels like the first Don track so far that could have been an Eagles song, and a good one at that.

Garth Hudson on synth. Oh Garth what have ye wrought

TS: "The Moon Struck One" vs. "Talking To The Moon"

"Tllking to the Moon" sounds generic to me; it didn't surprise me that J.D. Syphilis co-wrote it.

After you said Newman-esque I imagined (pretty easily) a Randy Newman solo-piano cover of "Dirty Laundry."

how bout a Colin Newman cover of "I Can't Stand Still"

"She Can't Let Go"

http://www.glennfreyonline.com/images/orangetexturesidejmsepia.jpg

http://youtu.be/YYSbILFx7ng

I keep waiting for the "New Kid in Town" chorus to cut in

ok, need to catch up:

"Dirty Laundry": Better than pretty much anything the Eagles ever recorded, despite the echt-Henley lyric full of contempt, "sociopolitical criticism" and casual sexism. Walsh's solos and Porcaro's drums help, plus the mix full of ringing phones, Yello-style distorted vocals and other noises that suggests Don (well, probably Kortchmar) was actually having fun in the studio.

"All Those Lies": Glenn always could do sleaze well, no question---mix in some paranoia and a comfortable groove and you've got the best track on the album. Still goes on a bit too long.

"Talking to the Moon": agree this feels like a Eagles holdover (or a songwriting exercise where Don tried to write a Zevon ballad), & also has a of the End of Innocence to come. Garth Hudson adds ice-skating-routine incidental synths.

"She Can't Let Go": Lee's right: this is Glenn, at a loss, trying to rewrite "New Kid in Town" but forgetting to write a refrain this time.

"She Can't Let Go": This is like Glenn saying, "Hey Guys! Remember Me? I Was In THE EAGLES!" Again. Total re-visitation of the "New Kid In Town" wheelhouse. I like "NKIT", so maybe that's why I find this tolerable. That, and it clocks in at only 3:11! Less Waste!

Chris Isaak could do a great cover of that one.

Yeah, or The Mavericks/Raul Malo.

Still-Relevant to Election Day Donster Jam Coming?

"Johnny Can't Read"

http://www.my80splaylist.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/08/Don_Henley_Johnny_Cant_Read.jpg

http://youtu.be/VYEm76840Yo

I need to find Don's classic snot-nosed explanation.

DON: My mother was a teacher and she used to come home all the time and say she couldn’t understand how they passed these kids from one grade to another when they didn’t have the basic reading or learning skills. It was appalling then, and they still do it. Randy Newman always thought it was a brave song because I blamed the kid. In our liberal society, it was always fasihonable to blame the teachers, the schools, the parents, anybody but Johnny himself. I just thought that it was time to blame Johnny for his own failure. Plus, where I grew up football was God. Still is. If you were in the band you were a sissy, looked down upon. You know, it’s good-to-be-stupid anti-intellectualism.

I hope Walsh was looking at that single when he wrote

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iNAuGs-JM98

Give a Texan Eagle a sped-up organ riff and he turns into Harold Ford, Jr.

YT comments:

doobeedoo58
5 months ago

What a prophet Don Henley turned out to be!

Laberinto Azul
4 months ago

I agree. C. Gustav Jung quote: We are focus in economics and politics but we have not studding enough the psyche, when we have an out break of this type we wont be able to fix it. 

doobeedoo58
4 months ago

stop trying to be political and listen to the song you lezbo

was this after the Todd Rundgren "Bang on the Drum All Day" thing? Similar grating sorta-new-wave backing

Yeah, the whole thing strikes me as an extremely misguided Elvis Costello pastiche.

Thanks for the tutorial and, no, you're not the first to bring this to my attention-—and you're not the first to completely misinterpret the lyric and miss the metaphor. Believe me, I've listened to enough New Wave in my time to know how those songs are made and what the proper nomenclature is. It's a sociopolitical statement.

I'm reading the paperback afterword to Marc Eliot's Eagles book. Apparently Eliot went out of his way to solicit Henley's cooperation, such that Henley eventually agreed to meet for interviews in 1996; he even loosened up enough to get the occasional drink with Eliot after sessions. Then he turned on him when he saw the contract. The afterword ends with this bit in 2002:

"Marc Eliot is not only a bad writer, but an evil person. He is as sick person who has an axe to grind." What can I say? I wear criticism from Don Henley as a badge of honor. As for bad, sick, evil? One of us was arrested in 1980 for being caught with an underaged girl who had overdosed on cocaine and Quaaludes, brought before a judge, and offered probation. The judge strongly recommended that the offender do community service, which he refused. Hint: It wasn't me.

if you leave out the hint there, who knows

I remember hearing Henley on...what was the national classic-rock call-in show? Rockline?...in the 80s and getting super stern when someone mentioned and underaged girl and even underaged me was like, Woah, what'd he do.

mentioned and /
mentioned an

"Johnny Can't Read": Basically this is Don Henley saying, "Yes, I'm familiar with the works of Elvis Costello." Such a clean break from the Eagles (bar "The Greeks Don't Want No Freaks"). I have a friend with a local freeform music radio show. Some years back, he had an episode land on Texas Independence Day. At the time, he'd used to do a 30 minute 80s block at the start of his second hour. We got 30 minutes of Texan New Wave kicked off by a Joe "King" Carrasco track followed by "Johnny Can't Read" and they segued perfectly. Straight up New Wave Frat Rock. Due to the song's relatively low chart placing, this never appears on Henley comps, and rarely gets played on the radio. In To The Limit, Henley reckoned it's failure in many markets (particularly Texas) was that he criticized football in the lyrics.

The Video: Man, Henley has like three seconds of charisma in this thing. He should have worn a costume like in the 45 sleeve. Note the upside down Texas flag on the wall. Nice use of a Nash Metropolitan in the video the students are looking at. Another entry in that sub-genre of 80s videos that integrate the album art into the set ("Vacation", "Mexican Radio", "Twilight Zone" etc...)

WTF? from the related videos list: http://youtu.be/EQ9ZdgCC4OU

apparently this got play on early MTV

This track also looks forward to Henley/Kootch bringing in genuine New Wavers (Martha Davis, Patty Smyth, various GoGos) on sessions.

DON: It was an exciting time to be making music in Los Angeles. The punk scene had given way to a slicker, more professional New Wave movement that I for one could get behind. You'd turn on MTV--then still a very exclusive service--and get exposed to The Motels...Scandal...The GoGos, and think to yourself, "I like the sound of this". A few phonecalls later, and they are guesting on my sessions.

GLENN: I used to conduct my own sessions listening to those records up in Coldwater Canyon. I used to call it Beauty And The Beat...My Meat!

DON: Well, yeah.

HAPPY ELECTION DAY

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=USlHqwTQVrU

I like to think of Henley running into Billy Joel in the studio hallway while one is recording "Johnny Can't Read" and the other is doing "Pressure."

The last verse of "Johnny Can't Read" could be an outtake from "We Didn't Start the Fire"

Sitcoms, t.&a.
Johnny's mind is blown away
Cop shows, horror flicks
Johnny's brain is full of Vicks
Rock show, video
Boob tube, rubik's cube
King Cool, Sunday school
Ten Frames, gobble games
WOCKA WOCKA WOCKA

(Full disclosure: I owned the 45 of "Johnny Can't Read." I can't remember if I knew it was that guy from the Eagles or not.)

Last Don & Glenn exchange actually made me "blerugh" out loud. Funny because it's true, etc.

Henley was trying for a Costello song but ended up with a Nick Lowe one instead.

"Don't Give Up"

http://alumnus.caltech.edu/~markowit/interviews/gf/musician/bed.jpg

http://youtu.be/0eUPFQBNDEs

What the hell is this – Tommy Tutone rhythms and riffs vs vehement Boz Scaggs backup singers?

