I like Billy Joel. I think he's amazingly talented and he's written some classic songs that will stay with us forever. That being said, I think I enjoy his 70s era music more than his 80s and 90s stuff. There are songs he did in the 70s that just take me back... After 1980 or so, his sound went a lot more pop/top 40 and became a lot more polished and mainstream. His "Piano Man" era was over and it was time for songs like "An Innocent Man"...
Don't get me wrong. He did some songs in the 80s that I did like a lot. Some of them were even as epic as his 70s era stuff. But given a choice, I'd rather listen to the stuff he did before he became a superstar.
Obviously, "Piano Man" is his signature song...
But I think "Honesty" might be the first song he ever did that I really loved. I was about six years old when this was popular and it fit right in with the whole Movie of the Week genre that was around at the time. It was a serious, somber song with a deep message and an emotional melody in a minor key... Listen to this and try not to catch the gravity of this song...
It took some time before I realized what a beautiful love song "Just The Way You Are" is. When I was younger, it seemed kind of schlocky and contrived. Now it means something to me...
in contrast to the fun of "Only the Good Die Young"...
I've always enjoyed the festive sound of "Don't Ask Me Why"...
and the harder edged sound of "You May Be Right"...
This is a lovely ode to a complicated woman... and a very thoughtful song indeed...
"Movin' Out (Anthony's Song)" always takes me back to the summer of 1978, when we had just moved back from England.
And "Stiletto" is another great song... a deeper cut from 52nd Street. It always reminds me of the 1979 film, All That Jazz.
I haven't seen Billy Joel in concert, though I know he and Elton John have teamed up successfully. I've heard Billy has become more of a classical composer, which is admirable I guess. But this is a man with an insane amount of musical talent. I have a lot of admiration for him, though he can't be considered one of my favorite artists. If I liked Billy's more recent stuff more, though, he'd definitely be in the running.
Don't get me wrong. He did some songs in the 80s that I did like a lot. Some of them were even as epic as his 70s era stuff. But given a choice, I'd rather listen to the stuff he did before he became a superstar.
Obviously, "Piano Man" is his signature song...
It took some time before I realized what a beautiful love song "Just The Way You Are" is. When I was younger, it seemed kind of schlocky and contrived. Now it means something to me...
in contrast to the fun of "Only the Good Die Young"...
I've always enjoyed the festive sound of "Don't Ask Me Why"...
and the harder edged sound of "You May Be Right"...
"Movin' Out (Anthony's Song)" always takes me back to the summer of 1978, when we had just moved back from England.
And "Stiletto" is another great song... a deeper cut from 52nd Street. It always reminds me of the 1979 film, All That Jazz.
I haven't seen Billy Joel in concert, though I know he and Elton John have teamed up successfully. I've heard Billy has become more of a classical composer, which is admirable I guess. But this is a man with an insane amount of musical talent. I have a lot of admiration for him, though he can't be considered one of my favorite artists. If I liked Billy's more recent stuff more, though, he'd definitely be in the running.
Unusual taste in music. Your 'About Me' says 'female' - really useful. Let me see, I reckon you're teen years were late 80s to mid 90's? The big stuff around then would be Nirvana and the grunge stuff. REM, Chilli Peppers,Beck, Rage Against the Machine. Can't see you being into metal so I wont mention them. Singer songwriters around then would be Tori Amos, Alanis Morissette, Sheryl Crowe and all the rest of the 90s stuff but you opt for the old balladeers. I'm guessing its because you moved around so much as a kid. In one sense I don't envy kids of army personnel, constantly on the move, leaving friends behind and having to make new ones in a different culture. Or maybe its a good experience, I dunno?
ReplyDeleteActually, I graduated high school in 1990. You're about five years off. I have three older sisters and their tastes influenced me a lot. By the time the late 80s hit, I had pretty much quit listening to a lot of the popular stuff. I do like Nirvana, Sheryl Crow, and REM, sorta... My husband likes a lot of the bands you posted about, but he's 8 years older than I am!
ReplyDeleteAnd actually, I didn't move around much as a kid. My dad retired from the Air Force when I was six years old. We moved from England to the DC area, lived there for two years, then my parents moved to Gloucester, Virginia, where I spent the rest of my coming of age years. My parents still own the house I grew up in, but they've been trying to sell it for years. My sisters got the typical Air Force globetrotting experience. I missed out on it growing up, but am making up for it as an Army wife.
I have very eclectic tastes in music, though... I like everything from classical to bluegrass. I play a MEAN game of SongPop.
Yep, me too. Reggae,blues,ska, bluegrass you name it. I love bluegrass, even the spiritual stuff. You left the UK just as the punk/indie scene was getting under way, here's some of the stuff you may have missed when you left. There's other mad music shit in there too.
ReplyDeletehttp://www.youtube.com/user/pkirbyster5/videos?flow=grid&view=1
Must try that SongPop.
Very cool! I subscribed!
ReplyDeletei'm a lover of virtually all music done by Billy Joel, with the exception of his attempt at remaking himself into a classical musician. That era, broad "classical" era, consisting of renaissance, baroque, classical, romance, post-romance, modern, post modern -- had its day, some m0re of a day than others, but it's over. Instrumental music, pop, jazz, whatever, can still succeed, but not by the obsolete genre.
