No. 68: Don Henley, ‘The Boys of Summer’

Apparently undaunted at the prospect of having the legacy of the Eagles hanging over him, Don Henley had already found respectable success with his first post-Eagles solo debut, 1982's 'I Can't Stand Still.'

But it would be his sophomore effort, 1984's 'Building The Perfect Beast,' that would help Henley prove once and for all that he could in fact fly without the Eagles, and give us the No. 68 track on our Top 100 Classic Rock Songs list.

The record's first single, 'The Boys of Summer', a track whose theme centered around coming of age, could arguably be considered one of the finest moments of Henley's musical career. Co-written with Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers' guitarist Mike Campbell, the track vaulted up to the No. 5 position on the Billboard Top 100 Singles in 1984 and would also bring home the Grammy Award for Best Male Rock Vocal Performance.

Perhaps ironically, the track provided Henley with commercial and critical acclaim. While much of the Eagles work was typically dismissed by many critics, Henley had both the fans and the critics eating out of the palm of his hand with this song.

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