In the old Columbia House ads, there was always a † next to Nylon Curtain because the word "fucking" is used in "Laura". Billy Joel badass.
Nobody in my class listened to Billy Joel. I'm not sure even how I got started on him. One of my fondest memories though is being in 4th grade and holding hands with a girl named Susan underneath a table in the back of the room, listening to "Honesty" while everyone else was out at recess.
― pplains, Tuesday, 10 April 2012 16:29 (twelve years ago) link
yeah maybe it's the teenager in me but "feeling like a fucking fool" is my favorite part of that song
― billstevejim, Tuesday, 10 April 2012 16:30 (twelve years ago) link
also he sounds more pissed off than usual in that one... which for Billy Joel is "really pissed off"
― billstevejim, Tuesday, 10 April 2012 16:32 (twelve years ago) link
As album titles go, Nylon Curtain has got to be up there with some of the bad ones. Just seems kinda, ill-advised.
― Peppermint Patty Hearst (VegemiteGrrl), Tuesday, 10 April 2012 16:32 (twelve years ago) link
He had just divorced his first wife (the one "Just the Way You Are" is about) and apparently, she got her fair share of "Just the Way You Are" royalties.
It wasn't long after Nylon Curtain that he made Christie Brinkley in some piano bar in the Caribbean. He was serenading her, Elle Macpherson and WHITNEY HOUSTON.
After that night, he started dating … ELLE MACPHERSON. It wouldn't be later that he'd be all "oh, hey, what's up Christie Lee?" </player>
― pplains, Tuesday, 10 April 2012 16:36 (twelve years ago) link
The Hassles album is on Youtube as one complete video.... hm.. well if you can find "Just Holding On" by The Hassles, I like that one also. (way better than Attila IMO)
― billstevejim, Tuesday, 10 April 2012 16:37 (twelve years ago) link
I didn't know that he dated Elle McPherson. Damn.
― Peppermint Patty Hearst (VegemiteGrrl), Tuesday, 10 April 2012 16:37 (twelve years ago) link
actually it's only at 1:41 into this...I think this was Billy Joel's first album that he appeared onhttps://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lsT7aHhCHbU
― billstevejim, Tuesday, 10 April 2012 16:39 (twelve years ago) link
Oh yeah, Songs In The Attic is definitely worth it for those curious about album-track Joel. I would add that version of "Everybody Loves You Now."
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0qSNcgJtqzw
Great thing too is that basically every Joel album through An Innocent Man is piled up in vinyl dollar bins nationwide so you're not out much.
I dunno if it was the AMG review impressing upon me early on that Nylon Curtain was his VERY SERIOUS album but I've somehow never been able to really go for it. Bit of a chore last time I put it on, but also I have crappy speakers right now and basically everything sounds awful so who knows.
― Doctor Casino, Tuesday, 10 April 2012 16:40 (twelve years ago) link
http://www.theonion.com/articles/area-man-hasnt-told-coworkers-about-his-billy-joel,1582/
― piscesx, Tuesday, 10 April 2012 16:42 (twelve years ago) link
It gets its reputation for being VERY SERIOUS thanks to Side 1, but it gets loose on Side 2 with "Room of Our Own" (should be played at every wedding) and "She's Right on Time".
Another piece of trivia: Brinkley's only the second-hottest woman to appear in a Billy Joel video.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Z4lh4Ahl46E&ob=av2n
― pplains, Tuesday, 10 April 2012 16:43 (twelve years ago) link
oh god his singing on "Modern Woman" defines "prostrate operation"
― Exile in lolville (Alfred, Lord Sotosyn), Tuesday, 10 April 2012 16:44 (twelve years ago) link
and btw, wow, I have never gotten around to checking out the Hassles before, kind of amazing. Definitely more listenable than Attila, but that doesn't really take much.
