How We Treat the Eagles and Other Pop Icons

I read with interest and appreciation Mike Boehm’s comparison of the Eagles to local rockers the Missiles of October (“Life in the Fast-Buck Lane: Enough Already!,” June 2). I went to high school with Bob Hawkins (of the Missiles) in the late ‘60s and remember what a great guitarist he was even then.

Boehm is to be commended for bucking the current sycophantic trend of the media establishment in lauding the return of such musical “legends” as the Eagles and Streisand to the concert stage, when all these events really represent is the triumph of marketing over music.

While the Eagles are by no means the only group to have sold out to rock capitalism, their precedent-setting concert fees seem especially incongruous with the group members’ espoused concerns over such issues as the environment and the plight of the poor and homeless.

Wouldn’t it have been refreshing if the Eagles (or Streisand, for that matter) had staged a free concert for some of the hundreds of thousands of Southern Californians who have lost their jobs due to corporate politics in recent years? Or how about if the Eagles had chosen East L.A. instead of yuppified Irvine as the site for their concerts? (I guess they might not have sold as many T-shirts that way.)

Boehm’s article pointed out another thought-provoking phenomenon of modern culture--the way we, the public, reward our pop icons with measures of fame, fortune and cultural recognition completely out of proportion to any skill, talent or artistic merit they may possess.

How much “better” or more worthy of acclaim are the Eagles than dozens of local groups like the Missiles of October? No better, by any standard of technical or artistic worth that one could devise.

What separates the Missiles of October from the Eagles is the same thing that separates me from the guy down the street who won the lotto--he was in the right place at the right time.

Sure, we need heroes in sports, entertainment and the arts to inspire and (occasionally) enlighten us, but we also should be aware of the many talented and dedicated, but not-yet-famous artists in our own back yard, and support their efforts with our applause and, more important, our pocketbooks.

Let’s not for a moment delude ourselves into believing (as some of our current icons seem to have convinced themselves) that our superstars actually are deserving of the godlike status we have bestowed upon them. Let’s appreciate but never idolize them.

And let’s not hesitate to slap their wrists occasionally when, as seems to have been the case in point, they start to believe their own PR. After all, if there’s one thing a media god does understand, it’s a drop in box-office receipts.

DAVID GRIGSBY

Alhambra

As I predicted several weeks ago, Mike Boehm came through and did his anti-Eagles feature. But this time even he pushed the envelope a bit--comparing a group that has sold more than 80 million albums and will perform to more than 2 million fans this summer to an unsigned local band performing at the Marine Room Tavern.

No disrespect intended to Mr. Boehm or the Missiles of October, but is it any wonder why the Eagles ticket price is greater than the $2 cover at the Marine Room Tavern?

LARRY SOLTERS

Los Angeles

Larry Solters is the Eagles’ publicist. * MORE LETTERS: F12