Pop Music
Is Eagles' Indie Release Truly in the Indie Spirit?
Author: Steve Morse
Publication: Boston Globe
Date: July 13, 2003
Abstract: Henley addresses criticism about the Eagles' one-month exclusivity deal with Best Buy, and casts the Eagles a band fighting the industry.
Look who's going indie. It's the Eagles, whose "Their Greatest Hits 1971-1975" is the top-selling album of all time with 28 million copies sold. The major-label side of the record industry, which supervised the Eagles for their whole career, must be in trouble if the Eagles are willing to fly the coop and go out on their own.
"We're taking a big risk and are trying to promote a record without a big record company," says Eagles singer Don Henley. "We want to show people that it can be done - and if that's not a move for artists' rights, I don't know what is."
The Eagles have been on major labels such as Asylum, Elektra/Asylum, and Geffen. But the new Eagles single, "Hole in the World," is on the band's own Eagles Recording Co. The single is a peace-and-love, soft-rock anthem with gorgeous vocal harmonies (an Eagles trademark), and Henley calls it a "test case" for whether the band will release an entire album on its own.
"If the single does well and if we think we have a system down where we can release an album independently, then we'd be happy to do that," says Henley, whose group headlines the FleetCenter for three shows this week, on Tuesday, Wednesday, and Friday. "If the single ultimately fails, though, and if our efforts to circumvent a major label fail, then we may reconsider and go with a major label. Of course, if the single is not a hit, it may be not because we promoted it independently but because people don't like the song. So we're going to have to wait and see what happens."
The Eagles' baby steps toward independence have already met with some bumps along the way. Under the guidance of manager Irving Azoff, the Eagles recently cut a deal with the Best Buy chain to give it a one-month exclusive, which ended Thursday, on selling the single.
That prompted a nasty letter to Henley from 54 independent stores and regional chains that asked him how he could be an advocate of artists' rights and "rail against the consolidation of power in the radio industry and amongst large record labels" yet still give an exclusive to Best Buy.
The letter, some of which was just published in Billboard, added, "Where has your integrity and sense of fairness gone?"
Henley did not appreciate the critique. "It's about the age of whining, that's what it's about," he says. "We are trying to pioneer independent releasing. We're trying to do something that would be good for other artists and good for us, and this is a dangerous experiment. So we had to do something.
"We're not the only ones doing this," he added. "People have done it with Wal-Mart and other big retailers, to give them a 30-day exclusive in order to get it into the stores. I didn't set it up with Best Buy. Our manager did. But I went along with it because it sounded feasible to me. It's only 30 days, and then everybody gets the record. The way we look at it, if we can't get the record out there and promote it and make it a hit, then nobody makes any money, including the independent retailers."
It's still a big "if" as to whether the song will be a hit.
Best Buy is happy with the sales - the single came out with a live DVD performance attached, and it immediately went to No. 2 in DVD sales and is still in the top five, says Best Buy senior vice president Gary Arnold. "We hope the Eagles will do more projects with us," he says.
But radio is not as convinced.
"It seems to have come to a crossroads as far as chart action is concerned," says Mark Laurence, music director of Boston adult contemporary station WMJX (106.7 FM). "We're on the fence as to whether it's going to go much further as a hit."
Henley believes the song could cross over to country stations, however. "People are telling us it could be a hit on country radio," he explains. "They [country radio programmers] asked us, as they always do, 'Why don't you go in and put a pedal steel on it?' But we said, 'No thank you.' I tried that with a couple of my solo tunes, and it didn't make a . . . bit of difference at country radio."
Another option would be CHR (contemporary hit radio) stations, according to Henley.
"But I can't keep up with the charts anymore," he says. "I looked at Billboard the other day and counted 23 different charts. It's just ridiculous. I don't think all this formatting is a good thing. It puts things in little boxes and diminishes people's choices. Instead of broadening people's tastes, I think it narrows people's tastes."
To no one's surprise, the Eagles make most of their money today through touring. The group titled its latest trek the "Farewell I" tour, though Henley openly admits there may be more. It's also the debut of new guitarist Steuart Smith, who formerly toured with Rosanne Cash and Shawn Colvin.
"I saw him several years ago when he was with Shawn," says Henley. "I had never seen him before, but I just sat there with my mouth open and said, 'Who the heck is this guy?' " Smith and incumbent Eagles guitarist Joe Walsh have needed to make some adjustments to each other, Henley adds, but "Steuart has no ego and is perfectly willing to play rhythm or lead or whatever you want him to do. And Joe is a pretty easygoing guy these days as well. It's been working out fine."
