{"id":118825,"date":"2024-11-20T00:01:23","date_gmt":"2024-11-20T00:01:23","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/lascrucestoday.com\/magic\/2024\/11\/20\/don-henleys-building-the-perfect-beast-turns-40\/"},"modified":"2024-11-20T00:01:23","modified_gmt":"2024-11-20T00:01:23","slug":"don-henleys-building-the-perfect-beast-turns-40","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/lascrucestoday.com\/magic\/2024\/11\/20\/don-henleys-building-the-perfect-beast-turns-40\/","title":{"rendered":"Don Henley\u2019s ‘Building the Perfect Beast’ turns 40"},"content":{"rendered":"
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Nov. 19 marks the 40th anniversary of Don Henley<\/strong>\u2019s sophomore solo album, <\/span>Building the Perfect Beast<\/span><\/em>, the follow-up to his 1982 solo debut,<\/span> I\u00a0Can’t Stand Still<\/span><\/em>.<\/span><\/p>\n

The album, which had\u00a0the Eagles<\/strong> rocker\u00a0working with guitarist Danny Kortchmar<\/strong>, as well as Mike Campbell<\/strong>, Benmont Tench<\/strong> and Stan Lynch<\/strong> of Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers<\/strong>, peaked at #13 on the <\/span>Billboard<\/span><\/em> 200 chart. It spawned four top-40 singles, including\u00a0\u201c<\/span>The Boys of Summer<\/strong><\/span><\/a>,\u201d which\u00a0hit #5 on the <\/span>Billboard<\/span><\/em> Hot 100, and earned Henley a Grammy.<\/span><\/p>\n

The song\u2019s success can be partially credited to its video, featuring Henley singing on\u00a0the back of a truck, which got a huge amount of play on MTV.<\/span>\u00a0<\/p>\n

Craig Marks<\/strong>, co-author of\u00a0<\/span>I Want My MTV: The Uncensored Story of the Music Video Revolution<\/span><\/em>, tells ABC Audio that despite the video’s success \u2014 it won Video of the Year at the 1985 MTV VMAs \u2014 Henley was \u201ca reluctant participant in the music video revolution.”<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cI think Hanley said something in his acceptance speech like, ‘I just was on the back of a flatbed pickup truck, lip-synching, and I really didn’t do anything else.’ And it’s true, he didn’t,\u201d\u00a0Marks shares. \u201cBut it managed to turn Don Henley into a pop star, which is the power that MTV had in 1984 and onwards.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

Thanks to “The Boys\u00a0of Summer”\u00a0and the album’s other hits \u2014 \u201c<\/span>All She Wants To Do Is Dance<\/strong><\/span><\/a>,” which went to #9, \u201cNot Enough Love in the World” and \u201cSunset Grill” \u2014\u00a0<\/span>the record was a huge commercial success for Henley and has been certified three-times Platinum by the RIAA.<\/p>\n

Henley recently celebrated\u00a0<\/span>Building the Perfect Beast’s<\/span><\/em>\u00a0anniversary with a <\/span>new remastered edition<\/strong><\/span><\/a> of the album, available digitally and as a two-LP set.<\/span><\/p>\n