Has it ever been cool to like Billy Joel? For me, being a fan has meant being on the defensive for thirty years, and occasionally, to my shame, hiding my love away.
My mind goes back to the fall of 1978, when 52nd Street was released. I’d just turned sixteen. After school, I was at a friend’s house, listening to albums. Picture the scene: A bedroom lit by red bulbs and black lights, the walls covered with posters – those pyramids from Dark Side Of The Moon, Jethro Tull, ELP, The Dead, and a florescent Captain Zig-Zag. Incense burning from the belly of a little gold-plated Buddha. Sony turntable with the frosted hood. Marantz receiver with the brushed steel knobs. Into this den of prog rock cool, I introduced an interloper.
“Hey, have you heard Billy Joel’s new album?”
I might as well have asked if he’d heard the new Al Hirt record.
But I was at the age where I desperately wanted to be liked, desperately wanted to be cool, and desperately wanted to fit in. So I found myself simultaneously advancing the cause of Billy Joel and backpedaling by saying that he was different than – and probably not as cool as – Pink Floyd and Jethro Tull. I stopped short of lying about my ownership of 52nd Street, because I’d gotten it for my birthday a few days before, and I’d been listening to it non-stop. When I played songs like “Honesty” and “Rosalinda’s Eyes,” they moved me to tears. Something I couldn’t say about “Aquatarkus” or “Aqualung.” I remember trying to explain how cool “Rosalinda’s Eyes” was. “It’s a song about this unknown musician who’s really amazing, and he plays in the Spanish part of town, and the only thing that keeps him going is this girl Rosalinda . . .” Secretly, I was already playing out fantasies where I was that musician and I was in love with an imaginary Rosalinda, who coincidentally looked like Linda Ronstadt on the cover of Heart Like A Wheel.
Over the years, I’ve had arguments with Beatlemaniac friends who held that Billy Joel was a pale imitation of McCartney. Well, who can compare to McCartney at his best? But I still hold that Joel has a ton of songs – “Scenes From An Italian Restaurant,” “Vienna,” “Don’t Ask Me Why,” “Zanzibar” – that can easily stand with the best of any pop music, including The Beatles.
I admit that I kind of lost interest in Joel around the time of “We Didn’t Start The Fire.” And later stuff like “River of Dreams” just didn’t move me. But Turnstiles, The Stranger, 52nd Street, Glass Houses – those are amazing records.
I interviewed Billy Joel years later. It was in New York City at the Stanhope Hotel, near Central Park. He was registered under the name of a famous American author of the early 20th century (I won’t reveal the name, just in case he still uses it for an alias). It was my first major in-person interview. When Billy opened the door to his suite, I had a brief moment of being starstruck. In my head, I heard “Rosalinda’s Eyes.”
After the interview, he invited me and my girlfriend at the time to have lunch with him at a fancy Italian restaurant in midtown Manhattan. We rode in the back of his private car, while he complained about the afternoon traffic, even yelling out the window at a reckless cabbie. The restaurant was one of those places without a sign. Just a brass plate next to the door. All the waiters hopped to when we entered. “Ah yes, Mr. Joel, so nice to see you again!”
The interview continued over heaping plates of calamari, ziti and stuffed shells. I remember him saying, “You want more wine? C’mon, let’s get another bottle of red.” This was our very own scene from an Italian restaurant. I also recall that we had a dessert with white truffle shavings. When the check came, I glanced at it. Four hundred and fifty-seven dollars. Billy said, “This is on your magazine, right?” My heart stopped for a second, then he said, “Just kidding.”
After lunch, he brought us to the Hit Factory, where he said he was working on a song with a friend. Through the glass in the control room, I could see two grand pianos set up, side by side. And then I realized that the guy sitting at one of the pianos was Elton John. We got to be flies on the wall for about half an hour, listening to these two piano men rehearse a duet they’d written to a Bernie Taupin lyric called “Red, White and Blues.”
Even if I’d never had that unforgettable experience, I would still love Billy Joel.
No more guilt, no more defensiveness. I’m putting on 52nd Street right now.
Oh, one other Joel-related thing. One of my favorite scenes from Freaks & Geeks uses “Rosalinda’s Eyes.” It starts around 5:50 -
Great story Bill. I too have a love/hate thing with him. My theory about that horrible period of his was that he was trying to be Bruce Springsteen. Climbing on top of the speakers in concert and that kind of stuff. I did see him last year in Nashville and I thought it was a great show.
First time I’ve read your blog. I’ve heard a few of your tunes and I really like what I hear.
Hearing you describe 52nd St reminded me of hearing it the first time too. Rosalinda’s eyes has always been a favorite of mine…”James” is a great tune too. 70′s and early 80′s Joel was a great era. Your post articulated my thoughts on this topic. Nice.
I missed your Freaks and Geeks comment at the end. Funny, that’s what reminded me what a hot song Rosalinda’s eyes is/was. Judd Apatow put some great music on that show. I was also impressed when the drummer freak (Nick Andapolous) told his friends to listen to Joe Jackson because he has a great bass player. I think I made that exact comment back in the early 80′s to my heavy metal friends.
If you don’t love some Billy Joel, you don’t love yourself.