Search And Destroy: Billy Joel

Message Bookmarked

Bookmark Removed

Someone who should remain nameless has been waging a one-man campaign from his Crouch End lair to rehabilitate Billy Joel. IT WILL NOT STAND. Or at least that's what *I* say....but we're all open-minded people here. What are Mr Joel's finest hours....and his vilest lows?

― Tom, Wednesday, 16 May 2001 00:00 (twenty-two years ago) link

well if you MUST search - sleeping with tha TV on, innocent man, piano man, that one wif the helicopters, russian live album, some nice filler tracks on albums resonate more than the singles

destroy - uptown girl, just the way you are

had a friend who bored me to deth with BJ

― geordie racer, Wednesday, 16 May 2001 00:00 (twenty-two years ago) link

Uptown Girl must be his finest hour, but may I just stick the boot into "It's still Rock n' Roll to Me"? It's the sound of a frightened MOR hack pleading for mercy while being stomped to death by punk.

― Dr. C, Wednesday, 16 May 2001 00:00 (twenty-two years ago) link

Everyone has that friend.

― mark s, Wednesday, 16 May 2001 00:00 (twenty-two years ago) link

Its not just me, its my damned, jamned CD player. I think in the singer songwriter field a lot of his stuff is cruelly overlooked as (possibly rightly) being too cheesily MOR, and because he physically looks too much like an ugly Michael Keaton. Nevertheless some of his lyrics are excrutitingly funny and he saddles it with rather pleasing if workmanlike backing. Maybe it works better if you think of him as a piano bound Bruce Springsteen.

Search: Piano Man, Pressure and the daddy of list records (We Didn't Start The Fire). Destroy: Captain Jack

― Pete, Wednesday, 16 May 2001 00:00 (twenty-two years ago) link

As a fellow Crouch End Lair Dweller, I have to say that even Mr Joel's finest hours are not fine in the early hours of the morning.

Just stop it. Now. Please. The broken CD player line is no longer viable.

― Emma, Wednesday, 16 May 2001 00:00 (twenty-two years ago) link

Yes, it should be noted that said 'jammed' CD player can miraculously switch between Disc 1 and Disc 2 of B Joel's Greatest Hits.

― Tom, Wednesday, 16 May 2001 00:00 (twenty-two years ago) link

more good ones - Matter of Trust, Moving Out, Say Goodbye to Hollywood. Many many more for the "destroy, category tho', too many to list.

― duane zarakov, Wednesday, 16 May 2001 00:00 (twenty-two years ago) link

Darn it. Rumbled again.

You will all be sorry, wait till I get that Blue Aeroplanes CD "stuck" in there.

― Pete, Wednesday, 16 May 2001 00:00 (twenty-two years ago) link

Trust me, Dr.C..."Uptown Girl" is insufferable crap, and was only the first pebble in an avalance of bad singles from the diminutive Long Islander (the absolute worst being "We Didn't Star the Fire"....maybe not, but to quote lamentable SPIN critic Joe Levy, it didn't stop you from rushing to the scene of the crime and jerking off!) It seems Mr.Joel had some credibility back in the earlier periods, circa THE STRANGER, but it all went horribly south circa the New-Wave-baiting GLASS HOUSES (from whence sprang the cloying "It's Still Rock'n'Roll to Me"). I'd like to respect him, but just cannot,....especialy ever since he insisted on wearing black sunglasses everywhere (for the last ten years) like he was the fifth Ramone or something. Die, William, Die.

― alex in nyc, Wednesday, 16 May 2001 00:00 (twenty-two years ago) link

Quoting Joe Levy, no matter the context, is just bad.

Search: Anthony's Song. Probably You May Be Right, too.

Destroy: Uptown Fucking Girl. And Westlife too.

― Ally, Wednesday, 16 May 2001 00:00 (twenty-two years ago) link

A thousand pardons, Ally, and you're right...Joe Levy's become a veritable fountain of rock critic cheese-whiz, but once upon a time, he had a miniscule modicum of dignity. Sadly, this is no longer the case, as he has long since sold out.

