Hi, this is Liberty DeVito on the My Weekly Mixtape
Show with Brian Colburn. Brian, you and me did
a great job on all these Billy Joel songs, man.
I hope that people go and listen and make a mixtape
of their own of Billy's stuff. Welcome to My
Weekly Mixtape, a podcast that takes the classic
mixtape approach to building a modern playlist.
I'm your host, Brian Colburn. When I started
creating mixtapes growing up... One of the artists
I made the most mixtapes of was Billy Joel. I
made the Dream Concert setlist mixtapes, the
Mellow Songs mixtapes, the Bombastic Tunes mixtapes,
even the 70s output and the 80s output. I'm hearing
a Step Brothers reference in there somewhere.
And yes, I even made a Billy Joel mixtape of
all the songs from Greatest Hits Volume 1 and
2. but from the original albums because the original
cassette that I had had all the radio edits and
I needed the real thing. But none of those mixtapes
will compare to the one that I am making tonight
because tonight one of the amazing musicians
who played on these albums is joining me to collaborate
on what I feel will be the ultimate Billy Joel
mixtape and that is the one and only Liberty
DeVito, one of my favorite drummers on the planet.
Liberty, thank you so much for joining me on
my weekly mixtape. Well, Brian, let me tell you
something. This is very difficult. Very difficult.
You know what? Recording 150 tunes with Billy
or however many, and you expect me to pick 20
of them? It's insane. We are going to try to
narrow it down as best as we possibly can, and
I know that's no easy task. Now, let me ask you
this question. Is it like I'm going to sit here
with somebody who doesn't like Billy Joel and
knows nothing about him, and I'm going to try
to impress this person? Is that the kind of thing
we're doing? Or is it like my favorite tunes,
your favorite tunes? The beauty of how this unfolds
is we're going to be picking songs together and
kind of bouncing off of the vibe that is unfolding.
between us bringing up these tunes. So we're
going to tell a story through our conversation
tonight and build the playlist out together.
So in other words, this is like Seinfeld. This
list is about nothing right now. We have to make
it into something. That is exactly right. Okay.
Now, my first question for you, Liberty. Yes.
The word mixtape, does that have any meaning
to you? And if so, what is that meaning? I used
to make mixtapes with cassettes. When we were
on the road, like in the 70s, into the 80s, because
we always used to bring our own little portable
tape recorders and stuff, you know, boom boxes
in the room and stuff like that to listen to
music. And I used to make mixtapes of a lot of
things, you know. Put records onto the tape.
Billy had bought me a Nakamichi machine for Christmas
one year. Whoa. Yeah, it was really nice. And
he used to make mixtapes on that. I sucked at
it, but I mean, I had fun. Bet they sounded absolutely
fantastic. So for me tonight, when I was trying
to put together the songs that I kind of wanted
to talk about, like you said, Liberty, there's
150 Billy Joel songs. Yeah. And there's not many
that I don't like. So for me, I'm going to kind
of go based off of however this mixtape unfolds
and kind of see where musically the songs kind
of unfold for me. Now, for you, being the man
that played on all of these songs, how hard was
it just to narrow down some that you felt kind
of rose to the top for you being one of those
musicians? Well, I looked at it as, first of
all, like I said before, I was looking at it
like I need to impress somebody that doesn't
really care much for Billy Joel. And then I thought,
well, I need to play things that I think I played
well, you know, that I played good on. And then
I had to go with the ones that I like. You know,
ones I like. Because there's Billy Joel songs
I don't like. You know, I mean, my life isn't
on my list. No. Wow. That's why I tried to put
this together. Well, let's get down to business.
Tonight, as I mentioned earlier, Liberty and
I will be curating a Songs of Billy Joel mixtape,
and we'll use the old cassette deck approach,
meaning our mixtape will be broken up into two
sides, side A and side B. Liberty, as the special
guest, will begin side A with his first song
choice, and then I'll add a song that I feel
best follows up his choice. We'll then flip -flop
choosing songs until we've mapped out the 10
songs for side A. We'll then give our mixtape
a perverse... and then we'll map out side B,
only this time I'll kick the side off with Liberty
choosing second. Our overall goal for the episode
is to craft the best Billy Joel mixtape possible
through only 20 songs. At the end of the show,
you can take our conversation to the next level
by visiting the Songs of Billy Joel page at myweeklymixtape
.com and give our final mixtape a listen via
the embedded playlist. Finally, if you like what
you're hearing on the show, please consider becoming
a Patreon mixtaper at patreon .com forward slash
myweeklymixtape. And before we press the record
button on this mixtape, some of the fellow mixtapers
chimed in with songs they feel would best kick
off a Billy Joel mixtape. And I want to share
some of them now so we have some food for thought
going into the discussion. Patreon mixtaper David
Owens chimed in with You May Be Right. Cactus
Pete chimed in with I Go To Extremes. And Ben
from the Too Vague podcast chimed in with Pressure.
Elsewhere on social media, Alex Ault, Jim Bricker,
and Jay Hall from the Okie book cast all chimed
in with Prelude, Angry Young Man, with Alex's
being the live Russia concert version and the
others being the studio version. Michael Grosvenor
chimed in with Sleeping With The Television On
for studio recordings, and Allentown from Nassau
Coliseum in 1982 in terms of live recordings.
J &K, the F My Work Life podcast chimed in with
Captain Jack. Justin Fortune chimed in with The
Entertainer. Jason Whistle from the It's Not
That Bad and There Can Only Be One podcasts chimed
in with Pressure. Hector Contreras broke it out
by decades, agreeing with Alex Ault and Jay Hall
with the prelude Angry Young Man for the 70s,
and then he went with Running on Ice for the
80s. Stuart H. chimed in with Only the Good Die
Young. Sean Faust, Uncle Ron, Dave Shiner, and
Melissa Boilo all chimed in with Miami 2017,
seeing the lights go out on Broadway, with Melissa's
being the Songs in the Attic live version. Chris
Darling and Chael both chimed in with Big Shot.