"Don"t Give Up": Wow, this one really doesn't fit in with the rest of the album. His biggest New Wave concession ever? And by "New Wave" I mean the one that included early Loverboy, that definition that's arena rock with synths and quirky rhythms. I put this one in the "Keeper" file for this set, as it's on the more listenable side and at least kind of interesting on a mostly meh album.

the other day some jackass at the park was playing/singing "Desperado" on his acoustic guitar and after shuddering in revulsion/quickly ushering my child in the other direction I thought of you guys/this thread. true story.

No getting it Don today?

I haven't been able to find a clip for "Them and Us"!

In fact, until I found "Them and Us" and "La Eile" here's:

"Lilah"

http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-nq2pTk40IQU/TzCHoFWBdBI/AAAAAAAAASw/d53tG9aicEU/s1600/506963_356x237.jpg

http://www.wat.tv/audio/don-henley-lilah-26h7b_2hw1b_.html

I like this -- a second-tier country tune we woulda heard on a Ricky Skaggs album.

I found those other two songs on the hard to link from Grooveshark site. "Them and Us" is a bluesy groove song with a Cold War lyric about 'The Bomb'. Johnny from the previous track appears in the lyrics. Good guitar, otherwise forgettable. "La Eile" is one minute flute & harp instrumental (performed by part of The Chieftains?).

"Lilah": Yeah this is nice '80s Country. The flute (carried over from the prior track) is a nice touch on a track that doesn't wear out it's welcome.

and the switch from lower to higher register is effective

Is the 'H' 'O' on this Freyday, or did that come after The Allnighter?

I'm gonna do that and a couple other soundtrack odds 'n' sods this weekend.

In The Wild: I'm having lunch with my sister. Out of nowhere she comments on the song playing on the Country muzak, "This sounds like Glenn Frey!" I shazam the track, and it's Colin Raye channeling his inner-Freydaddy on "My Kind Of Girl".

PS: She knows nothing of these listening threads.

behind again:

"Don't Give Up": This is such a mess, with its water-torture keyboards, aerobics rhythms and louche guitars, it's kinda enjoyable.

"Them & Us": Opening couplet: "one finger on the button/one finger up his nose." Late Cold War sociopolitical song. "Lusty" singing from Don on the chorus.

"La Eile": Irish filler. Paddy Mahoney (the Chieftans) on tin whistle. I worked with some Irish immigrant kids in Boston in the early 1990s: this sort of thing ("Irish" music favored by Irish American sentimentalists) drove up them up the wall. "All that fooking tin whistle shite"

"Lilah": agree this is 2nd tier Ricky Skaggs, which puts it above about 80% of the Eagles catalog, mind.

"The Heat is On"

http://i.ytimg.com/vi/teljgwFfl94/hqdefault.jpg

http://youtu.be/fCLbGh0n9y4

Written by Harold Faltermeyer and Keith Forsey
Produced by Glenn Frey

man do I loathe this song

oh God, didn't realize this was already coming up. Sweaty, stubbled Glenn did the solo, and makes sure that you know it in the video. One of those songs that seems to be one long punishing chorus, repeating over and over again, until you're beaten into submission.

The H is O!

http://snl.jt.org/caps/impressions/WiFe-Glenn%20Frey.jpg

Thanks to the Miami Heat, I can't escape this song.

This song is literally everything that depressed me in the 80s, all wrapped up in a cheesy little 3 minute and 45 second package.

Worst of the seventies...and now they're trying for the eighties

In its native context:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Fb6e2iBsRjc

Frey's solo is the best thing in it.

It's no "Heart of Rock and Roll."

And by that I mean, it sort of is "The Heart of Rock and Roll," isn't it? '80s movie soundtracks be ripping off Huey Lewis.

"The Heat Is On": Where our hero finally breaks free from the legend of The Eagles and...this is pretty hateable song. A real hookmonster earworm, and a song that says "Welcome To Reagan Country" like few others. I think the main reason I don't completely hate it is it never got too overexposed to me. I must have missed it on the radio as a kid in the '80s, and it never quite took hold on Classic Rock Radio like a # of solo Don & Joe tracks did. Local TV used to use it in promos for playoff/pennant race games in the early 90s, and I had a Nolan Ryan biography video that a highlights reel music video set to this song. So there is that nostalgia (and--as pointed out by JIC--let us not forget that Stiller/Farrell SNL thing). Glenn applies himself well with the vocal. Seems like I've been hearing it more in the wild as of late. Better cheese than previously delivered by Frey in the '80s.

WTF? Kids Incorporated Cover Video: http://youtu.be/paTdrChb3-0

Choice User comment:

ThunderII5 years ago

This is horrible! So was the cover of "You Belong to the City"! Stay away from Glenn Frey classics!

^^And yes, the "YBTTC" video is up on youtube too.

There are no Kids Inc. Don Henley covers. :'(

Those opening seconds of T.H.i.O. are pretty avant-garde, though.

I'm telling you, this has it, too!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=M7JVlpm0eRs

"She's On the Zoom"

http://media-cache-ec0.pinimg.com/236x/20/60/6f/20606f47ebcdc5fb1ff81bef405768c0.jpg

http://youtu.be/3VOJDr-WiZs

from the Vision Quest soundtrack, and by far my favorite Henley to date.

One of the least pedantic Henley storytelling songs.

omg that photo.

Belinda Carlisle and Jane Wiedlin on backup!

GLENN: I'd back those two up anytime! Head...over...heels!

DON: Well, yeah.

BTW, I've had The H Is O stuck in my head since last night.

My sister always sang it as "He dissolved ... On the street ..."

It's almost like the Heat/Heart intros are there for a DJ to talk over.

The songs, too.

Or do a rundown of the day's sports scores, or traffic...

"She's On The Zoom": This is fun! New Wave Chuck Berry AND a Female Analogue to "Johnny Can't Read" that manages to be less contemptuous for once. A+ Belinda'n'Jane.

and for no reason, here's a picture of Jane Wiedlin and Stevie Nicks, taken from a Jane Tumblr

http://41.media.tumblr.com/8644fed552960c68a1479c067f95b40c/tumblr_n5gotj3PWM1tziohao1_500.png

never heard this one before! Jane Wiedlin's presence alone elevates it, but it's also a sign of the diverging paths of Glenn and Don: Don getting more adventurous (or at least showing signs of listening to a few contemporary records and letting his collaborators call some of the shots), Glenn moving into this high Eighties sleek retro conservatism

Track us very Buckingham, no?

Is.

For me it's better than OK. Over the years it's made a few CD-Rs, including a couple I've burned for friends, all of whom responded like you guys ("Holy shit -- this is DON HENLEY?"). Like "The Long Run" it frustrates me -- how can the guy who assembled a piece of music this well crafted, snotty, and with (for once) shrewdly placed sarcasm fuck up so often?

Josh, I noticed that too. We'll get to Buckingham on a Henley track later this week.

Speaking of, guys...the experience of flipping b/w two different smelling jockstraps was enervating enough to swear off, so if you don't mind we'll go straight into Building the Perfect Beast on Tuesday after one more soundtrack entry.

But but but...The Allnighter!

OTOH, that'll ease the bipolarity of the thread.

was hoping for Frey because holy hell is The Allnighter something. Just wait to we get to the video of "Sexy Girl." But sure fine, let's do the actually good album first

"You Belong to the City"

http://i.ytimg.com/vi/j4ueaD22hg8/hqdefault.jpg

http://youtu.be/j4ueaD22hg8

from the Miami Vice soundtrack, and used effectively in the second season opener (the one with Gene Simmons in a cameo).

I gotta say that I've warmed to this tune in recent years, despite the bleating sax. He plays and programs every instrument except the sax.

