OT - What makes me hate Billy Joel?

[QuikSand]

Wandering through the grocery store the other day, I heard them piping in a Billy Joel song. Without giving it any thought, I was mouthing a few of the familiar words... and then I basicaly caught myself and said "No, no no - I hate billy Joel." (Not out loud, mind you - I didn't want to disturbe the produce section)

But it got me to thinking. There's nothing inherently objectionable to me about Billy Joel and his music, I don't think. It's not really the genre of music that I prefer, but there is certainly a long, long list of things that I dislike much more intensely than his music.

But I'm pretty firm on this - I hate Billy Joel.


Wonder why that is. In his specific case, there seems to be a lot of material to work with. Is it the undying admiration of zealotous fans, who think he's the second coming? Is it the whole Christie Brinkley thing - some kind of weird supermodel jealousy on my part? Is it the fact that he shifted his music around that time and created some stuff that I really hate like "Uptown Girl" and "An Innocent Man?" Is it the unctious holier-than-pop attitude now, as he fancies himself a composer for the ages, and not just a famous musician? The list just goes on and on.

Specific question: what is it about Billy Joel?
General question: why do semi-irrational likes and dislikes happen like this?

Discuss.

[cuervo72]

Do you have any general ill-feelings towards New York, or things New York?

[cthomer5000]

Oh my god, i'm not the only one. For years I have literally ranted and raved about how his songs aren't all that bad really - but hearing his music actually causes a physical reaction in me. I swear I feel my blood pressure and anger rising.

[QuikSand]

Oh my god, i'm not the only one. For years I have literally ranted and raved about how his songs aren't all that bad really - but hearing his music actually causes a physical reaction in me. I swear I feel my blood pressure and anger rising.

That's pretty much me, too. I'd actualy say that Allentown could have been a song that I'd really like - were it not by him. ::shiver::

[QuikSand]

Do you have any general ill-feelings towards New York, or things New York?

I don't think so... but it's at least as viable as some of the things I speculated above.

[Fritz]

he's a fucking pianist. thats it. Rock and roll people need to play guitar or something. If you are a pianist, you are nothing more than a 2 bit lounge monkey that made good.

[rkmsuf]

Has to be heavily influced by seeing this very average joe get Brinkley. Combine that with not particularly liking the music and you better hope you never run into him or you may recieve a nice vacation package from the US courts...

[cthomer5000]

General question: why do semi-irrational likes and dislikes happen like this?

We probably all have a list of likes and dislikes that we can pretty much admit are overblown or semi-irrational. For me, getting my haircut is certainly on that list, and i actually started a thread about irrational hatreds/fears some months ago.

I guess part of it tends to be something you can put your finger on, but then there is also just some inexpressable "gut feeling" involved there. Like, I get the feeling Billy Joel just needs a good punch in the face - and I'd love to give it to him. Something about the guy as a whole just angers me.

Quik - you also should've included the obnoxious "We Didn't Start the Fire" in that pairing of specific songs.

[cthomer5000]

And I always want to hurt someone when i hear the radio kick in with "A bottle of red.... A bottle of white..."

I'm getting angry just thinking about this.

[QuikSand]

Like, I get the feeling Billy Joel just needs a good punch in the face - and I'd love to give it to him. Something about the guy as a whole just angers me.

Yes Yes.

(This is going in the wrong direction, of course)

[Ksyrup]

Billy got screwed over by that whore. Plus, he got hosed by his accountant/manager and lost pretty much everything he made early in his career. That almost makes up for the fact that he stole River of Dreams. Almost.

My wife loves the guy. I like some of it, but I hate the "NY state of mind" type crap. I will never be in a NY state of mind, and the fact that he is/was, means that I can never fully appreciate him.

I have a hatred of pretty much all music not written by the band/artist performing it. I won't call it "irrational," because it's perfectly rational to me, but it doesn't matter who it is or what kind of music, I have a hard time letting go. Even a band that just covers someone else's song, I have rules for "acceptance" of the artist. If it's a one-off type thing, or on a tribute, or part of a covers album/theme, then I can be OK with it. If it's the first single for some band, forget about it. They could write Sgt. Pepper's Part II and I'd never give them the time of day. Examples off the top of my head: Orgy and Alien Ant Farm. I was very conflicted when Living Colour got back together, then recording and released Back In Black. had it not been for their stellar catalog, they'd have been out of my mind.

Anyway, to try to answer your question, in my case, I obviously attach significance to whether an artist can write music. And the fact that someone has to resort to performing another's song, tells me that that artist has very little to offer. So, perhaps you have a specific dislike/hatred that Billy Joel is attached to or personifies, and his music triggers that hatred and you transfer that hatred to him specifically.

[cthomer5000]

Reading the first post here was one of those moments in my life where I feel like someone else has literally copied the thoughts out of my brain, then presented them to me.

Anyway, as to where these feelings come from (not specific anti-Billy Joel feelings)... I'm largely clueless. Thinking specifically about Billy Joel, for me personalle, I think a lot of it may have to with the fact that when I meet people who are fans of his - I generally dislike them. I don't even know if the the hatred of Billy Joel is the cause of me disliking these them, or whether meeting these people I don't like who are big Billy Joel fans has made me hate him.

I think for most people though, it's possible these "third party" feelings, memories, issues have caused them to focus their dislike onto a single person/place/activity.

[3ric]

Well, Ric Ocasek (sp?) is married to Paulina Porizkova and that's not enough to invoke such anger. I think it's the pretentiousness in Joel's actions that fuels the negative feelings, a similar case can be made for Sting. Great musician, but continually gets bad reviews that focus more on his "holier-than-thou save the rainforest while having tantric sex" reputation...

[Desnudo]

Another possibility might be because he has had so many songs that have been in non-stop radio rotation for so long. I think it was "We Didn't Start the Fire" for me.

[Easy Mac]

I think the answer to the question is that he undeniably sucks.

[Desnudo]

That's another possibility.

[cthomer5000]

Another possibility might be because he has had so many songs that have been in non-stop radio rotation for so long. I think it was "We Didn't Start the Fire" for me.
There may be something to this as well. Because at the height of his popularity (I'd say immediately post "We Didn't Start the Fire" until "River of Dreams), he was the type of radio artist that crossed over to nearly all formats. In the NYC radio area, his songs would get played on the classic rock stations, top 40 stations, and adult contemporary stations. You pretty much heard it every minute of the day.

[AgPete]

muwahahahaahahahah

Artist: Billy Joel
Song: We Didnt Start The Fire

Lyrics:

Harry Truman, Doris Day, Red China, Johnnie Ray
South Pacific, Walter Winchell, Joe DiMaggio

Joe McCarthy, Richard Nixon, Studebaker, television
North Korea, South Korea, Marilyn Monroe


Rosenbergs, H-bomb, Sugar Ray, Panmunjom
Brando, The King and I and The Catcher in the Rye


Eisenhower, vaccine, England's got a new queen
Marciano, Liberace, Santayana goodbye


CHORUS
We didn't start the fire
It was always burning
Since the world's been turning
We didn't start the fire
No we didn't light it
But we tried to fight it


Joseph Stalin, Malenkov, Nasser aand Prokofiev
Rockefeller, Campanella, Communist Bloc


Roy hn, Juan Peron, Toscanini, dacron
Dien Bien Phu falls, Rock Around the Clock


Einstein, James Dean, Brooklyn's got a winning team
Davy Crockett, Peter Pan, Elvis Presley, Disneyland


Bardot, Budapest, Alabama, Krushchev
Princess Grace, Peyton Place, trouble in the Suez


CHORUS


Little Rock, Pasternak, Mickey Mantle, Kerouac
Sputnik, Chou En-Lai, Bridge on the River Kwai


Lebanon, Charlse de Gaulle, California baseball
Starkweather, homicide, children of thalidomide


Buddy Holly, Ben Hur, space monkey, Mafia
Hula hoops, Castro, Edsel is a no-go


U-2, Syngman Rhee, payola and Kennedy
Chubby Checker, Psycho, Belgians in the Congo


CHORUS


Hemingway, Eichmann, Stranger in a Strange Land
Dylan, Berlin, Bay of Pigs invasion


Lawrence of Arabia, British Beatlemania
Ole Miss, John Glenn, Liston beats Patterson


Pope Paul, Malcolm X, British politician sex
JFK, blown away, what else do I have to say


CHORUS


Birth control, Ho Chi Minh, Richard Nixon back again
Moonshot, Woodsto, Watergate, punk rock
Begin, Reagan, Palestine, terror on the airline
Ayatollah's in Iran, Russians in Afghanistan


Wheel of Fortune, Sally Ride, heavy metal, suicide
Foreign debts, homeless vets, AIDS, crack, Bernie Goetz
Hypodermics on the shores, China's under martial law
Rock and roller cola wars, I can't take it anymore


CHORUS


We didn't start the fire
But when we are gone
Will it still burn on, and on, and on, and on...

[3ric]

*slaps AgPete around a bit with a large trout*

[Desnudo]

Can I report that post? Agpete needs to be locked in a room with a looping tape of Piano Man.

[Subby]

There are a lot of guys/groups out there that might as well be two people as I love their old stuff and despise their new stuff.

Elton John, Billy Joel, Aerosmith, The Stones...singers/bands that were just so great but then MTV hit and they sold-out and are now just caricatures of themselves...trading on whatever small amount of respect still floats out there for them.

[AgPete]

Can I report that post? Agpete needs to be locked in a room with a looping tape of Piano Man.

"Make it stop! Make it stop!" :eek: :p

[cthomer5000]

Elton John, Billy Joel, Aerosmith, The Stones...singers/bands that were just so great but then MTV hit and they sold-out and are now just caricatures of themselves...trading on whatever small amount of respect still floats out there for them.
Me and my father have a running joke about how the Stones are now just "The world's best Rolling Stones cover band."

[cartman]

Don't any of you go changin', to try and please me.
None of you have let me down before

I took the good times (SkyDog's burning anus, the release of FOF4 crashing the board)
I'll take the bad times (Bragaddddoccccciooouuuss, any of the classic HM diatribes)
I'll take you all just the way you are

[condors]

my wife likes him and what bothers me about him....

he can't relate to the songs he is singing, allentown??? how could he relate to that? i will take you just the way you are? ummm your wife was hot bud

i think his whole deal is bogus. As a musician you should have feelings in your music and with him i think you would get more feeling from a dead rectual trout.

[albionmoonlight]

As a musician you should have feelings in your music and with him i think you would get more feeling from a dead rectual trout.
I think that that's a lot of it with him. You don't get the sense that he really beleives anything that he is singing.