Jeff Scoble chimed in with All for Lena. Michael
Citro from Michael's record collection chimed
in with scenes from an Italian restaurant. And
finally, Claude P., Mike Andrews, and the Latin
Jukebox all chimed in with Piano Man. Okay. With
12 studio albums, and you can make that 13 if
you take into account the Fantasies and Delusions
classical release, along with the many amazing
live releases and soundtrack contributions, there
is no... shortage of music to choose from tonight.
So Liberty, I'm officially going to press the
record button on this mixtape and turn the mic
over to you. What song are you choosing to kick
off our ultimate songs of Billy Joel mixtape
with? And why are you choosing it? I go to extremes
because I just want to punch the person right
in the face. Awesome. With Patreon mixtape or
Cactus Pete calling it absolutely fantastic tune.
I want to start with a big bang. And I think
that one does it. That certainly does. That is
one of my favorite Billy Joel songs of all time.
That was easily on my list. There was no way
we were getting through this episode without
talking about this one. When this song exploded
after we didn't start the fire. Did you guys
know you had a massive hit on your hands with
this one? Because at that point, We Didn't Start
the Fire was everywhere, taking over schools
and everything else because of the history nature
of it. But then here comes I Go to Extremes,
and that song explodes to pretty much the same
level while it charted just a few notches down
from the number one hit of We Didn't Start the
Fire, of course. Well, you know, we had recorded
I Go to Extremes earlier, and when Columbia first
came in to hear, what the album was and they
listened to all the songs that were on stormfront
and they listened to we got i go extremes and
what they told billy was you know i hear your
second single we don't hear the first one yet
and then he wrote we didn't have to buy her wow
yeah well i'm guessing the label got it right
because that was a fantastic one -two punch in
that instance for sure it really was I love I
Go to Extremes because I think I played well
on it. It really sounds good sonically. And I
probably, out of all the lyrics that Billy writes,
you know, he's related to the lyrics because,
you know, I came from Seaford, he came from Hicksville.
It's one town away from each other. And so we
relate to a lot of the geography that he talks
about. We relate to girls that he talks about,
you know, and stuff like that. And Extremes,
I can relate to being that person. that he is
too. You know, the, the guy that just doesn't
know why he goes from one thing to another, like,
you know, all of a sudden like that, you know,
so I, I really love that song. I couldn't agree
more. And I get to follow that up now with my
first pick of the night. And like you Liberty,
we're on the same plane because I want to punch
people in the face right from the beginning as
well. And a song that. I would have always wanted
to see second in the night because I just love
coming out of that opening song. And then your
drum beat kicks in and it's driving and driving
and you're waiting and the bass starts coming
in. And we get into pressure. Following up, I
go to extremes. That song. is one of the songs
that I learned how to air drum to growing up.
That beat just grabs your attention, holds on
to you. And that song is, I want to say, in my
opinion, maybe one of the angriest songs of Billy's,
but in a way that everybody can relate to. He
just had a way with words. So I am following
up. I go to extremes with pressure. And I would
love to know, when you were putting that song
together, Was that drum beat something that you
were saying, I need to get something where we
are giving off this manic energy to kind of feed
these lyrics? Well, when I first heard the song,
he had it just him playing on a cassette. And
I was driving with him into the studio and he
played me the cassette. And before he pressed
the play button, he said to me, OK, there's a
part in here. Don't think of Russians going.
Hey, you know, don't think of that. And it's
the part that goes, Hey, you know. So, yeah,
the beat needed to be like a halftime beat. And
then the second half of the verse, it goes into
the regular straight 4 -4. Because it kind of
calls back when he's talking softly. And then
when it changes the chords. And here you are.
Then it's talking about this person. Here you
are. So it takes off like that. That was a good
song. That's on my list. But it's down by the
bottom because I wanted to go through the songs
and then at the end kind of kick it up again.
But yeah, Brush is on my list. All right. Well,
then I am going to throw it back to you now to
pick the next song on this mix. OK. Sometimes
a fantasy. Love it. I will tell you right now,
and this is a true story. I got in trouble as
a child growing up because I sat at the phone
one day trying to figure out. what the number
was that was being dialed at the beginning of
that song. It was the phone number of somebody
Bill Ramone had. Really? Wow, I had no idea.
That is unbelievable. Easily my favorite song
on Glass Houses. So I love that track. I love
where you're going with this. And coming out
of that, hmm. This is tough. I actually want
to go newer because we're kind of rocking on
this side so far. And I want to go off the river
of dreams and I'm going to go with the opening
track. No man's land. That's a good song. Yeah.
Yeah. Because I know the river of dreams album
is very popular on the pop side of his catalog.
But for the rock side, I feel like songs like.
No Man's Land get overlooked because of all of
the beautiful ballads and pop songs that kind
of permeate throughout the River of Dreams. But
this song shows he's still got the rock in him
on this album, and I love it as an album opener.
Now I'm curious, I know the River of Dreams tour,
you guys played that a lot. Did that song kind
of fall out of favor with the band after that
album cycle? Well, No Man's Land, we opened the
show with No Man's Land when River of Dreams
came out. Yeah, it was a good song to play. You
know, I don't want to say I have a bad taste
in my mouth for River of Dreams because that
was the one where me, Skylar Deal, and I think
Tommy Burns and whoever else, Crystal Telefer,
we all went into the studio with Billy and recorded
like about eight songs for River of Dreams. And
then Billy, you know, he was writing the song,
playing the piano, singing the songs. He built
the studio. He was going to produce it. Too many
hats. How to get rid of one of them. Picked Danny
Kroetschmeyer to produce the River of Dreams
album. I actually wanted Eddie Van Halen, but
he was... Wait, what? Yeah. Really? Yeah. Was
that or Stormfront? One of those two. Eddie Van
Halen was kind of up for... Wow. I try to think
about how that production would have changed
with him at the helm. That's fascinating. Well,
it might have been Stormfront because it's more
guitar. And that's why Mick Jones was chosen.
