The Stranger
“I was wondering why you guys wanted me here,” Billy Joel said as he surveyed a packed ballroom at the National Press Club on Thursday. “Now I know.”
He said the initial topic of his speech was “why I studiously avoid political endorsements.” He said he’s always avoided political statements at his shows: “People pay for tickets; I don’t think they want to hear who you should vote for. I don’t like it. I didn’t come to hear that song. I get insulted. [Plus] it’s bad for business. Half your audience may disagree with you.”
Problem was, he and Bruce Springsteen played a fundraiser for Barack Obama just last week. “So that blows that out of the water,” he joked.
Why the change? He paraphrased Dante, saying “the darkest places in hell are reserved for those who maintain their neutrality in times of moral crisis.”
He spent the remaining 50 minutes taking questions from club President Sylvia Smith. Among his revelations:
-He was considering another Broadway show as a follow-up to his and Twyla Tharp’s “Movin’ Out,” but shelved the idea. This one would rest on the “premise that death is a good career move in the music industry.”
-He refers to Christie Brinkley as “Ex No. 2.”
-He didn’t think “Piano Man,” or many of his other songs for that matter, would become hits.
And he punctuated his comments with several musical snippets on the piano, as he imitated Ray Charles, Jimi Hendrix, Garth Brooks and Bruce Springsteen.
Speaking of a piano, that’s one thing that Joel almost didn’t have. He requested a Kurzweil digital grand, and instrument that’s regularly backordered, thanks to high demand. After some searching, event organizers found one at Reifsnyder’s Pianos & Organs in Lancaster, Pa.
According to Reifsnyder’s President Bill Crabtree, who came down for the event, the piano they had available had already been sold. But the owner-to-be agreed that if Billy Joel “signed it, he would send it down” to D.C.
Done deal.
Piano obtained, the only thing missing from Joel’s appearance was his catchphrase, uttered at the end of nearly every show he plays. Of course, it’s probably just a case of him showing a bit more decorum in D.C. The line? “Don’t take any s**t from anybody!”
(Photo by Paul Morigi/Wire Image)
