were the eagles a boy band?

[alreadygone]

In casual conversation with someone the other day I was talking about my favorite music and mentioning groups. I mentioned the eagles and for a second he said "you mean the sports team" and I was like "no the music group". Then he said, "oh you mean that boy band from 40 years ago?" and I was like "yeah, but they weren't a boy band".

technically you could call them a boy band since they were all dudes in there 20s/early 30s but when I hear the word "boy band" I think of wannabe hip hop white guys like New Kids or NSYNC. Has anyone here heard them called a "boy band" before?

[buffyfan145]

I actually have but in terms of them attracting a large teen female audience (especially Glenn aka The Teen King). I've also heard The Beatles called the first boy band, so in those terms yes but it's the fan demographics when they came out. However, it's not the same as when New Kids, or my own teenage boy bands Backstreet Boys & N'SYNC came out. They were marketed specifically for teen girls, but it was based on what happened in the past.

The difference with the Eagles, Beatles, Elvis, and others were they were teen idols whether they liked it or not, or were supposed to be or not. The Eagles to me for sure was a rock band first, but they had a big teen following. My parents were around 11/12 when they became Eagles fans in the early/mid 70s (thanks to their older siblings too being fans). So for my Mom, and later her younger sisters in the 80s, Glenn and Don were teen idols (even for myself when I became a teen and realized why LOL). And for my Dad in other ways he wanted to be like the guys because he thought they were cool. LOL :)

[Freypower]

Well, that is an interesting take on it, because my answer would have been absolutely not (I will say nothing about how enraged I become when this term is applied to the Beatles). They were a rock band. They didn't play bubblegum pop or wear matching outfits & I would have thought that many fans would not have been able to identify them at their peak & therefore back then they didn't have individual fanbases like the members of One Direction or Take That. Look at any photo of them from the early 70s & tell me that is a 'boy band'.

[SilverAcidRayne]

interesting question... they put most of the boy bands to shame lol

[Jonny Come Lately]

I firmly disagree with the suggestion that the Eagles were a boy band and I can only suggest that anyone who says this either doesn't remember their music very well, or is trying to wind you up. To me, the word 'boy band' has nothing to do with whether the band is popular with teenage girls, and IMO is not really a description of any particular sound (they invariably seem to make light bubblegum pop, but this sound varies depending on what is deemed popular), but is instead to do with the way their music is made and promoted.

Generally speaking, I will say now that I don't think there is any meaningful overlap between rock bands and boy bands, they really couldn't be much more difficult. In my opinion there are many, many major differences between the Eagles and several of the boy bands mentioned so far in this thread, and some of these have already been alluded to. However, arguably the most important difference between boy bands and rock bands (Eagles included) is that boy bands are almost always 'top down' organisations - the band members may be the public face of the group but in reality they are basically puppets for their promoters, record companies etc. It's easy for a guy in his early twenties to be quite cynical about all this, but I think there generally isn't a lot of creativity in these groups, it is all about getting to the target audience and maximising their earning potential while they are still popular. Several boy bands don't write their own songs, and often their songs are covers of previous hits. Boy Bands usually seem to have short lifespans because their fan base tends to dwindle as their demographic matures and the new generation finds a different favourite.

Rock bands, by contrast, are 'bottom up' institutions where the band members are in full control of their careers and images. They usually write most of their own songs and if they do covers it is usually songs by artists they admire (e.g. Eagles covering Dillard and Clark's TLTHM, another example would be Lynyrd Skynyrd covering songs by J.J. Cale and Merle Haggard). They can usually write and sing about whatever they want. It is very difficult imagine a boy band writing a serious political commentary song like The Last Resort, to name just one example. Rock bands tend to have a clear idea of how they want their music to sound and generally don't take kindly to being told what to do by producers/record labels (*cough* Glyn Johns *cough* David Geffen *cough*). Obviously rock bands come and go like in any other genre, but a number of truly great bands have earned their places in music history and continue to attract many new fans over the last 30-50 years.

Another key difference is that to my knowledge, the members of a number of boy bands often only sing live, without playing any instruments. This is in direct contrast to the Eagles, especially in the early days where all the instruments were played by the four of five official band members. Admittedly older rock bands, Eagles included, tend to use more backing musicians, but in their prime years they certainly played virtually everything themselves.

Also, a lot of the Eagles' music is very definitely not aimed at kids - as I have mentioned they have several social/political commentary songs but perhaps more importantly, there a lot of references to sex and in some cases drugs. In addition, the overall tone of the songs is too dark for a 'teeny bopper' audience. HC and The Long Run are rather dark albums, while the subject of death is a central theme of the Desperado album and features more than once on On The Border. There are also other songs also have themes that would seem far more likely to resonate with adult audiences - Last Good Time In Town being a good example, I think. Boy bands don't tend to cover darker subjects and mostly stick to more child-friendly pop themes. Another more specific difference is that the Eagles always spoke about 'song power' and did not like to promote the band members as stars. Indeed, Glenn joked about the issues with people not recognising him, Don or the others on their solo albums in the 1980s! Boy bands always make a big deal about the individual group members, their appeal would be lessened substantially otherwise, and the appeal of the songs themselves is usually less important.

