Here's part two of my epic - The Solo Years.
Of course I had just become an Eagles and Frey fan when a year later, they broke up. I was in London at the end of 1980 when Don was arrested and I was seriously concerned. Eventually news filtered through that they had in fact split. So now what?
So after waiting impatiently throughout 1981, No Fun Aloud & I Can't Stand Still were released in 1982. It was then I realised that Glenn was more 'lighthearted' and didn't write 'serious' lyrics but I still preferred his voice. I just followed the solo careers - 1985 being a good year for Glenn in particular with his soundtrack hits.
In 1988 of course he came out here to do Expo with LRB and them I saw him for the first time in August. It was a wonderful experience. He had all the charisma and vocal power that I had always thought and he seemed to have a great sense of humour. The TV interviews that he did at the time were really helpful to me. I also saw Joe twice in this period with the Party Boys & the Creatures From America. Joe unfortunately was still an alcoholic. It was quite evident, although he sang & played alright.
But then Glenn's career started to taper off while with EOTI, Don's took off. Don was everywhere and Glenn started acting. Much as I loved Wiseguy I missed his music & singing. Then there were the rumours that they were reforming in 1990. That was what I really wanted - for the two of them to work together again. On my 30th birthday I found out that it wasn't happening and I felt so disillusioned that I decided I was wasting my time. I turned to humour - becoming a Monty Python addict. I decided that Michael Palin of Python was superior to Glenn Frey and had replaced Glenn in my affections. I persisted with this until in 1991 I got Palin's autograph and pretty much embarrassed myself with how I behaved. I knew I was wrong but I felt I couldn't go back.
I tried to treat Strange Weather with complete indifference, even though the entire time I knew I wanted to 'go back' - I just couldn't admit it to myself. I occupied myself with other things... meeting my English penpal and getting married and rediscovering England rather than America, including football.
Stay tuned for Part 3 in which the Eagles reform and I 'come home'.