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In 1982, Don Henley went solo for the first time. The single was so bad no one wanted to play it
After the Eagles broke up, Don Henley released his first solo album, *I Can’t Stand Still*, in 1982. Its lead single, ‘Johnny Can’t Read’, drew a hostile response from some US radio DJs, showing how Henley’s more openly critical lyrics could be harder to sell than the band’s familiar sound.
The article says the song was not especially catchy and argues that its criticism of aspects of American life put off listeners and broadcasters. Henley later recalled one Houston DJ refusing to play it and an Atlanta DJ calling it “un-American”; he also said it touched a nerve with people who could not read and with football fans. He found greater success with ‘The Boys of Summer’ on a later album, while the Eagles’ music remained in heavy rotation and the band eventually reunited.
In short
- Henley’s first solo single, ‘Johnny Can’t Read’, met resistance from US radio.
- Some DJs considered the song too controversial or un-American.
- He later scored a hit with ‘The Boys of Summer’.