[MaryCalifornia]

I have always thought that "boy band" connotes a manufactured group put together by a record label that is comprised of very good looking young men who don't know each other but who have good voices and they don't play instruments or write their own songs.

I don't think the Eagles fit this in any way, shape or form...they are sort of the opposite (except for good looking and good singers!)

[SilverAcidRayne]

now I cant even get Backstreet Boys out of my head. dammit.

but i honestly think they are in a class all by themselves

[alreadygone]

My parents were around 11/12 when they became Eagles fans in the early/mid 70s (thanks to their older siblings too being fans).

weird, I thought I was the only under-50 person on here. I'm 25 and my parents are 56-57.

[Witchy Woman]

Well, that is an interesting take on it, because my answer would have been absolutely not (I will say nothing about how enraged I become when this term is applied to the Beatles). They were a rock band. They didn't play bubblegum pop or wear matching outfits & I would have thought that many fans would not have been able to identify them at their peak & therefore back then they didn't have individual fanbases like the members of One Direction or Take That. Look at any photo of them from the early 70s & tell me that is a 'boy band'.

Agreed. No way were The Eagles a boy band. Boy bands are One Direction, Backstreet Boys, NSYNC, and others of that ilk.

[WS82Classics]

Bands like Herman's Hermits and Tears for Fears are boy bands. The Eagles and the Beatles are not.

One Direction, NSYNC, and the Backstreet Boys don't merit even that much consideration.

[AlreadyGone95]

When I think of boy bands, I think of bands who don't play their own instruments, usually don't write their own songs, and are very young. Their songs are fun, upbeat pop songs with no substance to them. Their music doesn't transcend generations, like the Eagles' music has. (There's several of us here who weren't born when the Eagles broke up or when they reunited, myself included.) A boy band's target audience is preteen girls. The Eagles audience consists of both sexes and there is no age limit or requirement.


No, the Eagles aren't a boy band.

[AlreadyGone95]

weird, I thought I was the only under-50 person on here. I'm 25 and my parents are 56-57.

We have a poll for the ages of the people here. There's more of us under 50 than there is over 50.

Here's the poll: https://www.eaglesonlinecentral.com/forum/showthread.php?t=6358

[Ive always been a dreamer]

I have to agree that the Eagles are not and never were a boy band. Here's Wikipedia's definition of a boy band, which is falls right in line with what several of you have already posted ...

"A boy band (or boyband) is loosely defined as a vocal group consisting of young male singers, usually in their teenage years or in their twenties at the time of formation, singing love songs marketed towards young females. Being vocal groups, most boy band members do not play musical instruments, either in recording sessions or on stage, making the term something of a misnomer. However, exceptions do exist. Many boy bands dance as well as sing, usually giving highly choreographed performances."

And here their list of boy bands over the decades, which I agree with for the most part ...

1960s:The Jackson 5, The Osmonds, The Monkees (although I would also include The Four Seasons, and many of the 60's Motown groups)
1970s & 1980s: Menudo, New Edition, and New Kids on the Block
1990s: Boyz II Men, Take That, Backstreet Boys, NSYNC, and Westlife
2000s: Backstreet Boys, Westlife, Jonas Brothers and F4
2010s: NKOTBSB, One Direction, Big Time Rush and comebacks of 1990s-early 2000s boy bands

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Boy_band

[zeldabjr]

All I can say is I'd like to be there to see the guys' faces when someone calls them a boy band!! It would be epic...:laugh::laugh::laugh:

[SilverAcidRayne]

All I can say is I'd like to be there to see the guys' faces when someone calls them a boy band!! It would be epic...:laugh::laugh::laugh:

YES. god bless Glenn but he would pitch an absolute fit lmfao

[buffyfan145]

LOL That would be both epic and scary. I really feel whoever calls them a "boy band" must be the same type of people who just don't like them to begin with. I've heard from a lot of people my parents age and my own not like the Eagles because they were "too country" and not "hard rock" enough for them, or my guess in this case since they had a ton of teenage female fans in the 70s.

[maryc2130]

All I can say is I'd like to be there to see the guys' faces when someone calls them a boy band!! It would be epic...:laugh::laugh::laugh:

Oh, my goodness. I would love to be a fly on the wall and hear what Don has to say about that. He can be quite poetic when he's at his most scathing!

