THE EAGLES - HENLEY DEFENDS EAGLES' WAL-MART DEAL

The Eagles making a deal with Wal-Mart is symptomatic of the difficulty even conservation-minded citizens have in maintaining integrity when they are involved in Big Business as the Eagles are. I admire Henley's conservation work - thank-you, Don - but integrity is not like Carbon Credits - you can't trade some here and make it up there. You either have it or you lack it. The Eagles didn't make this deal to reach corporate America (big as they are, the Eagles aren't pimples on Wal-Mart's arse in terms of business influence), and they didn't make it because they admire Wal-Mart's smoke-and-mirrors conservation work. They did it in the hopes of moving vast amounts of product, because their egos demand this - period. Henley's arguments are after-the-fact attempts at justification. Settling for less sales is clearly not in the picture for the Eagles - and not being willing to settle for less is the very problem that is killing the planet. The Eagles could very easily strike a more integral deal if they'd settle for more modest sales - something i am sure they could afford. Monetarily, i suspect they don't need to sell a single copy. But they're the Eagles - selling big is a huge part of their identity. It's the entire western-world's problem - everyone wants to be a 'rock star', including, of course, the rock stars. That's why the Eagles agonize over each album, and why they have indeed made this "deal with the Devil", as Henley well knows. To be BIG. Problem is, you can't suck and blow at the same time. The Eagles, children of a media typified by sustained immaturity and delusions of big-picture importance, are now faced with the serious adult decision of which is more important - their need for celebrity or their need for integrity? Jon Wright