But anyway, back to No Man's Land. So we recorded
like eight songs. And maybe one day Billy will
release, they're called the boathouse tapes,
because we were in a boathouse that he built
the studio in. And you will see how those tapes
sound like Billy Joel. You know, like where this
new stuff, like you say, was more pop and into
a pop feel. They were all good songs on that
record, you know. Really good song. I mean, the
only one that I'm on on the album is Shades of
Grey. And that was Billy's choice to not use
the one that they did with that other band, but
put us on there. Absolutely fascinating. Well,
Liberty, I am throwing it back to you to follow
up No Man's Land with our next song. Okay, okay.
I love this song, which kind of nobody really
listens to it. It's from Glass Houses, again,
and it's called Close to the Borderline. Yes!
You've got to be kidding me. Yes, yes, yes, yes.
That's my favorite song on Glass Houses. It's
Close to the Borderline. That is my second to
sometimes a fantasy growing up. Shocked that
this song was not a massive hit. Shocked. This
song has such a groove to it. It's funky. It's
fun. It's got this bravado about it. And it just
fits so well. The most underrated Billy Joel
song in his entire catalog, in my opinion. Yeah,
I mean, and it's got those insane lyrics. Like,
he's ready to snap again. Yeah. Yeah, so I really
love this song. I mean, it was fun to do. At
the time, we would... bouncing around at different
studios. And we did that one in Electric Ladyland.
And what I really love is the beat and everything
that goes on and stuff like that. But the guitar
solos that are in the middle of the song, where
Russell plays, Russell Jarvis plays and comes
out of one speaker. And then David Brown comes
out of the other speaker. Kind of like the Beatles
did in the end. The three of them played different
parts on the guitar. They did that. And it was
really cool. Absolutely love that song. It's
a good one. Yeah, following that up is tough
because we've got a really... rockin' set here
going so far, and I think I'm gonna keep that
going, but I'm gonna tease people by slowing
it down a little bit just for the intro. And
Liberty, I had the pleasure of talking with you
and Gomez on Playlist Wars when we did the songs
in the Attic album. We talked about it together.
And I'm gonna go off of that album with my favorite
song from it, and I'm gonna go with Miami 2017,
Seen the Lights Go Out on Broadway, recorded
June 24th. 1980 at the amazing Madison Square
Garden. One of my favorite songs from the catalog.
Again, you start off with that beautiful opening
piano, but then make no mistake about it. This
song rocks and it's going to melt your face.
And it's been a staple since it was first released
for that very reason. I would love to ask you,
because I went with the live version specifically.
Do you, as a part of the band, feel like the
Songs in the Attic version elevates the version
that was originally on Turnstiles? You know,
I had recently did an interview. A guy sent me
questions and I filled them all out and stuff
like that. His favorite of that was, his favorite
record live was the Russian album, you know,
Miami 2017. And I said, no, no. The song's in
the attic. See, now, when we recorded the Turstals
version of it, it was just me, Billy, and Doug
that recorded the basic track. This is when Billy
said, you know, we could really use guitars on
here. I want guitars to rock this thing out.
That's when we brought in Howard and Russell.
And the band that we had, Topper, became the
Billy Joel band with the inclusion of Richie
Cannata. i love the turnstiles record you know
miami 2017 but like you said songs in the attic
oh my god it really just people talked about
it for a long time and i really hadn't listened
to it for a long time and so i went back and
listened to it it was like oh my god really good
you know yeah absolute fire that version yeah
It was like, there must have been some good -looking
girls on the side or something like that. I don't
know. Well, we are moving on now to track seven,
Liberty, and I am turning it back over to you
with the next song pick. Okay. Now, I started
to slow it down with While the Night is Still
Young. Ooh. You know, after all that frenzy,
and then you hear, boom, die, die, boom, you
know, that whole thing. So, that was my thing.
And that, was a great tune it just happened to
be on the what that was on the um greatest hits
record right the greatest hits volume one and
two yes yeah yeah so that that and second wind
were the two tracks at the end right so i i thought
that was a bad way to put a record on an album
that had all the hits already and then you got
those two songs that people like skipping over
it because they want to hit hits that's why they
bought the album you know so but i love that
song one of my favorite lyric that he ever wrote
It's in that tune. We were around, we were the
same age. And when he said on the microphone,
he said, young enough to still see the passionate
boy that I used to be, but I'm old enough to
say I got a good look at the other side. I stopped
and I said, what did you mean to say? Like, oh
my God, that's exactly our age. You're still
a 19 years old, but yeah. There's things happening
to me. I'm starting to see the other side now
of what's going to happen. You know, so I really
feel close to that song. You know, I love that
song. I think it's great. I played on, they used
to have these drums, Simmons. They were electronic
drums. That's where you get the, on the snare
drum, you know? Yeah, yeah. Well, I think I'm
going to follow your lead and follow it up with
another slower song from the catalog, but one
that I've always felt was, Billy's most, and
I'll just say it, beautiful tune. And I'm going
to go with the title track from 1983's An Innocent
Man. Oh, it's a good one. I absolutely love what
you're doing in that song because you're keeping
the verses really mellow and really quiet. And
you almost get this Motown -esque kind of ballad
feel. Right. But then when he kicks it into the
chorus, you build up into this massive arena
rock. and they play so well with each other.
I'd love to hear your thoughts on this song and
kind of what you guys were trying to bring to
it in the studio to get that push and pull effect.
