Was it EVER cool to like Billy Joel? There was a guy I went to school with who was a massive Billy Joel fan in the 8th grade. He went ON AND ON about the An Innocent Man album - kind of like I would go on about a Madonna album (equally uncool at that point probably.)
I have always had a love/hate relationship with Joel - I appreciate his music probably more than I really enjoy a lot of it. I have the Greatest Hits Vol. 1 & 2 (who doesn't?) and the previously mentioned An Innocent Man, which is probably one of two Billy Joel studio albums that I think are good start to finish (the other is Glass Houses.) I know all the hits, but have a tendency to look down my nose at them a bit, as if they are too plebian for my tastes - I know, that's horrible and it's not like my musical tastes are anything to write home about. I also feel like the quality of his work suffered toward the end of his pop career - if I never hear "The River of Dreams" again, I'll be okay with that.
But Billy Joel has always been a bit of a round peg in a square hole for me. I just never quite knew what to do with him. It wasn't until a couple summers ago when I was listening to a guilty pleasures podcast of Wings for Wheels (featuring Popdose's Dave Lifton, Jason Hare and Jeff Giles) that I discovered what is probably now my favorite Billy Joel song - "Summer, Highland Falls." I had never even heard of it till that podcast, but I bought it immediately after hearing it on that podcast. The lyrics are bittersweet - something that always seems to hook me - and so wise. "We are always what our situations hand us/it's either sadness or euphoria."
So you can keep your "Piano Man" and "We Didn't Start The Fire." I'll keep this one.
Showing posts with label Billy Joel. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Billy Joel. Show all posts
Thursday, June 17, 2010
Tuesday, June 03, 2008
Just a page in my his-tor-y
Over the weekend, when I was cleaning out after the deluge of the Nerdery, I found a tape that I made eons ago. The title of said tape was "Late Spring 1994 Mix." It had the track listing all tidily written on the outside of the case and, not being one to miss an opportunity like this, I immediately made it into an iTunes playlist. Seriously, I'm all about iTunes playlists, it's one way to combat the choice fatigue that is part and parcel to having a 160GB iPod.
Last night, on my walk home from work, I decided to put that playlist on random and see how it sounds 14 years later. I only heard four of the songs, but I must say it holds up well. I can see that I needed a little bit of help on my mixing skills (two Madonna songs split up by only one song? The tragedy!), but still. Here's the four songs I heard last night.
Misled - Celine Dion
Oh Celine. I have such a love-hate relationship with this diva. When she's good, (the debut album, "Nothing Broken But My Heart", the Titanic song dance remix) she's very good, but when she is bad (most of that Let's Talk About Love album, "The Power Of Love") she's horrid. But I love "Misled." Heidi and I always used to laugh uproariously at the line "but when I've been dissed, I don't spend much time on what might have been." It has that great syncopated chorus and well, Celine with attitude is always fun (although that short cropped hairstyle was one of the WORST ideas ever.) I had no idea there was a video for it though!
Supermodel (You Better Work) - RuPaul
My college roommate Rick turned me on to this song and let me tell you, he is decidedly NOT the type to be into a RuPaul song (or perhaps he is, one never knows.) Anyway, we always got an inordinately large charge out of "Supermodel," that whole "Sashay! Shantay!" was great! I bought the remix single of it and there's a couple of remixes that up the camp ante just a bit (which I didn't think possible) by turning the demand "You better work!" into "You better work, bitch!" Sadly, this is not my favorite RuPaul moment, that would have to fall the the cameos in The Brady Bunch Movie and A Very Brady Sequel. Although I bet those would be trumped if I could see Zombie Prom in which Ru plays Miss Strict.
An Innocent Man - Billy Joel
I am not what you would categorize as a huge Billy Joel fan. I knew plenty of them in college and I, of course, went along with all of them to his 1990 concert at Hilton. But I really like the An Innocent Man album. I have no idea how this would fly with Billy Joel diehards, but you know what? Who cares? There is some great songwriting and production on this record, but none are as subtle and classy as the title track. I love his soaring vocals on the chorus, hitting a note that he just can't do these days.