― Doctor Casino, Tuesday, 10 April 2012 16:44 (twelve years ago) link
http://www.amoeba.com/dynamic-images/blog/Chad/niceprice.jpg
― billstevejim, Tuesday, 10 April 2012 16:59 (twelve years ago) link
Re: "Modern Woman," there's got to be something to be said of a Billy Joel song so horrible even Billy Joel hates it.
What's always bugged me about this dude was his bitterness, like he truly believed at heart he was better than middlebrow and hated himself for getting rich without ever shirking that albatross. He's like an inexplicably angry little Springsteen wannabe who sees himself a street fighter poet but who others see as a safe joke. Or maybe that's just what the alcohol did to him
― Josh in Chicago, Tuesday, 10 April 2012 17:34 (twelve years ago) link
I don't think Billy Joel has ever tried to put on airs to be a street fighter poet, at least since The Stranger. He doesn't seem to take himself that seriously.
Check this out where Joel sounds more like 1975 Bruce than Bruce does.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=78qF8haa3mo
and this. just this.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DZq5hy2RsvM
― pplains, Tuesday, 10 April 2012 17:41 (twelve years ago) link
He doesn't seem to take himself that seriously anymore, but again, I think that may be the alcohol and self-loathing at work.
― Josh in Chicago, Tuesday, 10 April 2012 17:48 (twelve years ago) link
Jonah Goldberg?
― Exile in lolville (Alfred, Lord Sotosyn), Tuesday, 10 April 2012 17:51 (twelve years ago) link
Oh there's plenty of alcohol and self-loathing. Surprised Paul Westerberg never went the supermodel route.
― pplains, Tuesday, 10 April 2012 17:52 (twelve years ago) link
Didn't he date Wynona for a while?
(I know, who didn't, right?)
― Josh in Chicago, Tuesday, 10 April 2012 18:08 (twelve years ago) link
Thought of that around 12:53 my time.
― pplains, Tuesday, 10 April 2012 18:11 (twelve years ago) link
it was Dave Pirner of Soul Asylum who dated Winona.
― EZ Snappin, Tuesday, 10 April 2012 18:13 (twelve years ago) link
who also dated Winona.
― pplains, Tuesday, 10 April 2012 18:14 (twelve years ago) link
Its clear Joel doesnt know the words, as hes litterally staring at the lyric monitor off screenrypro525 9 months ago
Of course he didn't know the words, he hates rehearsing ("more edge" with less rehearsing) and this was pretty spontaneous.Try singing Bruce song, in Bruce key/range, also in Bruce voice in perfect pitch (!!) while simultaneously playing the piano by EAR and see how you do ;.) Trust me, NO other talent is capable of making adsjustments like that. NO ONE else. Most under rated talent in the history of Earth.PS "Virginia" was intentional.4lifeserendipity in reply to rypro525 3 weeks ago
― these pretzels are makeing me horney (Hungry4Ass), Tuesday, 10 April 2012 18:40 (twelve years ago) link
NO ONE else
― Peppermint Patty Hearst (VegemiteGrrl), Tuesday, 10 April 2012 18:40 (twelve years ago) link
oh youtube
Christ Bruce's voice is in good shape
― same old song and placenta (underrated aerosmith bootlegs I have owned), Tuesday, 10 April 2012 18:47 (twelve years ago) link
Bruce is a force of nature. Billy is just sort of ... forced.
― Josh in Chicago, Tuesday, 10 April 2012 18:49 (twelve years ago) link
Dude, I don't c&p your off-board comments.
― pplains, Tuesday, 10 April 2012 19:08 (twelve years ago) link
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WHtWWQzUgRY
― Frank Youngenstein (Phil D.), Tuesday, 10 April 2012 19:11 (twelve years ago) link
jesus, the post I just wrote and lost, you guys have no idea of the genius
― Doctor Casino, Tuesday, 10 April 2012 19:13 (twelve years ago) link
Guys, I just listened to The Stranger in its entirety and I'll give you this: "Everybody Has A Dream" is horrid.