Well, you know, that whole record was a tip of
the hat to the music that we grew up listening
to before we were in the bands or before anything
like that. And that was kind of the drifters
type of thing. Like up on the roof. When this
soul will stop. Yeah. So. Getting to that point,
I am the innocent man. This is when he first
meets Crispy Brinkley, too. Now, what Motown
didn't have that Billy did, Billy wrote great
bridges to the songs. So when he gets to the
bridge, then it's like, bam, we're really in
it. And then all of a sudden it just stops. And
it goes back to that. I love that. I love that.
Peeking like that and then. just stopping and
going right back to where you started from. Yes.
And the, I will call them iconic finger snaps
in the song because they are just so well placed
and so musical and so rhythmic. And so they're
simple, but they're so effective in those quiet
parts of the song. Yeah, they really do. That
was a good song. But yeah, that whole album was
a tip of the hat to, you know. Uptown Girls,
after four seasons, for the longest time, to
the, what was the name of the band that did so
much of Love? The Times? The Times, yeah. Yep.
Oh, yeah, all that stuff. I have a couple of
Innocent Man songs on my list. Well, you're up
now for track nine on side A, so turn it over
to you. Okay, let's see. You just had Innocent
Man. Now, I think that the, see, I have the longest
time on the list, but it's a great opener for
the record, Innocent Man, which is Easy Money.
Ooh, yeah. Easy Money is so good. I'll tell you
why. That song we recorded, it was me, Doug,
Russell, and David. Cornell Dupree, no, Eric
Gale was playing guitar. Richard T. was playing
piano. Leon Pondavis was playing Hammond organ.
There was an entire horn section, about four
background singers. And Billy was in a sound
booth by himself, just singing. And we recorded
that entire track all at the same time. Whoa.
That was the only time we did something like
that. That was exciting to be with these major
studio musicians and our little band and Billy
just doing with everyone in the studio because
he didn't have to worry about the piano or anything
like that. Wow. That is a fantastic story. I
did not know that about that one. I love it.
That was a good song. Yeah. Well, I get the...
honor of closing out side a of our mixtape right
now and it's been a fantastic one but i feel
like we haven't shown 1977's the stranger any
love so i want to go back to that album to close
us out and i am going to go with what i consider
one of the reasons i enjoy long songs and that
is scenes from an italian restaurant It is obviously
one of the live staples, one of the biggest songs
for the band to play live. The fact that this
wasn't a number one single for years boggles
my mind. It was so perfect. And knowing that
this is an ode to the second half of Abbey Road,
this is the song that got me to go down the Beatles
rabbit hole. Because I listened to Billy Joel
long before I listened to the Beatles during
my age range of where I am. And songs like scenes
from an Italian restaurant opened my world to
bands like the Beatles to listen to the second
half of Abbey Road. And I would love to hear.
how this song kind of came together in the studio
for you guys was, was this written? Did Billy
come in and basically say, okay, I've got all
these parts and we're going to do them this way.
Or how did you guys kind of map this song out
in the studio? Well, first of all, it couldn't
be a thing. It was too long. The song is seven
minutes and some seconds, right? Oh, 100%. But
that doesn't take away from the fact of how great
the song is. Okay. When we were on the road for
the turnstiles album, we were already doing the
Brenda and Eddie part. So now I know we played
scenes from the Italian restaurant at Carnegie
Hall, but like we would do soundcheck and we'd
be playing Brenda and Eddie. And then he would
say like, I've come up with this other part.
I'm going to make this, you know, and then he'd
come up with the band and then, you know, and
the story built into from. it's sitting across
from somebody that you knew years ago and you
probably had a relationship with them and you're
telling them everything you know about these
people that both of you used to know but haven't
seen in a while but you just heard about that
you know so it's really a complete story from
the beginning the middle to the end you know
you know all the words would be um Village Green,
all that kind of stuff. I know a lot on Long
Island. I know a lot of stuff all about that.
I've heard so many reviewers when we used to
do it live, when it first came out, got it wrong.
The best they could do was pick up the pieces.
That's what it was supposed to be. One reviewer
said the best they could do was make some kind
of pizzas or something like that. Yeah, silly
things like that. Well, there you have it, folks.
Side A of our ultimate Billy Joel mixtape. We
kicked things off with I Go To Extremes, followed
it up with Pressure, Sometimes a Fantasy, No
Man's Land, Close to the Borderline, Miami 2017,
Seen the Lights Go Out on Broadway from Songs
in the Attic, While the Night is Still Young,
An Innocent Man, Easy Money, and scenes from
an Italian restaurant. Make sure to head over
to myweeklymixtape .com and visit the Songs of
Billy Joel page to listen to all these songs
via the playlist that's embedded over there.
Now before we flip the tape over and do Side
2 Liberty, I do have a few intermission questions
if you don't mind. Okay. The first one... Outside
of your work with Billy Joel, you've recorded
with some other amazing artists such as Meatloaf,
Rick Wakeman of Yes, Carly Simon, Mick Jones
of Farner and Karen Carpenter, just to name a
few. If you had to choose maybe a pair of studio
songs, a 45, if you will, side A and side B of
songs that really resonate with you from outside
of Billy Joel's catalog, what would they be and
why? Well, I think. There's a song that I did
with John Hyatt called Snake Trauma. I love John
Hyatt. I really like this song because it's almost
like I'm playing like John Bonham, that kind
of power, just that boom, boom, you know, that
kind of thing. And it's really cool, the song.
