Ep. 24: Jackson Browne and the 80’s - Rating his Singles and his Decade

Let's do a little Jackson Browne history: Browne wrote several songs for Nitty Gritty Dirt Band early on - he was briefly a member in 1966 before they were signed. He co-wrote the first Billboard Top 40 hit for the Eagles in 1972 with "Take It Easy". Browne released his debut album in 1972, which had one Top 40 hit, "Doctor, My Eyes" (#8) and another that should have been "Rock Me on the Water" (#48)

With his third album, Late for the Sky, he reached number 14 on the Billboard 200 album chart, and earned a Grammy nomination for Album of the Year. It was his fourth album, The Pretender – produced by Jon Landau - that cracked the top 5 on the album chart with singles "Here Come Those Tears Again" (#23) and "The Pretender" (an FM radio hit). By the time he got to the 1980's, he was ready for some radio hits and some MTV love.

Browne was one of the singer songwriters that bridged the late 60s/early 70 socially conscious singer songwriter with the days of AOR and guitars, loud drums and the rock and roll that ruled a lot of radio in the 80s. His 70s output is underrated and the classic rock stations of today only skim the same few, forgetting a lot of his catalog.

Jackson is one of those musicians who we take for granted a bit, and maybe dismiss when his thoughts, actions, and causes don’t match up politically and socially with with our own. But that doesn’t make him any less great. He is a rock guy who makes an effort to be an artist. And has done it for more than 50 years. Followed his heart. His beliefs. His art. Jackson Browne is important in the telling the story of rock’s history. We talk about his 70s output, what happened in the 90s and beyond, but focus this podcast on Jackson Browne in the 1980's, his golden years of getting played on the radio.

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