Don Henley? Did You Forget?

Here we go again. Except this time fans of music might get it right. I was doing small town radio mid-1980's when Don Henley broke out his first collection of solo projects. Pumping out the Rock over an AM not FM broadcast and still pulling in ratings...shows how different the times were. Like it was yesterday, I remember popping that microphone open, "South central Montana's first AM Stereo station is the first to play the debut release from The Eagles drummer Don Henley." Before I could slip those 400 pound Koss earphones off my head the studio telephone lines were blinking like a Christmas party, "Hello it's the Arroe Show!" "Dude! Who are the Eagles?" Wait! I had to play this same game with Donald Fagen from Steely Dan and Michael McDonald of the Doobie Brothers. When your Radio shoes are laced up and decorated with lettering that reads 7-Midnight Jock...you're always going to bump into someone that has no clue that Paul McCartney was once a Beatle. After Hell froze over and the Eagles returned one hopes music fans will easily identify with whom I'm speaking of when its announce Eagles drummer Don Henley a new solo album and autobiography. There are also plans in the works for an upcoming Eagles tour. According to Henley, the show will focus on the 40-year history of the band, which will bring one former member back into the fold. While he would not disclose the name of the member, he admitted that it would not be Don Felder, who had a public and acrimonious split with the band in 2001. Henley also acknowledged that he is writing his memoirs. “I’m actually working on it now,” he said. “But it will be a few years before we get to that…I don’t want to write a trashy tell-all…I think you can tell the truth and not get too salacious or prurient or tacky.” However, in front of Henley right now is the two-part documentary, ‘The History of the Eagles,’ that will debut on Showtime later this month. Henley admits that it was difficult to see his life reflected back at him on the big screen. “We were always a pretty private band,” he continued. We didn’t allow a lot of access to our little entourage there. Partly, of course, because of our behavior.” However, they did have their own film cameras capturing the backstage actions, some of which made it into the documentary, causing Henley to sardonically add, “I’ve got a lot of explaining to do to my kids.”