That would be one side. And the other side, I
guess, would have to be Rock and Roll and Brew.
by meat on the meatloaf album yeah which is really
good you know share sings on that one too and
uh yeah that was that was pretty cool either
that or a beautiful night that we recorded with
bull mccall at me uh that came out on his uh
flaming pie box set so on that you know that
that was exciting yeah that was that was a thrill
of a lifetime is that a moment where you're sitting
there in the studio thinking to yourself how
the hell did i wind up here Dude, when he walked
in the room, all the way in, I'm driving in there,
you know, one of us there, early set up. All
the way, I'm thinking, how does he want me? What
does he want me? He doesn't even know who I am.
First one to walk in the room is Linda, and she
points right at me, and she goes, oh, I know
who you are. We've been watching your videos.
I'm like, what? And when he walked in. You know,
he just said hi to everybody and shook my hand.
And I kind of backed out of the studio and just
like it was the angel and devil on its shoulder.
And one was saying like, come on, Liv, he's just
a musician like you are. And the other was going,
no, he's not. He's a real man. And you know,
it's funny. In the studio, we did two songs.
And in the middle of the song, between the two
songs, we took a break for lunch. And all we
were talking about children and stuff like that,
music and stuff. All I wanted to hear him say
was the Beatles, because they say it so differently.
You know, we say the Beatles. He says the Beatles,
you know, like that kind of thing. He kept calling
them the other band. When I was with the other
band. What band is that? Which band did you speak
of? Would this be Wings, maybe? I don't know.
You played with somebody else? Awesome, awesome.
Now, this other question I have for you is a
Billy Joel question that you might be the only
person to know the answer to this one. I have
asked every fellow music podcaster. I've looked
at every... booklet to find this information
i've asked other billy joel podcasts about this
nobody knows the answer my god you got me nervous
now in 1988 billy performed a song for the oliver
and company soundtrack called why should i worry
yes it was written by dan hartman and charlie
midnight yes and he was nominated for a golden
globe award for best original song from this
it wasn't written by billy No. But did you guys
play on that song or was that like a Disney house
band, so to speak? That was a totally different
band. But you know, the funny thing is, Billy
sat there. I was sitting next to him on the piano
bench. We were recording, I believe, the bridge
album at the time. And I was sitting on the piano
bench next to him. And somebody came in and said,
they want you to write a song for the Oliver.
What was he, all of them? He was Dodger. He was
the artful Dodger. They want you to write. And
he just turned and looked at me and said, you
write it. I went, okay. And I wrote a song called
I'm the Greatest. You know, it's about he can
jump into bed before the light turns out. He
can do all these things, you know, that makes
him the greatest, you know. And we actually recorded
it with the band. Billy sang it and everything
like that. But I think they wanted to go with
a more famous songwriter like Dan Hartman. So
mine got kind of pushed to the side. But Billy
recorded it and everything. Is this a song that's
just sitting in the vault waiting to be released?
In the vault with the boathouse tapes. Yeah,
it's all in the vault. Well, I think I speak
on behalf of everybody when I say we need to
hear these things. I'm the greatest, yeah. Well,
let's now... Flip things over and get started
with side two. Now side two, I get to kick things
off and Liberty, you'll be following it up. Okay.
We talked about this album very briefly earlier
and one of the mixtapers chimed in with this
song. And for me, if I'm starting a side, there's
only one song I could start with. And growing
up, the concert cassette was one of my first
cassettes that I purchased with my own money.
That was the Russia concert album. Right. And
that live version of angry young man just melts
my speakers for many, many years. Yes, I know
I'm going for a second live cup, but as much
as I love the version from turnstiles, this version
is just 150 miles an hour. It's so amazing. And
it is. up there with some of my favorite Billy
Joel live moments ever. So I'm going to go with
that version of angry young man. And I would
love to know because I've watched that concert
countless times. You're in this arena, everybody's
sitting and you come out and kind of kick things
off with this song and everyone's in their seats
with their hands folded. What was that moment
like? Well, we started the song. Right. Billy
started. Now, on the record, you could hear him
started at a certain tempo. And as soon as I
click in, it goes to a much faster tempo. Billy
always hated me for that. He was always like,
slow down. Come on. I'm like, no, we're going
for it. But I remember him. We're kind of in
the middle of the song and those people are just
sitting there because they weren't allowed to
get up. You know, they weren't allowed to stand
up. And when they were lighting the show so they
could film it better. If somebody was standing,
the security, which was the soldiers, would come
over and just push them back in their seats.
So I remember him looking at me. He's playing
the piano. We're playing. And he looks at me
and goes, we're dead. We're dead. Then he finally,
you know, as the show went on, he finally heard
cheering from the back. You know, you had to
be a part of the Communist Party to get tickets
to the first. a couple of shows. When he heard
the cheering from the back, he told the people
in the front, he said, it's going to get louder.
You know, this is how loud we play at home. This
is what it's like being in the States. And this
is what you're seeing. If you don't like it,
you should move to the back where it's not as
loud. And while you're back there, give the kids
right there the tickets to come up front. Swap
tickets. And once they did that, it was like,
this is great. By the end of our six shows. Three
in Moscow, three in Leningrad. They pushed our
stage back an entire foot. They were rocking
so much. I mean, the stage that we were on, they
pushed it back an entire foot. Wow. Yeah. It
was great. It was great. It was great the way
it built from like we're dead to like, wow, we
succeeded with that. Well, my question for you
is because Turnstiles was the first album that
you played on with the band. So obviously the
band was still coming into their form on that
version. Do you feel the song was better showcased
in a live setting than on the studio version?
Yeah, definitely. Definitely. Because you're
more relaxed. It's just more fun to play, you
know, and then. Then you develop all those visual
things that you do, like smacking the cymbals
this way, you know, and Billy standing up and
kicking the piano over and, you know, then it
gets exciting. But in the studio, you know, in
the studio, it was done as three parts. We did
the beginning. Then we stopped. Then we did,
there's a place in the world for the young real
man. We did that. And then we did the end. And
they put them together. Recording -wise, it was
easier to do it that way. to go from the beginning
part into the verse. Because on the record, you
can't hear the drums playing. You just hear the...