I'll get to this one a little later today, but checking in now to point out that there's another Henley soundtrack song to discuss ("Love Rules" from Fast Times At...) and it is on YouTube.

yeah I noticed it last night. I'll post it tomorrow.

http://www.thatericalper.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/08/Sir_Paul_Mc_Cartne_1580634a.jpg

Everything apart from the sax? Glenn isnt Prince by any chance?

Well, Glenn's definitely good at writing for hire. T.H.o.H. screams "action comedy" and "You Belong to the City" is one with everything Miami Vice is about. "It's in your moves" is the only dud line. It can be ridiculously brooding and pretentious, just as T.H.o.H. can be gratingly peppy, but they're perfect commissions.

Keith Forsey has such a weird songwriting/production career

There was a Moody Blues hit from around this time, "The Other Side of Life", that's cut from the same cloth but captures the 'Miami Vice' zeitgeist even better than "You Belong to the City" and would have been perfect for the soundrack and the show. Still, this is one of Glenn's better efforts, and a vast improvement from that other inescapable (at the time) Glenn soundtrack theme "The Heat is On", which tidily sums up '80s Reagan-era sterility and was the antithesis of warmth and hotness.

Note how well director Edward James Olmos uses Bryan Ferry's "Boys & Girls":

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TladxnBKzYw

"You Belong To The City": Another Soundtrack Winner! Solid Michelob Rock. Doesn't feel like 6 minutes. Was there a 12-inch mix? Really hard to trace any Eagles lineage, although I do detect a small callback to "All Those Lies". Re:The Video--why so much NYC and so little Miami? Fun to see both Frey & Johnson so casually smoking cigarettes.

Kids Inc. cover: http://youtu.be/55rg38sJLu8
Glenn'n'Don (Johnson) shill for Pepsi: http://youtu.be/0HByh60JAlc

"Love Rules" - Don Henley

http://images5.fanpop.com/image/photos/31500000/Brad-fast-times-at-ridgemont-high-31500523-300-204.png

You gotta go to Grooveshark, boys and girls.

Wow, that's nuts. It was up as a related video to "She's On The Zoom" the other day...and then I find it, but...

This video previously contained a copyrighted audio track. Due to a claim by a copyright holder, the audio track has been muted.

Bah, but we still have Timothy B.'s Doo Wop cover: http://youtu.be/B4Z8F0j2GzI

And Joe Walsh's Devo-move: http://youtu.be/5y4f7LL338o

And Fingers Felder's contribution, because why not?: http://youtu.be/IH_C4miqEV0

Off to tha shark then.

"Love Rules": In which our Donster surprisingly sings through the eyes of Mark Ratner looking at Stacy Hamilton. Of course, on this soundtrack, we already have Jackson Browne doing the same with "Somebody's Baby", so this number was doomed to second-fiddle status from the start. But it is a pleasant-enough simple ballad, cut from the same cloth as the ones on I Can't Stand Still, and, judging from the sonics, probably cut at the same sessions. Seems like it would have been a good piece of material for Randy back in the Eagledaze. Henley's starting to get the hang of sincerity.

On the commentary track for the film both Crowe and Heckerling lament the fact that so much of the soundtrack was imposed on them by the studio "Eagles Music" instead of their preferred punk, new wave, and hard rock/metal.

It's not bad – not as good as "Lilah."

OK....a big one.

"Boys of Summer"

http://t.wallpaperweb.org/wallpaper/boys/1600x1200/The_Boys_of_Summer.jpg

http://vimeo.com/38296751

Somebody get those poor boys some hair. Maybe we can start a collection?

Song is pretty perfect, a great example of Don recognizing the stylistic advantages of technology by sticking with the demo's perfect rinky-dinkness. Plus Mike Campbell, here tuned a half step down, makes everyone sound better.

The music is gorgeous.

History: Mike Campbell wrote and played all the music. He offered it to Tom Petty, who refused.

I especially love the sampled seagulls before the third verse starts.

I'm not fond of Henley's lyrics. The third verse is the killer, of course, but how on earth did he think the second was worth a damn? He's gonna show her what he's made of, he made her scream (ew), she drove him crazy. A better singer-songwriter would have made the "show you what I'm made of" the prattling of a deluded, aging asshole.

A better singer-songwriter would have made the "show you what I'm made of" the prattling of a deluded, aging asshole.

Always read it that way tbh. Henley's best work by a mile either way.

I can totally imagine Petty doing something cool (or similar) with the chorus, a super-satisfying chord progression, but I'm not sure what he would have done with the slower, moodier cadence of the verses.

have you heard "runaway trains"?

^^^ yeah. I suspect it was Petty-Campbell going "Shit, we let Don get a hit. We need to write another one of those."

Don's greatest moment: all the self-pitying, end-of-an-era Boomer stuff that he's been doing since "Last Resort" has a real emotional register here for once (it soon curdles again: see the wearying title track of Don's next album). Agree the 2nd verse is the weakest but it fits the narrator's POV of a self-absorbed, grandiose older man---it's a bit like "What a Fool Believes" in that you'd guess the woman's take on the relationship would be far less "legendary." Music is gorgeous, w/the spareness in the mix, the synth waves, the seagulls; outsourcing works sometimes!

this & "You Belong to the City" are pretty much the apex for Don and Glenn---nowhere to go but real down (real soon, in Glenn's case)

Makes me wonder if Glenn would've risen to the occasion had Mike Campbell given him a track.

I associate this song with "I Want To Know What Love Is" as far as synth-heavy brooding singles by classic-rock singers. The videos were probably in heavy rotation right around the same time.

this song is really the only truly decent/incredible thing with Don Henley's name on it that I enjoy

"The Boys of Summer": This is one of those songs that was just always 'there' my whole radio listening life, but iirc I finally was able to actually listen to and appreciate the thing prior to the Ataris' version hit (I saw them go over big with it on the '03 Warped Tour--a surreal experience to say the least). I love how the third line of the chorus changes with each pass, adding another detail to the mix. And such details! I think that's what sells it: Everybody's had that person, and at some point you had the top down, and the radio was on, and so were the Wayfarers, and he/she/it made you crazy, and you made them scream, but now it's all over, and you shouldn't look back, but that Deadhead sticker, that Cadillac--it all makes some sort of sense now, doesn't it?

If I had to name a strike against this, it's that it--along with "Dirty Laundry"--has become the go-to solo Henley on Classic Rock Radio, becoming overplayed accordingly to the detriment of some other quality goods we have coming up.

The Video: Wasn't this directed by the Less than Zero/"Goin' Back To Cali" guy? Seems like this kind of PoMo retroism has aged worse than the sonics of song, which actually feels longer with the video. I do like the way they did the ending, and you can see an old school Subway shop in the Don-less trucking shot. That kid seems to have better drumming skills than our Donster as well.

That kid seems to have better drumming skills than our Donster as well.

I'd meant to make that joke! it's true. Another great bit in the video is when Don suddenly gets wheeled in from stage right for the initial verse, looking like a cranky, moussed puppet

Certainly the first image of B&W Don floating through the street shivering (and hungover) in a long coat are more touching than the literalized images of The Girl and the kid drumming.

lol xpost yeah he was not happy about shooting this award-winning video.

In To The Limit, he talks about how he didn't get along with the director, who took the video in a different direction than he wanted. However, it seems like Henley just doesn't like videos very much. In the doc he talks about how he doesn't like having to act, that it's against his job description or something (this is accompanied by his very stiff arm movements in the clip for "All She Wants To Do Is Dance"). This is segued into a scene of Glenn on Miami Vice.

He is a songwriter first, he reminds us sternly in the doc.

On further research, this wasn't Marek Kanievska (the LTZ guy), but Jean-Baptiste Mondino. His CV: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jean-Baptiste_Mondino#Music_video_filmography

Bryan Ferry! Tom Waits! Prince! Madonna! Sting!

XP Songwriter First...Philantropist Second...Sex Offender Third...Drummer Seventeenth

Mondino also responsible for the homoerotic images, presumably snuck in while Don was sleeping off the huangover.

