| Billy Joel,
has emerged as one of the most popular
singer/songwriters of the latter half of
the '70s. Joel's music consistently
demonstrates an affection for Beatlesque
hooks and a flair for Tin Pan Alley and
Broadway melodies. His fusion of two
distinct eras made him a superstar in
the late '70s and '80s, as he racked an
impressive string of multi-platinum
albums and hit singles.
Joel was raised in the Long Island
suburb of Hicksville, where he learned
to play piano as a child. As he
approached his adolescence, Joel started
to rebel, joining teenage street gangs
and boxing as welterweight. He fought a
total of 22 fights as a teenager, and
during one of the fights, he broke his
nose. For the early years of his
adolescence, he divided his time between
studying piano and fighting. Upon seeing
the Beatles on the Ed Sullivan Show in
1964, Joel decided to pursue a full-time
musical career and set about finding a
local Long Island band to join.
Eventually, he found the Echoes, a group
that specialized in British Invasion
covers. The Echoes became a popular New
York attraction, convincing him to quit
high school to become a professional
musician.
While still a member of the Echoes,
Joel began playing recording sessions in
1965, when he was just 16 years old.
Joel played piano on several recordings
George "Shadow" Morton produced --
including the Shangri-Las' "Leader of
the Pack" -- as well as several records
released through Kama Sutra Productions.
During this time, the Echoes started to
play numerous late-night shows. Soon,
his musical commitments occupied all of
his time and Joel dropped out of high
school, just a few months shy of his
graduation.
Later in 1965, the Echoes changed
their name twice -- once to the Emeralds
and finally to the Lost Souls. For two
years, he played sessions and performed
with the Lost Souls. In 1967, he left
the band to join the Hassles, a local
Long Island rock & roll band that had
signed a contract with United Artists
Records. Over the next year and a half,
the Hassles released two albums and four
singles, all of which failed
commercially. In 1969, the Hassles broke
up. Joel and the band's drummer, Jon
Small, formed an organ and drums duo
called Attila. In Attila, Joel played
his organ through a variety of effects
pedals, creating a heavy psychedelic
hard rock album completely without
guitars. On the cover of the band's
eponymous album, both Joel and Small
were dressed as barbarians; in an
interview on the back of the album, Joel
claimed to forget the name of his
previous band and stated that he only
"sweated" two things -- perfecting his
sound and the war in Southeast Asia.
Joel returned to playing music in
1971, signing a deal with Family
Productions. Under the terms of the
contract, Joel signed to the label's
parent company, Ripp, for life; the
pianist was unaware of the clause at the
time, but it would come back to haunt
him -- Ripp received royalties from
every album Joel sold until the late
'80s. Joel refashioned himself as a
sensitive singer/songwriter for his
debut album, Cold Spring Harbor, which
was released in November of 1971. Due to
an error in the mastering of the album,
Cold Spring Harbor was released a couple
of tape speeds too fast; the album
remained in that bastardized form until
1984. Following the release of the
album, Joel went on a small live tour,
during which he would frequently delve
into standup comedy. The tour received
good reviews but Joel remained unhappy
with the quality of his performance and,
especially, the quality of the album.
Furthermore, he lost a manager during
this time and Family Productions were
experiencing legal and financial
difficulties, which prevented him from
recording an immediate follow-up.
Early in 1972, he moved out to Los
Angeles with his girlfriend Elizabeth.
Joel adopted the name Bill Martin and
spent half a year playing lounge piano
at the Executive Room. Toward the end of
the year, he began touring, playing
various nightclubs across the country.
At the beginning of 1973, Joel married
Elizabeth Weber and she enrolled at
UCLA's Graduate School of Management.
Around the same time, a radio station
began playing a live version of "Captain
Jack" that was recorded at a
Philadelphia radio broadcast. Soon,
record companies were eagerly seeking to
sign the pianist, and he eventually
signed with Columbia Records. In order
for Joel to sign with Columbia, the
major label had to agree to pay Ripp
Productions 25 cents for each album
sold, plus display the Family and Remus
logos on each record Joel released.
By the end of 1973, Billy Joel's
first album for Columbia Records, Piano
Man, had been released. The record
slowly worked its way up the charts,
peaking at number 27 in the spring of
1974. The title track -- culled from
experiences he had while singing at the
Executive Room -- became a Top 40 hit
single. At the end of the summer, Joel
assembled a touring band and undertook a
national tour, opening for acts like the
J. Geils Band and the Doobie Brothers.
By the end of 1974, he had released his
second album, Streetlife Serenade, which
reached number 35 early in 1975. After
its success, Joel signed a contract with
James William Guercio and Larry
Fitzgerald's management company,
Caribou, and moved from California to
their hometown of New York. Through
songs like "Say Goodbye to Hollywood"
and "New York State of Mind," Joel
celebrated the move his 1976 album
Turnstiles.