Which, by the way, I did on Billy's chest, because
we were listening back, and he goes, I want something
like this. And we took him out. I laid him on
the chest. I put a mic on his chest, and I went
on his chest. Really? Yeah, and then overdubbed
some brushes to give it a little higher tone.
Wow, that is so cool. I had no idea. Recording
magic at its finest. Well, coming out of Angry
Young Man, Liberty, I throw it back to you now
to pick our next song. Okay, I'm going to go
with Allentown. Nice. Yeah, I like Allentown.
I mean, it was Levittown for a long time. That's
all he had for years. Well, we're living here
in Levittown. And then... What are they doing?
They're not doing anything. But yeah, Allentown,
it's a good song. You know, it's another opener
for an album, right? Another curtain starts with
Allentown. Great with the whistle. And there's
the pile driver in that, you know. Well, I doubled
the pile driver. We had these two cases of...
uh percussion stuff maracas tambourines all the
bells and whistles that you use to open them
and i to get that they miked me i went out with
the two cases and i had to jump in the air and
land at the right time what you know what i think
was is that after we got done with it you know
a couple of takes to get it right you open the
case it was like sawdust So I have to ask when
you guys played it live, was there like a trigger
in the background that was including those hits?
Yeah. Like Dave LeBolt was on the, he played
the second keyboard. Yeah. He had that. That
he would trigger. Awesome. Awesome. Yeah. Well,
coming out of that song, I want to go with something
where it kind of takes us on a little bit of
a different journey, but it's a song that I feel
is. It just stands out in the Billy Joel catalog,
and I'd be remiss not to include it. And the
drums are very tribal in this song, and that's
something where I think it does stick out for
me. And I'm going to go off of the Stormfront
album, and we're going to lead it off with the
amazing Itch Doc Perlman, and I'm going to go
with the Downeaster Alexa. As you were talking,
I wrote that down, Downeaster Alexa. Yeah, that's
a good one. We were in the studio, we had the
song, and he said, I want this to be, it's about
my boat, about the boat. I want this to be about
a boat. So I immediately went to like a Jimmy
Buffett kind of like, and he went, no, no, no,
wrong color water. He says it's a fishing boat,
you know. So I had to come up with something
that would kind of mimic the fishing boat. Everybody
knows that a horse is a... You do that on a drum.
A train is... Right? Yes. I had to come up with
something that sounded like a boat. So, you know,
you're going over these gigantic waves, right?
And you're crashing down on the other side. Right?
But when I was growing up on Long Island, I lived
in this little sea town called Seaport and had
canals in it. And when the fishermen would go
out really early in the morning... The boats
had diesel engines, and they would have to putt
in the canals, and you could hear them go, bup,
bup, bup, bup, bup, bup, bup, bup, bup, bup,
bup, bup. The things were never steady, so that,
you know, and the engine. So with the toms, it
was like, boom, going over the waves. And that
put time in it with the snare drum at the head.
And it became this boat that he could ride on.
Like almost, have you seen the white wall? The
idea to bring It's Doc Perlman into the fold
for that recording, was that something that the
label, was that Billy's thought? Needed a fiddle.
So why not get It's Doc Perlman? I guess they
were living in the same building or something
like that. So he did it. There was some kind
of arrangement that didn't happen, so they couldn't
use his name. That's why it says a different
name on there. He's credited as world -famous
incognito violinist. That's it. Well, Liberty,
coming out of the Downeaster Alexa, I turn it
over to you now. World -famous, hopefully not
incognito drummer. Yeah, okay, okay. Let's go
to something up now. Let's go right into Zanzibar.
Ooh, love it. Yeah. Zanzibar. One of my favorite
tunes. You know, it's funny. With the band, the
Lords of the Second Street that I play with now,
we got Dan Orlando who does the Billy Bart and
the other guys who enhance the band, me, Rich
Cannata, and Russell Jarvis. We do all these
songs, Zanzibar and Agri on Band. And Zanzibar
is one of my favorites to play because we whip
into that jazz part. And I can see people like
that know the song. thinking like, okay, we're
going to see, can they do that jazz part? Can
they do it? You know, and when we pull it off.
And the part that's great about it too is like
TikTok, I think it is. The kids on TikTok, the
younger people, they were doing this dance to,
I've got the old man's car. I got a jazz guitar.
And sometimes you'll see young, like they must
be in their teens or something like that. And
they're sitting listening to the song. And then
all of a sudden it goes to that part and you
can see them kid each other. Like, that's it.
That's the one. Such a great song. It's a great
song. And, you know, it didn't have the jazz
part. It wasn't until he wrote the words, I've
got a jazz guitar. Then when it came to a break,
it was like, oh, well, there could be a jazz
part in here. Why it's a jazz trumpet and not
a jazz guitar, I don't know. That's a famous
guy playing the trumpet, Brady Hubbard. Yeah,
yeah. And it's such a... Again, another song
that really sticks out in the catalog. Yeah.
That's when you try to pinpoint what kind of
artist is Billy Joel. That's kind of the beauty
of what I love about his music so much because
he's a rock artist, yes, but he's also a singer
-songwriter. He's also a jazz musician. He's
also, you know, I know I said tribal before,
but for lack of a better term, the vibe you were
going for in the Downeaster Alexa, that is...