#6 in P&J poll '85, with a few '84 votes and its B-side "A Month of Sundays" also counted.

just realized I'm of the last generation (probably?) to have any memory connections to the film leader "countdown" reel shown in the vid.

i mean, people probably still recognize that from its cliched use in rock videos, but for me it triggers memories of horrifically boring old science films shown in middle school

You gotta hand it to Frey: he stuck with Jack Tempchlin for years. I wonder if hooking up with Campbell, Benmot Tench, and Stan Lynch would have produced the same effect on his songwriting.

Getting ahead of ourselves but I can't resist:

The first song Lynch remembers actually making it to the radio was a song co-written with Henley called 'The Last Worthless Evening.' 'Don came in and had part of the song and we just put it together from there. I knew it was getting pretty popular when my parents told me they'd heard it playing in the grocery store,' he laughed.

Henley's willingness to share his wisdom is no small matter to Lynch. 'Don's really been a long confederate of mine,' he said. 'There's no way I could thank him enough. In the '80s he encouraged me to write. He told me, 'you're a funny guy; you ought to write this stuff down.' That's how casually he ushered me into my next life.'

To help refine his songwriting skills, Lynch said Henley and Kortchmar gave him a title, a legal pad and a track on a cassette and told him to write some words to a song that became 'Driving With Your Eyes Closed'. 'I came in with the pad full of ideas and the first thing Don did was correct all my punctuation and spelling with a red pen. He said, 'I can't look at this crap, I can't read a thing on here.' These guys were so straight up with me, like only brothers could be. They got me reading better books and helped me step up to the plate professionally. They told me that I could really be something.'

^^Don showing that while he may not be an actor, he didn't need to for the "Johnny Can't Read" clip.

"Christ, Lynch: subject/verb agreement ever ring a bell?"

What would Don's "better books" list include?

the first thing Don did was correct all my punctuation and spelling with a red pen.

god there isn't a single anecdote that makes this guy less of a piece of shit

and I can see him, settling into an armchair, pad on his lap, slowly uncapping a red pen while Lynch squirms.

^^Rough draft of the BoS chorus.

"You Can't Make Love"

http://www.gpembertononline.co.uk/New%20Bootleg%20Single%20CD%20Covers/Don_Henley_Saratoga%20NY%201985%20front.jpg

http://youtu.be/aLTArOyamaQ

An odd one, this: a "Wonderful World" approach with a chorus that's supposed to be a zing? Not sure what's going on.

BUT. Lindsey Buckingham's twang guitar and bridge harmonies ("What in the world were you THINKIN' of?") are most welcome. So is the top synth line.

typically smarmy Don lyric, but the melody's strong and Buckingham pulls it into another gear

there's a bit, melodically, of the Band's "Unfaithful Servant" in the bridge?

Listening to this album, it's clear these arrangements are more considered.

"You Can't Make Love": I like how this one rolls along on Buckingham's guitar line. Solid mid-tempo Adult Contemporary Rock.

The opening bars of this would make a great/funny loop on a rap song.

"Man with a Mission"

http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_5mpqeJbEjqo/TCEABrqCKWI/AAAAAAAAA30/09aZf3aOIyo/s1600/donhenley90.jpg

http://youtu.be/hNy7fgLdtfE

Charlie Sexton on gee-tar, Belnda Carlisle on backing vocals.

man, I think I owned those glasses in '88

this is a likely candidate for "most fast-forwarded track on Building the Perfect Beast" but it's okay, if basically Henley and Souther ripping off Little Richard. Don sounds a bit strained & they should've had Keltner or Porcaro do the drum shuffle instead of the auteur himself.

This and a certain single are my least favorite tracks.

"Man With A Mission": I guess this is just me, but this really feels like he's sending up Glenn and his "Partytown" beer rock on this one, and actually being more successful in the process. Kootch delivers with the synths, Sexton (only 16 or so) has a nice solo, Belinda doesn't bring it as much as she did w/Jane on "She's On The Zoom", Don's interesting on drums for once. It's over in 2:43. Good track.

"You're Not Drinking Enough"

http://www.glennfreyonline.com/images/GFreyHenley85.jpg

http://youtu.be/mD2sQSZeSF4

"You're Not Drinking Enough": Synth-Country! Xgau thought Merle Haggard should have covered this one. In fact, a real Country guy would have been great. Don does okay, I guess, but this stuff really isn't in his comfort zone at that time. Sam Moore probably needed the dough; as always he's a nice addition.

for me this section of the album is the weakest.

"Not Enough Love in the World"

http://izquotes.com/quotes-pictures/quote-there-is-not-enough-love-and-goodness-in-the-world-to-permit-giving-any-of-it-away-to-imaginary-friedrich-nietzsche-135869.jpg

http://youtu.be/aiNq8gvkbcg

Haven't heard "Not Enough Love" in ages, and it's peppier than I remember: in line with Jackson Browne's early '80s hits. One of his better choruses. Tench's organ adds some soul and Don even manages a credible falsetto in the bridge. Inspirational verse: "I'm not easy to live with/ I know that it's true/ you're no picnic either"

"Not Enough Love in the World" is a song written by Don Henley, Danny Kortchmar, and Benmont Tench. The song is an adult contemporary rock song. The lyrics describe a rocky relationship, where the protagonist proclaims he's still in love. It is rumoured that this song was about Henley's relationship with Stevie Nicks, whom fellow Eagles member Joe Walsh later dated in 1985, but their relationship only lasted a year, ending in 1986.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aiNq8gvkbcg

Why is this video all Mickey Rourke?

I don't remember hearing this on the radio.

I very much do: I recall it playing while my parents were having a long, rambling argument in the car during some cross-state trip---it was like a soundtrack for my miserable 13-yr-old life

"Not Enough Love In The World": So Don even gets the better Soulboy-move than Glenn? Like "Wasted Time" before it, this would be a good fit for a Philly International act, but this time Henley doesn't sound so...deficient? This is my least favorite of the singles on this lp; As the A.C. moves go, I prefer "You Can't Make Love". This is the song you'd hear on muzak or Easy Listening, Album/Classic Radio didn't have as much time for this side of Henley.

Only an asshole would write a song called "Not Enough Love in the World."

The Original Video: http://www.dailymotion.com/video/x1ub6k_don-henley-not-enough-love-in-the-w_music

It's like a less homoerotic Boys of Summer, once again in black & white with impressive crane and steadicam work. Looks like the kid from the earlier clip reappears, sans drums.

I was trying to remember who covered this -- was thinking Simply Red for a minute -- when it turns out to be

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PxfRP9SGU_s

"Building the Perfect Beast"

http://www.donhenleyonline.com/images/DHenleyGEFHappyNewYear85.jpg

http://youtu.be/rLvaE5comSA

a high Eighties backing track that Grace Jones could've had fun with. instead you get Don growling and huffing, sounding at times like he's in the wrong key.

the track is fairly well programmed and, yeah, Don tries but can't deliver. I mean, the Eagles at their most efficient built perfect little beasts.

"Building The Perfect Beast": Is this the Donster's attempt at doing a "Thriller" (the song) type of thing? The biggest head-scratcher for me on the album. I mean, what the fuck is going on in there? Pretty much trying too hard and not succeeding on all fronts. I wonder how he reacted upon hearing Frankie Goes To Hollywood for the first time?

we'll return tomorrow with my favorite song

Great! I needed today to get my kitchen sink ready.

"All She Wants to Do is Dance"

http://eil.com/images/main/Don-Henley-All-She-Wants-To-315899.jpg

www.youtube.com/watch?v=FNw6J9g5ahw

When I think of songs whose lyrics are detestable but whose music/arrangement is irresistible, this is the song I remember.

video is here: http://dai.ly/x1ub8i (sweaty Mad Max In Thunderdome Don; keytars; guys with saxophones playing synth sax lines)

like "Boys of Summer," Don's rancid limousine liberal persona works here---he sounds like a whiny scold (it's basically "Johnny Can't Read" Pt. 2) but winds up being mocked. The bassline alone crushes him.