― alex in nyc, Wednesday, 16 May 2001 00:00 (twenty-two years ago) link

ARSEHOLE! "It's Still Rock'n'Roll To Me" most obnoxious record in history, no question. "Uptown Girl" and "We Didn't Start The Fire" both Reaganite, though the first mainly by default. The rest not worth hating, though maybe I'm still smarting from when "The River of Dreams" was out and someone else at Scout camp insisted on singing "In the middle of the tent ..." over the chorus THE ENTIRE FUCKING WEEK.

But two Johnnie Walker Saturday Sequence Artists in one day on ILM - shurely shome mishtake :) ?

― Robin Carmody, Wednesday, 16 May 2001 00:00 (twenty-two years ago) link

Excuse me, was there even a *NEED* to invoke Satan by dedicating a search and destroy thread to him? I thought not.

I'll allow for a glimmer here and there. I no longer actively loathe the man, but that's because he's so conveniently disappeared.

As for that Westlife cover, the Focus Group standings will say it all, I'm sure.

― Ned Raggett, Wednesday, 16 May 2001 00:00 (twenty-two years ago) link

Johnnie Walker Saturday Sequence ?

"Uptown Girl" = Reaganite ? How so ?

― Patrick, Wednesday, 16 May 2001 00:00 (twenty-two years ago) link

Well, fwiw I like You May Be Right and um, the Bosom Buddies theme song (I don't remember the proper title to this song).

Everything else is really vile, almost as disgusting as 90's Bryan Adams. Let's review... Piano Man is so pompous and overblown it's hysterical (so it is good in a weird way). Still Rock and Roll To Me sounds like Jann Wenner's personal manifesto, which means it is automatically a tool of Satan. You can imagine backward masking in there urging the listener to stick to AOR. Westlife saw fit to record Uptown Girl -- enough said. We Didn't Start the Fire is just a very poor rip of REM's It's the End of the World as We Know It, which is not that great a song in the first place -- just a gimmicky review of World Events that's not constructed very well. In the Rhythm of the Night is the kind of thing that Starbucks patrons wank to in their bathrooms. And thankfully he's not been heard from much since then.

And he's the ugliest man to ever work in pop music to boot.

― Nicole, Wednesday, 16 May 2001 00:00 (twenty-two years ago) link

He looks kind of average to me. How about Lemmy or Shane McGowan ?

― Patrick, Wednesday, 16 May 2001 00:00 (twenty-two years ago) link

No, I would still say he's uglier.

Lemmy (as Beavis & Butthead noted) has a cocoa puff on the side of his face, but other than that he's just hairy.

Shane is butt ugly, but I would argue that Billy is uglier. It's that pushed in pig snout that seals the title up for him. Plus you get the feeling he thinks he's attractive, whereas Shane is too drunk to ever take note either way.

― Nicole, Wednesday, 16 May 2001 00:00 (twenty-two years ago) link

I think "Captain Jack" is tops in the "so pompous and overblown it's hysterical" category. The gravity with which he sings "your sister's gone she's out on a date/and you just sit at home and masturbate" as if she's Lucy Jordan or something, what a riot. I wonder what music she was listening to?

― Arthur, Wednesday, 16 May 2001 00:00 (twenty-two years ago) link

Let me just state for the record my opinion that reviewing anyone's music based on their natural physical appearance is a detestable act. You all should be so beautiful. It reminds me of grade school. Why should it matter?

― Sean Carruthers, Wednesday, 16 May 2001 00:00 (twenty-two years ago) link

For the record, I reviewed his singles based on how they sound...and I do kinda like two of them. If he were a great songwriter, I wouldn't be making fun of his pugliness. But since he is a smug, pompous toad of a man whose songs were last associated with the phrase "catchy" around 1980, I have no qualms poking fun with his looks. Besides, he's a kajillionaire who dates women who are probably far more attractive than anyone on ILM, so I doubt he's really bothered.

― , Wednesday, 16 May 2001 00:00 (twenty-two years ago) link

Granted, he's got more than enough going against him in the musical smugness department to earn him condemnation. I doubt he cares much either, but I still think it's irrelevant to the issue at hand. I wasn't necessarily singling you out, either, Nicole...I've just noticed an ugly trend in general with people making fun of how ugly someone is, in the music business. The industry is already sending out enough confused messages about the role of physical beauty as playing a part in your success; we shouldn't feed into that by throwing around cheap-shots here.

