Karaoke Forums

Yep,  Billy Joel is brilliant.

Did you ever read or hear what he had to endure studying piano when young ?  It's why he learned to box.  He was seriously bullied.

_________________
Northeast United States runner up for the "Singing Hall of Shame".

yeah, I was QUITE the Billy Joel fan in the eighties... read everything I could about him.

the story of how he wrote "Goodnight Saigon" just made me cry. Even now when I sing it, I get the shivers!

And my hidden pleasure of Joel's is "The Downeaster Alexa"... being in a coastal area here too, many of the folks that rely on the fishing trade really like the song a lot! On his greatest hits vol 3, Mr. Joel talked about how this song is almost tribal sounding due to having the beats on the 1st and 3rd measures, rather than the standard pop songs that have them on the 2nd and 4th. I never knew WHY the song was so different, and to casually come into that hidden jewel on making a song was just brilliant to me!

I also love how he came out with "All About Soul"... origianlly he was wanting to write a song as a challenge to his drummer... and it was supposed to be about a motorcycle. Then the more it came out his band and he agreed that a bluesy soul song was far more appropriate to the music that they were creating!

Isn't "Piano Man" about his earlier 70's move to the West Coast where he was playing lounges using an alias ?  He was going by the last name of "Martin" or something like that during a period of depression ?

I'd like to hear some of his recent work.  Hasn't he gone back to classical ?  Last I heard he wanted to return to his roots.  

Amazing Musician as well as lyricist..

_________________
Northeast United States runner up for the "Singing Hall of Shame".

maybe...

he's also facing the reality of being a 60 yr old pop artist! !

I did think it's an interesting thing to note artists like Dennis DeYoung and Barry Manillo are exporing other avenues for their songwriting like the theater, honoring the classics, etc. Even Rod Stewart saw the wisdom in taking his karaoke style of music and going to the earlier era of music (early pop, swing, etc.).

True Matt,

   I'm actually enjoying Rod Stewart's renditions of the classic's too.  I was quite surprised to hear how he integrated his voice into the style, It's pretty tasteful IMHO.
   Manilow sort've got into the jazzier stylings back around 1983 or 1984, he broke away from his earlier Kitsch style pretty early as I recall, about the time he came out with 2:00AM Paradise Cafe. Interesting thing about Manilow some don't know. He started off writing "jingles" such as the State Farm Insurance Jingle.... The one that goes "Like a good Neighbor" is his composition.  He always was a brilliant composer.. Not sure if alot of what he did in the 70's was actually where his heart was at musically. The guy even wrote to playboy at one point requesting advice on what would appeal to the bulk of the pop-radio listening crowd. I believe he even deliberately told people he was in his late 20's, when he was actually in his 30's because he was either advised this would appeal to the younger female listener, or he believed that it would. He's gotten into about every popular Western style, yet to this day, I don't think many really know what HIS musical preferences are as opposed to what's been a compromise of individual preference to produce "the hit".
Yet when the 80's came around, he got into stuff with Sarah Vaughan, Gerry Mulligan, and Mel Torme.. They all are apart of that "2AM Paradise Cafe" album. I think he also had a jazz type album a few years later "Swing Street". Then he got into "Big Band" stylings in the early 90's, and did his Sinatra tribute also later in the 90's decade.  So he got into alot of this type of stuff earlier than some of the other's you mention in terms of breaking away from the top-40 genre. Manilow's pretty lucky in a way, because speaking of old "pop artists", regardless of whether or not he's close to 65, when you play candlelight love ballad style for a career, and light jazz you can always find someone  LOL

   I haven't read much on Joel, yet given some of his playing and styles especially around the "Captain Jack" days...It's amazing to think that at close to 60 he's not suffering with arthritis.

_________________
Northeast United States runner up for the "Singing Hall of Shame".

"Captain Jack" was the begining of Joel. Right?

_________________
I can neither confirm nor deny ever having or knowing anything about nothing.... mrscott

Jian,  I think that might've been his "Piano Man" album around 1973.. I think his first album was a few years earlier, but yes that was pretty early on for him.

This is interesting.. It's quite a different story than what I heard awhile back regarding his fighting.  In this excerpt that I just found tonight regarding his biography it says "his fights were gang related".  I thought what he stated in an interview was that he was getting beaten up not because of "gang" activity, but because as a small kid walking to school with his Schirmer's classical piano books, he was a target for the bullies... As a result, he became a welterweight boxer...Anyway, this is interesting.

http://www.allmusic.com/cg/amg.dll?p=am ... pn39f1o~T1

_________________
Northeast United States runner up for the "Singing Hall of Shame".

If you go to a Barry concert, you'll hear in the beginning all his jingles and stuff he wrote. They play that in the speakers at low volume...