That would not be so bad (nothing wrong with singing something that you don't feel), except for the fact that he pretendsto be all deep and into his music. Getting up there and singing "Who shot the Na Na" is fine when you are not pretending that you are doing anything other than making fun music. Singing something heartfelt and feeling it is fine, too. But pretending to be deeper than you are when you are just faking it comes off as . . . fake.

The best example (there are many) is that song "Downeaster Alexis" (or something like that) where he gives a psuedo-soul tribute mourning the loss of his life at sea.

And--part and parcel with this whole thing is his image of himself as a musical genius. Blech.

[Butter]

Like, I get the feeling Billy Joel just needs a good punch in the face - and I'd love to give it to him.

That's awesome.

[Desnudo]

I've had this song in my head for a half hour now. :mad:

May you rot in hell and have maggots eat your intenstines for all of eternity. :mad:

Cartman didn't start the fire Corbes. It was always burning.

[rkmsuf]

Cartman didn't start the fire Corbes. It was always burning.

And it goes on, and on and on...

[cuervo72]

he's a fucking pianist. thats it. Rock and roll people need to play guitar or something. If you are a pianist, you are nothing more than a 2 bit lounge monkey that made good.

Tori Amos?

(oh wait, you said rock).


And Subby, Aerosmith hasn't been ALL bad post Run DMC...songs like Rag Doll, Just Push Play, The Other Side, and even Dueces are Wild (Beavis and Butthead CD) are good. Well, at least for my questionable music tastes.

[MrBug708]

Don't click here then (http://www.uvm.edu/~chmartin/ForTheLongestTime.mp3)

[JeeberD]

Billy Joel fucking rocks. I love his music...

[rkmsuf]

"I ammmmmmmmm an innocent manananan...oh yes I ammmmmmmmmm...an innocent man."

[SackAttack]

Sorry, guys, I'm gonna hafta go with JeeberD on this one. I'll take Billy Joel and Elton John over that long-haired rocker crap any day.

[RendeR]

Umm....I'm not sure how well any of you really know Billy Joel. He wrote almost everything he ever recorded, with a few exceptions. He plays multiple instruments, he grew up in Queens I believe, in a poor neighborhood to a poor family.

As for not believing in the things he sings about...wow, there's some real assumption for you. There is an hour long biography on him that plays on E! and also VH1. I'd suggest that all of you actually watch it.

[cody8200]

I like two songs, piano man...honesty. That's it. I absolutely hate river of dreams or whatever that song was. ARGGGH. I cant stand Aerosmith anymore.

[rkmsuf]

As a public service...

http://members.optushome.com.au/stylofone/throb2/billy.htm

[cartman]

The board is frequently kind
And it's suddenly cruel
It can do as it pleases
It's nobody’s fool
But we can’t be convicted
We've earned our degree
And the most we will do
Is throw trout at you
But this always FOFC to me

[Ksyrup]

He wrote almost everything he ever recorded, with a few exceptions. Not sure if that was directed at me, but I'm well aware of that. My comments were about things I hate in general (artists who don't write their own music), not having to do with Billy Joel.



he can't relate to the songs he is singing, allentown??? how could he relate to that? i will take you just the way you are? ummm your wife was hot budWho says you can't write about what your life used to be like? The guy grew up poor. If that was the test, then no country singers could write their stupid "workin' hard for a livin'" songs after they hit it big. Hey wait, we may be on to something... For some artists, that's their shtick. I don't see that being held against them.

As for his marriage to Brinkley, I'm fairly certain "I love you just the way you are" was written before they got together. Again, you're mixing and matching things that don't fit together to conform to some image you want to have of him.

As far as someone not really believing what they are singing...that's an awfully subjective thing. If he comes off that way to you, then there's not much the guy can do about it, is there? Personally, I've never felt that way about him; I just can't relate to a lot of his songs, so I prefer not to listen to him. His very being doesn't infuriate me like, say, Glen Frey.

[Vince]

he's a fucking pianist. thats it. Rock and roll people need to play guitar or something. If you are a pianist, you are nothing more than a 2 bit lounge monkey that made good.
I object. I'm a three bit lounge monkey, at least.

[Franklinnoble]

I dated a gal who was a Billy Joel fanatic once. She was a lunatic, and I get that chewing-on-tinfoil feeling in the back of my jaw whenever I think of her, or Billy Joel, for that matter.

[Fritz]

Umm....I'm not sure how well any of you really know Billy Joel. He wrote almost everything he ever recorded, with a few exceptions. He plays multiple instruments, he grew up in Queens I believe, in a poor neighborhood to a poor family.

As for not believing in the things he sings about...wow, there's some real assumption for you. There is an hour long biography on him that plays on E! and also VH1. I'd suggest that all of you actually watch it.

and Quik's evil ploy to flush out the Billy Joel fanboys starts to work...

[cartman]

Some folks like to get away, take a holiday from the Internet hood
Hop a flight to miami beach ('sup noop) or hollywood (hey Chief Rum).
I’m taking a greyhound on the Chattachoochee River line-
I’m in a FOFC state of mind.

[Buccaneer]

I love Piano Man and Goodnight Saigon, the rest is just NYC-style lounge lizard pop.

[Butter]

His very being doesn't infuriate me like, say, Glen Frey.

The H is O!

[ISiddiqui]

Billy Joel fucking rocks. I love his music...

I agree! Y'all are just haters! That's right... haters! ;)

[Buddy Grant]

Top 10 Reasons Why Billy Joel Does Not Rule
1. Billy Joel in his heyday was the type of pop entertainer your Sunday School teacher would listen to.
2. His music was depressing, so depressing that even if you liked Joel when he had the hits, you probably don't want to admit that or even remember those songs today.
3. The person that gave you a Billy Joel album for Christmas tended to be the person most out of touch with what young people liked and were listening too (I suspect a large portion of his album sales were to Grandparents who wanted to surprise their niece).
4. Unlike most pop stars, Billy Joel always looked about 10-15 years older than he really was. I imagine that was to better sell his image to the grandparent types mentioned in reason #3.
5. He looked like a beat walking policeman. I mean it is not nice to make fun of the way people look but come on, seriously, WTF.
6. Besides the out of touch grandparents in reason #3, the next biggest purchaser of Billy Joel albums must have been piano players that already had every Carpenters and Captain & Tenille album.
7. Music is a subjective thing. That being said, most of Billy Joel's songs were total shit.
8. His performances were depressing and boring. Most piano players acknowledge that watching someone play the piano is one of the most boring tasks you will encounter in life, and they go to great measures to try to distract you with either funny sunglasses (Elton John) or by playing the piano with their elbow (John Lennon) or feet (Jerry Lee Lewis). Billy Joel did not do any of those things. He just got over-the-top-emotional-artist who-looks-like-they-are-trying to-push-out-a-stubborn-bowel-movement. All the while looking like a cop, and sweating profusely, always with the profuse sweating.
9. When the piano teachers and grandparents had purchased all his albums already and sales began to fade he did not bow out gracefully, he forced one of the worst songs ever written on people as a bitter "fuck you" to the world: "We Didn't Start The Fire". No, I started the god damn fire. I did it because I thought Billy Joel was still in the stupid glass house!
10. In a desperate attempt to appeal to customers under the age of 55 he made an album with Cyndi Lauper.

Bonus reason: He made elevator music before there even was such a thing - just listen to his hit "Just The Way You Are" if you don't believe me.

[korme]

HOW.

Can you hate the Piano Man??

Captain Jack will get you by tonight.

[Maple Leafs]

I can't shake the feeling that this entire thread is a QuikSand experiment.

I bet I can post any random observation at FOFC, and dozens of posters will fall over each other to be the first to say "me too!". Let's test this hypothesis...

[korme]

To the tune of we didn't start the fire:

Mutton dagger,
Old blind Bob,
Hanging Johnny,
Fishing rod,
Tally wacker,
Pocket rocket,
One eyed trouser trout,
Ding dong,
Ankle spanker,
Pork sword,
Engine cranker,
Hairy hot dog,
Davy Cockett,
LET THEM ALL HANG OUT!

CHORUS-
Pet names for genitalia,
You know the girls think of 'em,
And you gotta love 'em!
Pet names for genitalia,
Theres always something silly
About little Willy!

Wang,
Wahzoo,
Weenie wacker,
Pecker,
Pee Pee,
Kidney cracker,
Heat seeking moisture missile,
Giggle stick,
Love whistle,
Tube steak,
Uncle Dick,
THIS IS GETTING REALLY SICK!
I'm not through,
There's ONE more,
PURPLE HELMET WARRIOR!

[Bosco]

So what kind of music are all you anti-Billy Joel people into? He's not my favorite and I wouldn't consider myself a fan, but he's not terrible by an stretch.

[BigJohn&TheLions]

I like his older stuff. Come on, it's hilarious that Hillary Clinton meant to play NY State of Mind when kicking off her senate campaign, but they cued up Captain Jack accidentally...

And how can you not like Roberta, a love song to a prostitute!

Everything from Uptown Girl and after really does suck rat ass though...

[korme]

Hellz yeah that completes that earlier Captain Jack reference with the mention of Hilary.

[Buddy Grant]

So what kind of music are all you anti-Billy Joel people into? He's not my favorite and I wouldn't consider myself a fan, but he's not terrible by an stretch.
I'm not an anti-Billy Joel person, I look at his music like I would advertising jingles, no love or hate, simply disdain. I am an anti-Clay Aiken person though. :)

[korme]

MR BOJANGLES?

[33sherman]

This thread is really interesting to me because I too hate Billy Joel and can't explain why. I actually think he's a really good songwriter in many respects, and he's never done anything as a celebrity that's pissed me off, but I'd still be ashamed to own even one of his albums.

A lot of people hate Bruce Springsteen because he's 'uncool' or something, but I'd go the mat for Bruce any day, even though I consider Springsteen to be a much bigger phony than Billy Joel.

[yabanci]

<-------- wonders how long it will be before somebody starts a new thread called "OT: What makes Billy Joel hate me?"

[Bosco]

I'm not an anti-Billy Joel person, I look at his music like I would advertising jingles, no love or hate, simply disdain. I am an anti-Clay Aiken person though. :)

So what do you listen to?

[Bonegavel]

That's pretty much me, too. I'd actualy say that Allentown could have been a song that I'd really like - were it not by him. ::shiver::
Living in Allentown, you could only imagine how it wouldn't really matter.

[Bonegavel]

I have found that Bruce Springsteen is my Quiksand's Billy Joel. When I hear the Boss, I want to break the radio. I can't explain it either. Once in a while i catch myself humming to one of his songs on the radio and when it dawns on me I get angry and switch the station.

