To commemorate the Eagles' 40-year history as depicted in their recently released documentary, we are going to conduct another Border poll. Each member who participates will submit your list of what you think are the TOP 10 Greatest Moments in Eagles history by ranking them in descending order starting with the greatest moment first.
We will conduct this in two separate rounds. In Round 1, we will provide a list of 30 Greatest Moments in Eagles History and give members one week to narrow the list to their choices for what they consider to be the Top 10 Greatest Moments. I will tally the results, and then Round 2, which will also last a week, will have the Top 10 moments from the first round. Members will rank them again for the final Top 10 results. At the end of Round 2, I will compile the totals from all the lists to determine The Border’s ultimate list of Top 10 Greatest Moments.
I will recap how the results will be calculated for members who are new to this. Since there will be 10 events on a list, I’ll assign a point value of 10 points to the event that each person lists in 1st place, 9 points for the 2nd place event, and so on until the last place event gets 1 point as follows:
Moment 1 – 10 points
Moment 2 – 9 points
Moment 3 – 8 points
Moment 4 – 7 points
Moment 5 – 6 points
Moment 6 – 5 points
Moment 7 – 4 points
Moment 8 – 3 points
Moment 9 – 2 points
Moment 10 – 1 point
For example, Person A puts event ‘ABC’ in 3rd place so it gets 8 points; Person B puts ‘ABC’ in 5th place so it gets 6 points; and Person C puts ‘ABC’ in 6th place so it gets 5 points. So all total, the event ‘ABC’ gets 19 points. Then, Person A puts event ‘XYZ’ in 1st place so it gets 10 points; Person B puts ‘XYZ’ in 4th place so it gets 7 points; and Person C puts ‘XYZ’ in 2nd place so it gets 9 points. So all total, the event ‘XYZ’ gets 26 points.
So here’s the list of 30 moments to choose from. We realize there are other significant moments, but these are the ones that made the final cut that you need to choose from for this poll.
Greatest Moments in Eagles History
1. 1971: Glenn Frey befriends Don Henley with a beer at the Troubadour with the idea of forming a band
2. 1971: Glenn Frey, Don Henley, Bernie Leadon, and Randy Meisner perform together for the first time as a backup band for Linda Ronstadt
3. 1972: Eagles – the band’s self-titled first album is released
4. 1972: Take It Easy becomes the band’s first hit single
5. 1972: Don Henley and Glenn Frey collaborate to write their first songs together
6. 1973: Desperado – the band’s second album and first concept album is released
7. 1973: The disgruntled band abandons recording their third album under Glyn Johns and David Geffen and returns to America to hire a new producer, Bill Szymczyk and manager, Irving Azoff
8. 1974: On the Border – the band’s third album is released
9. 1974: Eagles add an official fifth member, Don Felder, to help them achieve a rockier sound
10. 1974: Eagles play to a crowd of 200,000+ at the California Jam festival
11. 1975: The Best of My Love becomes the band’s first #1 single
12. 1975: One of These Nights – the band’s fourth album is released
13. 1975: One of These Nights becomes the band’s first #1 album, which leads to a string of six consecutive #1 albums
14. 1975: Joe Walsh replaces Bernie Leadon to complete their transition from a country rock to a rock and roll band
15. 1976: Eagles win their first Grammy award for Lyin’ Eyes
16. 1976: Hotel California – the band’s fifth album is released
17. 1977: Timothy B. Schmit replaces Randy Meisner who he had replaced in Poco six years earlier
18. 1978: Eagles win Grammy awards for Hotel California (single) and New Kid In Town
19. The Long Run – the band’s sixth album is released
20. 1980: Eagles win a Grammy award for Heartache Tonight
21. 1980: The Eagles play their last concert and privately disbands; an official public announcement is not made until 1982
22. 1993: Eagles agree to appear in Travis Tritt’s Take It Easy video that he covered for the Common Thread: The Songs of the Eagles album, which is credited as the impetus for their reunion
23. 1994: Eagles reunite after 14 years to tape an MTV concert and record Hell Freezes Over album
24. 1998: Eagles are inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in their first year of eligibility, which is the only time all seven band members have appeared on the same stage together
25. 1999: Eagles are named as the Artist of the Century and Their Greatest Hits: 1971 -1975 is certified as the all-time best-selling album by the RIAA
26. 1999: Eagles play The Millennium Concert at the L.A. Staples Center
27. 2001: Don Felder is fired from the band, who, in turn, files a lawsuit against Azoff, Frey, and Henley that was settled in 2007
28. 2007: Long Road Out of Eden – the band’s first album in 29 years is released
29. 2008: Eagles win Grammy award for How Long
30. 2009: Eagles win Grammy award for I Dreamed There Was No War
When you post your Top 10 list, you can copy directly from this list. If you choose to abbreviate the descriptions, please include the number and year for the event i.e.
1. #2 1971: Four original Eagles perform together for first time with Linda Ronstadt
2. #24 1994: Eagles reunite for Hell Freezes Over
So here we go - Round 1 begins now. This should be interesting!