During the Eagles’ tour of Japan in February 1976, Randy’s wife Jennifer purchased several Japanese souvenir jackets, known as “sukajan” (スカジャン), at a shop in an underground subway station.
Jennifer doesn’t remember the exact location of the shop, but she recalled buying jackets for Randy, their 12-year-old son, Dana, who was traveling with them, as well as their five-year-old twins, Heather and Eric, back in Nebraska. When she returned to the hotel with the jackets, Glenn Frey and the other members of the Eagles decided to return to the shop and purchase jackets for themselves. Randy’s sukajan was royal blue with blue and white trim on the collar and sleeves. It had a zippered front with an embroidered eagle design on the front and back.
Randy wearing his sukajan in a photo by Gary McGuire, Glenn Frey’s first cousin, 1976.
Randy also wore the jacket at the Billboard Talent Awards in June 1976.
In the Meisners’ home movie footage of Japan, Dana, roadie Tom Nixon, and Don Felder can be seen wearing their royal blue sukajan jackets at the Tokyo airport. Randy had the same jacket, although he is not wearing it here. Home movie footage courtesy of Jennifer Meisner.
Front and back of Tom Nixon’s jacket.
The sukajan jackets were the inspiration for the black satin tour jackets with the yellow “E” that the Eagles wore in 1976-77.
One of the Meisner children’s sukajan, which had white trim on the sleeves & different designs on the front and back. Photos courtesy of Jennifer Meisner.
This is so interesting Jessica! Thank you for sharing. I have so much admiration and respect for Jennifer and appreciate everything she shares!
So many memories!!!