― Sean Carruthers, Wednesday, 16 May 2001 00:00 (twenty-two years ago) link

I better not say anything here, I'm in danger of invalidating everything I've ever written on this forum. My adolescent feelings are stronger than my considered opinion (or my sense of self- preservation)

― K-reg, Wednesday, 16 May 2001 00:00 (twenty-two years ago) link

Search: Uptown Girl is a magnificent song, and even better in the 1 minute punk version. But good no matter what. Piano Man is also great, a perfect unity of bathos and schmaltz. BJ is in some ways an all-too-inferior Elton John. Elton, for example, would never have written anything as hideous as "Big Shot". Saturday Night Live had a sketch about a bad office party some time back, and that track was, of course, what they all sang along to. Perfect.

― Sterling Clover, Wednesday, 16 May 2001 00:00 (twenty-two years ago) link

once heard a lecture he gave via the radio where he had a THEORY- music revolved in a cycle : bands - singer/songwriters - superstars. He attempted to use this to explain grunge as post- prince/micko/maddie and said that post-grunge, the singer/songwriter would prevail.

Billy - my THEORY is that if you'd had been french, pissed yourself and done more reggae we'd forget the bags beneath your eyes

― ode to billy joel, Thursday, 17 May 2001 00:00 (twenty-two years ago) link

Okay, I will stop posting. Sorry...

― Nicole, Thursday, 17 May 2001 00:00 (twenty-two years ago) link

mind .... he is a uglywankstainedtoad ;)

― geordie racer, Thursday, 17 May 2001 00:00 (twenty-two years ago) link

I suppose Billy Joel to me is just one of those lame, but not too awful chart single types. Maybe I'd think differently if I'd heard this cover of "Uptown Girl", which I imagine really blows.

However, I'm sure I remember seeing a pic of a sub-vanilla fudge duo BJ used to be in, IIRC, the cover was BJ and the other guy (a drummer? or was BJ the drummer?) standing in an abbatoir - I think it was called "attilla the hun" or something like that. I'd like to hear that.

x0x0

― Norman Fay, Friday, 18 May 2001 00:00 (twenty-two years ago) link

The Saturday Sequence, as fronted by Johnnie Walker among others, was a UK radio show that played BJ quite frequently.

"Uptown Girl" is just whingeing nostalgia, not openly reactionary politics, but the kind of thing said politics legitimise.

― Robin Carmody, Friday, 18 May 2001 00:00 (twenty-two years ago) link

three months pass...

Why the 'Satan' hyperbole? He is a Tin Pan Alley-esqe composer of a lot of catchy popular songs. Nothing more, nothin less.

― Tony, Wednesday, 5 September 2001 00:00 (twenty-two years ago) link

Tony, I think the Satan hyperbole comes from Billy Joel being a fallen angel bent on dragging the souls of all humanity into eternal hellfire. Either that or people have developed an excessive gag reflex to his mediocre ramblings due to painful, forced over-exposure.

For the record, the only Billy Joel songs which will not cause me to lunge in fury at the radio/stereo are "Allentown" and "Pressure".

― Dan Perry, Wednesday, 5 September 2001 00:00 (twenty-two years ago) link

one month passes...

Search and Destroy Billy Joel? I think its *great* idea. I say we bomb his mansion and when he runs outside screaming in terror we all take him out with machine gun fire and bursts from flamethrowers. Maybe a few thermite grenades wouldn't hurt either.

― Lord Custos, Tuesday, 30 October 2001 01:00 (twenty-two years ago) link

sucker's like a foggin' cock-a-roach. ain't shit gonna kill him. sadly.

― Tadeusz Suchodolski, Tuesday, 30 October 2001 01:00 (twenty-two years ago) link

If an eyedropper full of thermite can melt through an engine block, I think it can get through a skull as thick as Joel's.

― Lord Custos, Wednesday, 31 October 2001 01:00 (twenty-two years ago) link

How about that part in "Still Rock And Roll To Me" where he introduces the sax solo by saying, "All right, Rico!"

Destroy that.

― Mark, Wednesday, 31 October 2001 01:00 (twenty-two years ago) link

i think something perhaps overlooked here is whether it's "billy jo- el" or "billy jole". anyhow "christy lee" was cool - he's a top cheeser and ben folds does it better now anyhow.

