I know that the Eagles aren’t popular around these parts, but I count myself as something of a fan, despite my best instincts. I get it: they represent the milquetoast lowest common denominator corporate rock of the 70s. All I’m sayin’ is that whenever I do “Take It Easy” at karaoke, it kills. People groan at the beginning, but are on board by the end. (For future reference, my other karaoke jam is “Glycerine” by Bush. Or whatever New Order/Erasure/Depeche Mode songs are in the book.)

I think the reason I give the Eagles a pass is Joe Walsh. He doesn’t fit. Don Felder fits. Timothy B. Schmit fits, despite his high-pitched voice. But Joe Walsh…I always got a sense that he was hanging out with those dudes because it was a good paying gig. He knew he could go solo again at any time, but why bother? It would be too much of a headache. Mama Walsh didn’t raise no fool. Don’t rock the boat. Don’t hop off the gravy train. Get paid. You know you can smoke all of them on guitar. You’re the rocker of the band. Those guys don’t deserve you. But you know what? Joe Walsh songs with the Eagles sound like Joe Walsh songs with the James Gang sound like Joe Walsh songs solo. Do you want to be a member of the Eagles, who can still sell 7 million records, or do you want to be the next Boz Scaggs? To paraphrase the knight at the end of The Last Crusade, he chose…wisely.

Plus, he called an album The Smoker You Drink, The Player You Get. That’s rad.

Joe Walsh injects fun, energy into staid Eagles concert [Chicago Tribune]

“I always secretly hoped that we could pull off something like this, but I had almost given up. This win feels really good — and it’s in a whole different field than we were in before. Now I’m thinking that we might have a good chance to win again next year because Long Road Out of Eden will be eligible then. This year, only the single, “How Long,” came out in time to make the nomination process. We’re all very grateful to the Academy members and to our loyal fans. It’s been quite a ride and it apparently isn’t over just yet.”

So should we just start steeling ourselves for the throwdown between the Eagles and Alicia Keys’ As I Am now? I’m thinking we should; despite Ms. Keys snagging two performance spots on last night’s show–thanks, Clive Davis!–her album actually won’t be eligible until next year. Which means that pretty much the whole show’s performance well will probably consist of Don & Co. handing off with Alicia for various duets with more dead people, and maybe a token appearance by Dave Grohl on drums as a nod to the “younger” demographic.

The 51st Grammys: Eagles Vs. Alicia Keys Vs. ? [The Set List]

Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers will play the coveted halftime slot at the Super Bowl in Arizona on February 3, organizers of the year’s No. 1 television event said on Sunday…

Petty’s performance will mark a rare occasion where the veteran rocker is closely aligned with a corporate sponsor, in this case the North American arm of Japanese tire firm Bridgestone Corp, which has lent its name to the halftime event.

Now that he’s aged enough to play the old rock crank with a straight face, Petty is “an outspoken opponent of sponsorship of rock concerts,” but he must have overcome his aversion when he saw the checkthought about bringing the rock to all those hundreds of millions of American girls. So now we won’t accidentally nod off during the middle of “Hotel California,” and the NFL gets to placate the portion of its audience who loves those John Mellencamp Chevy commercials. Hey, maybe they should have gone with the Coug, since he doesn’t seem so bothered by auto-industry sponsorship.

Tom Petty To Play Super Bowl Halftime Show [Reuters]