― pplains, Tuesday, 10 April 2012 19:14 (twelve years ago) link
If I still worked in a recording studio, I'd make it a mission to collect 100 reprises from the 70s for a CD comp.
Though right now, the only mini ones I can think of are "Band on the Run" and "The Stranger".
― pplains, Tuesday, 10 April 2012 19:16 (twelve years ago) link
Probably better I work at a newspaper now, I guess.
Okay so basically - - - my feeling is that up until he got old, gained weight, lost his tumbling 70s locks and started looking and acting like an entitled rich guy with contempt for his fans, he had this really convincing match-up between his own look-and-feel (tics, fashion, visual associations generally) and the material of his songs, which added up are like the ten-year story of a grouchy, alcoholic New Yorker with contempt for everyone and years in the trenches playing shitty house-pianist gigs and relentless touring to back it up. If he were a lesser songwriter that'd just leave him as a memorable grump with a predictable cult, but the thing is his songs were really really earwormy and he had a genuinely solid backing band, great producer, and somehow wedded all the baggage of his persona to something you would kind of relate to. Joel never casts himself as the sad-sack you're rooting for - he's the underdog you think of yourself being, who actually tells the boss off and skips town and rages against the phonies and hangs around in scuzzy alleyways with a saxophone because after so many Friday nights in this city, man, you get over trying to be in the coolest places at the coolest times. It just works as a package, and even if the songs had stayed as strong, the rest falls apart completely once he gets an MTV budget and a huge arena stage with a vast battleship of a piano.
So An Innocent Man is the last solid moment not just because it has his last amazing grab-bag of singles ("Uptown Girl" is in my top five for this poll), but because it completes the character arc: the boomer settles down, actually delivers on the claim way back in "Angry Young Man" that he's over it all (or the "got a new wife" narrator of "Italian Restaurant"), and nestles in with some well-delivered nostalgia. Would have been a perfect album to retire on - but of course you don't retire at age 35 with three top ten hits.
And Greatest Hits I & II is in this sense the perfect Joel album because it gets the whole sweep of that, but just jumbles up the order so it makes a consistent melange of bitterness, redeemed bitterness, righteous bitterness, bitterness hoping to be proved wrong, and trying to get into girls' pants. No wonder it's such great house-cleaning music (I was doing dishes to Joel just the other day).
― Doctor Casino, Tuesday, 10 April 2012 19:25 (twelve years ago) link
<3 pplains's last two posts
― Doctor Casino, Tuesday, 10 April 2012 19:26 (twelve years ago) link
it's rare than anyone could use that phrase, except when they leave the one industry that's probably doing even worse
― Poliopolice, Tuesday, 10 April 2012 19:27 (twelve years ago) link
Anyone ever notice that Bruce Springsteen's "Hungry Heart" could pass as a Billy Joel song? It would probably fit a lot better in the Billy Joel catalog too.
― Poliopolice, Tuesday, 10 April 2012 19:29 (twelve years ago) link
http://www.morethings.com/music/billy_joel/billy-joel-snl-1978-15.jpg
http://cdn.c.photoshelter.com/img-get/I0000DR5GcLvTbDE/s/650/650/behr-BillyJoel-10399-7.jpg
http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_BefCZ7DByaM/TGEO7wL5uCI/AAAAAAAAAI0/yRM65vHBGWA/s320/billy+joel+-+say+goodbye+to+hollywood.jpg
Basically, I think I should start seriously brushing up on my keyboard skills and start a Billy Joel cover band.
― Doctor Casino, Tuesday, 10 April 2012 19:29 (twelve years ago) link
I nominate Doctor Casino's above post for Best Music Writing 2012.
― Look at how funky he is! (jer.fairall), Tuesday, 10 April 2012 19:32 (twelve years ago) link
haha awww, thanks. You should have seen the earlier, accidentally deleted version ;_;
― Doctor Casino, Tuesday, 10 April 2012 19:39 (twelve years ago) link
D.C. hits it on the head. I get why folks are tired of hearing "Uptown Girl" in the supermarket, but there's a package there that you don't get just with the singles. (Which is why I don't like this comp.)