― bob snoom, Saturday, 3 November 2001 01:00 (twenty-two years ago) link

nine months pass...

The man has written a lot of very memorable pop. An admirable achievement methinks. Much of the album stuff never saw the light of radio and it's better then the singles.

― Tony, Sunday, 25 August 2002 05:35 (twenty-one years ago) link

Search: "Say Goodbye to Hollywood" has some nice, breezy acoustic guitar, never paid attention to the lyrics (are they good? I'm assuming not). Also like the sax melody in "Just the Way You Are" (an otherwise putrid song). I can take "Scenes in an Italian Restaurant" up until the "Brenda and Eddie were still going steady" section. "Longest Time" nice melody spoiled by the rancid 'n' ridiculous 50s doo-wop arrangement. Schirmer music album cover for latest Fantasies and Delusions is **fabulously** deluded.

But, okay, now the best part (rubbing hands):

Destroy: Piano Man for being the inescapable modern version of "Oh My Darling Clementine", Keeping the Faith (Bruce S = we gotta get out of the streets of New Jersey because your dad don't like me, Billy J = I once hung with the tough crowd and made my share of mistakes but hey look at me I'm doing all right now and do you mind if I get a bit preachy on ya?), We Didn't Fucking Start the Fire (great editorial I once read around the time of its release saying how shallow the song was and suggesting we could use its goofy template to teach Science classes: "E = MC squared, mammals are the ones with hair, ozone, pheremone, fiber optic telephone"), Still Rock and Roll To Me, Only the Good Die Young, Captain Jack (UGH!), River of Dreams, You're Only Human (see comments for "Keeping the Faith"), Tell Her About It (see comments for "Keeping the Faith"), Working to Hard can Make you a Music Hackackackackack..., She's Only a Woman to Me, She's Got a Way, the one with the video where's he posing with the electric guitar (A Matter of Trust?), Goodnight Saigon, Allentown, Pressure, An Innocent Man, Angry Young Man, Baby Grand, Running on Ice, The Stranger, lesser known schmaltzy crapola like You're My Home (see comments for "Captain Jack")...

― Joe (Joe), Sunday, 25 August 2002 12:04 (twenty-one years ago) link

SOmeone help me; I found my self grooving to "For The Longest Time" when it came o the radio the other day! I AM LOST!!!!

― Dan Perry (Dan Perry), Sunday, 25 August 2002 12:18 (twenty-one years ago) link

'The Longest Time' arrangement is an intentional pastiche. That whole album was. I guess people don't like to hum along with tunes on the radio. And no, 'WDSTF' was not very good.

― Tony, Sunday, 25 August 2002 13:21 (twenty-one years ago) link

My issue isn't so much with the song itself as it is with the performer. I really, really don't like Billy Joel.

― Dan Perry (Dan Perry), Sunday, 25 August 2002 13:25 (twenty-one years ago) link

Anyone familiar with the new theatrical extravaganza "Movin' Out," described as "The lives of six friends over the course of two turbulent decades as told through twelve classic Billy Joel songs"? Yipes.

Rock and roller cola wars? I can't take it anymore!

― Keith Harris (kharris1128), Sunday, 25 August 2002 13:46 (twenty-one years ago) link

That is the nature of his evil, Dan. Ergo, destroy your radio.

― Ned Raggett (Ned), Sunday, 25 August 2002 14:55 (twenty-one years ago) link

Search Captain Jack, destroy the rest, especially the references to him in The Guru.

― Dom Passantino (Dom Passantino), Sunday, 25 August 2002 15:05 (twenty-one years ago) link

partial list of substitutes for 'heart attack ack ack ack ack' my friends and I (mostly them) came up with last year:

frontenac, fondelac, bivouac

― Josh (Josh), Sunday, 25 August 2002 15:56 (twenty-one years ago) link

His personality seems to turn people off. The man is known to be rather pompous. Doesn't take away the achievement of all that (to my ears) fine radio pop. But why the high flown 'evil' metaphors what makes him that bad compared to all that teen pap that clogs the radio.