Hard to describe that. You can't just say that's
a rock song. No. I call it tribal. It's like
a world music. And he does them all with the
band, obviously, so well that it's kind of hard
to pinpoint him to one genre. Yeah. And there's
a funny part in Zanzibar. Before the first solo,
when Freddie Hubbard does the first solo, I go
from sticks to brushes. And if you listen, turn
your stereo up real loud, you can hear me put
the sticks down and pick up the brushes you hear
on the floor top, because I laid them on the
floor top. Ooh, I'm going to have to listen back
to that one. You'll hear it. All right. But that
was a cool song to play. I mean, that was a lot
of fun. A lot of fun to play. It took a lot of
concentration on different parts. Well, I'm hoping
that the song that I'm going to follow up Zanzibar
with is another one that maybe you had fun to
play, because... On the Songs in the Attic album,
when you played this July 10th, 1980 at Toad's
Place in New Haven, Connecticut, sure as heck
sounded like you were having fun. And I'm going
to go with Los Angelinos from Songs in the Attic.
Great song. That song is just funky. That's the
way I describe it. I like the version on Street
Life Serenade, but you guys bring this funk on
the Songs in the Attic version that... just is
so alive and so invigorating. And I, and I, it's
another song that sticks out when you're listening
to the catalog. And I know it's a little bit
of a deeper cut, but damn, it's a good one. But
that, now that was, we were just doing tour stuff.
We were only old turnstiles. We were doing all
the other songs that Billy had out. And there
is a tape of, I think it's Los Angelinos. Don't
we do it at Toad's place? That's the version
on Songs in the Attic, Toad's Place. Yeah, that's
really good. That's really, really good. Worst
Comes to Worst is another one. There's an audio
tape of Worst Comes to Worst from a concert,
I think, at CW Post. And, oh, my God, Richie
Granada sent it to me, and I said, who is this
kid playing Ruff? It was me, obviously, but it
was like, oh, my God, that was really good. You
know, sometimes you listen back, and I think
to myself, No wonder he was so popular. Look
at what we had. Look at what we had. It was lightning
in a bottle. The band really just gelled. Well,
we had been playing together for years before
we got with Billy. Definitely. Yeah, it was magic.
It was definitely magic. Well, coming out of
Los Angelinos, I would love to hear where you're
going to head next because we are halfway through
Psy 2 here. Well, you know what song I really
love off the bridge album? Code of Silence. Ooh.
Yeah. Code of Silence. One of the only songs
where Billy didn't write the lyric. Yes, yes.
Cyndi Lauper. Another time he was jammed and
it was like he couldn't get the lyrics to it.
And Cyndi came into the studio and Cyndi goes,
oh, I'll write and play it. We went, okay. She
wrote some great lyrics. Those are great lyrics,
but, you know, having family secrets and you're
not allowed to, you've got a code of silence.
You're not allowed to talk about it, you know?
Yeah, yeah. Could be anything. Abuse, could be
alcohol, could be done, done or something like
that. Yeah. Now, was that something that was
easy for Billy to kind of give up that part of
the process? Well, I think we were basically
almost done with the record. And it was just
that, you know. Billy always said it was hard.
He used to get migraines after he finished writing
songs for an album. You know, because it's a
strain. You're under pressure. You know, it's
not like you see these young kids, they write
songs, and it's like, oh, we've got 150 songs.
Yeah, and you put out your first album, and then
they want the next one, you know? It's like,
oh, my God, I've got to do this again. Like,
what's it then? from Seinfeld when he found out
they were going to pick up another season and
he had to write another 10 more. Larry David
was like, don't do this. I like that song. It's
a great harmonica in the beginning. That's not
Billy. That's not? No. Some guy, a Broadway guy
that played on Broadway. Because Billy plays
harmonica. We all know that from Piano Man. He
plays more bluesy type of harmonica. Yeah. But
this guy was like. The real deal. Yeah. Wow.
Coming out of that, I'm scrolling through the
albums. I think I want to go back to the Nylon
Curtain one more time. Go ahead. It's a song
that means a lot to me. It's a song that I had
the good fortune of seeing Billy in the 90s with
my parents, and my father was a Vietnam veteran.
No. Seeing the look on his face when the band
performed Goodnight Saigon is something that
I'll never forget. He stood at attention the
whole song singing and I could just feel that
moment. I still I'm feeling it right now just
talking about it. And I don't think I could do
a Billy Joel mixtape without including that because
for me as a personal thing and knowing my father
said he nailed it. with this one lyrically. This
is what I went through. If you ever want to know
what I went through when I was in Vietnam, this
song tells you that story. And to me, even though
I've never met Billy Joel, my father's never
met Billy Joel, just knowing that he was able
to tell my father's story without knowing him,
it's so special to me. So I'm going to go with
Goodnight Saigon there. Well, you know... we
being in the band and over all those years we
have a connection a relationship with people
that we never met you know and and someone like
your father when we hear stories like that that
he how moved he was by something like that that's
it like really touching because you're always
thinking about like did we do satisfaction to
the song did we make any mistakes you know like
you you hear about you too uh the song pride
in the name of love and you find out that Bono
was wrong on the date that he talks about when
Martin Luther King was shot. Oh, you hear about
that all the time. It's like, oh, how did he
make that mistake, you know? So, Good Night Saigon
was, it actually was for the album before he
had the idea, but it was more like a World War
II kind of thing, which wasn't going well at
all, you know? So then when he came in and they
had this whole thing about Vietnam, we're all
at that age where, you know, I went from my draft
physical when I was 19 and I had written in my
book how many, like 300 and something guys got
killed that day. So we all felt guilt of why
didn't we go? Why did somebody else, why did
the guy next to me go and I didn't? You know,
because it was just a horrible war, just a horrible
war. and um so i i think that comes through that
we were really honest about what we're saying
you know and um his lyric is just unbelievable
you know we'll all go down together yeah yeah
and then we were all singing it in studio once
and i just yelled yeah all right so i took it
here and if you listen real closely to us again
you know My father always told me there were
two songs that bring him back to Vietnam and
it's good night Saigon. And we got to get out
of this place by the animals. Yeah. Great job.