I will admit, however, that uptown girl and it's ilk were ok to me in my teens during the 80s, but nowadays they make me visibly agitated and I do think that BJ is a very talented song writer. FWIW, Downeaster Alexa has always pissed me off.

[MrBug708]

muwahahahaahahahah

Artist: Billy Joel
Song: We Didnt Start The Fire

Lyrics:

Harry Truman, Doris Day, Red China, Johnnie Ray
South Pacific, Walter Winchell, Joe DiMaggio

Joe McCarthy, Richard Nixon, Studebaker, television
North Korea, South Korea, Marilyn Monroe


Rosenbergs, H-bomb, Sugar Ray, Panmunjom
Brando, The King and I and The Catcher in the Rye


Eisenhower, vaccine, England's got a new queen
Marciano, Liberace, Santayana goodbye


CHORUS
We didn't start the fire
It was always burning
Since the world's been turning
We didn't start the fire
No we didn't light it
But we tried to fight it


Joseph Stalin, Malenkov, Nasser aand Prokofiev
Rockefeller, Campanella, Communist Bloc


Roy hn, Juan Peron, Toscanini, dacron
Dien Bien Phu falls, Rock Around the Clock


Einstein, James Dean, Brooklyn's got a winning team
Davy Crockett, Peter Pan, Elvis Presley, Disneyland


Bardot, Budapest, Alabama, Krushchev
Princess Grace, Peyton Place, trouble in the Suez


CHORUS


Little Rock, Pasternak, Mickey Mantle, Kerouac
Sputnik, Chou En-Lai, Bridge on the River Kwai


Lebanon, Charlse de Gaulle, California baseball
Starkweather, homicide, children of thalidomide


Buddy Holly, Ben Hur, space monkey, Mafia
Hula hoops, Castro, Edsel is a no-go


U-2, Syngman Rhee, payola and Kennedy
Chubby Checker, Psycho, Belgians in the Congo


CHORUS


Hemingway, Eichmann, Stranger in a Strange Land
Dylan, Berlin, Bay of Pigs invasion


Lawrence of Arabia, British Beatlemania
Ole Miss, John Glenn, Liston beats Patterson


Pope Paul, Malcolm X, British politician sex
JFK, blown away, what else do I have to say


CHORUS


Birth control, Ho Chi Minh, Richard Nixon back again
Moonshot, Woodsto, Watergate, punk rock
Begin, Reagan, Palestine, terror on the airline
Ayatollah's in Iran, Russians in Afghanistan


Wheel of Fortune, Sally Ride, heavy metal, suicide
Foreign debts, homeless vets, AIDS, crack, Bernie Goetz
Hypodermics on the shores, China's under martial law
Rock and roller cola wars, I can't take it anymore


CHORUS


We didn't start the fire
But when we are gone
Will it still burn on, and on, and on, and on...


I can sing along to the whole song

[yabanci]

I'm in love with an uptown girl.

[FishFan]

Billy Joel and Elton John together in concert may have been one of the best shows I have seen in my lifetime. That one and James Taylor...

[Craptacular]

Would have loved to see that show, but I wasn't about to pay the ridiculous ticket prices for it. I like Elton's music a lot more than Billy's, but I heard it was a great show by both.

[SackAttack]

I would've paid the ticket prices, but the one time it was in LA (that I noticed), it was sold out :(

[digamma]

Everytime I see this thread on the front page of the forums, it cuts off the "Joel." I keep hoping it is a "Why do I hate Billy Packer?" thread.

Oh, let me count the ways.

[korme]

JAMES TAYLOR IS THE SHIZNIT

[Franklinnoble]

Top 10 Reasons Why Billy Joel Does Not Rule
1. Billy Joel in his heyday was the type of pop entertainer your Sunday School teacher would listen to.
2. His music was depressing, so depressing that even if you liked Joel when he had the hits, you probably don't want to admit that or even remember those songs today.
3. The person that gave you a Billy Joel album for Christmas tended to be the person most out of touch with what young people liked and were listening too (I suspect a large portion of his album sales were to Grandparents who wanted to surprise their niece).
4. Unlike most pop stars, Billy Joel always looked about 10-15 years older than he really was. I imagine that was to better sell his image to the grandparent types mentioned in reason #3.
5. He looked like a beat walking policeman. I mean it is not nice to make fun of the way people look but come on, seriously, WTF.
6. Besides the out of touch grandparents in reason #3, the next biggest purchaser of Billy Joel albums must have been piano players that already had every Carpenters and Captain & Tenille album.
7. Music is a subjective thing. That being said, most of Billy Joel's songs were total shit.
8. His performances were depressing and boring. Most piano players acknowledge that watching someone play the piano is one of the most boring tasks you will encounter in life, and they go to great measures to try to distract you with either funny sunglasses (Elton John) or by playing the piano with their elbow (John Lennon) or feet (Jerry Lee Lewis). Billy Joel did not do any of those things. He just got over-the-top-emotional-artist who-looks-like-they-are-trying to-push-out-a-stubborn-bowel-movement. All the while looking like a cop, and sweating profusely, always with the profuse sweating.
9. When the piano teachers and grandparents had purchased all his albums already and sales began to fade he did not bow out gracefully, he forced one of the worst songs ever written on people as a bitter "fuck you" to the world: "We Didn't Start The Fire". No, I started the god damn fire. I did it because I thought Billy Joel was still in the stupid glass house!
10. In a desperate attempt to appeal to customers under the age of 55 he made an album with Cyndi Lauper.

Bonus reason: He made elevator music before there even was such a thing - just listen to his hit "Just The Way You Are" if you don't believe me.
Classic. :D

[Suicane75]

JAMES TAYLOR IS THE SHIZNIT


Seeing James Taylor nowadays freaks me out. Whenever I see him or Paul Simon I get very scared about ageing.

[condors]

ksyrup-billy joel was not a poor boy,

William Martin Joel, born May 9, 1949, in The Bronx, NY, grew up in a comfortable Long Island suburb, Levittown

he was taking piano lessons at 4. My family couldn't afford a piano or lessons (and i don't think i was desitute) i don't want to hear about his "tough childhood" that he forces on me with his songs

[panerd]

I can't shake the feeling that this entire thread is a QuikSand experiment.

I bet I can post any random observation at FOFC, and dozens of posters will fall over each other to be the first to say "me too!". Let's test this hypothesis...

I kind of wondered the same thing. No offense Quiksand, yours are defintely that most thought out and insightful posts on the board. But I wonder had someone else posted that same thing if they would have gotten more "He is a 95 platnum recored recording artist! Lay off the guy!"

Personally, I like a lot of his music. I always found his music (and Elton John and James Taylor) are good compromises when taking a long road trip with a girl. It would be hard to start blasting the Black Album and not cause some sort of controversy. (now if I am coming back and am looking to piss her off, this may be the way to go :) )

[mckerney]

8. His performances were depressing and boring. Most piano players acknowledge that watching someone play the piano is one of the most boring tasks you will encounter in life

True for the most part, save the exception of one Ben Folds.

[cuervo72]

True for the most part, save the exception of one Ben Folds.

Or the late Victor Borge. :)

(Liberace could be pretty entertaining in his own right....)

[Pyser]

he's a fucking pianist. thats it. Rock and roll people need to play guitar or something. If you are a pianist, you are nothing more than a 2 bit lounge monkey that made good.

as a ben folds fan, i object to this statement.


point may be ignored though, as i dont hate billy joel.

[Desnudo]

ksyrup-billy joel was not a poor boy,

William Martin Joel, born May 9, 1949, in The Bronx, NY, grew up in a comfortable Long Island suburb, Levittown

he was taking piano lessons at 4. My family couldn't afford a piano or lessons (and i don't think i was desitute) i don't want to hear about his "tough childhood" that he forces on me with his songs

Isn't being forced to grow up on Long Island punishment in and of itself?

[mckerney]

as a ben folds fan, i object to this statement.

Sure, without a guitar it may have been nerd rock, but Ben Folds Five was still rock dammit! :)

[Ksyrup]

I was waiting for mckerney to chime in with a Ben Folds comment. Well done!

[Buddy Grant]

So what do you listen to?
Pretty varied tastes, I listen to pop music from tin pan alley era up to modern radio/dance (turn of century to current), various jazz (mostly older like big band up to 70's Tower of Power), reggae/ska (60's to current), punk (from 60's garage to 70's iggy/dolls/clash to 80's Husker du to 90's Bad Religion to current acts), Soul/R&B (1950's-1970's only), funk (60's and 70's), blues & folk (all types & era's from Robert Johnson to Seeger to JD Crowe to current), rap (least familiar style but Public Enemy used to be a fave), country (classic if you will - George Jones, Cash, etc. basically pre 1980 country), classical (only a small group of fave composers), and rock (from rockabilly to big hair). There are many musical genre's listed that can fall under the pop music catch all, and I'd consider some forms not listed (like electronic) covered by the big pop banner. I did not start the thread so I am not trying to pick a fight with Joel fans, but beyond those I would dismiss outright from any consideration at all (like NSYNC) Billy Joel would be on the near bottom of my list of musical artists. The biggest problem I have with Joel is not the crappy music, it's the fact his popularity pushed that style of piano playing into rock/pop music for a period of time, a period of time that was very influential in my music tastes. To this day I don't care for keyboards in rock/pop music unless it's Alan Price, Jerry Lee, Manzarek, etc.. I never liked Elton John either, and although he has written some of my most disliked tunes of all time (like "I'm Still Standing") I think he generally wrote much better material than Joel. Maybe it's Joel's habit of trying to incorporate his classical music roots into his piano pop, but whatever it is, I want it turned down... NOW!

:)

[panerd]

I never liked Elton John either, and although he has written some of my most disliked tunes of all time (like "I'm Still Standing") I think he generally wrote much better material than Joel. !

:)

Actually I believe Billy Joel has written almost all of his material, and if I am not mistaken Elton John has not written any of his. I don't really care if people write their own stuff but if it going to be the arguement against Joel than someone has to defend him.

On a side note a friend of mine is in a pretty successful cover band and I keep trying to give him advice on cool songs to cover. (The Police, Pink Floyd, The Who, etc) He always blows me off and says it isn't what people want to hear. Well one night I got excited when I heard them covering the Monkee's "I'm a believer" and the Who's "I can't explain" and then I come to find out later they are just pop remakes by no talent assclowns. I have caught on to his schtick now. Is it same to assume "The Boys of Summer" has been remade by someone recently?

[Buddy Grant]

Actually I believe Billy Joel has written almost all of his material, and if I am not mistaken Elton John has not written any of his. I don't really care if people write their own stuff but if it going to be the arguement against Joel than someone has to defend him.