― Tony, Sunday, 25 August 2002 20:17 (twenty-one years ago) link

one year passes...

i love 'the stranger'

― piscesboy, Sunday, 11 April 2004 23:20 (twenty years ago) link

"Uptown Girl," "Tell Her About It" and "The Longest Time" are the best things he's ever done, in part because they aren't supposed to sound like Billy Joel songs.

CHILDREN OF THALIDOMIDE!!!

― Anthony Miccio (Anthony Miccio), Sunday, 11 April 2004 23:33 (twenty years ago) link

ROCK AND ROLLER COLA WARS AND I CAN'T TAKE IT ANYMORE!!!!

― Anthony Miccio (Anthony Miccio), Sunday, 11 April 2004 23:34 (twenty years ago) link

I enjoy his fake new-wave skinny tie period

― Donna Brown (Donna Brown), Monday, 12 April 2004 02:19 (twenty years ago) link

Skipping 113 messages at this point... Click here if you want to load them all.

^^^

― Οὖτις, Wednesday, 28 October 2015 17:53 (eight years ago) link

this thread sadly lacking in praise for "Close To The Borderline," perhaps the most perfect document of a certain 1980s i'm-an-angry-white-liberal-and-i'm-not-gonna-take-it-anymore stance on record. Styx "Rockin' The Paradise" also a contender. No one who has not studied both these songs can hope to understand what it was to be alive in the Reagan administration.

― Guayaquil (eephus!), Wednesday, 28 October 2015 19:17 (eight years ago) link

I said 1980s but I guess both those records were actually literally 1980?

― Guayaquil (eephus!), Wednesday, 28 October 2015 19:17 (eight years ago) link

the bag ladies throw their bones in your face, eephus.

― pplains, Wednesday, 28 October 2015 19:22 (eight years ago) link

("Dirty Laundry" could go on that list.)

― I know some Civil War re-enactors you might want to talk to (Eazy), Wednesday, 28 October 2015 19:22 (eight years ago) link

ooh good call

― Guayaquil (eephus!), Saturday, 31 October 2015 15:39 (eight years ago) link

two months pass...

One day, I'm going to feel Bowie while the rest of the world goes Frey.

But it's all right. We're all the same even though we're alone.

― pplains, Tuesday, 19 January 2016 01:42 (eight years ago) link

two years pass...

These tourists from France at the bar who prove their age with passports singing along to “uptown girl” classic or dudz

― calstars, Saturday, 13 October 2018 20:19 (five years ago) link

how's their tipping

"Only someone who's 21 would know this song that was released 15 years before their birth..." ?

― pplains, Saturday, 13 October 2018 21:25 (five years ago) link

right

― calstars, Saturday, 13 October 2018 21:58 (five years ago) link

Party Rock Anthem has the same bpm as Uptown Girl pic.twitter.com/vt7B1mQIqA
— Stan Lewis (@StanLewis_) October 4, 2018

― Loud guitars shit all over "Bette Davis Eyes" (NYCNative), Monday, 15 October 2018 21:54 (five years ago) link

which means by extension that "uptown girl" has the same bpm as "cruel angel's thesis"

what a time to be alive

one year passes...

the inlay of the glass houses lp has a picture of the band. the drummer, liberty devitto, is wearing a watch on his ankle for some reason

http://bp0.blogger.com/_K5vOM2unmkw/Rf6HsBnY8oI/AAAAAAAAAPs/aH3mFvE4k_s/s1600/liberty+devitto.jpg

― Seany's too Dyche to mention (jim in vancouver), Tuesday, 15 October 2019 19:26 (four years ago) link

Just keepin' time.

― Josh in Chicago, Tuesday, 15 October 2019 19:26 (four years ago) link

glass houses is a pretty good album also. a bit front loaded though.

― Seany's too Dyche to mention (jim in vancouver), Tuesday, 15 October 2019 19:30 (four years ago) link

i really like the song "don't ask me why" which is like mccartney doing a brazilian influenced number

― Seany's too Dyche to mention (jim in vancouver), Tuesday, 15 October 2019 19:30 (four years ago) link

• Why would you wear it on your right ankle?

• Why would you wear it with the face facing out?

He just smiled and wouldn't say why.