Would love to imagine this was Don's response to his old bandmate "selling out," but I think this was written after "The Heat Is On" was a hit. The chorus lyric, with "feel the heat/coming off the street" and "dance"/"make romance" is very much Glenn, though.

The distortion help; the guitars (did Kootch feed them through keyboards?) are wicked. Kootch wrote this solo.

*helps

Isn't this one with no Henley writing credit at all?

yeah, you're right Josh: it's all Kortchmar. So you wonder if K. had Jackson Browne in mind as a potential singer too

yeah i can't stand this song but i usually can't turn it off at least until it gets to the break

ha ha

The A.V. Club: Why did you pick “All She Wants to Do is Dance”?

Lou Barlow: The song really drives me crazy. Every time I hear it, it reveals horrible aspects. It melodically violates me. It’s repetitive. And I mean, because it’s Don Henley, it does kind of tend to stick in your head, because he’s certainly a talented guy. But, yeah, I don’t know. There’s a lot.

http://www.avclub.com/article/lou-barlow-on-why-he-hates-all-she-wants-to-do-is--102959

at least the party girls and witchy women wasted on wine get a voice

a mix of "right on!" and wtf in this:

And then the other day, I heard “All She Wants To Do Is Dance,” and I was like, God, this is a terrible song. It came out around the same time as when Phil Collins was writing all sorts of meaningless stuff. To me as a musician, it seems all that material came from them jamming in the studio and they were like, “Yeah, that’s a good groove,” and just coming up with some horrible shit to sing over the top of it. I don’t know. Repetitive. Awful.

AVC: It’s a little ridiculous that this song has electric drums on it when Don Henley is a famous drummer.

LB: It manages to cram every horrible sound from the ’80s into one song, too. It’s a lot of keyboards that are pretending to be real instruments, like harmonicas and saxophones all coming off of these keyboards that were really big at the time. It’s really shrill, and the way that he sings the word “dance,” too, just really cuts into me every time.

AVC: It’s a little ridiculous that this song has electric drums on it when Don Henley is a famous drummer.

this isn't ridiculous at all to anyone who's actually paid attention to Don's drumming over the years

note he said "famous" instead of "good"

yeah wtf phil rules

I learned what a Molotov cocktail was from this song, just as I learned who Rimbaud and Baudelaire were from an upcoming song on this album. I should've gotten some school credit for owning this album.

Very 80s inflection:

"I'll bring more money"

"All She Wants To Do Is Dance": Ah, yes. A stone-cold jam. Kootch claims he wrote the lyric in 20 minutes, but had to spend a bit more time concocting that perfect scuzzy synthesized backing track. The Donster brings just the right amount of smarm and hatefulness in to own the lyric. The real "Perfect Beast".

The video is a funny bit of re-contextualization: The lyric is supposed to be about "The Ultimate Ugly American Couple", down and out in Central/South America, the guy throwing money at everything in sight while the gal dances as the molotovs go off in the streets. This is flipped in the video to a Latin refugee woman dancing in the bombed out disco lounge, trying forget her troubles with every move as all the boys have gone guerrilla. Welcome to the mid-'80s!

The song that put the unfortunate combination of the words "Don Henley" & "Extended 12-inch" together: http://youtu.be/IDkSS-nxg3M

video also seems an attempt to one-up the Stones' "Central American" folly from '83: http://youtu.be/DVJkfXeTs9Q

Hey, I like the Undercover videos (even started a thread)

It's sad that since Henley prides himself as a songwriter above all else, we didn't get to see him augment his stiff arm movements with a comedy mustache to show him 'acting' (ala Mick in "Undercover", Ray Davies in "Come Dancing" etc.) in the ASWTDID clip.

One of the many reasons I hate Henley as much as I do is because I got so much freaking grief from my friends for really liking this song in 1985.

"A Month of Sundays"

http://i.ytimg.com/vi/i7NXwZ9WbCM/hqdefault.jpg

http://youtu.be/3qtOe7HpE1U

Trivia: tape and CD bonus track that garnered enough points to chart on Pazz and Jop as B-side to "Boys of Summer."

Also: first solo Henley composition!

still feels like a bonus track to me, as the only version of the album I knew was my dad's LP.

the line about "watching 'em parade past the Union Jack" is a bit of a head-scratcher. is this some parallel world where the USA's still a colony?

"A Month of Sundays": In which our hero finally comes to grips with Broooooce while jumping the Farm Aid bandwagon. This is probably one of the more interesting tracks, by virtue of the relief it stands in vs. the rest of the album: a sung recitation of verse, a dirge with no chorus, and at one point he rhymes "sleet", "feet", "meet", and then "feet" again.

I wonder if "Union Jack" isn't supposed to be a Springsteen-like "the Union, Jack" allusion?

On the the CD, this one is segued into tomorrow's track, which doesn't feel right.

"Sunset Grill"

http://media-cdn.tripadvisor.com/media/photo-s/02/8f/84/22/sunset-grill-hollywood.jpg

http://www.dailymotion.com/video/xzjfoa_don-henley-sunset-grill_music

Fourth single. Patty Smyth on backing vocals. Randy Newman arranged the synths. Pino "Fretless" Palladino on bass.

"When they see the place, a lot of people are kind of disappointed, you know?" said songwriter Henley, chuckling. "I guess they're expecting more of a diner thing, with some neon. I took Pino Palladino by there and he took one look at the place and said, 'All those chords just for that?' "

http://articles.latimes.com/1986-01-02/entertainment/ca-23690_1_sunset-grill

Henley in social commentary mode (see that LAT link "It's about living in a world of corporations and franchises. The small shopkeeper in the city is being put out of business.., And the really sad thing is that the generations of kids who were born in the past 10 or 20 years don't know the difference. People accept Wendy's.") usually is a tough business, but this one works for me. Maybe the ominous synth intro? the bass?

"Sunset Grill": Feel like this one takes place in the same lyrical universe as "Boys of Summer"--the middle eight could be addressed to the same woman, perhaps before the split. Prior to hearing the album, I didn't know the coda on this was so long (on the radio it usually gets faded/talked over around 4:10). The coda seems most functional as a way to here some cool synth action, but it doesn't add much else. Not sure if this one or "Not Enough..." is my least favorite single from this set. Maybe the latter, since whenever I do hear this one I imagine riding through some Bret Easton Ellis-scripted '80s LA wasteland. "What would we do without all these jerks anyway? Besides, all our friends are here." feels like a very honest & genuine Henley line. And this is streets ahead of "The Sad Cafe".

So there was no real video for this one? 4th single..."I'm A Songwriter"...blah blah blah

Has he been married to Smyth since this record?

"Drivin' With Your Eyes Closed

http://alumnus.caltech.edu/~markowit/interviews/dh/musician/both.jpg

vimeo.com/75138530

I love the filthy guitars and Linn drums; it could be a Prince track from the fourth side of 1999.

I'll repost co-writer Stan Lynch anecdote:

Henley's willingness to share his wisdom is no small matter to Lynch. 'Don's really been a long confederate of mine,' he said. 'There's no way I could thank him enough. In the '80s he encouraged me to write. He told me, 'you're a funny guy; you ought to write this stuff down.' That's how casually he ushered me into my next life.'

To help refine his songwriting skills, Lynch said Henley and Kortchmar gave him a title, a legal pad and a track on a cassette and told him to write some words to a song that became 'Driving With Your Eyes Closed'. 'I came in with the pad full of ideas and the first thing Don did was correct all my punctuation and spelling with a red pen. He said, 'I can't look at this crap, I can't read a thing on here.' These guys were so straight up with me, like only brothers could be. They got me reading better books and helped me step up to the plate professionally. They told me that I could really be something.'