I am pretty sure Elton wrote the music (who else?!), but the lyrics were usually writen by Bernie Taupin.

[Ksyrup]

I am pretty sure Elton wrote the music (who else?!), but the lyrics were usually writen by Bernie Taupin.
Correct.

[Ksyrup]

Is it same to assume "The Boys of Summer" has been remade by someone recently?
Why yes, it has. I can't tell you who, but I caught a bit of it somewhere recently and about lost my lunch.

[rkmsuf]

Why yes, it has. I can't tell you who, but I caught a bit of it somewhere recently and about lost my lunch.

I think it was a woman signing this...not sure...

[Ksyrup]

Dola.

And btw, it's precisely that type of crap that I freakin' hate. If you're going to go through the trouble of actually performing, then write your own damn songs! Otherwise, find that ugly, fatass producer down in Orlando, have him give you some songs to sing, learn some dance moves, and be the next NSync.

[rkmsuf]

Dola.

And btw, it's precisely that type of crap that I freakin' hate. If you're going to go through the trouble of actually performing, then write your own damn songs! Otherwise, find that ugly, fatass producer down in Orlando, have him give you some songs to sing, learn some dance moves, and be the next NSync.

Funny thing is that the younger generation doesn't know the difference and loves it. I've heard songs on their 3rd or 4th remake...

[panerd]

I am pretty sure Elton wrote the music (who else?!), but the lyrics were usually writen by Bernie Taupin.

OK. And correct me if I am wrong because I really don't know everything there is to know about Billy Joel, but he doesn't write the music to his songs?

[SirFozzie]

Is it same to assume "The Boys of Summer" has been remade by someone recently?

Twice, in fact.

Dance/Techno artist DJ Sammy had a Top 100 hit in 2000 (I Think) with a dance version of it (I call it the lesbian version of the song, because the lead singer in this song is female)

And this past fall, punk rock band The Ataris did their own version. (The only word that changed was the line was "On the Road today, I saw a Black Flag sticker on a cadillac" (instead of a Deadhead sticker)

[panerd]

Funny thing is that the younger generation doesn't know the difference and loves it. I've heard songs on their 3rd or 4th remake...

Overheard in cafeteria: Have you heard that new song "Twist and Shout" by Kid Rock?

[rkmsuf]

Overheard in cafeteria: Have you heard that new song "Twist and Shout" by Kid Rock?

Exactly while the rest of us have to live with the pain...

[Ksyrup]

OK. And correct me if I am wrong because I really don't know everything there is to know about Billy Joel, but he doesn't write the music to his songs?
Yes, I believe he writes everything, except (allegedly) River of Dreams, which he (allegedly) stole from someone.

[rkmsuf]

"allegedly" with quote fingers gesture thing...

[Ksyrup]

Although to be fair to Billy, the guy never followed through and didn't even get Wacko Jacko money to make it all go away:

People Briefs: Billy Joel Lawsuit is Dropped
(from the 1994 N.Y. Times News Service)



A $10 million copyright infringement lawsuit against the singer Billy Joel has been dropped. Alan Friedman, Joel's lawyer, said that Gary Zimmerman, the claimant, had received no money, The Associated Press reported Wednesday. Carl Person, Zimmerman's lawyer, confirmed that his client had dropped the suit and received no money.

Zimmerman, a songwriter in Merrick, N.Y., had charged that Joel had stolen his work for the hit songs ``We Didn't Start the Fire'' and ``River of Dreams.'' He contended that he had sent his unpublished song ``Nowhere Man'' to Joel in 1986 and that parts of it had been used in the two hits. Joel said he had never heard of Zimmerman's song.

[korme]

JAMES TAYLOR IS THE SHIZNIT

[WSUCougar]

Actor Ben Stiller is my Billy Joel. Watching him makes me squirm in my chair.

[cuervo72]

So we now have a Ksyrup AND a Bosco?

[Buddy Grant]

OK. And correct me if I am wrong because I really don't know everything there is to know about Billy Joel, but he doesn't write the music to his songs?
I always thought so, if not then I might have to withdraw some of my Billy Joel objections since they mostly pertain to the music:).

[BigJohn&TheLions]

.

Zimmerman, a songwriter in Merrick, N.Y., had charged that Joel had stolen his work for the hit songs ``We Didn't Start the Fire'' and ``River of Dreams.'' He contended that he had sent his unpublished song ``Nowhere Man'' to Joel in 1986 and that parts of it had been used in the two hits. Joel said he had never heard of Zimmerman's song.

So it's safe to assume that Mr. Zimmerman's song blew, as Mr. Joel's 2 songs both sucked zombie rectum.

[Glengoyne]

I am shocked a bit at the lack of love for Elton John and Billy Joel. Not to mention James Taylor. This is the music I love. I am sitting here in my office listening to "Madman across the water" and "Teaser and the Firecat"(Cat Stevens). "Down Easter Alexa" is among my favorite Billy Joel songs. Come on folks Honesty, Scenes from an Italian Restaurant, She's only a woman, Captain Jack, Piano Man, Only the Good Die young, Not to mention My life. You guys are WAY off on this one. Now if you don't like some stuff like Pressure, Still Rock and Roll to me, and Allentown I could understand it. It is just that carte blanch writing off all of those early works is just ludicrous.

[Craptacular]

I am sitting here in my office listening to "Madman across the water"

Levon sells cartoon balloons in town
His family business thrives
Jesus blows up balloons all day
Sits on the porch swing watching them fly

By the way, my friend's brother has forever ruined Tiny Dancer. Doubt if he made it up, but now all I can think about when I hear that song is "Hold me closer Tony Danza".

edit: Obviously, he didn't make it up, but that was actually the first time I heard anyone say/sing it.

[oykib]

Did Quiksand know that he was starting the new threadkiller?

If you're drunk, don't get behind the wheel, man.

[Buccaneer]

Oh I forgot, I love Capt Jack as well. That's three, which is still a very low percentage.

[Ksyrup]

Dola.

And btw, it's precisely that type of crap that I freakin' hate. If you're going to go through the trouble of actually performing, then write your own damn songs! Otherwise, find that ugly, fatass producer down in Orlando, have him give you some songs to sing, learn some dance moves, and be the next NSync.

Case in point:

MARILYN MANSON are currently in the studio recording new material, some of which will appear on a "best of collection" that will be released this fall. Besides all of their classics, the album will feature the new single, a cover of DEPECHE MODE's "Personal Jesus".

[Aardvark]

he's a fucking pianist. thats it. Rock and roll people need to play guitar or something. If you are a pianist, you are nothing more than a 2 bit lounge monkey that made good.

Jerry Lee Lewis is a pianist, and he's been thrown out of more lounges than you've had hot dinners.

[Desnudo]

...and he's been thrown out of more lounges than you've had hot dinners.

:confused:

[Fritz]

New (Old) Reason for Fritz:

2 songs on the Honeymoon in Vegas Soundtrack.

[cuervo72]

Well, wouldn't you know 'The Longest Time' came on when I was in CVS today, and damned if I didn't find myself whistling to it...

[Abe Sargent]

I have a hatred of pretty much all music not written by the band/artist performing it.


I know a lot of people who share that opinion. They say that they don't like Group X because they don't write their own music, etc. I tell them that the real reason they don't like Group X is because they don't like Group X's music, not because of the group not writing their own music, that's just an excuse. They usually agree with me.

So, the best cello player in the world who plays Beethoven, the best violinist playing Stravinsky, the best trumpeters playing Gershwin, that's music you hate? But if that celloist wrote the song you'd like it? I doubt that, I think that it's just you don't like the brand of music.

I do hate it when a band or artist does a cover of a song and tries to be as close to the original as possible - that's not originality as all. How ho hum. So we can agree on that, at least. But I love it when a band or artist takes a song, twists it, and interprets it completely differently than before (See Rammstein's version of Depeche Mode's "Stripped" or Johnny Cash's version of NIN's "Hole" as examples of taking a song and completely changing it around).

-Anxiety

[Ksyrup]

I know a lot of people who share that opinion. They say that they don't like Group X because they don't write their own music, etc. I tell them that the real reason they don't like Group X is because they don't like Group X's music, not because of the group not writing their own music, that's just an excuse. They usually agree with me.

So, the best cello player in the world who plays Beethoven, the best violinist playing Stravinsky, the best trumpeters playing Gershwin, that's music you hate? But if that celloist wrote the song you'd like it? I doubt that, I think that it's just you don't like the brand of music.

I do hate it when a band or artist does a cover of a song and tries to be as close to the original as possible - that's not originality as all. How ho hum. So we can agree on that, at least. But I love it when a band or artist takes a song, twists it, and interprets it completely differently than before (See Rammstein's version of Depeche Mode's "Stripped" or Johnny Cash's version of NIN's "Hole" as examples of taking a song and completely changing it around).

-Anxiety
I guess I should rephrase - I don't hate the music, I dislike artists who decide the only way they can be successful is to perform other people's music. It has absolutely nothing to do with the type or style of music; it has everything to do with creativity.

As far as classical music, I don't hate the music, but I don't have much respect for people who do nothing with their obvious talent but play someone else's music. I grew up playing piano, and after 15 years I could play some pretty complex stuff, but I quit when I realized that was all I could do, because I didn't want to be one of them. Again, it's got nothing to do with the music, because I played it for years and enjoyed it (although I didn't, and don't, listen to it otherwise).

I don't have a problem with cover songs per se. Really, my only objection is when an artist uses other people's music to make themselves successful. I just don't respect bands like Orgy or Alien Ant Farm or the Fugees or P Puff Diddy Daddy or Michael Bolton, "artists" who make themselves successful by covering songs that were already hits. Gee, how tough is that? How legitimate do you have to be to make a #1 song #1 again? However, I enjoy hearing covers by bands when they are thrown in on an album, or as part of a tribute or even as part of a themed CD of covers showing that artist's influences. To me, there's a legitimate reason for those types of covers aside from the "well we can't write a hit, so let's record someone else's and release it so we can have a hit and be known." Or, artists who have someone write everything they record, because they can't do much else but dance and sing. It's called Las Vegas - go open for Liza if that's what you want to do.

BUt as far as your main point goes - that I don't like the music, rather than the artist - you're wrong. I have equal disdain for artists who do this kind of thing, be it metal, rock, pop, country, whatever. Now, you will find more of this happening in pop music, and I certainly don't like the Britney Spears-type crap, but I'd hate that stuff even if she wrote every song and played every instrument on her albums. I would have quite a bit more respect for her, though, than I do right now.

[Ksyrup]

Is this what all of the snickering is that I hear around here?



