Credit: Far Out / American Talent International / Capitol Records / Public Domain
Sat 22 August 2026 3:00, UK
One of the biggest dilemmas that the Eagles ever faced was what the hell they were supposed to do after the success of Hotel California.
They’d already made a pretty good name for themselves at the beginning of the 1970s, but it was their ’76 offering which really turned the heads of listeners far and wide. You had these layered songs which took aim at the hypocrisy of Hollywood, tracks that highlighted the trials and tribulations of the music industry and works that bordered on fiction, all layered on top of one another, while also being on top of some of the greatest riffs and solos to ever grace the airways.
Glenn Frey admitted once the band broke up that because of the impact that so much of this music had made, it was increasingly clear that the band’s name and their songs were going to follow him around forever. “While the band did break up in 1980, our music continued without us,” he said, “It was becoming increasingly apparent to me that, no matter where I went or what I did, for the rest of my life, I would always be an Eagle.”
However, like I say, the big question they faced before the 1980 split came was how they were going to follow an album like Hotel California up. The answer came in the form of The Long Run, an Eagles offering which leaves a lot to be desired, as it becomes increasingly clear as you listen that the band simply didn’t know what direction they were supposed to be going in.
Different songwriters were brought on board to try and make sense of a vision that simply wasn’t clear, no matter how much people squinted their eyes. One of these songwriters was Bob Seger, whom the group enlisted to help bring the track ‘Heartache Tonight’ to life. He was already a pretty accomplished songwriter and so certainly knew his way around a decent rock ‘n’ roll tune, but the question was whether he could lend his creative know-how to a band like the Eagles.
“Glenn Frey and I had been listening to Sam Cooke records at my house,” said Seger, recalling writing the track, “So we were just walking around clapping our hands and snapping fingers and singing the verses to those songs. The melody sounds very much like those Sam Cooke shuffles. There’s not much to it. I mean, it’s really just two long verses. But it felt really good.”
There certainly is a connect between the fans of Bob Seger and those of the Eagles, and so the fact that this track exists, which connects the two, means there are a lot of listeners who were keen on Seger releasing his own version and playing it during his sets. Seger knew that it was a great track, and that fans loved it, so there was a slight temptation there, but there was one major problem that stopped him from ever trying to put out his own recording.
Further reading: From The Vault
What was the problem? The song was simply too high. Bob Seger is aware of his limitations as a singer, and while he can nail ‘Heartache Tonight’ on occasion, the idea of playing it on tour was simply a non-starter. Just the thought of travelling round the country and having to wheel out this number night after night is enough to give Seger a sore throat.
“I don’t want to face a lifetime of singing that onstage,” Seger said in an interview with USA Today, “It’s hard to sing! It’s at the highest end of my range, really blasting it”.
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