Songoftheday 7/3/12 - I just turned my back on a sad love affair, was tryin' to leave it all behind...

Glenn Frey - "I Found Somebody"

from the album No Fun Aloud (1982)

Billboard Hot 100 peak: #31 (two weeks)

Weeks in the top-40: 5

Today's Song of the Day is the first solo hit by the "Paul McCartney" of the Eagles, Glenn Frey (as opposed to "John Lennon" Don Henley). Coming off the astronomical success of the band during the 70s, Frey's stock was high entering the 80's. But as opposed to Henley, who right off the bat had a top-10 hit with Stevie Nicks in "Leather And Lace", Frey's debut album didn't appear until the summer of '82 (mind, Henley's came later, but now he had a solo track record). And the first single, "I Found Somebody", is a pleasant if muted detour from the dirty-California edge the Eagles had, to a squeaky-clean sheen...

The softer approach reflected in the single's results: while it made the top 40 in both the pop and adult-contemporary charts, while it barely scraped the rock radio chart that year. Frey would recover a bit with a smooth ballad ("The One You Love") after that, but in his voyage to soft-rock land he never looked back, and through the 80's it would prove more and more lucrative for him. And actually, No Fun Aloud remains my favorite solo album of his as a whole, and its worth checking out.

Up tomorrow: A duo at one time rumored to be the reunion of Steely Dan. But with a woman.