Author Topic: Billy Joel Is 68 Today — And His Music Is Still Terrible  (Read 8834 times)

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Offline LateForLunch

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Re: Billy Joel Is 68 Today — And His Music Is Still Terrible
« Reply #75 on: May 16, 2017, 04:51:06 pm »
Well, actually, I'm the one that does the singing, not Willie himself.....

But thanks for the link.  :beer:

I hear ya! My next door neighbor used to roadie and one day he was hanging out with an A&R DJ from a local station that was going out of business. They engaged in some casual smoking and conversation during which time the DJ revealed to him a pile of recordings. He had "borrowed" the entire on-air playlist of every single  top40 song the station had played in 50 years. My friend made digital copies of all of them. He won't give me a copy because he promised the guy that he would only make one copy for himself and he has kept his word (he is from New Zealand and they are scrupulously sincere when they give their word). All told there are about 3 thousand songs in the library.
Whenever he has a party, he puts the drive in his sound system and it is an amazing journey for anyone who lived through those years and listened to the radio. It's a strange experience to hear dozens of songs you haven't heard in forty years. 
« Last Edit: May 16, 2017, 04:54:22 pm by LateForLunch »
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Offline musiclady

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Re: Billy Joel Is 68 Today — And His Music Is Still Terrible
« Reply #76 on: May 16, 2017, 05:00:53 pm »
:silly: That was just the box cover image.

For the link, start here:

Muddy Waters, The Complete Aristocrat & Chess Singles, 1947-62, Vol. 1

OK, thanks!  Seriously, I'll check it out when I get a moment.

We just got back from being "on the road again," so I've been kinda busy today.

This summer, we're doing the Lewis and Clark trail from St. Louis (St. Charles actually) west to Ft. Clatsop.  We just went to four sites east of the Mississippi on the way to our daughter's half marathon in St. Louis.

So I'll be singing Willie Nelson for about a month this summer!
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Offline EasyAce

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Re: Billy Joel Is 68 Today — And His Music Is Still Terrible
« Reply #77 on: May 16, 2017, 05:25:09 pm »
So I'll be singing Willie Nelson for about a month this summer!
You're a better woman than I, Gunga Din.

As a singer, I'm a good guitar player. ;)


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Offline the_doc

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Re: Billy Joel Is 68 Today — And His Music Is Still Terrible
« Reply #78 on: May 16, 2017, 06:17:02 pm »
As to your earlier comment about listening to Classical radio, keep in mind that the people who run those stations (NPR, Universities) are liberals.  I think that's why they tend to emphasize obscurity....... to show how educated they are, and how cool they are.  I notice that our Classical station likes to play South American music (probably in solidarity with immigration and Hispanics).

I completely agree that they should spend more time on the more significant composers, who have stood the test of time for a reason.  I also don't like that they almost completely ignore choral music and vocal music, probably because most of it historically is sacred.  I mean, you can't really play "Carmina Burana" incessantly, can you?  You gotta play a Mass now and again.  ^-^


I agree with all of the above.  A lot of folks in our day have never heard much if any good choral music (beyond Beethoven's Ninth Symphony, perhaps).  Some of the best are the operatic chorales.  My favorites are the Pilgrim's Chorus from "Tannhauser" and the final chorales from "The Marriage of Figaro" and "The Pirates of Penzance."  I also love the rather weird modern choral piece that was used in the soundtrack of Hannibal.

I have also noticed that "Carmina Burana" gets a lot of air time.  I don't care for it very much, but I am always stunned by its irreverent Latin solo "In Trutina."  Even Barbra Streisand did a great job with that song on her Classical Barbra album--which is a very good album, by the way.