BAYVILLE, New York (AP) -- Singer-songwriter Billy Joel was slightly injured and mostly embarrassed when he lost control of his car on a rain-slicked road and banged into a house, the Grammy Award-winning artist's third car accident in two years.

There was no evidence of alcohol or drug involvement and Joel was not suspected of any crime, said Nassau County police Officer Joan Eames, a police spokeswoman.

Witnesses said the accident occurred at about 4 p.m. Sunday, when Joel, driving a burgundy and black car, crashed through a row of bushes and banged into a small beige home one block from the beach.

"He seemed embarrassed that he lost control of the car," said witness Thomas Phillips Jr. "He said, 'I can't believe I got in another accident.' He was just going out to get a pizza."

The accident left a crack in the house's foundation and 6-foot-long skid marks in the sand in the street, witnesses said. Joel suffered a small cut on his left ring finger but refused medical attention, Eames said.

No one was in the car with Joel, and no one in the house was injured, police said. A call to Joel's publicist, Claire Mercuri, was not immediately returned Sunday.

Last year Joel was hospitalized after smashing his car into a tree along a highway on far eastern Long Island. No summonses were issued, and Joel was not given a Breathalyzer test.

Joel, a member of the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, escaped serious injury in a crash in East Hampton in June 2002. He later checked into a New Canaan, Connecticut, substance abuse and psychiatric center.

Joel was involved in a motorcycle accident on Long Island in 1983.

He and model Christie Brinkley, who divorced in 1994, have a teenage daughter, Alexa Ray. Following last year's car accident, Brinkley expressed concerns about their daughter riding in a car with him.

Joel has had more than two dozen Top 10 hits in his career, including his signature 1974 song "Piano Man." His music, including the title song "Movin' Out," is currently the subject of a Broadway musical.

[GrantDawg]

Crap, I was about to post this in a thread intitled "Quicksand wanted for questioning" :)

[BishopMVP]

or Alien Ant FarmFWIW, I think they didn't like that perception either. I saw them open for 311 and they didn't even play Smooth Criminal. They actually were pretty good, and played half the set acoustically, which surprised me. They seemed like a good band that went with the gimmick to get attention, and now is trying to shed that label but retain the success.

[Ksyrup]

This will make it much easier for QS to punch him in the face now...

His eyes do look a little red...


Billy Joel in Rehab

http://content.clearchannel.com/Photos/musicians/billy_joel/billy_joel_GI.jpg


Stephanie Cole - Clear Channel News

After a recent stint in the hospital last month for severe gastric pains, Billy Joel has checked himself into rehab.

E!Online.com is reporting the singer has a drinking problem and wants to get help.

His representative said in a statement, "Following a recent bout of severe gastro-intestinal distress, Billy Joel has checked himself into an undisclosed rehabilitation facility for treatment of alcohol abuse. Mr. Joel has asked that his privacy be respected." This will be the entertainer's second stint in rehab. In 2002, he checked into a Connecticut facility for treatment of a substance-abuse problem.

[Critch]

He's a quitter, another reason to dislike him.

[Radii]

I'm on song 15 out of 50 on my Billy Joel playlist on my ipod. Aren't you all envious? :)

[Mac Howard]

Three ideas come to mind QS:

1) it confirms your worst fears about the cultural/ntellectual level of out society that such bland, mediocre music can be so popular

2) a hatred of the guys who play his music as an easy option and won't take the trouble to find something more interesting

3) a realisation that these guys are probably more in touch with the cultural/intellectual level of our society than you are (and probably making a lot more money) :)

[QuikSand]

As is so often the case, Mac, you're spot on.

[HomerJSimpson]

Losers are users
and users are losers
So, don't lose your drugs
Don't lose your drugs!

[BigJohn&TheLions]

I'm on song 15 out of 50 on my Billy Joel playlist on my ipod. Aren't you all envious? :)

No.

You know why? Because when you get to "Uptown Girl" you will put the snub-nosed .38 in your mouth and end the pain.

[Mac Howard]

As is so often the case, Mac, you're spot on.

But I missed one out, QS:

the radio station playing exactly the music you love to hear was closed down from lack of sponsership and popular support and was replaced by - a station playing Billy Joel music :rolleyes:

[SlapBone]

I think that that's a lot of it with him. You don't get the sense that he really beleives anything that he is singing.

That would not be so bad (nothing wrong with singing something that you don't feel), except for the fact that he pretendsto be all deep and into his music. Getting up there and singing "Who shot the Na Na" is fine when you are not pretending that you are doing anything other than making fun music. Singing something heartfelt and feeling it is fine, too. But pretending to be deeper than you are when you are just faking it comes off as . . . fake.

The best example (there are many) is that song "Downeaster Alexis" (or something like that) where he gives a psuedo-soul tribute mourning the loss of his life at sea.

And--part and parcel with this whole thing is his image of himself as a musical genius. Blech.


Case in point is that until I read his eulogies last year, I thought Johnny Cash had done hard time for killing a man. Johnny Cash told stories that you wanted to believe.

[SlapBone]

No.

You know why? Because when you get to "Uptown Girl" you will put the snub-nosed .38 in your mouth and end the pain.

I don't think he will get to Uptown Girl, it is probably just "We Didn't Start the Fire" on repeat.

[Ksyrup]

Johnny Cash killed his wife in 1974, because she was in complete control of the profits from his music career and threatened to reveal that he had sex with a 16 year old backup singer.

Oh wait...that was an episode of Columbo.

Damn, he was good!

[Marmel]

So I went to see Billy last night at the Mohegan Sun Arena in Connecticut. I am not a huge fan, but I generally like his music.

He looks old and out of shape, but the guy can still put on a really great show. He has a great stage persona as well. About 90% of the set are his hits that everyone wants to hear. I hate when performers play a lot of their B-sides or deeper album tracks, especially if I am just a casual fan of the guy. Billy played the songs you know for the most part. Piano Man is a classic, Scenes from an Italian Restaurant was great. His piano solo was pretty amazing. He has some amazing musicians in his band, particularly his horn section.

Not sure how anyone can actually hate the guy, even if you are not a fan of his music. *shrug*

Finished third in a 100 dollar single table sit and go. Mohegan doesn't have a poker room but they have a half dozen electronic poker tables. It is actually pretty cool, though I still prefer having chips and cards...I can see this type of poker table becoming more popular though.

Here is a link to the pokerpro electronic table. I want one for my home. :p


http://www.playpokerpro.com/

[SFL Cat]

I'll take Billy Joel over Barry Manilow any day of the week.

[Galaxy]

Is this your twin QS?

http://www.slate.com/id/2209526/

[Ben E Lou]

Thread moved per request.

[Groundhog]

LOL yeah, I read that article yesterday. Funny stuff.

[CraigSca]

Lindsay Lohan Gets Billy Joel Lyrics Tattooed on Her Trunk | Photos - ABC News (http://abcnews.go.com/Entertainment/slideshow/lindsay-lohan-billy-joel-lyrics-tattoo-2085583)

[stevew]

Just looking for this thread to bump. B

[stevew]

Lindsay Lohan is showing off her latest body art. The 25-year-old actress hit the tattoo parlor to get some inspirational words inked on her rib cage.
Her message of choice? "Clear as a crystal, sharp as a knife I feel like I'm in the prime of my life," lyrics from Billy Joel's 1989 hit song, "I Go to Extremes."

[stevew]

Trola

Would be a better story if she got a tattoo of Africa started slightly below her belly button and "Belgians in the Congo" to shed light on an area that was abused and ravaged.

[Suburban Rhythm]

Lindsay Lohan Gets Billy Joel Lyrics Tattooed on Her Trunk | Photos - ABC News (http://abcnews.go.com/Entertainment/slideshow/lindsay-lohan-billy-joel-lyrics-tattoo-2085583)

That use of "trunk" irks me more than Billy Joel ever has.

[JediKooter]

She should get a tattoo of Bob Seger on her ass.

[QuikSand]

Well, it seems like this should at least make it a bit easier for the authorities to identify her corpse someday soon. *shurg*

[Matthean]

She should get a tattoo of Bob Seger on her ass.

Against the Wind?

[B & B]

Downtown train?

[JediKooter]

Hollywood Nights.

[gkb]

I ashamedly admit to singing Billy Joel's Lullabye Song to my newborn son. He started kindergarten this year. I will now proceed to manly weeping in the corner about my little angel and how fast he's growing.

[CrimsonFox]

I think I speak for everyone, Agpete, when I say ...

fuck you Agpete. fuck you

muwahahahaahahahah

Artist: Billy Joel
Song: We Didnt Start The Fire

Lyrics:

Harry Truman, Doris Day, Red China, Johnnie Ray
South Pacific, Walter Winchell, Joe DiMaggio

Joe McCarthy, Richard Nixon, Studebaker, television
North Korea, South Korea, Marilyn Monroe


Rosenbergs, H-bomb, Sugar Ray, Panmunjom
Brando, The King and I and The Catcher in the Rye


Eisenhower, vaccine, England's got a new queen
Marciano, Liberace, Santayana goodbye


CHORUS
We didn't start the fire
It was always burning
Since the world's been turning
We didn't start the fire
No we didn't light it
But we tried to fight it


Joseph Stalin, Malenkov, Nasser aand Prokofiev
Rockefeller, Campanella, Communist Bloc


Roy hn, Juan Peron, Toscanini, dacron
Dien Bien Phu falls, Rock Around the Clock


Einstein, James Dean, Brooklyn's got a winning team
Davy Crockett, Peter Pan, Elvis Presley, Disneyland


Bardot, Budapest, Alabama, Krushchev
Princess Grace, Peyton Place, trouble in the Suez


CHORUS


Little Rock, Pasternak, Mickey Mantle, Kerouac
Sputnik, Chou En-Lai, Bridge on the River Kwai


Lebanon, Charlse de Gaulle, California baseball
Starkweather, homicide, children of thalidomide


Buddy Holly, Ben Hur, space monkey, Mafia
Hula hoops, Castro, Edsel is a no-go


U-2, Syngman Rhee, payola and Kennedy
Chubby Checker, Psycho, Belgians in the Congo


CHORUS


Hemingway, Eichmann, Stranger in a Strange Land
Dylan, Berlin, Bay of Pigs invasion


Lawrence of Arabia, British Beatlemania
Ole Miss, John Glenn, Liston beats Patterson


Pope Paul, Malcolm X, British politician sex
JFK, blown away, what else do I have to say


CHORUS


Birth control, Ho Chi Minh, Richard Nixon back again
Moonshot, Woodsto, Watergate, punk rock
Begin, Reagan, Palestine, terror on the airline
Ayatollah's in Iran, Russians in Afghanistan


Wheel of Fortune, Sally Ride, heavy metal, suicide
Foreign debts, homeless vets, AIDS, crack, Bernie Goetz
Hypodermics on the shores, China's under martial law
Rock and roller cola wars, I can't take it anymore


CHORUS


We didn't start the fire
But when we are gone
Will it still burn on, and on, and on, and on...

