The Curse of Success

Since when have The Eagles become this huge punchline (Penn Gillette being the latest comedian to put forth a salvo)? I mean, no, they weren't as cutting-edge as Uncle Tupelo, The Who, Sonic Youth, The Velvet Underground, The White Stripes, Lone Justice, or The Cowboy Junkies but they did put forth a fair number of not only decent songs but excellent ones ("Take it to the Limit" and "Heartache Tonight" being my two favorites)...............................................................................I don't know, folks, I think what we may be experiencing here is a little something called the backlash effect. It happens whenever people like something for a while but then, boom, the very minute that it becomes hugely popular with the masses (and, yes, a lot of artists in fact DO "sell out"), they drop it like a hot potato (Hootie and the Blowfish being yet another classic example). I mean, it's almost as if their elitist gene-pool collectively kicks in and the rest of us somehow feel the need to go along with them...............................................................................Me? I tend to think what I've always thought about The Eagles (along with The Doobie Brothers and a fair number of those other '70s bands); namely, that they were a good, solid rock band, period.