Boycotting (or Don Henley the ass)

[wertsie]

Okay, here's my story...

I had been a fan of Don Henley for awhile. I had his Greatest Hits CD and would play it a lot. But then I read about what a dumbass he was in Flanagan's Bible...How he refused to play at Clinton's inauguration because the U2/REM combination of Automatic Baby was there. He apparently did not like U2 or REM at all.

I want my money back for that Henley CD I bought, but I had to settle for breaking it and throwing it in the trash. I can't even stand to hear a Don Henley or Eagles song on the radio anymore without being totally disgusted. Nobody disses my favorite band and my second-favorite band and gets away with it! What an ass!

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"We're one, but we're not the same..."

http://U2Baby.com

[MixingBliss]

Originally posted by wertsie:
Nobody disses my favorite band and my second-favorite band and gets away with it! What an ass!

Hey Wertsie, R.E.M. is my second-favorite band, too. What's your all-time favorite REM album? Song?

[LOVE MUSCLE]

Well thats apparently changed, we talked to him very briefly at the dallas 'elevation' show.

He was an ass at first but then he came around. He was in the heart with his lovely wife.

[Discoteque]

Don Henley huh? A couple years ago at my last job, my manager was assisting setting up a big charity shindig here in town (put on by the wife of one of our big customers). Don Henley, Stevie Nicks and a couple other artists were the main acts. Well, at the time he was signed to perform, Don had signed a non-compete contract where he wouldn't compete with the other members of the Eagles, or some such thing.

He then decided, very close to the date, to pull out, but since he'd already signed a contract with the charity to perform, the charity's legal team put their foot down. It caused a big rift, near-legal action, etc. Don Henley was throwing a FIT about it and his manager is a complete a**hole! He called my manager and bitched her up one side and down the other, blaming her for everything, calling her names, when she had nothing to do with the situation. Yeah. Class.

Don Henley AND 2 other members of the Eagles did perform, but it left a really bad taste in everyone's mouths. Apparently Don is a bit of a prima donna, to say the least, esp. being a CHARITY performance.

I was never a great fan of the Eagles, but now I'm def. NOT a fan of DH!

[david]

I saw Don Henly on a Saturday Night Live rerun from 1990 0r 91 and he looked a lot like Joshua Tree era Bono back then. Just fashion wise, henly had his hair in a pony tail and made sure strands of his hair were out of the pony tail and hung in his face and stuff, imagine how Bono looked in the "I Still Haven't Found.." video.

He pretty much wore almost the same exact thing Bono wore in that video. I just chuckled to myself.

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The more of these I drink the more Bono makes sense.. - Bean from the KROQ Breakfast with U2.

[FizzingWhizzbees]

Just to share a weird little coincidence, I was listening to an Eagles song as I started to read this message.

I can't quite bring myself to switch it off, even if what you said about him is true

*Fizz

[wertsie]

Originally posted by MixingBliss:
Hey Wertsie, R.E.M. is my second-favorite band, too. What's your all-time favorite REM album? Song?

hmmm...I'm torn. I think I really have two favorite albums...Out of Time and Automatic for the People, depending on the mood I'm in. But I think "Everybody Hurts" is my favorite REM song overall.

I'll have to find that passage from Flanagan's Bible about Henley and post it here so you all can see...

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"We're one, but we're not the same..."

http://U2Baby.com

[Hallelujah Here She Comes]

Ass or no, Don Henley's written some classic songs, both with the Eagles and as a solo artist, and I think he has one of the most unique voices in rock & roll.

I mean, I can certainly understand your sentiment. But isn't it a little unfair to disregard an artist's work just because he/she is a jerk in real life?

[wertsie]

Okay, on pages 168-169 is the full story. lemme just pull out the essentials...

"Don Henley is not an easygoing guy. He has been known to fume and fester because the hotel maid hung the toilet paper with the flap out instead of in. He, to put it politely, is a perfectionist.He does not, to put it gently, suffer fools gladly. He was, to put it karmically, in another life the high school gym teacher who made the whole class stay after until the fat kid climbed to the top of the rope."