[CrimsonFox]

In high school I listened to Billy Joel a LOT. And it was always on the radio. Then I just stopped. And every time I hear a BJ song it reminds me of high school...which I did not like at all.

From a music standpoint it just cannot compare with more hardedgeed or explorative rock. It's mostly bubblegum pop, AM easy listening, and dare I say it wussrock.

There are some classics sure. Say Goodbye to Hollywood. Pressure. The Stranger. Sometimes a Fantasy. Stiletto. Zanzibar.
Admittedly the ones I like were more obscure songs from early/middle albums. I did like his attitude actually. He was just basically a toughguy slacker newyorker who was good at music. Being a Piano player centered in a rock band is tough and I generally like that sound. But I prefer Joe Jackson or Ben Folds and Elton John (in that order) to Billy. Maybe it's because I have heard BJ's songs waywaywaywaywaywaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaay too much EVERYWHERE. (and not even the ones I like).

[CrimsonFox]

and he's tradin' in his chevy for a cadillac-ac-ac-ac-ac-ac
you oughta know by now

[Schmidty]

I like it when a thread is bumped from years and years ago, and people post in without noticing that it's old and they are very late to the party. :)

[RedKingGold]

http://www.big13.net/images/big_13_graphic.jpg

http://www.childrensclassics.com.au/images/sesame_street_friends.jpg

=

http://img.directindustry.com/images_di/photo-g/bourdon-tube-pressure-gauge-383136.jpg

[CrimsonFox]

http://www.big13.net/images/big_13_graphic.jpg

http://www.childrensclassics.com.au/images/sesame_street_friends.jpg

=

http://img.directindustry.com/images_di/photo-g/bourdon-tube-pressure-gauge-383136.jpg

LOL I get it!

[Qwikshot]

Look, I listened to a lot of Billy Joel. I admit it, I remember the Pressure video, Allentown video, and the godawful Only Human...I bought Storm Front for chrissakes.

I didn't know any better.

That being said, there were/are a few gems. Let's face it, the guy was able to market schlock and make a killing, he even married a supermodel.

Now Bob Segar, you don't mess with....harp all you want about "Like a Rock" and "Against the Wind", the man paid his dues. "Strut", hell, the entire "Stranger in Town" album is a stone cold classic. I even like the maudlin "Main Street"...and his "Turn the Page" basically locks how hard it was being a touring man in the 70's (before it became a fad to write sappy power ballads about missing your woman while you were doing as many women on the road and drugs to offset missing that particular woman)...at least "Turn the Page" is about the isolation and weariness of performing...I love "Night Moves" too.

And I do love Journey too, but Boston sucks.

eff you for juding me :)

btw- really into Harry Nilsson now

[Ksyrup]

I like Seger, but that's probably because I'm from Detroit and when I think of my childhood there in terms of music (we moved when I was 10), it's basically Seger, Ted Nugent, and WRIF.

[CrimsonFox]

Yup Seger's got soul and his guitar playing is top notch.

I don't like all his songs but a good number of em. Against the WInd, Night Moves, Main Street. Can't stand LIke a Rock though. I can deal with Turn the Page.

Blech Nugent. He had like one song and I don't even like it. I like old Journey before Greg Rollie left. After ROllie was just horrible horrible power ballads and nothing but.
Perry is a douchebag.

Not sure how you can LIKE Journey and HATE Boston. It's the same type of sound. I do like Brad Delp and his high high notes.

[stevew]

All I heard growing up was that Mark Knopfler was a genius. I don't see it.

[SteveMax58]

She should get a tattoo of Bob Seger on her ass.

They do respect her, but...

[JPhillips]

Isn't it time to turn the page on Lohan?

[dzilla77]

All I heard growing up was that Mark Knopfler was a genius. I don't see it.

Just curious, do you play guitar? Most of my guitar playing budies and myself, who have (tried to) learned his songs hold his guitar playing skills in high regard. His leads and solos are deceptively complex.

But as with all things music, YMMV.

[JediKooter]

Good thought dzilla77. I hate Prince's music, but, dude is one hell of a great guitar player/musician.

[stevew]

Just curious, do you play guitar? Most of my guitar playing budies and myself, who have (tried to) learned his songs hold his guitar playing skills in high regard. His leads and solos are deceptively complex.

But as with all things music, YMMV.

I guess I don't have the slightest clue how to play guitar, and am referring to merely his 2 or 3 popular songs which are so fucked out.

[Rizon]

.

[tucking fypo]

I found this article while asking myself the same question. Kind of long but an excellent read and can't disagree with the author much...except I wouldn't know about being from New Jersey.

The awfulness of Billy Joel (http://www.slate.com/id/2209526/)

[dzilla77]

I guess I don't have the slightest clue how to play guitar, and am referring to merely his 2 or 3 popular songs which are so fucked out.

Yeah, if you are talking about Money for Nothing and Walk of Life, you have not heard his best guitar work. Dire Straits early stuff is very good and a lot of his solo stuff is also good - Sultans of Swing, Romeo and Juliet, Expresso Love and Brothers in Arms are all good Dire Straits stuff.

[dzilla77]

Good thought dzilla77. I hate Prince's music, but, dude is one hell of a great guitar player/musician.

Yeah agree with this except for his really early stuff - where he actually played the guitar (and that was only tolerable).

[JediKooter]

Yeah agree with this except for his really early stuff - where he actually played the guitar (and that was only tolerable).

Hate was a bit harsh on my part. I can't say I hate it, just don't really like it, but, will admit that I like 1999.

[CrimsonFox]

Yeah, if you are talking about Money for Nothing and Walk of Life, you have not heard his best guitar work. Dire Straits early stuff is very good and a lot of his solo stuff is also good - Sultans of Swing, Romeo and Juliet, Expresso Love and Brothers in Arms are all good Dire Straits stuff.


I've heard this too about Mark Knopfler being considered a god. But...well...I wouldn't know. Cause he's not much of a songwriter. So I haven't heard most of his godlike abilities. I love Sultans of Swing but wouldn't mention anything else in songs other than a few I merely "like".

Billy Joel is a great musician when he wants to be. Note never about guitar playing. Being a keyboard-centered band is tricky.

It never totally sounds like rock and roll. Most of his examples of incredibly good musicianship are obscure tracks that no one's heard of.

I also think Joel purposely went for an easy-listening/lovecentric collection of songs to get women listening to him.

[Draft Dodger]

they really need the lyrics written out?

[Draft Dodger]

King Charles rewrote the song, so new lyrics.

but they were singing the chorus?

[Sgt Tomorrow]

I hate to drag up an old post, but I have figured out why I hate certain artists, and it fits here. I might find myself tapping or humming to a song I hate, especially someone like Billy Joel. I don't hate Billy Joel. No reason to. But there are some songs that make my skin crawl. Why? It brings me back to a place I don't want to be. For someone like Billy Joel, it brings me back to Friday Night Videos, the highlight of my week as a teen. I hated the fact life was going on out there, life where people had choices to do things, live, experience. I'm here on a Friday night watching Billy Joel videos. I am not even old enough to freakin drive. Songs may be great, well written, good music, but the feeling I get brings me back to a time where I was not free. So thats why I might not wanna here his shit today, why I tap my foot, think I hate him, when I dont really. He is actually pretty good...

[hoopsguy]

Well, I probably don't add this link to the list of reasons to hate the guy ...
Billy Joel Stuns Vanderbilt with Once-In-A-Lifetime Answer to Student's Question (http://gawker.com/5990118/billy-joel-stuns-vanderbilt-with-once+in+a+lifetime-answer-to-students-question)

[M GO BLUE!!!]

Well, I probably don't add this link to the list of reasons to hate the guy ...
Billy Joel Stuns Vanderbilt with Once-In-A-Lifetime Answer to Student's Question (http://gawker.com/5990118/billy-joel-stuns-vanderbilt-with-once+in+a+lifetime-answer-to-students-question)

That was cool.

I was reading how his first LP was screwed up so bad by the company (pressed sped up) and they wouldn't repress it, so to get out of his deal he had to give up 20% of his music rights on everything recorded from 72-85. Talk about getting screwed...

[Kodos]

Bob Seger sucks.

[Logan]

Saw this and thought of QS:

<iframe width="640" height="360" src="//www.youtube.com/embed/waOp_cVluNg?feature=player_embedded" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe>

Watch Billy Joel Totally Eff Up, and Then Hate On, ‘We Didn’t Start the Fire’ « (http://grantland.com/hollywood-prospectus/watch-billy-joel-totally-eff-up-and-then-hate-on-we-didnt-start-the-fire/)

[SackAttack]

That was cool.

I was reading how his first LP was screwed up so bad by the company (pressed sped up) and they wouldn't repress it, so to get out of his deal he had to give up 20% of his music rights on everything recorded from 72-85. Talk about getting screwed...

I've wondered why everything on that album sounds much faster than it feels like it should.

[Lathum]

I heard him on Howard Stern a while back and he was great.

[britrock88]

Awesome clip.

[BlackJack]

He still sucks. The fact that he knows it doesn't make it any less so.

[Matthean]

<iframe width="560" height="315" src="//www.youtube.com/embed/cU-eAzNp5Hw" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe>

[cthomer5000]

We're nearing a decade of hatred. Completely justified.

[Toddzilla]

http://www.siriusxm.com/servlet/Satellite?blobcol=urlimage&blobkey=id&blobtable=ImageAsset&blobwhere=1293939736417&ssbinary=true

[Kodos]

I will admit that I think BJ is a bit of a jerk, but I do like quite a few of his songs.

[cuervo72]

I had 40s on 4 as one of my car presets. Didn't tune to it often, but fuck Billy Joel anyway.

[stevew]

I was in a convenience store today and Movin' Out was on and I was thinking, this song is pretty well written. Then I remembered the heart attack-ack-ack-ack-ack part and he can go fuck of for that.

[QuikSand]

Stay strong, friend.

[Blackadar]

After looking at his daughter, I don't know how anyone could hate Billy Joel.

[flere-imsaho]

That's mostly Christie Brinkley though, right?

[Matthean]

That's mostly Christie Brinkley though, right?

After looking up pics, there's not enough Christie in her looks. She's middle of the road at best in terms of rock star daughters.

