Glad to know I’m not the only one. But I still like Uptown Girl for some reason.
Billy Joel isn’t nearly as bad as Bruce Springsteen.
Weird Al answered the question, to the tune of “It’s Still Rock and Roll To Me”:
What’s the matter with the songs he’s singin’?
Can’t you tell that they’re pretty lame?
After listenin’ to a couple albums,
Well, they all start to sound the same.
So he tried to change his musical style.
He tossed all his ballads in the circular file.
Then he found the punk sound,
Breakin’ ground all around,
It’s still Billy Joel to me.
What’s the matter with the tune he’s writin’?
Well, you know it’s gonna be a smash.
It’s so nice when you’re a big name artist,
Doesn’t matter if it sounds like trash.
Now everybody thinks the new wave is super.
Just ask Linda Ronstadt or even Alice Cooper.
It’s a big hit, isn’t it?
Even if it’s a piece of junk,
It’s still Billy Joel to me.
Woah, it doesn’t matter what the critics say about him,
‘Cause he doesn’t worry how they feel.
When you’re record’s sellin’ millions and it’s goin’ triple platinum,
You don’t worry ‘bout your next meal,
‘Cause money is no big deal.
Maybe he should dye his hair bright pink
And stick a safety pin through his cheeks.
Then he’d really fit the new wave image,
But he couldn’t sit down for weeks.
Don’t you know about the record business, honey?
You gotta be trendy if you wanna make some money.
Now everybody’s sayin’ that he sure sounds funny,
But it’s still Billy Joel to me.
All right, Alfred!
Oh!
I can hardly wait ‘til his next album.
Well, I’ll bet it’s gonna be the rage.
Buy a ticket to his next big concert.
Well, I wonder what he’ll do on stage.
It might be disco and it might be the blues,
Or maybe even somethin’ like the B-52’s.
Just a handclap, finger snap,
Even if it’s mindless pap,
It’s still Billy Joel to me.
Everybody’s sayin’ that he sure sounds funny,
But it’s still Billy Joel to me.
Billy Joel is the quintissential “pop” musician. It’s fine to criticize the genre itself, but it seems a bit ridiculous to criticize someone who basically raised it to perfection, such as it is.
Worst pop singer ever? Has this guy never heard of Barry Manilow?
i fail to see what joel has to do with wyeth.
and, he’s not that bad.
i once read that the worst rock song was “we built this city”.
All of the top 40 music was bad during Joel’s day, but it was far worse during the ‘80s. ...glad we’re not “wastin’ away agin’ in margaritaville” or hearing the Village Weirdos. ;-)
I respectfully disagree. Billy Joel is a fine musician and a very good piano player.
Worst Pop Singer Ever? Surely Madonna, Cindy Lauper, Boy George, Kurt Cobain, Marilyn Manson, Beyonce, Celine Dion, Pink, Whitney Houston, Mariah Carey (the list goes on and on) all trump poor ol’ Billy Joel?
What did he ever do to deserve being called “The Worst”???
The poor guy!
No, Bob Dylan... worst EVER.
Joel writes watery pap without a trace of originality. I wouldn’t care if he were just writing disposable pop, but Sinatra and Ray Charles made pop classics, too. Joel just regurgitates cultural cliches with a teeth-grinding attempt to be hip that makes his stuff unlistenable.
Wyeth and Springsteen, whatever their flaws, created distinct and interesting work, at least during certain segments of their careers.
That Joel is acclaimed at all is a joke on us all.
I have no idea what this author or this article is trying to say.
Billy Joel and Bruce Springsteen are leftists. That’s not a crime per se. Politically, they are just retards who think that because they can entertain people with their music, they can use their influence to make the world a socialist utopia.
It doesn’t make them assholes. Most entertainers are empty and flawed people who are serial bad husbands, fathers and think they can make their lives worthwhile by using their talent to make up for their human frailty.
I still love Billy Joel for his music.
The answers to this question, to borrow a phrase from Eldridge Cleaver ...
won't counter balance the weight of two dead flies on the scales of eternity.
Billy Joel sold more records than Elvis.
Billy Joel has done some good work. Not all of his songs are masterpieces, but he has real talent.
Shrug. The Robert Goulet of the 70s generation.
I do love Piano Man. Can take or leave the rest.
He never said he was a victim of circumstance. He still belongs. Don’t get him wrong. Go ahead with your own life, leave him alone.
I am no fan of Billy Joel or gay pop music, but alone, in the privacy of my car, if I hear Billy Joel’s ‘She’s Got A Way’ or ‘For the Longest Time’, I will sing along because those are, I think, to my eternal shame, good pop songs.