Celebration of "Strange Weather"

[Funk 50]

I'd like to know why it wasn't a success, but assume it was a matter of timing and promotion. I know he went out on the road to promote it but the tour didn't sell well and he added Joe. He also appeared on tv shows. Part of the problem may have been image - his look was more cabaret than rock - and being in his forties in a business that valued youth.

After all the good will rock stars received for Band Aid and Live Aid in the mid eighties, the press were starting to turn on the rock superstars that seemed to do very well financially out of their globally publicised 80s charitable work.

Phil Collins was just awesome in the 80s, he couldn't put a foot wrong but by 1989 he was answering criticism for monster hit, Another Day In Paradise. How could he write a song about being homeless?

A year or two later, Glenn's firsts Strange Weather single, I've Got Mine hits the same territory. Back catalogs are becoming more interesting than new material, MTV has turned the music industry into a visual medium.

Strange Weather came out at a bad time. It's an album I enjoyed listening to though.

[Freypower]

There's a difference between his look in 1982-86 and 1992-93. The first was just a white suit, whereas in the 90s it was more like stage clothes.

By "TV appearances" I meant appearing as the musical guest on late night shows, which is a standard way of promoting music. I've seen clips, so I know he did this, though I couldn't tell you when.

Party of Two came before the failure of South of Sunset. Based on setlist.fm, he did a solo tour to promote Strange Weather from June to December 1992. In January 1993, he did the Superbowl tailgate party that led to his casting in South of Sunset. It's possible he filmed the pilot before embarking on the Party of Two tour which ran from March to July 1993. SoS was still filming early episodes when it was aired and failed in October 1993.

As for why he did SoS, according to interviews from the time, it gave him an opportunity to work in LA rather than being out on the road away from his family. No doubt, he liked the idea of being the lead of a TV show.

My evidence for the relative failure of the solo tour comes from two people. The first is David Spero who was Joe's manager and suggested that 1+1=3. He cites a show of Glenn's that wasn't selling well but after they added Joe, it sold out. The second is someone who opened for Glenn on the solo tour (I've forgotten his name and can't remember where I read it so if anyone can find it, I'd be delighted) and said about how they were having to switch to smaller halls. He said something about learning from Glenn because Glenn gave it everything even if the hall was half-empty.

I'm not trying to put Glenn down. It was the case of a good artist being unable to find a market. He knew from his experience with The Allnighter that TV could help (that album wasn't doing too well until it got a boost from Miami Vice and Beverley Hills Cop).

I don't understand this. They were suits. The suits he was wearing then were far easier on the eye than the awful pink & pale blue things he wore on the Eagles 2001 tour.

I saw those TV appearances. Henley did the same thing. They worked for him, but not for Glenn.

I didn't disagree on the failure of the SW tour, but I wasn't aware that SOS was still being filmed after POT started. I thought he had heard POT was cancelled & then thought 'right, I'd better go back on the road, and I'll take Joe this time - because Joe needs help'.

[sodascouts]

Strange Weather does contain more thoughtful lyrics and contains some of his highest quality material (my personal favorite is "Part of Me, Part of You") but I was a teenager when it was released and I never heard a song from it on the radio. Instead, I heard bands like Nirvana and Pearl Jam. Glenn was no longer part of the mainstream sound. As a solo act, he didn't get played on the classic rock stations either, something which helped new albums from acts like Genesis sell. It's no reflection on him. Even Don Henley never had a hit after 1989.

[shunlvswx]

Happy 25th Birthday to Strange Weather. My favorite album by Glenn.

[sodascouts]

His masterpiece. I wish I'd been a fan back then - I only heard it for the first time more than a decade after its release. I would've loved to have seen it live when it was brand new.

[Funk 50]

I've always loved the Strange Weather album with the short in-between track, instrumentals and the songs with extended intros and outtros.

It became clear in the 80s that one of the points of friction between Glenn and Don, in the Eagles, was the subject matter of songs. Henley wanted to be more political, Glenn resisted it. Strange Weather was when Glenn started to express a social conscious. It was great to hear He Took Advantage (Blues For Ronald Reagan) after he'd earlier released Better In The USA.

A couple of years later, Glenn and Don co-wrote out Get Over It and it looked like a new dawn for the song writing team but just as it had been since Hotel California, if Henley co-wrote a song, Henley expected to be lead singer (With What Do I Do With My Heart and Do Something being the honorable exceptions). Glenn left the preaching to Don and kept the issues in his songs focused on a personal level.

I think Glenn got the balance just about right in Strange Weather.

[UndertheWire]

This is OT, but following on to Funk's comment above, I believe "What Do I Do With My Heart" is the only joint credit where Glenn is listed first. I believe that's making the point that it was primarily Glenn's song.

Back to Strange Weather, I like the album a lot, but there isn't one track that jumps out at me the way that happens on Glenn's other albums.

[sodascouts]

Really? I think "Part of Me, Part of You" is one of, if not THE, best solo songs he ever wrote.

[UndertheWire]

Really? I think "Part of Me, Part of You" is one of, if not THE, best solo songs he ever wrote.

There are at least four songs on the album that I like better - Long Hot Summer, Brave New World, A Walk in the Dar, He Took Advantage of You. My preference is based on the music rather than the words, as I agree that that the lyrics of Part of Me, Part of You are amongst his best.

[Ive always been a dreamer]

Happy belated anniversary to my favorite Eagles solo album.

Back to Strange Weather, I like the album a lot, but there isn't one track that jumps out at me the way that happens on Glenn's other albums.

There isn't one track that necessarily jumps out at me either, UTW, but that's because they are all outstanding, IMHO. There are some songs that I like a little more than others, but, for me, there's not a bad one on the entire album - superb quality from start to finish!