― pplains, Tuesday, 15 October 2019 19:48 (four years ago) link

the original shoegazer

― Οὖτις, Tuesday, 15 October 2019 19:49 (four years ago) link

Safety pins holding together clothes, Vaseline in the hair, flowerpots on the head, wristwatch on the ankle: time to get New Wave!

― bendy, Tuesday, 15 October 2019 20:34 (four years ago) link

are we sure he isn't wearing a shoe on his hand and doing a little yoga?

― fact checking cuz, Tuesday, 15 October 2019 21:29 (four years ago) link

two years pass...

Have you guys seen the thing on Instagram?

― Ferryboat Bill Jr. (James Redd and the Blecchs), Wednesday, 9 February 2022 04:29 (two years ago) link

“thing” may need elaboration

― terminators of endearment (VegemiteGrrl), Wednesday, 9 February 2022 04:38 (two years ago) link

Not insta, but something to do w/this?: https://finesoutherngentlemen.com/products/my-life-ships-week-of-2-14

― Precious, Grace, Hill & Beard LTD. (C. Grisso/McCain), Wednesday, 9 February 2022 04:41 (two years ago) link

Sorry.
https://www.instagram.com/rachellichtman/?hl=en
VG always trying to get me to communicate more clearly.

― Ferryboat Bill Jr. (James Redd and the Blecchs), Wednesday, 9 February 2022 05:32 (two years ago) link

https://www.instagram.com/tv/CY6i4PQqtEs/?utm_source=ig_web_copy_link

― Ferryboat Bill Jr. (James Redd and the Blecchs), Wednesday, 9 February 2022 05:32 (two years ago) link

DO U SEE?

― Ferryboat Bill Jr. (James Redd and the Blecchs), Wednesday, 9 February 2022 05:36 (two years ago) link

That thing is some kind of insane earworm time warp time loop.

― Ferryboat Bill Jr. (James Redd and the Blecchs), Wednesday, 9 February 2022 05:59 (two years ago) link

Ha that is excellent

― There's A Goots In My House (stevie), Wednesday, 9 February 2022 08:43 (two years ago) link

DEE DEE: No, he isn't in the office yet... I'll give him your message.... Thank you.

BILLY suddenly appears through the door

BILLY: Holy cow, traffic was horrible! Anyone trying to buy the Brooklyn Bridge – it's definitely a seller's market!

DEE DEE: Billy...

BILLY: Not now, Dee Dee! I know I'm already late. Just make sure Big Ol' Bartlesworth doesn't know I was late!

DEE DEE: Billy...!

BILLY: What now?

MR. BARTLESWORTH: William? In my office. NOW!

― pplains, Wednesday, 9 February 2022 15:36 (two years ago) link

BILLY: I admit, I told the client, "go ahead with your own life, leave me alone"!

MR. BARTLESWORTH: You had to be a big shot, dincha?!?

― Halfway there but for you, Wednesday, 9 February 2022 15:40 (two years ago) link

Loool!

― Ferryboat Bill Jr. (James Redd and the Blecchs), Wednesday, 9 February 2022 15:46 (two years ago) link

Trying to think of alternate casting for Mr. Bartlesworth but it’s too perfect.

― Ferryboat Bill Jr. (James Redd and the Blecchs), Wednesday, 9 February 2022 17:04 (two years ago) link

Totally forgot about Calucci’s Department.

― Ferryboat Bill Jr. (James Redd and the Blecchs), Wednesday, 9 February 2022 17:12 (two years ago) link

I believe it is actually Mr. Balesworth.

― Ferryboat Bill Jr. (James Redd and the Blecchs), Thursday, 10 February 2022 02:56 (two years ago) link

Anyway came to say one of the things that really makes it for me is the harmonica near the end.

― Ferryboat Bill Jr. (James Redd and the Blecchs), Thursday, 10 February 2022 02:57 (two years ago) link

Have to admit, listening to BJ interviews is a guilty pleasure of mine. There is no more ideal voice of boomer "self-discovery," motivated by that sort of continual "no one ever felt this emotion before me." I am in awe of his sheer inpenetrable solipsism, and recommend watching the "Making of River of Dreams" video as a sociological exercise.

Rock and roller cola wars? I can't take it anymore!