"Drivin' With Your Eyes Closed": My favorite track on the album. Good call on the Prince similarities! I also hear some of ZZ Top & Eliminator, particularly in the RockMan tone on the solo guitar and the riff sounds like a less-meaty variation on the style of stuff like "Sharp Dressed Man". Henley sells "Ah, you little maniac, I'm crazy over you" as a great term of endearment, and actually makes it work. First heard this on a now-defunct Classic rock station during a "A to Z" library rollout, which--aside from "Classic Disc" airings of the album--was the only time it ever got airplay.

That Eurotrashy fan video used as today's track link is one of the best of it's sort I've ever seen.

It feels strange to make this case, but BTPB is more entertaining and thoughtfully assembled than any Eagles album. Not great because look at the lug at the center.

^^Well, yeah.

Hard to see The Donster getting such blatant literary references past The Freydaddy.

we got one more BTPB track and a soundtrack oddity before the horror begins.

So before The Death of Lovers and The Punishment of Pride

File "Terrazzo" under "words that only appear in one pop song" and a word I've never heard otherwise.

DON: When the Eagles stopped, I sat around and drank a lot, but I also returned to my first love – books. I was attracted to Charles Baudelaire, a French Symbolist poet who pissed a lot of people off by writing candidly about sex and evil.

GLENN: And I said, "Don, what the fuck does some frog know about sex and evil that we don't?"

DON: Well, yeah.

What's crazy is that this song and its Humanities 301 lyrics was on classic rock radio all the time for a few months.

and it wasn't a single!

They were definitely pushing it in Minneapolis for a bit when I was in high school.

This kind of song also makes me wonder where Henley fits in with his Texas songwriter/craftsman contemporaries, Guy Clark and Townes van Zandt and those guys, whether they knew/liked/respected each other. It's like there was an English teacher down there somewhere who got them all started.

Thought this one had been a single--I too recall hearing it in the CR rotation for a while in the late '80s. & yeah, along with "Boys of Summer" it's the album's best track, and you can't imagine anyone else quite pulling it off. As with "BoS," it puts Don's essential dickishness (you can hear the scrape of his pen correcting Lynch's punctuation and references) to good use.

good point about where Don stands in the Texas songwriter tradition---he doesn't really seem to fit in with Joe Ely, Jimmie Gilmore, van Zandt (all his contemporaries, age-wise), perhaps because he moved to LA so soon.

Henley's from a different part of Texas than those guys too--the Northeast part. OTOH, he went to college in the DFW area, which was very fertile at the time--Steve Miller, Boz Scaggs, the Vaughan bros. Southwest F.O.B. (with Seals and Crofts as members), American Blues (with 2/3s of ZZ Top), Five Americans were all happening there between the early sixties and 1970.

"Land of the Living"

http://www.screenslam.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2012/06/landoftheliving_banner.jpg

http://youtu.be/x9aECZwEF5g

OK end to a surprisingly solid record.

"Land of The Living": This is almost like Steve Winwood. I like the synth stabs. "I want to stay in the land of the living with you" is a left field kinda compliment to build a song around. I do wish that the prior song ended the album--it's a better end note, not as slight a song. This could have come right before in the track order, and been more effective. Still, it's a nice and compact number. Pleasant, but not a standout.

Stan Lynch is such an ass, he's the perfect Best Bro for Henley.

I wonder if Petty ever told him, "Tell that to your new leader -- Henley!"

"Who Owns This Place?"

http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/41J9ES5B15L.jpg

http://youtu.be/93LTi0kZ5H0

"Addicted to Love" drums!

that soundtrack cover looks as if it was outsourced to a high school art class

On this holiday we plunge into the abyss....

"The Allnighter"

http://cdn.mos.musicradar.com/images/features/pop-guitar-solos/glenn-frey-corbis-630-80.jpg

https://myspace.com/eaglesonlinecentral/video/glenn-frey-of-the-80s-the-allnighter/23074075

check out the syndrum claps on Glenn!

Been hearing a buncha Bryan Adams lately, and a bunch of Don in Adams. Specially the singing. Cuts Like a Knife is such a solo Don song.

"When Frey was asked about his song writing partnership with Jack Tempchin, he said at the time that "It’s funny, there are only those certain people where things click — at least for me. He’s very free. I’ll just run some soul licks by him, or I’ll ring him something like The Allnighter, which originally was just about staying up all night. But then we started talking about it and Jack says, ‘Staying up all night can’t play over three or four verses. What if the Allnighter was a guy?’ So, we made him into some woman’s every-guy."

"Who Owns This Place?": I really dig the verses on this, but the chorus doesn't blow up like I think it should, and it goes on a bit too long.

"The Allnighter": Man, the self-mythologizing is off the charts right here! A cool sleazy groove, but--I dunno, feels like this this the theme song for some long-forgotten Skinemax series. OTOH, how great would this sound dropped into like, Hot Tub Time Machine II: The Next Day?

Been hearing a buncha Bryan Adams lately, and a bunch of Don in Adams. Specially the singing. Cuts Like a Knife is such a solo Don song.

― Josh in Chicago, Thursday, November 27, 2014

don wishes

oh god hold on everyone

"Sexy Girl"

http://991.com/newgallery/Glenn-Frey-Sexy-Girl-586156.jpg

http://youtu.be/SRfaRcntoE8

video of this one has to be seen: http://dai.ly/x1zzou

the whiny but precise way Glenn sings "she's a very sexy girl" is a bit stomach-churning

In The Wild: "Not Enough Love in the World" at Men's Warehouse.

or I’ll ring him something like The Allnighter, which originally was just about staying up all night.

From the man who in the doc says "Life in the Fast Lane" was inspired by driving in the fast lane.

"This song is about all those SEXY girls1" he said in the live clip I almost posted.

This song is called "No Fatties."

"I Got Love"

http://www.notinhalloffame.com/UserFiles/Image/article_images/Worst_Songs/Worst%2078%20%20The%20Heat%20is%20On,%20Glenn%20Frey.jpg

http://youtu.be/mXqCI_-htuc

god, this whole album is like the soundtrack to some C-rate '80s comedy that had a miniscule song licensing budget.

"I Got Love" rewrites "I've Been Born Again" and "I've Found Somebody," to lesser returns. still, some poor souls probably danced to this at their wedding

I don't mind it – he sounds jaunty in the first verse w/out getting smug, and the organ solo is fine – but it's hard to take after "Sexy Girl."

Catching up.

"Sexy Girl": This is bad. Like, Mike Love-solo bad. It's making me nostalgic for No Fun Aloud! This song is the sound of a million failed mid-life crisis. It is kind of an earworm, so he still had that going for him. This song sounds airbrushed.

The Video: Not only does this album sound like a C-rate '80s comedy, the video goes a step further and is that comedy! That's what I call commitment! Almost justifies the song. Just think if Bruno Mars or somebody did a throwback video in this style. Can you imagine the thinkpieces?

"I Got Love": Pleasant, easily the most interesting thing on the set thus far thanks to the organ and horns. Frey loves his soul music. Lyrically it's like he's overcompensating for all the sexist Eagles stuff. "Women are great! Monogamy rules! he's shouting, but not really adding anything more. it's like somebody going born-again, disavowing all elements of their past at the cost of being less interesting. "Lyin' Eyes" was ten or so years past at this point, and being a prick actually was a better look on Roach. Henley knew.

"Somebody Else"

http://img4.wikia.nocookie.net/__cb20070407203528/uncyclopedia/images/thumb/7/78/FreyChicago.jpg/315px-FreyChicago.jpg

http://youtu.be/wHTSwdkIj5w

boasts one of my least favorite mixing tricks: vocalist holding notes as they fade into sax solo

Six minutes! holy hell.