[Qwikshot]

I think I can tolerate Billy Joel...the worst song though, is the "Entertainer", god, it's as annoying as Paul McCartney's "Wonderful Christmas Time" song. I hate it beyond all reason of measure. Worse still it's about how as an entertainer he has to write trite stuff because that's what his fans want to hear. Can I say how much I /hate/ that song and it's whiny synthesizer, I just want to punch him in the face when I hear it.

Frankly speaking, Billy Joel like Phil Collins became a go to for people to hate, they crank out these poppish songs that are supposed to /mean/ something and after a while people just got tired. I really feel that these two were about writing stuff that meant something (hear Goodnight Saigon, Allentown, Downeaster Elexa, We Didn't Start the Fire from Mr. Joel, or Another Day in Paradise by Collins). Joel sounds better when he's having fun, I don't think Phil Collins ever had fun. (The Collins backlash became a fun thing to do after "Blame Canada" lost out to his Tarzan song). We can mock Billy for driving drunk but I feel somewhat guilty because this guy drank paint thinner (I think) after his first band Attila didn't break through.

Elton John on the other hand never seemed to take himself seriously perhaps that's why he doesn't get crapped on as much.

I grow bored of Piano Man, but Joel has some songs that I can enjoy and I do like his two more noted ballads ("She's Got a Way and She's Always a Woman aren't bad). When he rocks though it can be somewhat comical--anyone remember the awkward "Matter of Trust" video?

So I don't hate Billy Joel unless the "Entertainer" is playing.

[Kodos]

I love Phil Collins. Genesis became much better when Peter Gabriel left. Phil does do fun songs, but they usually have a strange twist on them. "Keep It Dark" and "Domino: Part I and II" come to mind. Plus, "I Can't Dance" was certainly fun. In general, I think Phil had fun making fun of himself.

I do think Phil is at his best musically when he's mad.

I'm sure most people disagree with my "Genesis got better when Peter Gabriel left" comment. But then I also preferred Van Halen with Sammy as the singer, so I'm not afraid to take unpopular stands musically. Heck, Def Leppard has been my favorite band since 1983, so I've learned to take the crap I'm given for my musical tastes in stride.

[Qwikshot]

I love Phil Collins. Genesis became much better when Peter Gabriel left. Phil does do fun songs, but they usually have a strange twist on them. "Keep It Dark" and "Domino: Part I and II" come to mind. Plus, "I Can't Dance" was certainly fun. In general, I think Phil had fun making fun of himself.

I do think Phil is at his best musically when he's mad.

I'm sure most people disagree with my "Genesis got better when Peter Gabriel left" comment. But then I also preferred Van Halen with Sammy as the singer, so I'm not afraid to take unpopular stands musically. Heck, Def Leppard has been my favorite band since 1983, so I've learned to take the crap I'm given for my musical tastes in stride.

I think I would agree on Phil Collins Genesis, but Phil Collins solo can be maudlin stuff (except for maybe Billie Don't Lose my Number).

I may be wrong on this but Domino: Part I and II seem to be about the world ending. That being said "The Brazilian" is a kick ass instrumental at the end of "Invisible Touch".

While "I Can't Dance" was a nice way of poking fun at commercialism, "No Son of Mine", "Driving the Last Spike", "Dreaming While You Sleep" are pretty downer stuff on that album.

I feel like I'm channeling Patrick Bateman.

[JediKooter]

Heck, Def Leppard has been my favorite band since 1983...

5124

:)

[Kodos]

5124

:)

I anticipate they'll be my favorite until my dying day. They are far and away my favorite. Nobody else has ever mounted a serious challenge to them. It's a battle for second place.


In other popular musical opinions, I think the Beatles are overrated. I only like a few songs of theirs. I constantly get "your music wouldn't exist without the Beatles" comments. That's fine. Doesn't mean I enjoy them any more when I hear their songs. :)

[Kodos]

I enjoy the looks of horror and the seizures that people have when I tell them I would rather listen to Bryan Adams than the Beatles.

[JediKooter]

I anticipate they'll be my favorite until my dying day. They are far and away my favorite. Nobody else has ever mounted a serious challenge to them. It's a battle for second place.


In other popular musical opinions, I think the Beatles are overrated. I only like a few songs of theirs. I constantly get "your music wouldn't exist without the Beatles" comments. That's fine. Doesn't mean I enjoy them any more when I hear their songs. :)

You, sir, are definitely from another planet indeed. Or just a contrarian. :)

Rush...now that group has to be the most overrated group that I can think of.

[Kodos]

You, sir, are definitely from another planet indeed. Or just a contrarian. :)


Nah, I don't dislike the Beatles because they are almost universally cited as the best band in history (although I do get tired of hearing about it). I am just genuinely bored by their music. I don't like their style of music. I prefer pop metal, 80s rock, that sort of stuff. I much prefer Queen, Led Zeppelin, and The Eagles to The Beatles because their music fits into my wheelhouse much better. Different strokes for different folks. I like about 5 Rush songs.

FWIW, I think today's music is utter crap too. :)

The analogy I cite most often is that I am like a catfish. I know that I am a musical bottomfeeder, but I love it down here in the muck.

[Abe Sargent]

You, sir, are definitely from another planet indeed. Or just a contrarian. :)

Rush...now that group has to be the most overrated group that I can think of.


I loathe early Beatles stuff, and the later stuff is merely adequate. I'll hold your hand. With my switchblade.

[Kodos]

Another thing that pisses off Beatles fans is when I say that just about every Beatles cover that I hear is better than the original. Like, say, Tesla's "We Can Work It Out".

<iframe width="420" height="315" src="//www.youtube.com/embed/8FTIL2wlIMM" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe>

G 'n' R "Live and Let Die" is another cover that is superior to the original.

[Buccaneer]

I'm with you on the dislike for the Beatles, I seem like Beatles covers more than I do the Beatles versions.

However, you have to put them in the context of the times and compare them to what came before - not after. But even with that, I firmy believe buddy holly blows them away and I have a feeling some of the Beatles would agree with that (citing holly as a major influence).

[JediKooter]

Nah, I don't dislike the Beatles because they are almost universally cited as the best band in history (although I do get tired of hearing about it). I am just genuinely bored by their music. I don't like their style of music. I prefer pop metal, 80s rock, that sort of stuff. I much prefer Queen, Led Zeppelin, and The Eagles to The Beatles because their music fits into my wheelhouse much better. Different strokes for different folks.

FWIW, I think today's music is utter crap too. :)

The analogy I cite most often is that I am like a catfish. I know that I am a musical bottomfeeder, but I love it down here in the muck.

Well the thing to remember about the Beatles is, their accolades and admiration is well deserved and they have the music library to back it up. I'm with you with Queen, Led Zeppelin & The Eagles as far as liking their music. Like you say though, everyone has their tastes.

Most music today, just isn't very inspiring or very well thought out. I do give some props to the Black Keys though. I really like their music. But people like John Mayer and The Dave Mathews Band...ugh!!!

[Kodos]

However, you have to put them in the context of the times and compare them to what came before - not after. But even with that, I firmy believe buddy holly blows them away and I have a feeling some of the Beatles would agree with that (citing holly as a major influence).

I can acknowledge that they were important to music history and influenced much of what came after them. What I don't get is people being offended when I say I don't like them. Music is very subjective. I like what I like. I don't dislike the Beatles because they're popular - I dislike them because when I'm listening to them I'm bored or annoyed. (Plus, I think John Lennon was a dick.) It's just a natural reaction. I also don't like many forms of chocolate, which seems to blow some people's minds.

Another band I can't stand is The Doors. In general, I have a theory that any band, no matter how crappy, can come up with one good song. So far, The Doors are an exception. I hate everything that I have ever heard from them.

[Qwikshot]

I can acknowledge that they were important to music history and influenced much of what came after them. What I don't get is people being offended when I say I don't like them. Music is very subjective. I like what I like. I don't dislike the Beatles because they're popular - I dislike them because when I'm listening to them I'm bored or annoyed. (Plus, I think John Lennon was a dick.) It's just a natural reaction. I also don't like many forms of chocolate, which seems to blow some people's minds.

Another band I can't stand is The Doors. In general, I have a theory that any band, no matter how crappy, can come up with one good song. So far, The Doors are an exception. I hate everything that I have ever heard from them.

I like "Peace Frog", but Morrison was pretentious.

[Buccaneer]

That's funny you brought the Doors up. I have been watching youtube a lot recently, including many lists of all time or top 10 bands, etc. I find it fascinating to me that I really dislike some of the most popular and well-liked bands of all time:
Beatles
Rolling Stones
Doors
Jimi Hendricks
Cream

I wouldn't say any of them are overrated but I can't stand listening to them. Since I'm mostly about 70/80s music, guess I don't like 60s music that much.

[JediKooter]

Another band I can't stand is The Doors. In general, I have a theory that any band, no matter how crappy, can come up with one good song.

What's funny is, my best friend have had several conversations about that. Our consensus is: Usually, there is at least one song that you can come up with from any artist in any genre, that you will like.

[BlackJack]

What's funny is, my best friend have had several conversations about that. Our consensus is: Usually, there is at least one song that you can come up with from any artist in any genre, that you will like.

Only two words needed to disprove your theory: bon jovi

[JediKooter]

Only two words needed to disprove your theory: bon jovi

Haha!! Bon jovi is a good example of the theory not being true. However, I did say, "Usually". :)

[Alf]

I was at a Rolling Stones concert in the mid 90s in Paris and we had 2 first parts. First one was a realtively unknown canadian rock/country style guy. The guy was listened and even applaused.

Then the second first part was Bon Jovi and boy, that was so, well embarrassing, that everybody sat down and turnded their back at the scene (with massive boos too). Was fun to be there :)

Oh, and the effin old Rolling Stones can really "move" a crowd (even for non fans like me).

[Alf]

I'm with you on the dislike for the Beatles, I seem like Beatles covers more than I do the Beatles versions.
Thing is, the Beatles invented the concept of the band as we all know it now and that was 50 years ago (half a century, yes).

All covers are doing is only changing the "arrangements" part of the songs, the melody is usually the original one and that's the thing that works. Gotta give them credits for those brilliant melodies.

[Buccaneer]

Oh I give them lots of credit, I just don't like listening to them or the other bands on the above mentioned list.

[BishopMVP]

Thing is, the Beatles invented the concept of the band as we all know it now and that was 50 years ago (half a century, yes).

All covers are doing is only changing the "arrangements" part of the songs, the melody is usually the original one and that's the thing that works. Gotta give them credits for those brilliant melodies.I've had this same argument. I respect the Beatles a ton, and realize they must have been groundbreaking when they came out, but as someone who's heard bands and entire genres that were ripping off and sometimes improving on the better parts of their songs for 20 years before I was even born the original songs just don't do a ton for me.

