Any Billy Joel fans in the house?

tennisnj

Professional
Die hard Billy Joel fan & not embarrassed to say so. I've seen him about 2 dozen times included the Millennium Concert @ MSG.
 

stringertom

Bionic Poster
Seen him several times in concert and once close-up in a Long Island motorcycle shop...nice guy and unpretentious in my chance encounter. I also used to eat regularly at Christiano's Restaurant in Syosset, supposedly the place he wrote a song about...lots of dollar bills hang from the ceiling there and everyone asks how they get up there (it's a neat trick).
 

Disgruntled Worker

Professional
I started off as more of an Elton John fan. But nobody beats Billy when it comes to lyrics. His somber, melancholic approach to writing is up there with the best.
 

heycal

Hall of Fame
I started off as more of an Elton John fan. But nobody beats Billy when it comes to lyrics. His somber, melancholic approach to writing is up there with the best.

Indeed. Some of it reminds Poe and, sometimes, Dickenson. A touch of Yeats as well.


I'm in love with an uptown girl
You know I've seen her in her uptown world
She's getting tired of her high class toys
And all her presents from her uptown boys
 

stringertom

Bionic Poster
New York State of Mind was my anthem for years after relocating from Long Island to Central Florida. Sandy's devastation of my former neighborhood in Rockaway and Billy's reworking of the lyrics of Miami 2017 for the benefit concert last month has displaced NYSoM as the top on my list!
 

heycal

Hall of Fame
I wasn't born in that era and am extremely jealous of anyone who was, I hate the music that my generation has created.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eFTLKWw542g

My favorite

Ah, yes. "We didn't start the fire". Perhaps one of the worst Billy Joel Songs ever -- and that's saying something!

For the record, Billy Joel's 40 years of music making have produced exactly four worthwhile songs as far as I can tell, as opposed to four hundred horrible ones.

These worthwhile songs are, in order:

Captain Jack - brilliant song, and the best Joel song of all.
Piano Man - excellent song
New York State of Mind - Very good song
Scenes from an Italian Restaurant - Good song

And that is IT. And you may be right -- I may be crazy. But it just might be a lunatic this thread is looking for.
 

mikeler

Moderator
I was always partial to Scenes from an Italian Restaurant and Goodnight Saigon. I got to see Elton and Billy play for 4 hours with 65,000 other fans in a football stadium. Best concert I've seen to date.
 

r2473

G.O.A.T.
Ah, yes. "We didn't start the fire". Perhaps one of the worst Billy Joel Songs ever -- and that's saying something!

For the record, Billy Joel's 40 years of music making have produced exactly four worthwhile songs as far as I can tell, as opposed to four hundred horrible ones.

These worthwhile songs are, in order:

Captain Jack - brilliant song, and the best Joel song of all.
Piano Man - excellent song
New York State of Mind - Very good song
Scenes from an Italian Restaurant - Good song

And that is IT. And you may be right -- I may be crazy. But it just might be a lunatic this thread is looking for.

I agree that Captain Jack and Piano Man are by far his best. Not sure I care for the other two.

Funny thing is that, he himself has said that his pop music is all crap, but it paid really, really well.

He now composes instrumental classical music. Is it any good? Some say yes, some say no (the 1-star review by Greg Savino is interesting):

http://www.amazon.com/Billy-Joel-Fantasies-Delusions-Music/dp/B00005Q6KS

He has a brother Alexander of some fame that is a conductor in Europe. People **seem** to suggest that he is 10 times the musician that Billy is.

I just read that his father was a classical pianist.

Billy is a talented entertainer. No one can argue that. Is he an "amazing musician and songwriter"? Who cares. He is adored by his legions of fans. Most would take that over "amazing talent" any day (though some wouldn't).
 
Last edited:

stringertom

Bionic Poster
Many more than four chestnuts...River of Dreams from his later career stage mixes a lively rhythm with some soul-searching lyrics...She's Always A Woman and the wedding song staple Just The Way You Are are classic love songs...Allentown is a solid socioballad...Only the Good Die Young flat out rocks and begs me still to turn up the car radio. The guy's creative range speaks for itself!
 

woodrow1029

Hall of Fame
Many more than four chestnuts...River of Dreams from his later career stage mixes a lively rhythm with some soul-searching lyrics...She's Always A Woman and the wedding song staple Just The Way You Are are classic love songs...Allentown is a solid socioballad...Only the Good Die Young flat out rocks and begs me still to turn up the car radio. The guy's creative range speaks for itself!

Don't forget Vienna was a great one too!
 

ollinger

G.O.A.T.
There was a time when I really enjoyed Billy Joel, and I still appreciate his musicianship, but I came to see after a while the anger and misogyny in his music and began to find it simply creepy a decade or so ago. An article about him in "Slate" appeared a few years ago, entitled "The Worst Pop Singer Ever." It's worth reading, as it really hits on the disturbing and somewhat pointless rage of much of his work. Maybe he particularly appeals to the "disgruntled"?
 

heycal

Hall of Fame
I

Funny thing is that, he himself has said that his pop music is all crap, but it paid really, really well.

Someone mentioned there was an entertaining radio interview he did with Alec Baldwin on NPR where he said as much. Good for him.

He has a brother Alexander of some fame that is a conductor in Europe. People **seem** to suggest that he is 10 times the musician that Billy is.

Yeah, perhaps. But who cares? In his defense, there are thousands of great musicians out there, but how many can write and record "Captain Jack"?

B]She's Always A Woman[/B] and the wedding song staple Just The Way You Are are classic love songs...Allentown is a solid socioballad...Only the Good Die Young flat out rocks

Presumably these are some of the songs Joel himself admits are crap. 'Cause they are.

I came to see after a while the anger and misogyny in his music and began to find it simply creepy a decade or so ago. An article about him in "Slate" appeared a few years ago, entitled "The Worst Pop Singer Ever." It's worth reading, as it really hits on the disturbing and somewhat pointless rage of much of his work. Maybe he particularly appeals to the "disgruntled"?

Really? Weird. Never thought of it. Admittedly I only know the big hits and 70's and 80's stuff, but I didn't detect any huge amount of anger or misogyny in any of that.

Oh, maybe in that laughably bad "Big Shot" song?
 

CCNM

Hall of Fame
He's one of my faves. I've only heard one song of his that I truly hated ("Traveling Prayer"-it's on a CD I bought at Starbucks-don't know why he thought his voice sounded good with banjo music.....) Only the Good Die Young reminds me of my mom-her name is Virginia, same as the girl in the song. To the posters who have seen him in person-is he really that short? Also he's a fellow New York Mets fan-Yeah!!!!!
 
Top