He came up with the Dr. Pepper jingle too! ! What is also interesting in his concert style, he performs like a Broadway artist! Not at all like a popular music artist!

He composed one song I really like,  It's a blast accompanying vocalists on.  I really like the rendition Helen Reddy does too.

"Somewhere in the Night" is a really nice composition !

_________________
Northeast United States runner up for the "Singing Hall of Shame".

Very interesting read. I didn't know that 'Captain Jack' was his first single. I thought 'Piano Man' was!

That is interesting Matt,  I didn't know that either.  Yet it's logical as to why we didn't hear "Captain Jack" first.  Assuming a musician wants a first release to become a "hit",  would you feel it a safe "foot in the door" to pop radio given Captain Jacks lyrics ?   Come to think of it,  I wonder how controversial "Captain Jack" was on some of the larger radio stations back in those days.  I don't recall... Yet can't imagine ALL stations accepted it right off the bat.

I've yet to hear Paul Anka's 2005 release "Rock Swings". He has some pretty bizarre stuff on it considering his genre music...  "Black Hole Sun" & "Smells like teen spirit" ? and a few other selections I find interesting for Anka... I want to hear what he's doing with some of these songs... I think that album is under "Jazz" genre ?????

_________________
Northeast United States runner up for the "Singing Hall of Shame".

Matt,

  In case you don't already know this.  You'd likely find this an interesting read !


  http://launch.yahoo.com/read/news/12044920

_________________
Northeast United States runner up for the "Singing Hall of Shame".

don't get me started on politics dude! heheheh

Same thing when they wanted to make "Born To Run" from Bruce Springsteen a state song of New Jersey??!! Any song with "Suicide, death traps, die tonight", etc... shouldn't be a STATE song! !

http://www.xs4all.nl/~maroen/engels/lyrics/borntoru.htm

Just read the lyric's Matt since it's been ages since I last thought of the song.  They don't even take context into consideration.  

_________________
Northeast United States runner up for the "Singing Hall of Shame".

Same thing when they wanted to make "Born To Run" from Bruce Springsteen a state song of New Jersey??!! Any song with "Suicide, death traps, die tonight", etc... shouldn't be a STATE song! !

That's interesting. Never heard that before.
So, someone in Jersey must be a HUGE Springsteen fan. Enough to forget about political correctness. No, it shouldn't be a state song.
This caught my eye because I just sang this song at karaoke Wed. night. I aced it. My voice sounds darn near identical to Bruce's, especially in the song...Prove It All Night. I also did ...Dancing In The Dark. I really enjoyed it that night, as I think some other old farts did too.

On subject...I could give up the voice. If it sounds like Springsteen, I'm not losing much some would think.
But I like Springsteen.
My father and mother both were hearing impaired.  :shock:
Matter of fact, that's how they met, through a deaf social club. They both could still hear and talk, but both knew sign language and had totally deaf friends. Even more weird, my dad was 14 years older than her...he knew what he liked. My life as a youngster was weird. I seen and heard all of these people around me making weird noises and hand gestures. I can recite the alphabet in signage, but never learned the slang gestures. I know my dad had my friends laughing all the time, but they liked him. God rest his soul, he was the best.
My dad was also somewhat mobility impaired in his later years...I'm talking only 50s-60s here. He was saddled with a form of crippling arthritis. It must've been very painful, because it looked painful to me. Hands and feet disfigured and torso in a slouched position.
What a life to have to live. I can't begin to imagine how he really felt.  :(
My mom is still pluggin' along since she left him when I was 5 years old...hundreds of guys and 1 marriage later.

Now to lose sight, that would be terrible I think. So much can be accomplished through sight that would make blindness a reason to not want to go on for me.

Good post Babs. It gave me a chance to realize just how thankful and blessed I am for everything I have and more.

When the magic is there and when singing a song the body isnt aching, time does not exist, the world is back the way it was, there isnt all these fantasised problems, there is no hate, grudges, petty crap, money isnt in control of everything, evil is taking a back seat, for a few minutes souls are joined and on the same plane, the soul is free and knows no bounds, ethnic groups and philosophies are immaterial, there are no borders between nations, there is no tower of babel and maybe it is the only time when I am truly expressing myself...  And you expect me to put up with this bs we have now and not be able to sing?  :no:

Isn't Doubleyah a HUGE ZZ Top Fan ?

_________________
Northeast United States runner up for the "Singing Hall of Shame".