ReplyDeleteBilly Joel wasn't an educated man by academic standards -- he dropped out of high school to help support his mom, I believe -- yet came up with his own lyrics, and did so in a very literary manner. His music is a testament to an innate knowledge of music theory, although I doubt he was a schooled in that department, either,as were some of his contemporaries. He's a logical comparison to Elton John -- whom I also adore -- though John has the decided disadvantage of not having written his own lyrics. Their piano skills, though both beyond virtuosity, differed. Elton John's was more flashy and a little more stylistically contemporary, where Billy Joel's was closer to the style employed by those who played the works of the masters. Yet he could get down and jam when a situation called for it.
My aunt asked her husband to take care of all the music at their wedding, as he;s a musician and she isn't. He chose, for their first dance, "She's Always a Woman." I think most of us agree that it's a gorgeous piece of music (to me it ranks uo there with "Elton John's "Your Song") but my aunt was mildly miffed at his choice, as it made her seem somewhat uncaring and duplicitous. The lines "shell carelessly cut you and laugh while you're bleeding" and "she can ruin your faith with her casual lies" were bothersome to her, yet the shoe totally fit, and it was a beautiful first dance. She now grees and remembers it fondly.
My uncle's encore at his senior piano recital was "And So It Goes," (not kosher by BYU standards for a senior piano recital but approved in advance by the dean) after which he got down on one knee, presented his bride-to-be with a single pink rose, and proposed. They'd already talked of marriage, so it wasn't totally out of the blue, but it was very romantic.
My dad, who is a guitarist but studied piano as a child and plays a little on occasion, still sometimes plays and sings "Goodnight, My Angel" to me. I love the song.
I haven't heard much more than a few bars of his classical stuff. Although I will be among the first to agree that Billy Joel is a fantastic musician with incredible talent, his attempt to do classical music struck me as a bit arrogant. On the other hand, if anyone has the right to be arrogant about their musical talent, it's Billy Joel. I just remember seeing him on some interview on TV and he was holding up a score... It looked like a Schirmer score. I just kind of rolled my eyes.
ReplyDeleteYour family sounds extraordinary, Alexis... doctors and musicians galore!
P.S. I forgot to add that "Just the Way You Are" always in me evokes memories of Shakespeare's Sonnet 130, "My Mistress' Eyes Are Nothing Like the Sun."
ReplyDeleteMy mom's entire family (except for Aunt Victoria,who somehow missed out on the trait and may have been picked up by the wrong parents at the hospital) is very musical. the doctors aren't from that side of the family, either. Of the biological aunts and uncles on that side, one's in the air force, one is commercial pilot formerly in the force, one is a college tenniscoach, one aunt is a music professor, one is married to a dairyman and des the books, and my mom is degreed inmusic and is presently teaching university courses but spent most of her career as a school district office psychologist, director of special services, and school administrator. The Celts - Scottish and Irish in particular, even the ones who migrated to the hills of Appalachia, seem to retain the musical gene.
ReplyDeleteMy dad's musicality is more flukish. His two brothers sing and play guitar a bit, and one brother plays piano half decently. Both of my dad;s brothers are doctors, and one is married to a doctor as well. Of my dad's seven sisters, except for one, can;t even sing on key, and none play instruments. my dad's mom is probably somewhat musical, and my dad's dad is probably as unmusical as they come, and the dispersal of the talent among heir children was pretty random. two of my dad's sisters married doctors who still manage not to make ends meet with their decent salaries and nineteen bazillion kids. All the ther sisters are married to men who work in the church educational system or in some other capacity for the church. I don't think any of them are slated to be laid off. they're mostly about as poor as church mice and are subsidized by my grandfather.
the musical physician uncle about whom I boast regularly is not a biological relative nor even a relative by marriage. The wife's parents and my parents are best friends - my dad grew up in Florid with them from the time he was twelve until he went away to college and his mission. Through a series of extended stays and associations, the coule ended up informally adopting me as their niece. the "uncle" is a phenomenal musician, but I have no DNA in common with him. Musically and cognitively speaking, though, my parents didn't give us DNA that was too shoddy, although Matthew came up a little shallow in the gene pool except that, athletically speaking, he's as perfect a specimen as my mom and dad could have produced between the two of them, and he's even lucky enough to be handsome.
I agree, the Celts are very musical folks. I have a family full of musical people, too. My dad used to be quite a singer until he ended up on a ventilator for too long. He used to sing all the time. I always hated his voice, but other people loved it. He's sung at many weddings. My mom played organ professionally from the time she was 14. She quit playing professionally when she and my dad went into the assisted living center, but she still plays for the other residents sometimes.
ReplyDeleteI have several musical uncles on my dad's side. One of my uncles is in a band and has played organ for years. His son is about my age and plays professionally in a very well loved band the Roanoke, VA area. He plays several instruments but plays guitar professionally. He's also very artistic. My other uncles are less serious players but a couple of them play horns. I have another aunt who is also an organist. I'm a singer myself.
Here's our Maura O'Connell and your Nanci Griffith singing 'Trouble in The Fields.' Filmed and recorded in Scotland, what more can you ask? Particularly appropriate for International Women's Day.
ReplyDeletehttp://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8l87JpWkbI0
Awesome!
ReplyDeleteHeard this today. For all us 80s kids. A lot of the references are UK based but you'll still get some of them.
ReplyDeletehttp://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=HeEWtNaW6KE
Awesome again, Paul! I totally relate. I had a Meg and Mog book, too.
ReplyDelete