[Vince, Pt. II]

Since I'm mostly about 70/80s music, guess I don't like 60s music that much.

That's it, you're officially not invited to any of my band's shows.

:)

(I'm in a '60s cover band)

[stevew]

Phil Collins is great with the exception of Susssudio.

[Buccaneer]

That's it, you're officially not invited to any of my band's shows.

:)

(I'm in a '60s cover band)

Yeah, I know you are and have followed your news about it. It is a broad generalization because there is no such thing as 60s (or 70s or 80s) music - lots of styles overlapping. My favorite band of all time (Pink Floyd) started in the 60s and while they were influenced by 60s psych rock, I don't know what x0s cover band you would put them in. At least the Beatles can fit neatly into one decade. ;)

[QuikSand]

Mrs Q is out enjoying a Billy Joel concert tonight. I chose kid duty.

[sterlingice]

So now we find the real reason for the thread: marital disagreement :D

SI

[EagleFan]

We know he's a closet fan. When no one is around he whistles Piano Man.

[JonInMiddleGA]

We know he's a closet fan. When no one is around he whistles Piano Man.

He don't care what you say anymore 'cause it's his life.

[Abe Sargent]

I think River of Dreams is an awesome song.

[Abe Sargent]

I just counted. I have 26 songs in my iTunes by good oj BJ .

I like him. He's not amazing, He's not the best artist in my life, and if I were to list my favorite artists of all time, I doubt he makes my top 40 list, but he's solid. His music is in a bunch of different genres - which I respect, because it's not boring. The topics differ, some are on real life (Goodnight Saigon, Allentown ) and not as many are about the obvious love/romance songs that are the bane of modern music. He's talented as all get out. He's fine by me.

I just listened to River fo Dreams again to disprove the thread. :)

[BishopMVP]

Bill Mahoney on Twitter: "In a Long Island Assembly race, the incumbent's being attacked for not working hard enough to honor Billy Joel https://t.co/t7BDV2DxV5" (https://twitter.com/mahoneyw/status/786545674317733888)

[rockboy70]

Don't they mean he was attack-ack-ack-ack-ack-ack'd

[Groundhog]

My random Billy Joel story: My high school basketball coach, an American who moved out to Australia probably in the early-to-mid 80s, was really good buddies with Billy Joel in high school, and every time he tours Australia Billy would go over to his house for dinner.

Can't stand his music, but I've always thought that was pretty cool.

[Suicane75]

There's a song on Glass Houses either called Lena or Doing It All For Lena. When I was in 2nd grade we had this little record area with a small carpet where you could go and listen to a record with the headphones on if you were done your work early. We had Quiet Riot, Billy Joel and some others I don't remember. I only listened to that Lena song a couple of times but there was a girl in our class named Lena, and I somehow thought that she and I would get married. She moved before the year was even done. I don't think I've ever listened to that song since then. The chorus still gets stuck in my head, some 30+ years later though.

[booradley]

One of the newer guys at work - a millennial - swears that Billy Joel is the greatest artist of all time. So, The Legend shall live on for another generation at least.

[QuikSand]

No.

[cuervo72]

Yeah, just wait until he gets his Nobel.

[timmae]

I think of QS every time I hit station 18 on Sirius. I have yet to stop and listen to anything mind you but still better than Babs.

[Butter]

Better question: Why do you have Channel 18 pre-programmed? I have nuked it... from orbit.

[timmae]

It is not pre programmed but also not hidden. I did enjoy yacht rock every once in a while. I was damn near 100% when playing "yacht rock or not yacht rock" on cross country drives!

[Butter]

OK, I'll own up to listening to some Yacht Rock channel this summer also.

[albionmoonlight]

Yeah, just wait until he gets his Nobel.

:)

[Scarecrow]

OK, I'll own up to listening to some Yacht Rock channel this summer also.

"Yacht Rock Radio - Don't disturb the smooth"
"Yacht Rock Radio - If the boat is rockin, we're probably having sex"
"Yacht Rock Radio - Have another Mai Tai"
"The seas maybe choppy, but it's smooth in here"


Yeah, I just put that voice back in your head...

(it's on internet channel 311, or so I've heard)

[BishopMVP]

"Yacht Rock Radio - Don't disturb the smooth"
"Yacht Rock Radio - If the boat is rockin, we're probably having sex"
"Yacht Rock Radio - Have another Mai Tai"
"The seas maybe choppy, but it's smooth in here"


Yeah, I just put that voice back in your head...

(it's on internet channel 311, or so I've heard)Yacht rock you say?

<iframe width="560" height="315" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/pkizL1oyYQc" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe>

[stevew]

What is Yacht rock? I imagine Dobie Gray's "Drift Away"?

[britrock88]

Mellow Steely Dan... Blue-eyed soul... Boz... so on.

[britrock88]

Yacht rock you say?

<iframe width="560" height="315" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/pkizL1oyYQc" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe>

This is amazing, btw.

[QuikSand]

Billy Joel, the Donald Trump of Pop Music &ndash; Tablet Magazine (http://www.tabletmag.com/jewish-arts-and-culture/music/226414/billy-joel-trump-of-pop-music)

[CrimsonFox]

This is a fun read.

http://www.vulture.com/2015/02/complete-works-121-billy-joel-songs-ranked.html

[Draft Dodger]

Quik,
my kid went to see Billy Joel last night at Fenway (not really his bag, went with his GFs family).

He happened to be outside when Joel arrived. Sadly, he did not heckle him (and actually had a good time)

[Ksyrup]

Apologies if this has been mentioned in this thread already, but if you really need a reason to hate Billy Joel any more than you might already, I highly recommend the documentary Hired Gun, about session musicians. Actually, I highly recommend it in its own right because it's a great watch, but the anecdotes about how horribly Billy Joel treated the 3 guys who helped make his music so popular in the early days are particularly interesting. Great example of session musicians being the behind-the-scenes engine for a lot of big acts and how quickly they get discarded like trash at the drop of a hat.

[CrimsonFox]

Apologies if this has been mentioned in this thread already, but if you really need a reason to hate Billy Joel any more than you might already, I highly recommend the documentary Hired Gun, about session musicians. Actually, I highly recommend it in its own right because it's a great watch, but the anecdotes about how horribly Billy Joel treated the 3 guys who helped make his music so popular in the early days are particularly interesting. Great example of session musicians being the behind-the-scenes engine for a lot of big acts and how quickly they get discarded like trash at the drop of a hat.

thanks for the recommendation! Sounds like my kinda thing!

I do remember those guys!

The Genesis drummer Chester Thompson is probably on it being salty about never being asked to be in the band

[weegeebored]

Apologies if this has been mentioned in this thread already, but if you really need a reason to hate Billy Joel any more than you might already, I highly recommend the documentary Hired Gun, about session musicians. Actually, I highly recommend it in its own right because it's a great watch, but the anecdotes about how horribly Billy Joel treated the 3 guys who helped make his music so popular in the early days are particularly interesting. Great example of session musicians being the behind-the-scenes engine for a lot of big acts and how quickly they get discarded like trash at the drop of a hat.Thanks for the Hired Gun mention. I heard about it last year on SiriusXM and just plain forgot. Speaking as a hack musician it was a really good watch.

And more on topic, I don't know how Billy Joel falls into the Rock category. Pop yes, but rock? I like maybe three or four of his songs and they are possibly iconic in their own right. Maybe. (And no, Piano Man is not one of them. Ugh. Much like BJ, possibly the most overrated popular song ever.) Big Shot, Just the Way You Are, Uptown Girl, Movin' Out...these are rock songs? A decent lyricist, but he's no rock musician.

[stevew]

Uptown Girl ruined my basic bitch dinner at Applebee’s tonight. Sadly Applebee’s is one of the best restaurants in my town.

[cartman]

Billy Joel is playing the concert during the Formula 1 weekend in Austin this year.

[QuikSand]

What I Would Be Thinking About If I Were Billy Joel Driving Toward a Holiday Party Where I Knew There Was Going to Be a Piano - McSweeney’s Internet Tendency (https://www.mcsweeneys.net/articles/what-i-would-be-thinking-about-if-i-were-billy-joel-driving-toward-a-holiday-party-where-i-knew-there-was-going-to-be-a-piano)

[flere-imsaho]

This thread is old enough to vote.

[NobodyHere]

My coworker is listening to Katy Perry and I don't like it.

[Ksyrup]

Line up the jokes...

Billy Joel Wishes He Could Take Back a Fourth of His Songs (https://ultimateclassicrock.com/billy-joel-take-back-fourth-songs/)

A few interesting tidbits in here. I didn't realize he hadn't put out an album of new material since River of Dreams (30 years ago!) and that he had lost his motivation/inspiration for writing new songs. I don't know if that realization came after he was sued for allegedly stealing the River of Dreams song, although as I recall, that suit went nowhere. But maybe he realized he had lost whatever songwriting skills he had and decided to hang it up. Also, he says he refuses to do the farewell cashgrab tours. Which... is a lot more than can be said for some other acts.

[QuikSand]

A journey of a thousand miles begins with a single step

[CrimsonFox]

Line up the jokes...
Also, he says he refuses to do the farewell cashgrab tours. Which... is a lot more than can be said for some other acts.

Wait! No he doesn't! He's doing one now!
And he keeps pairing himself with others so he doesn't have to work as hard. Right now it's with ....Stevie Nicks
He's a big fat liar

[Ksyrup]

Is he billing it as a farewell? He didn't say he wasnt touring, just that he's not promising it's the last time you'll see him and then doing another world tour next year.

[weegeebored]

A journey of a thousand miles begins with a single stepI love this saying as much as I hate Billy Joel.

[SackAttack]

I first started listening to his music in, like, '99/'00. Basically, went off to college, discovered genres that weren't "country," and he was one of a number of '70s & '80s acts for whom I discovered an appreciation.

But it wasn't until I stumbled on the Billy Joel Channel on Sirius XM that I came around to the realization that his lyrics really are some of the most pretentious bullshit in the business.

Doesn't matter to me, really. I like the tunes, I jam to 'em when I hear 'em.

But hearing essentially nothing BUT for two weeks, eventually I started actually listening to the lyrics and...well, pretentious bullshit.

Pretentious bullshit I enjoy, but pretentious bullshit.

[cartman]

sack, I don't know why you go to extremes

[Ksyrup]

Keep it to yourself, it's his life.

[Kodos]

I'm gonna leave a tender moment alone.

[QuikSand]

stop it

[Kodos]

I was honestly expecting the bump to be an announcement that Billy had died.