My overall interests are just as wide as yours, I think, but evidently not as deep in pop/rock.  I do like "Barbara Ann" (partly because it is comically slick in its rhythm and harmony) and "If I Had a Hammer" (even if it was inspired by Socialism).  I like all of the old (pre-crossover) Dylan stuff, but almost none of the later stuff except "Forever Young."  I also like almost everything Karen Carpenter ever sang because she was an uncanny vocalist.  Amazingly, a lot of teenagers I have talked to have never even heard of her because the rock stations never feature her.  That goes to show us that popular tastes can make people musically ignorant by simply shutting off exposure to better stuff.  That dumbs down a lot of folks. 

The Heavy Metal buddy that I mentioned in an earlier piece had never heard Chopin's First Ballade before I had him sit down and listen to a CD recorded by (then) 18-year-old pianist Helene Grimaud.   It knocked his socks off.  (As I intimated earlier, I am trying to improve his rather unsophisticated tastes--since even the classical and jazz stations are not proving to be much help.)

Offline Gefn

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Re: Billy Joel Is 68 Today — And His Music Is Still Terrible
« Reply #79 on: May 17, 2017, 08:41:54 pm »
For your enjoyment

[attachment deleted by admin]
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Offline thackney

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Re: Billy Joel Is 68 Today — And His Music Is Still Terrible
« Reply #80 on: May 17, 2017, 09:10:30 pm »
With all the traveling we do, I have no idea what I'd do without Willie Nelson's "On the Road again" to sing...  ^-^
On The Road Again’ was the theme song to the movie ‘Honeysuckle Rose‘ and it came about during a flight to Hollywood when the producer asked Willie Nelson if he would write a song for the movie.

About 45 minutes later, Nelson had written the entire song on an airline’s barf bag.

http://1280ksli.com/willie-nelson-writes-a-major-hit-song-on-a-barf-bag/
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Offline Suppressed

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Re: Billy Joel Is 68 Today — And His Music Is Still Terrible
« Reply #81 on: May 17, 2017, 09:17:56 pm »
For your enjoyment

LOL! Where did you find that?!

I really like that song, but I can't figure out whether I like the music or just memory associations from it coming out st a good time in my life.
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Offline Gefn

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Re: Billy Joel Is 68 Today — And His Music Is Still Terrible
« Reply #82 on: May 17, 2017, 09:22:47 pm »
They had an alternate version

I can haz cheezeburger

[attachment deleted by admin]
« Last Edit: May 17, 2017, 09:23:21 pm by Freya »
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Offline Idaho_Cowboy

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Re: Billy Joel Is 68 Today — And His Music Is Still Terrible
« Reply #83 on: May 17, 2017, 09:22:47 pm »
@Freya

[attachment deleted by admin]
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Offline Gefn

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Re: Billy Joel Is 68 Today — And His Music Is Still Terrible
« Reply #84 on: May 17, 2017, 09:24:32 pm »
Sigh.

Stupid attachments
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Re: Billy Joel Is 68 Today — And His Music Is Still Terrible
« Reply #85 on: May 17, 2017, 09:39:36 pm »

Offline musiclady

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Re: Billy Joel Is 68 Today — And His Music Is Still Terrible
« Reply #86 on: May 17, 2017, 10:21:32 pm »
You're a better woman than I, Gunga Din.

As a singer, I'm a good guitar player. ;)

And the reverse is true for me.

As a guitar player, I am an AMAZING singer!  :beer:
Character still matters.  It always matters.

I wear a mask as an exercise in liberty and love for others.  To see it as an infringement of liberty is to entirely miss the point.  Be kind.

"Sometimes I think the Church would be better off if we would call a moratorium on activity for about six weeks and just wait on God to see what He is waiting to do for us. That's what they did before Pentecost."   - A. W. Tozer

Use the time God is giving us to seek His will and feel His presence.

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Offline EasyAce

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Re: Billy Joel Is 68 Today — And His Music Is Still Terrible
« Reply #88 on: May 17, 2017, 11:18:06 pm »
And the reverse is true for me.

