Post by erik on Nov 18, 2023 22:56:30 GMT -5
The man whose signature phrase is "Hey, How Ya Dooin'" (sic), Joe Walsh, is in this week's Pop Music Hits Spotlight with a satirical look at rock stardom.
LIFE’S BEEN GOOD (Joe Walsh; Asylum; 1978)—Easily one of the most colorful personalities in rock and roll history, Joe Walsh was also something of a wildcard as well, prone to bouts of crazy behavior not only as a soloist but also as a member first of The James Gang, and then as the replacement for Bernie Leadon in the Eagles. Walsh had already had a very successful solo career in doing what was more or less hard rock when he became a member of the Eagles at the end of 1975. He brought in an intensity and a level of unpredictability to a band known (and often derided) for being “laid-back”; and like his fellow Eagles, he had issues with booze and drugs. Nevertheless, he contributed significantly to what became the Eagles’ definitive album, the late 1976 release Hotel California, including the unusually (for him) poignant ballad “Pretty Maids All In A Row”. But the drugs and infighting between original Eagles’ Don Henley, Glenn Frey, and Randy Meisner were beginning to tear the group apart. Following the Hotel California tour, Meisner quit, and was replaced by Timothy Schmit. Walsh, meanwhile, with the help of the Eagles’ manager Irvin Azoff and producer Bill Szymczyk, continued with his solo career with his 1978 album But Seriously Folks. That album was to include what was arguably his signature song “Life’s Been Good”, a satirical look at rock stardom, with references to his reputation as an “interior decorator” of hotels, having an office full of Gold records, and the 1970’s version of “flash mobs”. Not only was the song included on his own album, it was also on the soundtrack of the breezy 1978 comedy-drama movie F.M., about an L.A. rock radio station whose ratings go through the roof, only to be threatened by their owners’ desire to over-commercialize the station for profits, resulting in the staff going on strike. Although F.M. was only a modest box office success, its 2-LP soundtrack sold like gangbusters. Meanwhile, “Life’s Been Good” reached #12 on the Hot 100 in July 1978, giving Walsh ample time to replenish himself (in more ways than one, of course), while the Eagles tried to work through their difficulties and give the world The Long Run (which didn’t happen until the early fall of 1979). Walsh and his fellow Eagles, including former members Meisner and Leadon, got inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1998.
LIFE’S BEEN GOOD (Joe Walsh; Asylum; 1978)—Easily one of the most colorful personalities in rock and roll history, Joe Walsh was also something of a wildcard as well, prone to bouts of crazy behavior not only as a soloist but also as a member first of The James Gang, and then as the replacement for Bernie Leadon in the Eagles. Walsh had already had a very successful solo career in doing what was more or less hard rock when he became a member of the Eagles at the end of 1975. He brought in an intensity and a level of unpredictability to a band known (and often derided) for being “laid-back”; and like his fellow Eagles, he had issues with booze and drugs. Nevertheless, he contributed significantly to what became the Eagles’ definitive album, the late 1976 release Hotel California, including the unusually (for him) poignant ballad “Pretty Maids All In A Row”. But the drugs and infighting between original Eagles’ Don Henley, Glenn Frey, and Randy Meisner were beginning to tear the group apart. Following the Hotel California tour, Meisner quit, and was replaced by Timothy Schmit. Walsh, meanwhile, with the help of the Eagles’ manager Irvin Azoff and producer Bill Szymczyk, continued with his solo career with his 1978 album But Seriously Folks. That album was to include what was arguably his signature song “Life’s Been Good”, a satirical look at rock stardom, with references to his reputation as an “interior decorator” of hotels, having an office full of Gold records, and the 1970’s version of “flash mobs”. Not only was the song included on his own album, it was also on the soundtrack of the breezy 1978 comedy-drama movie F.M., about an L.A. rock radio station whose ratings go through the roof, only to be threatened by their owners’ desire to over-commercialize the station for profits, resulting in the staff going on strike. Although F.M. was only a modest box office success, its 2-LP soundtrack sold like gangbusters. Meanwhile, “Life’s Been Good” reached #12 on the Hot 100 in July 1978, giving Walsh ample time to replenish himself (in more ways than one, of course), while the Eagles tried to work through their difficulties and give the world The Long Run (which didn’t happen until the early fall of 1979). Walsh and his fellow Eagles, including former members Meisner and Leadon, got inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1998.