Glenn sounds rough on this one, as he's written a part a bit outside his range; he comes off like a Rod Stewart impersonator in places

you can picture a coked-up Glenn during mixing: "Get that sax UP!"

"Lover's Moon"

http://youtu.be/HEsgpZkckuc

http://www.the80sman.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/07/glenn_frey_you_belong_to_the_city_miami_vice_1985_the80sman-e1374539221487.jpg

think I'm going to need a late afternoon cocktail before I listen to a Glenn Frey song called "Lover's Moon"

You will!

Sounds like a Ronnie Milsap album track. Solo songwriting credit too.

"Somebody Else": Seems like this be improved greatly with anyone but Roach on lead. He's so frequently out of his depth vocally here it's funny. The backing track suggests for the first time on this set that he's been paying attention to what his once and future partner has been getting up to.

"Lover's Moon": The audio in the link wouldn't work for me, and the audio has been stripped from other clips. Found it on Grooveshark. A bit of a throwback--can definitely hear an early-'60s DooWop song in there. Frey goes for a delicate vocal, which again isn't a strength, but at least he's not embarrassing himself.

tomorrow: the other Miami Vice hit!

"Smuggler's Blues"

http://www.dvdactive.com/images/reviews/screenshot/2005/2/miami_vice_s1_3.jpg

http://vimeo.com/58719183

Glenn thinking, "Man, if Henley can write those story song things, so can I!"

His "Miami Vice" acting debut isn't bad btw

forget the chronology: was this done before Glenn's Miami Vice turn, or after?

yeah, in terms of acting Glenn's much more of a natural than Don

this is okay: seems to be in part a rewrite of "Life in the Fast Lane" melodically, in the verses. Glenn's gruff way of singing "SCHMUGlers! Blues!" is kind of endearing

Also taking on Henley's op-ed style and doing it in a less pedantic way.

forget the chronology: was this done before Glenn's Miami Vice turn, or after?

The single "Smuggler's Blues" helped to inspire the Miami Vice episode of the same name, and Frey was invited to star in that episode, which was Frey's acting début. The music video for the single also won Frey an MTV Video Music Award in 1985.

great things about the video:
* Glenn's buddy takes a shot to the chest even though the thugs are firing at them from a distance behind. it's like Warren Commission bullets
* Glenn going in disguise by shaving his stubble
* Glenn's glamorous mule doing a fashion-mag pout in her mugshot
* the sheer glee in the drug dealer's face when he's about to off Glenn

and everyone smoking!

Good example of how to do a 12-bar blues without being all 12-bar blues.

"Smuggler's Blues": FINALLY! To me this is one of the best things in the Frey canon. Damning with faint praise, I know, but this is he and Tempchin stepping out of the box and making it work. A set of nice, tight (and surprisingly dense--six verses before the first chorus, which changes each pass) lyrics, starting out as a narrative before sliding into vivid descriptors. The backing track is just the right mix of slick and tough, a fine example of the largely forgotten "Blue Wave" (New Wave production on Bar Blues--think Huey Lewis, Fab T-Birds, some Dave Edmunds etc.).

The Video: Easily his best narrative effort. Cheesy, yes, but also effective at expanding on the song. One of the only (non-Hip Hop) vids I can think of that ends with the singer being killed at the end. IIRC, the glamour mule became Frey's second wife. So much smoking and gunplay, within ten years it would have been unthinkable that this played on MTV, much less pulled so much awards attention.

Holy Shit, there's an episode of Archer inspired by this?! I'm so behind.

From the user comments...

Jacquie 4 months ago
Put those stupid cigarettes down, ugh. 1985 for sure.

"Let's Go Home"

http://www.beststarsofyear.com/images/glenn-frey-05.jpg

http://youtu.be/_t39pP2z1sQ

or: Glenn doing "Tonight's The Night." Sample lyrics:

"Hurry, finish your drink."
"I need some privacy."

oh: and SOUL pretensions.

^^Foreshadowing

lyric's pure Glenn: he fools around on his wife/gf, then interrupts her venting night out with some friends to blab on and on about how lonely he is.

still, it's well-played, well-recorded (and hell, pretty well sung) Eighties wine-club soul. for what it is, it's good.

In The Wild: "Sunset Grill" at Kroger.

"Let's Go Home": This reminds me of Carole King for some reason. Feels like this would have been a big late-'70s record for George Benson or somebody. Frey acquits himself well, and I'd take this over some of the other relationship songs aired thus far on this set. Surprisingly doesn't feel too long at 5 minutes.

"Better in the USA"

http://www.top40db.net/img/Artist/2222.jpg

http://youtu.be/k7EjD3SIReM

col's fave Frey!

If we're so awful and we're so bad
You oughta check the night life in Leningrad...

"we got the burgers and fries/we got the friendly skies"

makes you wish the studio had burned down when Glenn and the gang were recording this turd

"Better In The USA": God, this makes "Partytown" sound like "The Promised Land". I wrote about this over on the Eagles listening thread, but when I was a little kid I had a monster truck video that had a bunch of regular event footage mixed in with "Music Videos" set to the same. I remember "Manic Mechanic" by ZZ Top and a cover of "Slippin' and Slidin'" by Willie & The Poorboys (a, er, poorman's Honeydrippers w/Paul Rodgers & Bill Wyman) appear alongside this song, which was probably the first Eagles or Eagles-related music I remember hearing.

I think Frey missed the boat by not offering this up to Kraft for a cheese jingle--"It's Cheddar In The USA!"

(sorry, I'll show myself out...)

Looking it up now, Willie & The Poorboys had an interesting back story: http://billwyman.com/audio/willie-and-the-poor-boys/

this is the apex of the "songs for a fifth-rate 80s movie" theme going on in The Allnighter (phone call to Tempchin made after Glenn watches Mary Lou Retton in the '84 Olympics: "hey, Jack, should we do some rah-rah America thing? come on man---party all night in the USA, hot dogs, Beach Boys kinda thing")

...and then Mike Love hears it on the radio and nearly knocks his cap off while smacking his forehead exclaiming "Why didn't I think of this!?"

Holy Shit!

http://tolucantimes.info/wp-content/uploads/2014/02/T08-Denise-Ames-Mike-Love-Pic.jpg

http://images1.fanpop.com/images/image_uploads/When-Worlds-Collide-classic-science-fiction-films-1025298_1600_1200.jpg

It's as though this song was funded by the CIA to specifically appeal to those behind the Iron Curtain who were used to crappy Soviet 50s-rock pastiche.

more solo songwriting credits: "Living in Darkness."

http://i.ytimg.com/vi/EMef3KnG5P0/maxresdefault.jpg

http://youtu.be/sN59GHhBGaM

Get a load of Glenn's falsetto and Pointer Sisters backing track.

whoa--this is kind of..good. Pointer Sisters backing track is right, but it even sounds like a poor man's Twilight 22 in places. Was all the programming by Glenn? The bridge--with the "real" horns showing up and Glenn moving out of falsetto---feels like it was shoehorned in from another track. Docked a point for refusing to end for a minute and half.

Was all the programming by Glenn?

sounds like it, right? It has that demo quality.

"Living In Darkness": Woah, where'd this come from? Why didn't we get a whole album of synth jams?* The bridge does feel out of place, but I can hang with the coda. Glenn's falsetto is becoming never not funny. Another track that would sound good in Hot Tub Time Machine II: The Next Day.

*Just noticed that The Allnighter was in stores a good five months before Building The Perfect Beast--Frey actually was the vanguard for a moment.

Man, is there nothing good in store until Don's next album?

Well, yeah. (Although I think we've already had Peak Henley--from what I recall albums 3 & 4 are heavy on the cranky and turgid.)

Eh, End of Innocence is not lacking in quality. Turgid, cranky quality, perhaps, but look who we're dealing with here.

One more!