[sodascouts]

Yeah, I'm thinking.... not so much a boy band. lol

[chaim]

"A boy band (or boyband) is loosely defined as a vocal group consisting of young male singers, usually in their teenage years or in their twenties at the time of formation, singing love songs marketed towards young females. Being vocal groups, most boy band members do not play musical instruments, either in recording sessions or on stage, making the term something of a misnomer. However, exceptions do exist. Many boy bands dance as well as sing, usually giving highly choreographed performances."

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Boy_band

The Eages were known for their harmonies, so they were sort of a vocal group. They were young when the band was formed (one of them even had the nickname Teen King). They sang love songs, and songs like Lyin' Eyes were definitely marketed towards young females. Most boy band members do not play musical instruments, either in recording sessions or on stage. However, exceptions do exist, and the Eagles may have been one of them. Glenn danced on some tours during All She Wants To Do Is Dance. Yes, the Eagles probably was a boyband and I've never realized that! :nod:

[buffyfan145]

Chaim, I do kind of agree about the vocals. As a fan of the Backstreet Boys I do know they sing wonderfully acapella and acoustic, and they do play their own instruments now for some songs. They didn't originally under the old manager/record label because they had to maintain that 90s boy band image, but now that they are all older, in more control, and dads it's changed (all five are back together and on tour). I know their harmonies, as well as N'SYNC's, was another reason I was a fan. I could be wrong but I think one of them covered "Seven Bridges Road" in concert before as for some reason I remember it happening. I know my Mom liked them too for their harmonies and I do remember her pointing out about how the Eagles kind of mastered that first, as well as the Beatles.

But I still wouldn't call the Eagles or groups like them a boy band but I can kind of see those similarities and since they were teen idols too. But again boy bands as we know them and the term didn't exist till the late 80s, so it's more of just people's opinion if groups from the 50s, 60s, and 70s were or not.

[chaim]

I was in a sarcastic mood when I wrote that. Not serious. 8-)

[buffyfan145]

LOL :D That's the problem with the internet you can never tell.

[chaim]

LOL :D That's the problem with the internet you can never tell.

So true. I should have put a ":lol:" smiley in there. It's different if people know that side of me well, but I have never been sarcastic here so of course people are going to take me seriously!

[UndertheWire]

It's always funny when people try to apply labels retrospectively. There are quite a few low-budget british "documentaries" covering subjects like "boy bands", "The Single", "The Album" and some of the groups who were successful in the 60s, like Gerry and the Pacemakers (bigger than The Beatles, at one point), Herman's Hermits and The Hollies.

One thing I learned that in the early sixties, it was normal practice for the producer to choose the song, and have the track laid down my session musicians and only bring in the group to add vocals, even when the group played their instruments for live shows. The target audience was teenage girls because they bought the singles and it helped if the boys were cute. The Beatles started in that kind of environment (though possibly they always played their instruments for the recordings) but soon evolved and moved away from making singles for teenage girls. However, for a few years, they were the cute boys, with matching outfits and haircuts, with personalities being marketed to young girls just as much as any of the newer boy bands. Even if The Beatles weren't a boy band, they influenced later boy bands.

The Monkees were put together as a fictional Beatle-like band and yet they are listed as a "boy band". I'd put them in a category along with The Partridge Family and S-Club 7 rather than with Take That and One Direction.

The Eagles, though inspired by The Beatles, never went for that "Beatles" marketing. Maybe it was considered, but by the early 70s, album sales were more important and the market was slightly older and more male than for singles. Certainly, as JCL pointed out, their lifestyles, looks and lyrics didn't fit the safe, family-friendly model. Leave that to Donny Osmond and David Cassidy who were marketed relentlessly to young teenage girls.

No, the Eagles were not a boy band, though it amuses me to think of them as one. Based on his story of seeing The Beatles, and his nickname of "Teen King", my guess is that Glenn would have quite liked the idea at one point but the restrictions would have chaffed. Can you imagine a boy band singing "Chug All Night"?

[Freypower]

I don't agree that the Eagles were 'teen idols' either.

[UndertheWire]

There's Glenn's famous quote - "Everybody had to look good, sing good, play good and write good" - that suggests that they may have started out with the intention of being teen idols but they didn't follow through. Cameron Crowe put it as "They craved the spotlight, saw it coming, got scared, ran from it, all that stuff."

[Ive always been a dreamer]

I have to agree with UTW's post. The target audience for the Eagles was not just teenage girls, although they certainly weren't excluded. The Eagles certainly did not have the wholesome image of a boy band. It was their rebellious looks and attitude in their music that appealed to a much wider audience. To me, it mostly boils down to the songs. I don't consider hardly any of the songs in the Eagles' 70s catalog as 'love' songs - even songs like Peaceful Easy Feeling, The Best of My Love, and I Can't Tell You Why all have a very jaded view of love and/or sex. I mean I can't think of any 70s Eagles song that a couple would choose as 'their' song to be played at their wedding. Also, I don't think hardly any boy bands wrote their own songs like the Eagles. As UTW pointed out, most boy bands had their songs pre-selected for them.

