Originally Posted by
sodascouts
I've wondered about how much input he has as well. He's made no secret of the fact that he viewed videos as a "necessary evil" and perhaps he didn't bother to spend a lot of time thinking of concepts for them, leaving that to the "experts."
I remember at the MTV Video Awards in 1985 he basically said he had nothing to do with the concept of "Boys of Summer." It surprised me, because Don Henley is not known to be "hands-off" when it comes to his music. Remember how Geffen complained that Henley would be bugging him about the most minute of details even down to his album's packaging. However, Don seems to have allowed someone else to conceive the visuals that the MTV generation is always going to associate with his song.
On the other hand, in the case of "The Garden of Allah," he paid for that video himself. There was no record company looking over his shoulder. You'd think he'd also be involved in the video's creative vision to ensure he got his money's worth... and yet the consensus is that "The Garden of Allah" video is an epic fail.
As I've said before, I have a bad memory, but can anyone think of interviews where Don has talked about having (or not having) input into his videos?