And let me tell you, after looking for a companion video for this, I am SO glad that I have not been moved to see him in concert recently. Eek. So we'll just let this one go without one.
Queen of the Night - Whitney Houston
This is probably the only song from The Bodyguard that did not get played into the ground back in 1993. And consequently, it's the only one I can still listen to with any regularity. Despite the fact that it was not played mercilessly until our ears bled back then, it still takes me back to that spring instantly. If there's any diva that I wish could have a big Mimi-style comeback, it's Whitney. I just hate how she has descended into this circle of drug abuse and unhealthy living. She has a knockout voice, and it's sad to see it going to waste. Hopefully she'll be back with something fantastic soon.
The video quality is poor, but here it is. Only in an alternate universe could Whitney Houston win the Best Actress Oscar.
That's it. What a trip back in time. I must get ready for work.
Last night, on my walk home from work, I decided to put that playlist on random and see how it sounds 14 years later. I only heard four of the songs, but I must say it holds up well. I can see that I needed a little bit of help on my mixing skills (two Madonna songs split up by only one song? The tragedy!), but still. Here's the four songs I heard last night.
Misled - Celine Dion
Oh Celine. I have such a love-hate relationship with this diva. When she's good, (the debut album, "Nothing Broken But My Heart", the Titanic song dance remix) she's very good, but when she is bad (most of that Let's Talk About Love album, "The Power Of Love") she's horrid. But I love "Misled." Heidi and I always used to laugh uproariously at the line "but when I've been dissed, I don't spend much time on what might have been." It has that great syncopated chorus and well, Celine with attitude is always fun (although that short cropped hairstyle was one of the WORST ideas ever.) I had no idea there was a video for it though!
Supermodel (You Better Work) - RuPaul
My college roommate Rick turned me on to this song and let me tell you, he is decidedly NOT the type to be into a RuPaul song (or perhaps he is, one never knows.) Anyway, we always got an inordinately large charge out of "Supermodel," that whole "Sashay! Shantay!" was great! I bought the remix single of it and there's a couple of remixes that up the camp ante just a bit (which I didn't think possible) by turning the demand "You better work!" into "You better work, bitch!" Sadly, this is not my favorite RuPaul moment, that would have to fall the the cameos in The Brady Bunch Movie and A Very Brady Sequel. Although I bet those would be trumped if I could see Zombie Prom in which Ru plays Miss Strict.
An Innocent Man - Billy Joel
I am not what you would categorize as a huge Billy Joel fan. I knew plenty of them in college and I, of course, went along with all of them to his 1990 concert at Hilton. But I really like the An Innocent Man album. I have no idea how this would fly with Billy Joel diehards, but you know what? Who cares? There is some great songwriting and production on this record, but none are as subtle and classy as the title track. I love his soaring vocals on the chorus, hitting a note that he just can't do these days.
And let me tell you, after looking for a companion video for this, I am SO glad that I have not been moved to see him in concert recently. Eek. So we'll just let this one go without one.
Queen of the Night - Whitney Houston
This is probably the only song from The Bodyguard that did not get played into the ground back in 1993. And consequently, it's the only one I can still listen to with any regularity. Despite the fact that it was not played mercilessly until our ears bled back then, it still takes me back to that spring instantly. If there's any diva that I wish could have a big Mimi-style comeback, it's Whitney. I just hate how she has descended into this circle of drug abuse and unhealthy living. She has a knockout voice, and it's sad to see it going to waste. Hopefully she'll be back with something fantastic soon.
The video quality is poor, but here it is. Only in an alternate universe could Whitney Houston win the Best Actress Oscar.
That's it. What a trip back in time. I must get ready for work.
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