So, to me, these are the things that distinguish the Eagles from what we commonly consider a boy band. My guess is that Glenn and Don would not have considered it a compliment for anyone to bestow that labels upon them at any point during the band's existence.

[Brooke]

Have to agree with you, Dreamer. Glenn and Don would not have been amused with the 'boy band' title! :lol:

ETA: And I never considered them one either!

[OntheBorder74]

It reminds me of what Gram made of the eagles after the first album, he called them 'bubblegum'. but while there's some upbeat nature to PEF and TIE there has always been dark songs like Witchy Woman, Bitter Creek etc

I never really considered them a boy band in any shape or form. They also didnt do the image thing that the beatles did and obviously even early 60s beatles werent a boy band.

I once thought there was a comparison in that all members sang evenly in the band, at least on the debut record the same way each member of a boy band is spotlighted with their own individual lead vocals as well as group harmonies. To me when all band members sing in a band that's possibly the closest to a boy band format, but it would have to be all singers singin a line or two in the same song ala 'I Want it That Way' by Backstreet Boys. Also the Eagles weren't that clean cut to be boy band members as they rarely did interviews or magazine layouts.


PS
I wonder do the rock band Kiss with their costumes, choreography, larger than life personas count as a boy band, Ace Frehley and Peter Criss didnt always play on some of the later songs due to being 'out of action' shall we say. Just a funny thought particularly due to the heavy merchandising and they have pretty young fans due to the spectacle of the show and the characters

[Freypower]

It reminds me of what Gram made of the eagles after the first album, he called them 'bubblegum'. but while there's some upbeat nature to PEF and TIE there has always been dark songs like Witchy Woman, Bitter Creek etc

I never really considered them a boy band in any shape or form. They also didnt do the image thing that the beatles did and obviously even early 60s beatles werent a boy band.

I once thought there was a comparison in that all members sang evenly in the band, at least on the debut record the same way each member of a boy band is spotlighted with their own individual lead vocals as well as group harmonies. To me when all band members sing in a band that's possibly the closest to a boy band format, but it would have to be all singers singin a line or two in the same song ala 'I Want it That Way' by Backstreet Boys. Also the Eagles weren't that clean cut to be boy band members as they rarely did interviews or magazine layouts.


PS
I wonder do the rock band Kiss with their costumes, choreography, larger than life personas count as a boy band, Ace Frehley and Peter Criss didnt always play on some of the later songs due to being 'out of action' shall we say. Just a funny thought particularly due to the heavy merchandising and they have pretty young fans due to the spectacle of the show and the characters

Boy bands have very clean cut images. Kiss do not.

[OntheBorder74]

Boy bands have very clean cut images. Kiss do not.

Yeah in that department theyre not but they did wear makeup and play characters, no one ever saw them out of their kabuki alter egos. but there's a strong case in other respects such as the intense marketing and general focus on image which was so at odds with rock bands from that era. The biggest reason they cant be defined as boy band is because aside form Beth, there songs were'nt romantic or about anything other than sex, drugs and alcohol which definitely doesn't work in a boy band role of being positive role models

[UndertheWire]

Of course, Glenn Frey was in a German boy band:
http://i1060.photobucket.com/albums/t450/hairynosed/179737736_zpsdgmcn817.jpg
That's Glenn Frey, front left, according to the caption.
Actually, watch a video of Touché and try to imagine any configuration of the Eagles doing the same. I can't.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=m3IxoF3OK3M

[Jonny Come Lately]

Yeah in that department theyre not but they did wear makeup and play characters, no one ever saw them out of their kabuki alter egos. but there's a strong case in other respects such as the intense marketing and general focus on image which was so at odds with rock bands from that era. The biggest reason they cant be defined as boy band is because aside form Beth, there songs were'nt romantic or about anything other than sex, drugs and alcohol which definitely doesn't work in a boy band role of being positive role models

While I would certainly not describe Kiss as a boy band myself, I tend to agree with you about how different their attitude was from many of their contemporaries. I remember reading about how Rush - who are about as un-boy band like as you can get (and they have a heavily male skewed fanbase) - went on tour with Kiss in their early years and quickly realised that their ideas of what they wanted to achieve with their music were completely different, as Rush weren't interested in creating a brand like Kiss were. That doesn't necessarily mean that either approach was right or wrong, but most I think rockers tend to sympathise more with Rush's views.

[alreadygone]

on a side note, what about Ambrosia? Did they write there own stuff? I sort of consider them kind of boy-band like.