As a guitar player, I am an AMAZING singer!  :beer:
@musiclady



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Offline musiclady

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Re: Billy Joel Is 68 Today — And His Music Is Still Terrible
« Reply #89 on: May 17, 2017, 11:40:52 pm »
Some time maybe I can show you all 6 chords (maybe 7?) that I can play.

Actually, the most complex song I can play on guitar is "Scotch and Soda."  ^-^

Piano's my instrument.  Not quite as good as Billy Joel is (back on topic!), but I do a fair job.
Character still matters.  It always matters.

I wear a mask as an exercise in liberty and love for others.  To see it as an infringement of liberty is to entirely miss the point.  Be kind.

"Sometimes I think the Church would be better off if we would call a moratorium on activity for about six weeks and just wait on God to see what He is waiting to do for us. That's what they did before Pentecost."   - A. W. Tozer

Use the time God is giving us to seek His will and feel His presence.

Offline Suppressed

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Re: Billy Joel Is 68 Today — And His Music Is Still Terrible
« Reply #90 on: May 18, 2017, 01:13:58 am »
I once had a housemate named Tom Aldaerelli who was a roadie for Fleetwood Mac from New Jersey who just hated Billy Joel because he got into some run-ins with Joel while on tour. Tom said Joel made New Jersey look bad 'cause he was "not a real man". That guy eventually died, he was a stone Mafia-kid (Aldarelli Family is mobbed up in New Jersey like the Sopranos), heroin addict who weighed about 400 lbs when he died of a heart attack while Joel is still alive and well if a little lighter in his pocketbook from divorcing Christy Brinkley - OUCH!  But I guess being alive, Joel came out on top of that dispute with Tommy.

@LateForLunch  Funny you should say that.  It's in line with what I heard...

I knew someone who went to high school with BJ (confirmed with a yearbook*) and didn't like him much.  He said he was a "weasel". 

His favorite memory was when Billy Joel was going around shooting people with a stapler and got thrown down a stairwell as a result.

*My recollection is that it was Long Island, though, not New Jersey.
« Last Edit: May 18, 2017, 01:16:50 am by Suppressed »
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Offline Suppressed

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Re: Billy Joel Is 68 Today — And His Music Is Still Terrible
« Reply #91 on: May 18, 2017, 01:26:37 am »
As to your earlier comment about listening to Classical radio, keep in mind that the people who run those stations (NPR, Universities) are liberals.  I think that's why they tend to emphasize obscurity....... to show how educated they are, and how cool they are.  I notice that our Classical station likes to play South American music (probably in solidarity with immigration and Hispanics).

I completely agree that they should spend more time on the more significant composers, who have stood the test of time for a reason.  I also don't like that they almost completely ignore choral music and vocal music, probably because most of it historically is sacred.  I mean, you can't really play "Carmina Burana" incessantly, can you?  You gotta play a Mass now and again.  ^-^

Now that I no longer listen to Rush, I spend much more quality time with WOSU, and I like that!

@the_doc @musiclady @EasyAce

I enjoy listening to WBJC out of Baltimore, via the Internet.  I've found their "less significant composers" to be good, though they play a lot of "significant" stuff.  In fact, I've bought several CDs recently (yes, I still like physical media) after hearing "obscure" plays on WBJC..and I have rarely bought in recent years.  Their archived playlists are at http://www.wbjc.com/category/playlists/

I use an Amazon Echo Dot device (tied to speakers) to access WBJC via TuneIn (free, automatic).  The Google Home device works, too.  It's nice to just come home and say, "Alexa, play WBJC" and have it come on.


Note, however, that I have very poor musical intelligence...perhaps a snob would say my taste is poor.
« Last Edit: May 18, 2017, 01:29:13 am by Suppressed »
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“In the outside world, I'm a simple geologist. But in here .... I am Falcor, Defender of the Alliance” --Randy Marsh

“The most effectual means of being secure against pain is to retire within ourselves, and to suffice for our own happiness.” -- Thomas Jefferson

“He's so dumb he thinks a Mexican border pays rent.” --Foghorn Leghorn