And So It Goes
Wednesday, December 12th, 2007I recently attended a Billy Joel concert in Chicago. I have been a fan of the Piano Man for The Longest Time and have seen him about a dozen times. Joel has been The Entertainer of choice for me since his music entered My Life while I was still in grade school. This Night was awesome, but I admit being biased.
Okay, enough cheesy Joel song references, although my friends know I can go on and on (although that would be a cheesy Stephen Bishop reference).
Joel’s music grabbed hold of me while all of my friends were listening to higher testerone bands like Kiss. While I like Kiss and other musicians, Joel would become the centerpiece of my record collection. As that collection begrudgingly moved from vinyl to cassettes to cds, my passion for Joel’s music never wavered.
I am sure everyone has their own favorite musician, one who really gets to them. At least I hope so. Music is such an important part of my life, although I have absolutely no musical ability.
Back in 1986, I bought tickets to my first Joel concert at a record store two days after they went on sale (long before ticket brokers would eliminate this possibility). Since then, Joel has released only two albums of original music. Yet, his concerts are always new and exciting. He has such a volume of work that choosing 20 or so songs for any given concert is easy without worry of repetition. He isn’t like some dinosaur band trudging out the same tired routine.
A while ago, at a former job, I joked with our account temp, Bob, that all of life’s answers could be found within the lyrics of Billy Joel songs. Bob was always armed with a 64-ounce coffee jug and ready for any conversation (preferring that to any real accounting work), so he often tested my theory. I could usually come up with some words of wisdom, compliments of Joel, because his music did cover a lot of territory.
This concert was no different. Joel regaled the fans with everything from his oldest stuff to a brand new song dedicated to the troops. He even mixed in a few Christmas carols.
“Hot funk, cool punk, even if it’s old junk. It’s still rock and roll to me!”
-John Wroblewski, distribution specialist