"I wouldn't want to be in Freston's shoes! A few years ago I drove with Henley from Cincinnatti to Detroit and I remember him shaking his head about some of the new things in the music world that he JUST DIDN'T GET (by which he meant JUST DIDN'T LIKE): one of them was U2 and another was REM and a third was MTV."

"Freston goes up to Henley and says, look, Don. You do your whole set, close the show, then after the applause ends these other guys'll come out and do 'One' as a sign-off.

Henley goes pale-he looks shaken. He reminds Freston that HE is supposed to close the show. Then he turns, goes into his dressing room, and shuts the door."




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"We're one, but we're not the same..."

http://U2Baby.com

[wertsie]

Originally posted by Hallelujah Here She Comes:
isn't it a little unfair to disregard an artist's work just because he/she is a jerk in real life?

No, I don't think so. I have heard people say that it's the music that matters, and who cares what the person is like? Well, I do. In the entertainment business, you can't get anywhere without the fans. If people don't like you/listen to you, you'll go nowhere. Just because you're famous, it doesn't give you an excuse to act like a jerk.

That's one of the things that keeps me such an ardent U2 fan. They're genuinely nice guys.




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"We're one, but we're not the same..."

http://U2Baby.com

[lazyboy]

I ain't a fan of Henley or the Eagles even for that matter, but if say one of my fav bands like Mercury Rev said they really didn't like U2, I might disagree with them, and it might irk me a bit, but I certainly wouldn't lessen my opinion of their musical ability! Definitely not to go as far as bust up my own CD! Come on wertsie, that's a bit far!

[wertsie]

I don't think so. When a star's head gets SO big that he acts like a self-important 2-year-old, sorry, but I lose respect for them. His music really isn't THAT great, imho. I can do without...

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"We're one, but we're not the same..."

http://U2Baby.com

[lazyboy]

Maybe there was something personal?! I dunno, U2 and REM were pretty damn egotistical back in the late 80s/early 90s, he mighta took a dislike to them. And then there is the case of George Harrison, he hated U2 with a vengence, but still Bono respected his music

[wertsie]

I don't know. Flanagan sure didn't seem to have a very high opinion of him in the book. You know, now that I think of it, it wasn't so much reading about how he disliked REM and U2 that bothered me (although it did) it was his attitude. Bad attitudes annoy me.

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"We're one, but we're not the same..."

http://U2Baby.com

[david]

He was probably going through a mid-life crisis. Couldn't handle the fact that there were these new young bands coming up and getting a lot of praise for their work.

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The more of these I drink the more Bono makes sense.. - Bean from the KROQ Breakfast with U2.

[wertsie]

Ah, true...And it's interesting that he was in the heart at an Elevation show!

But still...I don't really feel all that bad about destroying the CD. There were only a couple songs I liked on it anyway.

Well, maybe now I can hear one of his songs on the radio and not feel so pissed off. We shall see...

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"We're one, but we're not the same..."

http://U2Baby.com

[ramblin rose]

Originally posted by wertsie:
Ah, true...And it's interesting that he was in the heart at an Elevation show!

Well, he wasn't exactly "in the heart" he was dressed in a suit & tie and stood in that corridor where the security people would walk around. As a matter of fact he was standing right behind me during the entire show (since I was standing right on the rail by Adam's side) and he did laugh a couple of times at Bono's antics, particularly during the flag thing and his speech before Please.

To be honest I didn't know how to take those laughs.

[the olive]

Don't forget that Larry has sung one of Henley's songs live before. (Tequila Sunrise in '87)

Henley really is a perfectionist. He is also a very good musician, and a decent songwriter. (maybe not so much lately) He is one of the reasons the Eagles play flawlessly live - almost to the point of excess. He does seem like someone who is difficult to get along with. However, like Bono he has several causes he seems deeply involved with. Wildlife Refuges and Artist rights vs the record companies come to mind. The Eagles have recently donated some large sums to good causes. I wouldn't ignore his talent and charity work just because he likes to throw a temper tantrum once in a while.