People always try to cram Joel into this weird Dylan>>>>Springsteen>>>>>Tom Petty>>>>>Bob Seger American singer/songwriter thing, but he's more akin to someone like Nick Lowe or Nilsson. His schtick isn't so much trying to save the world as it is trying to save himself.
Anyone ever notice that Bruce Springsteen's "Hungry Heart" could pass as a Billy Joel song? It would probably fit a lot better in the Billy Joel catalog too.I could play this game too.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=t6YMdZdD9iQ
it's rare than anyone could use that phrase, except when they leave the one industry that's probably doing even worseThinking my next gig will be selling ads for the Yellow Pages.
― pplains, Tuesday, 10 April 2012 19:40 (twelve years ago) link
Nilsson/Joel is a great comparison - kind of feel like they reached a similar juncture of potential and Nilsson, through circumstance and also choice, decided he'd rather put on warped puppet-shows in the attic than maintain the focus needed to keep writing hit-worthy songs. I like them both a lot, mind you, but almost immediately after Schmilsson Nilsson becomes a connoisseurs-only kind of guy, whereas Joel seemed to take The Stranger as "oh, fucking FINALLY, okay, let's keep this thing going now."
Hall & Oates also very similar to the Joel career arc, and (given that ILM has previously gone out of its way to compare Darryl Hall and Billy Joel's lyrical personas), it's odd that they don't get paired more often in the conventional wisdom. Trucking along for ages, finding their particular hit sound, having an early-career hit record or two that never quite turned into a smash, then finally HAVING a smash and getting a good 3-4 albums of solid followup out of it...
― Doctor Casino, Tuesday, 10 April 2012 19:45 (twelve years ago) link
Joel showing up in his coat and tie to Nilsson's apartment, getting on to him for still wearing his robe at 9 pm, both of them wondering if they should go to Elaine's or the Village Green.
― pplains, Tuesday, 10 April 2012 19:47 (twelve years ago) link
Kinda was hoping for another post to have been made between when I started writing that and when I hit submit.
― pplains, Tuesday, 10 April 2012 19:48 (twelve years ago) link
Nick Lowe is a terrible comparison to Billy Joel. But sure, I can see Nilsson. When I think of Joel, though, I think stubby little fingers, which is my shorthand way of suggesting he worked his ass off to get where he got, vs. someone more sui generis like Nilsson. I think a closer comparison to Joel might be, dunno, early Coug?
― Josh in Chicago, Tuesday, 10 April 2012 19:50 (twelve years ago) link
If this were a Defend the Indefensible thread, I would totally cite Billy Joel's awesome use of session guys. Phil Woods!
― Josh in Chicago, Tuesday, 10 April 2012 20:06 (twelve years ago) link
^^^
Sometimes I think of Joel as being like the John McEnroe of music, ie, never far from throwing a tantrum. Elton's the same in many ways.
― they do do doo doo sandwiches (snoball), Tuesday, 10 April 2012 20:09 (twelve years ago) link
Joel and Lowe both authors of bouncy little songs in the late 70s/early 80s. Both carry that self-refrential loser appeal. Both have a sense of humor. I can totally hear Billy Joel singing "What's So Funny?" or Lowe doing "Sleeping With the Television On".
I was thinking about Cougar when I was thinking of the usual pantheon of American singer/songwriters. If you think "I Need A Lover" sounds like Joel, I would respectively ask for you to make sure that you aren't thinking about Eddie Money in this thread.
― pplains, Tuesday, 10 April 2012 20:09 (twelve years ago) link
It's all about Liberty DeVitto, guys.
― Frank Youngenstein (Phil D.), Tuesday, 10 April 2012 20:10 (twelve years ago) link