― Keith Harris (kharris1128), Sunday, 25 August 2002 13:46 (nineteen years ago) link

this is on YouTube and I’m not even a fan really but I’m finding it strangely entertaining

― brimstead, Friday, 11 February 2022 20:54 (two years ago) link

BJ interviews: entertainment’s last stand

― calstars, Friday, 11 February 2022 21:19 (two years ago) link

I seen the lights go out on YouTube

― The creator of Ultra Games, for Nintendo (Doctor Casino), Friday, 11 February 2022 21:22 (two years ago) link

two weeks pass...

Set list from last week in Las Vegas. Not half bad for an outdoor show in February!

Movin' Out (Anthony's Song)
Pressure
The Entertainer
Vienna
Don't Ask Me Why
Zanzibar
Allentown
Just the Way You Are
Say Goodbye to Hollywood
The Longest Time
New York State of Mind
The Downeaster Alexa
She's Always a Woman
My Life
Only the Good Die Young
A Whiter Shade of Pale (Procol Harum cover)
Sometimes a Fantasy
The River of Dreams (with 'Tush' by ZZ Top interlude)
Nessun dorma (Giacomo Puccini cover) (Mike DelGuidice Vocals)
Scenes From an Italian Restaurant
Piano Man

Encore:
We Didn't Start the Fire
Uptown Girl
It's Still Rock and Roll to Me
Big Shot
You May Be Right (with “Rock & Roll” by Led Zeppelin interlude)

― deep luminous trombone (Eazy), Thursday, 3 March 2022 20:10 (two years ago) link

three weeks pass...

I’ve listened to a bunch more songs—Zanzibar, Stiletto, Summer HF—and I have a new theory about the appeal of the classic Billy Joel character: Naïve Guy Acting Cynical.

(Will listen to 20 more songs to confirm.)
— Emily Nussbaum (@emilynussbaum) March 24, 2022

― a man often referred to in the news media as the Duke of Saxony (tipsy mothra), Thursday, 24 March 2022 03:52 (two years ago) link

damn that’s a great setlist

― terminators of endearment (VegemiteGrrl), Thursday, 24 March 2022 04:05 (two years ago) link

search : "say goodbye to hollywood", "matter of trust"

destroy : pretty much anything else, & especially "piano man"

i may have answered this already 20 years ago - haven't got time to read whole thread right now - & if i did i bet my answer back then was exactly the same

― unknown or illegal user (doo rag), Thursday, 24 March 2022 06:10 (two years ago) link

six months pass...

Apparently there really is a William Joel Show - and channel! – on Sirius-XM.

― Misirlou Sunset (James Redd and the Blecchs), Tuesday, 4 October 2022 13:45 (one year ago) link

That diner now seems even less impressive than the food has made it seem.

― Doctor Casino, Tuesday, 4 October 2022 16:13 (one year ago) link

five months pass...

Just saw Fred Hersch - great jazz pianist - and after a performance involving his trio and a string quartet, for an encore he told the audience he was going to play “an ‘80s pop tune…by Billy Joel.” I can’t say I’ve ever been a fan and others in the audience snickered, but Hersch said (not angrily) “don’t laugh, he’s a great songwriter, and this is called ‘And So It Goes’” to which a few people applauded. I didn’t realize Hersch had already recorded and released his own interpretation, but he made a solid case for it - without knowing the words, there were times where I could picture Ella Fitzgerald singing the melody beautifully.

Here’s the studio recording he made:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zYo-5QSAwzM

― birdistheword, Sunday, 2 April 2023 02:21 (one year ago) link

(applauded as in to the announcement of the song’s name, but of course everyone applauded afterwards too)

― birdistheword, Sunday, 2 April 2023 02:22 (one year ago) link

Wait, where did you see Fred Hersch?

― Little Big Man Yells at Red Cloud (James Redd and the Blecchs), Sunday, 2 April 2023 02:27 (one year ago) link

92NY

https://www.92ny.org/event/fred-hersch

― birdistheword, Sunday, 2 April 2023 02:34 (one year ago) link

Nice

― Little Big Man Yells at Red Cloud (James Redd and the Blecchs), Sunday, 2 April 2023 02:36 (one year ago) link

You must be logged in to post. Please either login here, or if you are not registered, you may register here.