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, Their Greatest Hits (1971–1975) , released earlier that same year, has 45 million reported sales worldwide. 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. 1976 was a pretty good year for the band all in all. 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 ...

"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 ...

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 out to be a pretty significant solo artist. Then he joined the Eagles and put hi...

When Glenn Frey passed away back in 2016, it sort of sucked the fun out of pooping on his solo work. There was no doubting his talents as a writer, a singer, and honestly, as an underappreciated lead guitar player. However, Glenn also seemed to have a penchant for leaning into the syrupy side of pop. After the Eagles imploded, you knew it was only a matter of time before the dynamic duo would start releasing solo albums, and it would be interesting to see who really had the Midas touch when it came to putting out music. Glenn struck first in May of 1982 and released No Fun Aloud , and right off the bat it was like the most insipid and middle-of-the-road elements from The Long Run were being used as the template for what would constitute success. The one-two pillowy punch of "I Found Somebody" and "The One That You Love" got some play, but honestly, were pretty disappointing. There was a little life in the reworked "The Greeks Don't Want No Freaks" song...

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 fit 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 Califo...

Sometimes the anticipation and mystery of the unknown are greater than the reality once it's revealed. I found this album the same day I found the debut album by The Karroll Brothers, and at the time I mentioned I was pretty stoked to find this one. The 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. I have a couple of his albums and, aside from his "hit" "You're Only 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. For that alone, I consider myself a fan. Chris Hillman is another guy I know more about than I actually know. I do have one of his albums, and I remember enjoying it, but I can't actually remember any of the songs...