Old Enough to Forget

Released in December of 1976, Hotel California would go on to become one of the best selling albums of all time. In the US it would go platinum twenty six times, and here in Canada it would move over a million units. As impressive as those numbers are, it would be Their Greatest Hits (1971–1975) that was released at the beginning of 1976 that has over 44 million reported sales. If you're keeping score there have been ten albums in the modern era that have reported sales of over 40 million and the Eagles hold the number 5 and 6 spots. I finally bought my copy well after the shine had worn off and the band had splintered into little pieces with the members trying their hands at being solo artists. Some with more success than others. As a kid I'd heard the album quite a few times. Heck I remember sitting in my friend's bedroom while the record played and that was probably around 1980 and us kids were still listening to the album. Aside from the title track I loved "Life ...

In the fall of '84 two albums dropped that were huge for me. Toto's maligned Isolation , and Don Henley's Building the Perfect Beast . Toto's album will be another day but today I'm sitting in the basement with the music on and pretending in twenty one again and discovering the album for the first time. David and Steve from Toto show up here quite a bit which I always thought was cool. I'd heard "Boys of Summer" on the radio and that song was so good, and the fact I had a Grateful Dead sticker on my car at the time only added to the fun. I always think of the album as being excellent, but honestly the two songs I really associate with the album are the aforementioned "Boys of Summer" and "Sunset Grill" ... I try not to think about "All She Wants to Do Is Dance" because I still think it's a giant musical turd. I still remember pouring over the credits while listening to the album, and "Boys of Summer" drove me...

"Short People" was the first song I'd heard by Randy Newman when I was a kid. It was also one of those songs far too many people took at face value based on the title, who didn't even bother to listen to the song. I still remember the tempest in a tea cup and even then it was perplexing. Dang, even Billy Barty wasn't very happy about the song.  I know there were a lot of people who seemed to pride themselves on not listening to the lyrics of a song as a way of defending themselves when listening to "questionable" music. At least that was a defence a lot of "Christian" kids used to defend listening to secular music. The ability to be tone deaf and easily offended isn't something new ... The problem with satire is to some folks it's just truth wrapped in humour as a way of sending in a Trojan horse filled with hate and bigotry. Randy Newman's affinity for first person narratives that cut deep can be a little on the nose, and with ...

Oh man, my platter runneth over. I'm not complaining, but I am running out of room which sucks. However, over the last several months I've got more albums to listen to than I have time. Again, not complaining it's a challenge and as they say, "Challenge accepted." I probably should have spent more time with the Alex Harvey as this was my introduction to his music, but I'm holding out until I can find something by SAHB, then I'll wax and pontificate on shit I know nothing about. It won't be worth the wait, but you never know. Pat Benatar - Get Nervous (1982) Alex Harvey - The New Band - The Mafia Stole My Guitar (1979) Rough Trade - For Those Who Think Young (1981) Men at Work - Two Hearts (1985) Don Henley - I Can't Stand Still (1982) Pat Benatar - Get Nervous (1982) Other than the single "Shadows of the Night" I really had no idea what to expect on Get Nervous . It's unfair I know but I never really thought much of her. Oh the...

But Seriously Folks , released back in '78 was Joe's first solo album in a few years, and although I didn't know it at the time it was a pretty typical Joe Walsh record. ... that says nothing and makes no sense. Bear with me, I'm going to see what I can do with that and hopefully redeem myself. I have a pretty good idea what I meant. I'm just waiting for my coffee to kick in. Joe Walsh had been building his solo career after leaving The James Gang (I still remember going to the drive in theatre with my uncle Lloyd and my cousins where we saw Zachariah (if you know, you know) and The Holy Grail in a double feature. I'd see both movies more than once, and of those two I'd see one way more times than I should admit). While his first solo record Barnstorm did okay, it was his next two albums, The Smoker You Drink, the Player You Get and So What that would go gold. Joe was setting to be a pretty significant solo artist.  Then he joined the Eagles and put his so...

Of all their albums, this is probably the one I return to most often. A lot of the appeal is nostalgia, but also time and place. That, and I happen to really like this one. I was too young to fully appreciate Hotel California when it came out - I loved the title track, but I didn't get the album until many years later. When The Long Run finally dropped in the fall of 1979 the music I was listening to then was part of my most formative years, and this was fitted right in with a lot of my other favourite artists. New technology was starting to emerge as well, and the drum machine hand clap on "Heartache Tonight" was considered cutting edge. I heard a radio interview where Don Henley was explaining the drum sound and how they were going to replicate that in concert. Considering their last studio album, not counting the Christmas single, was a couple of years earlier it was an eternity between albums - and when they finally did get together to record the follow up to Hotel ...

Sometimes the anticipation and mystery of the unknown are greater than the reality once revealed.  I found this album the same day I found the debut album by The Karroll Brothers, and at this time I mentioned I was pretty stoked about find this particular album. That Karroll Brothers album was a wonderful surprise - this one was a surprise too, but for different reasons. Let's get a couple of things out of the way right up front. I'm a casual J.D. Souther fan, and I have a couple of his albums and aside from his "hit" "Only the Lonely" they were rather forgettable. However his contribution to the 1988 movie Permanent Record (where I  became a fan of Keanu Reeves) "Wishing on Another Lucky Star" is one of the finest pop songs EVER written. So for that alone, I consider myself a fan. Chris Hillman is another guy who I know more of, than I actually know of . I do have one of his albums, that was enjoyable, but can't actually remember any of the ...

By 1983 I was already a huge fan of Joe Walsh. He was the court jester who also managed to be the king of his castle. I knew he was an Eagle, and he and Don Felder were the wonder twins thanks to "Hotel California" but what sealed it for me was his 1979 contribution to The Warriors soundtrack "In the City" a song that hit me in the feels, and to this day is one of my desert island songs. The Eagles version was okay too, but didn't have the same kick in the happy sack as the original. Fast forward to the spring of 1983 and Joe Walsh released You Bought It - You Name It , which to me is one of his best releases - ever. As much as I like his other stuff when I go to a Joe Walsh album it's this one. Go figure. I guess I was primed for this one given that one of my favourite songs from the Fast Times at Ridgemont High (the same records that introduced me to Oingo Boingo) soundtrack was his throwaway track "Waffle Stomp." When I lost most of my records ...

As a teenager Friday night often meant staying up late and watching "concerts" on TV. Before there was MTV and MuchMusic there was Burt Sugarman's The Midnight Special. Wolfman Jack would do something or other, but there would be "performances" by a lot of popular bands and musicians. Sure, they were likely lip synced, but what wasn't? You mean to tell me Dick Clark's American Bandstand was actually live? There would be a lot of stuff I don't remember, some I actively disliked. Yeah, early Prince in a loin cloth put me off his music for years. Then one night there was Christopher Cross performing "Ride Like the Wind" and after the fog machine more or less covers the stage the band launches in, and there's no Michael McDonald. Were they actually singing? I'm enthralled by this giant guitar playing Baby Huey with a receding hairline. The song gets to the end guitar solo and for the first time you can actually really hear what he's...