Joel's next album would prove to be
the make-or-break point for his career,
and the resulting album, The Stranger,
catapulted him into superstardom. The
Stranger was released in the fall of
1977. By the end of the year, it peaked
at number two and had gone platinum, and
within the course of a year, it would
spawn the Top 40 singles "Just the Way
You Are" -- which would win Record of
the Year and Song of the Year at the
1979 Grammys -- "Movin' Out (Anthony's
Song)," "She's Always a Woman," and
"Only the Good Die Young." Over the next
two decades, the album would sell over
seven million copies. Joel followed The
Stranger with 52nd Street, which was
released in the fall of 1978. 52nd
Street spent eight weeks at number one
in the U.S., selling over two millions
copies within the first month of its
release. The album spawned the hit
singles "My Life," "Big Shot," and
"Honesty," and won the Grammy award for
Album of the Year in 1980.
In the spring of 1980, Joel released
Glass Houses, theoretically a
harder-edged album that was a response
to the punk and new wave movement. By
the summer of 1980, Glass Houses had
reached number one in America, where it
stayed for six weeks; the album spawned
the Top 40 singles "You May Be Right"
(number seven), "It's Still Rock'n'Roll
to Me" (number one), "Don't Ask Me Why"
(number 19), and "Sometimes a Fantasy"
(number 36) and won the Grammy for Best
Rock Vocal Performance, Male in 1981. In
the fall of 1981, Joel released Songs in
the Attic, a live album that
concentrated on material written and
recorded before he became a star in
1977. The album's "Say Goodbye to
Hollywood" and "She's Got a Way" became
Top 40 hits.
Songs in the Attic bought Joel some
time as he was completing an album he
had designed as his bid to be taken
seriously as a composer. His new album,
The Nylon Curtain, was finally released
in the fall. A concept album about baby
boomers and their experiences, the album
was a commercial disappointment, only
selling a million copies, but it did
earn him some of his better reviews, as
well as spawning the Top 20 hits
"Pressure" and "Allentown." Joel quickly
followed the album in 1983 with the
oldies pastiche An Innocent Man.
An Innocent Man restored Joel to his
multi-platinum status, eventually
selling over five million copies and
spawning the hit singles "Uptown Girl"
(number three), "Tell Her About It"
(number one), "An Innocent Man" (number
ten), and "Keeping the Faith" (number
18). Several of the songs on the album
were about model Christie Brinkley, who
was engaged to Joel by the time the
album was released. During 1983 and
1984, Joel became one of the first '70s
stars to embrace MTV and music videos,
shooting a number of clips for the album
which were aired frequently on the
network. The videos usually starred
Brinkley, as well as Joel. Brinkley and
Joel were married in the spring of 1985.
Joel released a double-album
compilation, Greatest Hits, Vols. 1 & 2
in the summer of 1985. Two new songs --
the Top Ten "You're Only Human (Second
Wind)" and the Top 40 "The Night Is
Still Young" -- were added to the hits
collection; the album itself peaked at
number six and would eventually sell
over four million copies. In the summer
of 1986, Joel returned with the Top Ten
single "Modern Woman," which was taken
from the soundtrack of Ruthless People.
"Modern Woman" was also a teaser from
his new album, The Bridge, which was
released in August. The Bridge was
another success for Joel, peaking at
number seven, selling over two million
copies, and spawning the Top 40 hits "A
Matter of Trust" (number ten) and "This
Is the Time" (number 18), as well as
"Big Man on Mulberry Street," which was
used as the basis for an episode of the
popular Bruce Willis/Cybill Shepherd
television series Moonlighting.
In the spring of 1987, Joel embarked
on a major tour of the U.S.S.R., during
which he had an on-stage temper tantrum
and shoved a piano off the stage. His
Leningrad concert was recorded and
released in the fall of 1987 as the live
double album Kohuept, which means
concert in Russian. Joel was quiet
for much of 1988, only appearing as the
voice of Dodger in the Walt Disney
animated feature Oliver and Company.
Storm Front, in the fall of 1989 was
preceded by the single "We Didn't Start
the Fire," whose lyrics were just a
string of historical facts. The single
became a huge hit, reaching number one
and inspiring history students across
America. Storm Front marked a
significant change for Joel -- he fired
his band, keeping only Liberty DeVito,
and ceased his relationship with
producer Phil Ramone, hiring Mick Jones
of Foreigner to produce the album. Storm
Front was another hit for Joel, reaching
number one in the U.S. and selling over
three million albums.
During 1990, Joel undertook a major
U.S. tour, which ran well into 1991. At
the end of the year, the National
Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences
honored Joel with a Grammy Living Legend
award; that same year, Quincy Jones,
Johnny Cash, and Aretha Franklin were
also given the honor.
Following the Storm Front world tour,
Joel spent the next few years quietly.
In 1991, he was awarded an honorary
doctorate by Fairfield University in
Connecticut. Joel returned in the summer
of 1993 with River of Dreams, which
entered the charts at number one and
spawned the Top Ten title track.
Following the River of Dreams tour, Joel
divorced Christie Brinkley. In 1996, he
gave a series of lectures at a variety
of American colleges. He performed at
the 1999 New Year's Eve Party in Times
Square, and 2000 Years: The Millennium
Concert, a live album of this concert,
was released early the following year. |