"New Love"

http://33.media.tumblr.com/3bb478da1e5608f41e2848a0c72fd81f/tumblr_nadn9byGom1slk631o1_500.jpg

http://www.metacafe.com/watch/6160137/glenn_frey_new_love_studio_version_with_lyrics/

the Magnum PI years. are we going straight into the next Glenn, or are you going to switch back to End of the Innocence (I think Glenn's next one is first, chronologically)

End of the Innocence will sound like "Hey Ya."

Anyone surprised by often The Allnighter is merely serviceable instead of dire?

yeah, apart from the 2 body blows of "Better in the USA" and "Sexy Girl," it's a decent, mediocre mid-Eighties album.

"New Love": I like the keyboards. If the Eagles had managed to limp into the mid-80s, this song is exactly how I'd imagine they would sound. Is "Divorced Dad Rock" a thing? This would be a good example of the form: It doesn"t really 'Rock'; lyrics about "starting again"; probably sounds good on the Bose in an '86 Corvette.

As for the album, Alfred OTM "serviceable > dire" pretty much sums it up. Frey is finally getting out of the shadow of the Eagles, and while, true, he does fall flat often, we are hearing a fair amount of risks being taken that wouldn't have been otherwise. I do think it's telling that the standout track here is the one that breaks most with the romantic subjects he was mostly occupying his (and our) time with.

next time he'll be soul searchin'

and getting Harry

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eysYg_2ybxk

awwwwwriiiiight back to Don and his second famous solo hit:

"The End of the Innocence"

http://www.overduereview.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/05/Henley.jpg

http://vimeo.com/34856033

ah, Don's "Sarah Lawrence English professor" era, looks-wise.

give him credit: Don had a Bowie-like ability in the '80s to lock in on whatever was hitting and pull his own version off. So here, the genteel late '80s AOR of Bruce Hornsby, recruited to produce & all but play the piano line of "The Way It Is," and its self-pitying, "whatever happened to the Sixties" mood cued perfectly for Reagan's departure, as if commissioned by CNN for a decade retrospective.

and another sexy video but with falling leaves and shit

David Fincher!

also, Wayne Shorter guest star spot ("top this, Sting")

the peak of his flirtation with pop, right? He played on a lot of eighties-era Joni tracks

cast list for this album is insane: Don seemed to have hired anyone on the charts in '87-'88

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_End_of_the_Innocence_%28album%29#Personnel

It baffles me that this outsold Building a Perfect Beast.

Well, it was his first release in the CD era, and was a bit more of a singles monster. It also landed in the last big wave of old fogies being successful before the soundscan/grunge/hip hop takeover.

I think it makes sense - Winwood, Clapton's Journeyman, the Wilburys - a great time for Henley to get some of that for himself

Wait.
No "You Belong to the City"? Or maybe I'm misunderstanding the order?

I had the same question 'til I checked and it's way up there in the thread.

With "The End of the Innocence" it's fun to imagine Fincher making Henley do 90 takes.

I owned this on 45. I gotta say, I'm not crazy about it but the autumnal mood fits Henley's lyrics, which are fairly precise for once.

"How Bad Do You Want It?

http://waytofamous.com/files/images/images/don-henley.jpg

http://youtu.be/_VjtnEB1OOU

I can imagine Don telling co-writers Kootch and Stan Lynch, "Alright, guys, I need a manifesto."

Sounds like Phil Collins-produced Eric Clapton.

wow, look at that leonine mane. corporate hippie in excelsis

link goes to "I Will Not Go Quietly!" But "How Bad Do You Want It" is also Clapton-style yuppie beer commercial stuff.

from the YT comments:

"MrGenXer
1 year ago

They're coming out with a movie about Don Henley's life and Mark Wahlberg is going to play Henley!"

this cannot be true

oh damn I screwed up. I'll change it in a new york minute.

HENLEY: THE PONYTAIL PERIOD

"The End of The Innocence": Some nice atmospherics, very much his Borg-like assimilation of 'thoughtful' Adult Contemporary/AOR (Hornsby, Phil Collins' "Another Day In Paradise", that ilk). Melody's kinda same-y, of course we're supposed to listen to words--everything in service of the words--which feel a little generic to me. It's sort of a fusion of ideas from "TBOS" and "Sunset Grill", but lacking.

The Video: A less artful and discreetly symbolic take on the clip for "TBOS" The Fincher involvement makes me think of a Henley taking over for Affleck in Gone Girl for some reason. Best Part: Hitchhiker Henley getting snubbed by the hottie in the vintage Corvette.

"I Will Not Go Quietly": AXL! Wonder how that meeting of the minds went? Must admit, I got swept up in this, what with all the shifts and callbacks it goes. May be a hair too long, but for the most part he keeps it interesting, mainly by not exactly 'rocking' or being 'metal', but by making wayward cuts and pastings from both.

OK here's "How Bad Do You Want It"

http://www.overduereview.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/05/Henley-and-Axl.png

http://youtu.be/AqUmCCM0uws

(the image goes with yesterday's but I couldn't resist)

Ugh: Henley's going with Frey's David Letterman's band sax .

Don looks like a "hip" divorced dad playing drums in his ne'er-do-well teenage son's first band

Forgive this link, which is gross on multiple levels, not least for the Don the Mon reference around the 6:30 mark, where the notorious douche in charge pushes his point too far and Patty Griffin just gives him this perplexed wtf look:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=k2urQgb-wkE

"How Bad Do You Want It?": This song is very nearly 1989 in song form. The sax hook is somewhat grating, but maybe that's the encode. <checks grooveshark> No wait, it's in the production. Some pitch shiting thing. As Glenn rips from our Donster go, I'll stick with "Man With A Mission".

"The Last Worthless Evening"

http://content.internetvideoarchive.com/content/photos/407/001712_42.jpg

http://www.dailymotion.com/video/x1uavx_don-henley-last-worthless-evening_music

After "She's On the Zoom" and "The Boys of Summer," my favorite Henley single. He navigates through the self-disgust and disgust -- signaled by the octave jumps in his vocals -- like a pro.

"New York Minute"

http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/4/46/New_York_Minute.jpg

vimeo.com/76748289

boy do I loathe this song. Is a New York minute approximate to an eon in real time?

I've missed two heavy Henleys: apologies. Will try to listen to 'em later. But I already know I hate the ironically named "New York Minute"

"The Last Worthless Evening": This is a good example of Adult Contemporary--clearly a song for older people, but not too long in the tooth. I like some of the lyrical detail ("it's been two years for me"), and the chorus is some kinda wish fulfillment.. It doesn't need to be 6 minutes long.

The Video: Video Diva Don with the wind machine blowing those long locks. Getting a serious Rick Von Sloneker vibe from this visual era of the Donster. I can even see him reviewing the video later, going over the actresses: "Hit it...Hit it...Dyke...Passed, Frey Hit it already...Pulled A Train".

"New York Minute": Now That"s What I Call A Portentous Opening! This is like some humorless Billy Joel pastiche. I do like the 'cinematic' sax break.

The song is rumored to be about actress Michelle Pfeiffer. Henley himself tells the story to concertgoers that he was at a Hollywood party in the late 1980s when, from across the room, he spied the beautiful blond "It girl" of Hollywood. She had just broken up with her husband and was sitting on a couch smoking a cigarette next to her recent co-star, Jack Nicholson. Henley says that he, like every man in the room, wanted to meet her. As he tells it, he walked up to the woman and asked if he could bum a cigarette. Without ever looking up at him she thrust a cigarette in his direction. As he slinked away, he says Nicholson chortled, "Well played, Henley."

http://www.coverjunkie.com/uploads/1289039937.jpg
"Well played, Henley. Well played."

MADRAS RETURNS!

"Shangri-La"

http://i.vimeocdn.com/video/459714841_640.jpg

http://youtu.be/rf1Pjstyyco