Glenn Frey Said 1 Eagles Song Caused ‘Mass Hysteria’

Millions of people are emotionally invested in classic rock. Glenn Frey said one of The Eagles’ songs caused “mass hysteria” in Japan. He didn’t seem to mean that literally. He also made other claims about the track that seem dubious.

The Eagles made an album of songs influenced by disco and political unrest

During a 2003 interview with The Uncool,  Don Henley discussed what his band was thinking when they crafted the album One of These Nights.  “We like to call it our ‘Satanic country-rock period,'” the “Boys of Summer” singer said. “Because it was a dark time, both politically and musically, in America. There was turmoil in Washington and disco music was starting to take off.” Frey may have been referring to the Watergate scandals and the ensuing controversies, including Gerald Ford’s decision to pardon Richard Nixon. He may also have been referring to the tail end of the Vietnam War.

One of the songs from One of These Nights, “Take It to the Limit,” was performed by Randy Meisner, a member of The Eagles who rarely sang on their tracks. “I just remember being very happy for Randy,” the singer said. “We had tried, unsuccessfully, to get a piece of material for him — or from him — that might be a hit single, or turn into one. I don’t think we ever consciously tried to make a hit single. We finally succeeded with ‘Take It to the Limit.'”

Glenn Frey made a claim about the song that’s difficult to believe

Frey said that “Take It to the Limit” went beyond the limit of The Eagles’ previous success. “That’s the first Eagles single to sell a million copies,” Frey added. “It was our first gold single, maybe our only gold single. People always tended to buy our albums instead. 

“We still had hit records, but they wouldn’t sell through as 45s much,” he continued. “We had a lot of No. 1s, but I know that ‘Take It to the Limit’ was our first gold single. And when Randy would sing it in Japan — it was mass hysteria [laughs].” 

Frey’s recollection of events seems a bit questionable. Prior to releasing “Take It to the Limit” as a single, The Eagles had three No. 1 singles on the Billboard Hot 100: “Best of My Love” and “One of These Nights.” It’s dubious that “Take It to the Limit” became a gold record before either of those tunes. Frey made these comments decades after “Take It to the Limit” came out, so it’s possible that his memories were mistaken.

How The Eagles’ ‘Take It to the Limit’ performed

“Take It to the Limit” reached No. 4 on the Billboard Hot 100 and stayed on the chart for 23 weeks. The tune appeared on the album One of These Nights. That record was No. 1 for five of its 56 weeks on the Billboard 200. It was one of the band’s biggest studio albums.

One of These Nights produced two other hit singles. The title track was No. 1 for one of its 17 weeks on the Billboard Hot 100. Meanwhile, “Lyin’ Eyes” reached No. 2 and charted for a total of 14 weeks.

“Take It to the Limit” was a hit in the United States and Frey said it caused mass hysteria in Japan.