The Worst Pop Singer Ever. Why, exactly, is Billy Joel so bad?

Slate ^ | Jan 23, 2009 | Ron Rosenbaum

[SeekAndFind]

This may seem an odd moment to bring up the subject of Billy Joel. But the recent death of the painter Andrew Wyeth revived a long-standing debate over whether his art is respectable or merely sentimental schlock. (Say it: good or bad?) It got me to thinking about the question of value in art and whether there are any absolute standards for judging it. It indicates the question is still alive, not relegated to irrelevance by relativism.

And then I picked up The Art Instinct, a new book by Denis Dutton, the curator of the Arts & Letters Daily Web site. The book strives valiantly to find a basis for judging the value of art from the perspective of evolutionary psychology; in it, Dutton argues that a certain kind of artistic talent offered a competitive advantage in the Darwinian struggle for survival.

Which brings me to Billy Joel—the Andrew Wyeth of contemporary pop music—and the continuing irritation I feel whenever I hear his tunes, whether in the original or in the multitude of elevator-Muzak versions. It is a kind of mystery: Why does his music make my skin crawl in a way that other bad music doesn't? Why is it that so many of us feel it is possible to say Billy Joel is—well—just bad, a blight upon pop music, a plague upon the airwaves more contagious than West Nile virus, a dire threat to the peacefulness of any given elevator ride, not rock 'n' roll but schlock 'n' roll?

I'm reluctant to pick on Billy Joel. He's been subject to withering contempt from hipster types for so long that it no longer seems worth the time. Still, the mystery persists: How can he be so bad and yet so popular for so long? He's still there.

[dfwgator]

Dylan endorsed Zero not long ago.

I can't blame him. I think zero hoodwinked a lot of people, and it's not as if McCain was all that attractive.

[WhistlingPastTheGraveyard]

Absolutely. When I think of those songs ("Miami" and "Highland Falls"), I'm thinking of the Songs in the Attic versions.

[cva66snipe]

LOL he was a sight. I copied an album of him singing as a joke and gave it to my niece. She liked it.

[MarkL]

Look at Lennon’s solo writing and tell me he didn’t have someone (maybe McCartney) editing him during their collaboration.

That's what I meant. Lennon had a few gems on his own, but without McCartney, his writing left a lot to be desired. And it really wasn't any different with Paul, to tell you the truth. I found most of Paul's solo (or with Wings) hits unlistenable. But together (and with the work of the other two Beatles, AND the work of George Martin) they accomplished some very real magic.

Mark

[cva66snipe]

Unfortunately, it wore off with all of them. Dylan endorsed Zero not long ago.

Sad to say obviously so did a lot of Republicans as well.

[WhistlingPastTheGraveyard]

I can blame him for falling for the flim-flam man’s BS... But I can’t blame him for not backing McQueeg.

[mainerforglobalwarming]

The best, bad singer is my favorite Eddie Money. No one in the pop music universe has as many corny lines in their songs. But, they're something so addictive about his music. I know his catalog by heart. And am drawn in particular to the hard rock songs that were never released as singles.

[WhistlingPastTheGraveyard]

True. And I’ll be cursing them all every day for the next 4 years.

[Zionist Conspirator]

My beloved Mrs. Miller!

Wing!

And of course, that unforgettable one hit wonder, the Legendary Stardust Cowboy!

[Rastus]

I think it happened when he went back up.

[null and void]

Back... Up...

OoooooooKAY!

[Revolting cat!]

I tell ya, it's impossible to kid people about Wayne Newton, Don Ho, Liberace, Barry manilow, Pat Benatar or Rosie and the Originals being the greatest, 'cause there'll be always someone who sincerely thinks, yes, she/he is the greatest! What are you gonna do?

But the best tune to torture people with is The Wind Beneath My Wings. "You are the wind beneath my wings", I sing barely in tune to guys at work who have done me some small insignificant favour. And I flop my arms. That works!

[Caramelgal]

I’d find it hard to top “Vienna” or “Scenes from an Italian Restaurant” for writing. And “Allentown” notwithstanding, “The Nylon Curtain” had loads of great songs on it.

The Stranger and 52nd Street are among the very best albums of the 70’s IMO. The early Billy Joel stuff was some great music, insightful lyrics and story telling and some great melodies and musicianship and I don’t care one wit what some pretentious, self important, so called journalist from Slate, someone who has probably never written a single song himself or even played any instrument, has to say on the subject.

Billy Joel - Vienna (with lyrics)

Billy Joel - Scenes From An Italian Restaurant

A New York State of Mind

I think the hallmark of a really great pop song is that it really doesn’t ever sound dated.

[warsaw44]

I’d never heard he was a Conservative. I’m surprised! His voice drives me nuts though - really dislike his music.

[cva66snipe]

There was a thread in here a few months back about it.

[Bokababe]

I can't unfriggin believe this article or the number of people who agree with it.

Billy Joel is a brilliant musician! He's a musician's musician. He was Julliard trained. I've seen him in concert 3 times over 25 years and he brought the house down every time.

Ever heard his song, "The Longest Time"? It's all a capella, and every voice is his!

[cva66snipe]

BTW did you like Mr Tambourine Man, Knocking on heavens door, & Blowing in the wind, etc done by other singers? He wrote them.

[x]

Sure ...

But "New York State of Mind" has become a classic, played with the songs of the Gershwins, Cole Porter, Jerome Kern, Rogers and Hart ...

Maybe it's because those standards in the "Great American Songbook" are already so closely associated with New York, but still it is an accomplishment for someone of Billy's generation.

"Vienna" ... not so good, too much of a confection, like Vienna Thins or Cafe Vienna.

FWIW, the Joels were very successful in business in Germany before Hitler. Billy's father left his mother after the war and returned to Europe, starting up a new family in of all places, Vienna. His half-brother, Alexander, is a prominent classical conductor.

[fnord]

thanks for the info

[irishtenor]

Only if you throw in Barry Manilow, Wayne Newton, and maybe Tony Orlando.