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One of the most popular classic rock bands ever is The Eagles. The Eagles also knew how to spoof classic rock. Here’s a look at why they wrote an homage to some 1960s hits.

1 of The Eagles’ songs spoofed 2 hits at the same time

One of the most bizarrely titled tunes in The Eagles’ catalog is “The Greeks Don’t Want No Freaks.” During a 2016 interview with Rolling Stone, The Eagles’ Don Henley explained why his band crafted such a track. “We looked at it as an homage to (or maybe a sendup of) ’60s’ frat rock,’ in the vein of “96 Tears” by a group called Question Mark & the Mysterians, who, like Glenn [Frey], happened to be from Michigan,” the “Boys of Summer” singer recalled. 

“’96 Tears,’ released in 1966, was a huge hit and a big favorite on the college fraternity-party circuit in Austin, where my band, Felicity (later Shiloh), played almost every weekend,” Henley added. “It had the cheesy Farfisa organ and garbled, partially incoherent lyrics in the mode of ‘Louie Louie,’ the 1963 hit by The Kingsmen, another frat favorite. Playing those frat parties was another dues-paying experience. We witnessed a little bit of everything.”

The beats of “96 Tears” and “The Greeks Don’t Want No Freaks” are vaguely similar. The main difference is that “96 Tears” is a serious song about heartbreak. Meanwhile, “The Greeks Don’t Want No Freaks” is a goofy track about fraternity brothers going wild. It’s like someone decided to turn Animal House into a song.

“96 Tears” is the better song by far. The only good thing about “The Greeks Don’t Want No Freaks” is its energy. Despite that, no song titled “The Greeks Don’t Want No Freaks” has any hope of being good.

The Eagles were suffering at the time

Henley revealed how the members of his band felt around the time they wrote “The Greeks Don’t Want No Freaks.” “Exhausted, burned-out mentally, physically, spiritually,” he recalled. “Homesick. We were not happy campers. But the Beast needed feeding. Momentum had to be maintained, or so we were fooled into thinking.

Henley remembered how he felt in light of The Eagles’ grueling touring schedule. “Momentum had to be maintained,” he recalled. “There were big bucks at stake, the corporate stockholders had expectations, jobs were on the line.”

‘The Greeks Don’t Want No Freaks’ was the B-side of a more famous song

“The Greeks Don’t Want No Freaks” was not a single, but it served as the B-side to The Eagles’ “I Can’t Tell You Why.” The latter reached No. 8 on the Billboard Hot 100 and stayed on the chart for 16 weeks. “I Can’t Tell You Why” appeared on the album The Long Run. That record topped the Billboard 200 for nine weeks and lasted on the chart for 57 weeks in total.

Two other songs from The Long Run became hits. “Heartache Tonight” climbed to No. 1 on the Billboard Hot 100 for a single week, staging on the chart for 15 weeks altogether. The title track from The Long Run hit No. 8 and charted for 15 weeks.

“The Greeks Don’t Want No Freaks” was not a hit but it proves that The Eagles were true children of the 1960s music scene.

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