Songoftheday 7/28/19 - I turn on the tube and what do I see, a whole lotta people cryin' "Don't blame me"...
from the album Hell Freezes Over (1994)
Billboard Hot 100 peak: #31 (one week)
Weeks in the Top-40: 3
Today's song of the day comes from the veteran rock band Eagles, who came together originally in the beginning of the 1970s to back up singer Linda Ronstadt. Newcomers Don Henley on drums and singer/guitarist Glenn Frey were teamed with veterans Randy Meisner from former teen idol Ricky Nelson's Stone Canyon Band on bass, and lead guitarist Bernie Leadon from the country-rock band the Flying Burrito Brothers. However, instead of touring with Linda, the group were bought up by Asylum Records (through some help from Frey's friend Jackson Browne), and soon were whisked off to Colorado to work on working together and to come up with their self-titled debut album, which was released in 1972. Their debut single, "Take It Easy", was a breezy country-rock affair written by Frey and Browne which climbed to #12 on the American pop chart, while landing at #8 in Canada. They followed up with the brooding and spooky "Witchy Woman", which scored the band their first top ten pop hit in America at #9, while also going to #8 in Canada and becoming their first top-40 hit in the Netherlands at #26. The Eagles album also hit the top-40 at #22 as well.
While the band technically had their "sophomore slump" with their second release Desperado, with the album stalling at #41 and neither of the two singles reaching the top-40, nevertheless the set represented a growth in the group's vision and with the lasting respect for the title track ended up selling over two million copies. And that momentum helped with their third effort, On The Border, which guitarist Don Felder was added as the fifth official member of the band and contributed to a couple of tracks on the set, including lead single "Already Gone" which brought them back into the pop top-40 at #32. But it was the third single from the set, the ballad "Best of My Love", that proved to be the breakthrough hit the band and the album needed, going all the way to #1 in 1976. The single also topped the Adult Contemporary (or "easy listening") radio chart in the U.S. as well as the singles chart in Canada, and was their first top-40 hit in Australia at #14.
The success of "Best Of My Love" contributed to the buzz behind the Eagles' next studio album, One Of These Nights. The title track and lead single gave the band a second #1 pop hit in the U.S., as well as their first top ten successes in New Zealand (#3) and the Netherlands (#7), and was their first hit in the UK, peaking at #23. Its follow-up, "Lyin' Eyes", hit #2 on the pop chart and gave them their first country radio hit, climbing to #8. The band also won their first Grammy Award with that song, for Pop Duo/Group Vocal Performance. However, the veer away from country-rock and troubles with the band led Leadon to leave the Eagles by the end of 1975, just as their first greatest hits set was released that would eventually become one of the biggest-selling albums of all time.
Hiring former James Gang leader and wild card guitarist Joe Walsh to replace Leadon, the band moved on to record their best-known album, Hotel California. Surprisingly the first single from the record would be the rather sedate country-rock of "New Kid In Town", putting to rest the idea of Leadon leaving would solely put them in pop/rock territory. The song would go to #1 on the pop chart, as did their next, "Hotel California", which would prove to be their "signature song", and inspired a fan base and conspiracy theories to this day. Both songs also topped the singles chart in Canada. The third release from Hotel California, "Life In The Fast Lane", featured Walsh on lead vocals and guitars, and was their "hardest" single to date. It just missed the top ten, peaking at #11 in the U.S. and #12 in Canada. However, the grueling year-long recording and touring for the album caused another line up casualty as Meisner would leave for a solo career, which had the band hiring on Timothy B. Schmit from Poco (who coincidentally also replaced Meisner in that band).
Frey, Henley, Felder, Walsh, and Schmit returned after two years work with The Long Run, the act's sixth studio album and last for quite a while. The band released the Frey-led lead single "Heartache Tonight" which got them a fifth and so-far final #1 pop hit in America and Canada in 1979. Schmit sang lead for their third release from the set, the ballad "I Can't Tell You Why", which climbed to #8 in the U.S. and #5 in Canada. The group toured behind the album, but again tempers flew and Frey distanced himself from Henley and the rest of the band, and in the end they struggled to put together a concert album, Eagles Live, to fulfill their contract - the set was notorious for his generous use of overdubs throughout. A "new" song from the album, a live cover of Steve Young's "Seven Bridges Road", went to #21 on the pop Hot 100 and #17 on Billboard's Adult Contemporary radio chart, and would serve as the band's coda for years and years, with the acrimonious nature of their split making most doubt they would ever see the Eagles back together again.
In the 1980s, every member of the Eagles save Leadon ended up having a successful solo career. Most notable was Frey, who reached #2 twice on the Hot 100 with "The Heat Is On" and "You Belong To The City". Henley was equally as successful, landing a string of top-40 pop hits including the #3 "Dirty Laundry" the the #5 "Boys Of Summer". Walsh went to #19 on the pop chart with his contribution to the Urban Cowboy soundtrack, "All Night Long", while topping the Mainstream Rock list with "A Life Of Illusion" a year later. Randy Meisner scored a few top-40 hits, with "Hearts On Fire" climbing to #19 in 1981. Meanwhile, Don Felder climbed to #5 on the Mainstream Rock chart and in 1981 just missed the pop top-40 at #43 with the theme to the animated movie "Heavy Metal". Lastly, Timothy B. Schmit went to #25 on the pop chart (and #17 on the rock radio list) with "Boys Night Out" in 1987.
What most likely precipitated the Eagles' unforeseen reunion was the release and popularity of the country music tribute album to the band, Common Thread: Songs Of The Eagles in 1993. A benefit release for the Walden Woods Project charity, a personal quest of Henley's, the project was a massive success, going to #3 on the Albums Top 200 sales chart, and with six of its tracks hitting the country radio chart. The one that made the top-40 was a cover of "Take It Easy" from country -rocker Travis Tritt, who insisted the band reunite (not the 1972 lineup, but the Long Run band of Frey, Henley, Walsh, Felder, and Schmit) for the music video. I guess nostalgia (and the prospect of making huge bank) convinced the five to get back together for a tour, which would lead to the Hell Freezes Over album. Starting off with four new studio tracks which then came eleven live tracks taken from an MTV special filmed during the tour, the album proved to be a massive success, selling over nine million copies and topping the albums sales chart. However, despite the popularity of the album, the lead single pulled from it was rather polarizing. "Get Over It", written by Frey and Henley, was a guitar-led boisterous attack on "talk TV culture" at the time, predating our current reality show swamp with the likes of the guests on Geraldo, Donohue, Oprah, and the like, though the attack of self-titled "victims" can end up being a bit harsh in the end, which is probably why radio didn't get all on board with this one...
"Get Over It" returned the band to the American pop top-40 in November of 1994, though as I said the harshness of the lyrics may have prevented the song from reaching the sales highs the album did. The song did much better on rock radio, climbing to #4 on Billboard's Mainstream Rock chart, while it crossed over to their Adult Contemporary format list at #21. Internationally, the single peaked at #4 in Canada, and was a minor hit in Germany (#55) and Australia (#74). "Get Over It" would prove to be their final Hot 100 top-40 hit, but the second release from the album, "Love Will Keep Us Alive", would surpass its radio success, reaching #22 on the airplay list (and be a future SOTD).
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And here's the band performing the song live (as entitled rich guys) in 1994...
Up tomorrow: Eurodance act from Chicago proclaim that size does matter.
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