Great song. Wow. Big. Well, coming out of that,
I am turning it over to you because we have a
few songs left here. Okay. Now I, how many songs
we got left? We have three. You have two songs
left and I only have one. Okay, then I'm going
to go to this next song, All for Lana. Nice.
Why was that not a single in the United States?
Why was that only released in the UK? I have
no idea. Flabbergasted about that one. I have
no idea. All I know is that before we went in
to do the Glass Houses record, we were just coming
off of 32nd Street, right? We're in Europe touring.
And I went to see this band and I told Billy,
I said, you have got to hear this band. They
are changing the sound of things. And I think
Billy got a little shaken by it. And the band
was the police that I went to see. Wow. Yeah.
And I think that he found a way to do that punk
youth kind of music, but keep the Billy. in it
you know because now we're we're 30 we're 30
years old they're older and uh these guys that
are coming out now in their 20s and you know
but i think he found it like in opelena you know
so that turned out to be a good one now as a
drummer being a person who've seen the police
i'm sure there's a fondness for stuart copeland's
style of drumming as well oh i love stuart copeland
see to me this drummer's that create these new
things. And Stuart Copeland, to me, is like Danny
Serafin was with Chicago. Stuart Copeland took
rock and reggae and made it a sound, where Danny
Serafin took rock and jazz and created this new
sound, which is really cool. I think that's great.
Yeah, that first Chicago Transit Authority album
introduction. That blew my mind the first time
I heard that, even as a kid, because I was like,
what am I listening to? Because you couldn't
as a child. I couldn't describe Chicago to somebody.
I couldn't say it's a rock song because there
was this horn section and it was funky and it
was jazzy and it was it was confusing to my little
mind. And now I I look back and I just listen
to that album with such awe because of. the creativity
that went into taking two different styles and
kind of merging them together to make this new
sound. Well, I think that is what kind of ruined
music was that everything had to be pigeonholed.
Like, what kind of music is it? Well, something
you've never heard before, you know? I mean,
back then in the 60s and stuff like that, we
were the generation that wanted change. But if
something changed, we panicked about it, you
know? Tried to fight it. You know, like, what
is that? What is that? I can't get it in my head.
I need it. I need a name of it. You know, no.
Like, do you force our Jimi Hendrix was like,
what is that? And that's what I feel like is
almost missing from modern music. Everybody's
trying to emulate a sound that's been heard before,
or at least that's what becomes popular. The
people that are out there really pushing boundaries.
are nowhere near the top of the charts and you
really have to dig deep to find people that are
truly innovating music and that's kind of why
i am such a music nerd doing a show like this
talking with different musicians i admire and
trying to introduce people to music that might
be outside of their comfort zone because there
is so much amazing music out there that people
just aren't getting exposed there's no spotify
algorithm That's going to show people something
that is truly game -changing. And that's a shame.
A great band will have the reputation of either
you love them or you hate them. That's a great
band. Because they're doing something so different
that you can't deal with it. You don't want to.
You don't have the musical love to really look
into what they're doing. Or you love them because
they change something so much. that you can identify
their sound, even if you don't know the song
that just comes on. Oh, that's Chicago. That's
Chicago, I can hear it, you know, like that.
Definitely. And, you know, with all these songs
that we're listening to today, I mean, we listen
to everything. We listen to everything you take
from here, take from there. You know, leave a
tender moment alone. For me, the drum part that
I'm playing, it's like a Burt Bacharach song,
you know? So... you had to know all these stuff
because, you know, it's rolled names around in
the studio too. Like, oh, I want this to sound
like, like Ringo did on, on Rain. Or I want this
to sound like the studio guy that played in,
in, in with Burt Bacharach, or I want this to
sell. And you got to know all that stuff, you
know, especially when a guy like Billy, cause
he writes like that, but you maintain your own
style, your vibe, and it becomes then your thing.
It moves into your thing. Well, I have one song
left, and this is ridiculous for me right now
because there are so many songs that I'm looking
at that aren't included on this list. But I just
have to go with one that it's a major hit. I
want to go back to the first album you ever played
on, which was Turnstiles. And I want to go with
a song that truly means a lot to me because when
I was in radio, I worked through 9 -11. In New
York, in radio at the time, in the city. And
there was a few days that we were locked out
of New York. And when we got back to the station,
we were kind of working these crazy three and
four day shifts that would just be kind of sleeping
on the floor because there was a lack of people
in the studios and it was just completely different
time. Well, about a month, maybe a month and
a half later, we were still starting to ease
back into things. And my buddy Jay and I went
to a karaoke bar and everybody was just trying
to blow off a little steam and sing some songs.
And one of my favorite songs to sing by Billy
Joel prior to September 11th was New York State
of Mind. I didn't think about what was happening
when I put that ticket in. I just did because
I wanted to sing the song. And as I started it.
There was like a hush that came over the room.
And at the end, this tiny little bar, I'll never
forget this, just every person in the room was
just, I put the mic down and the whole room was
just singing it arm in arm and bringing people
together in such a beautiful way. And my old
TuneStyles co -host, Jay Sweet, was there with
me and we talk about this moment all the time.
Just shows how... powerful Billy Joel's music
is to people especially from this area and to
me there are a lot of songs that are New York
songs you think of Empire State of Mind by Jay
Z you think New York New York by Frank Sinatra
but it always comes back to New York State of
Mind for me and that is what my last pick of
the night will be realizing I'm leaving so many
songs off but I would love to know because This
was your first album recording with Billy Joel.
Did you realize what this song was going to become
when you were recording? Did you realize the
stratospheric heights that this song would reach,
even if we are just talking about the New York
and tri -state area? No, we didn't, because it
was such a ballad. It's almost like an old kind
of Sinatra, you know, that kind of ballad. So,
like, it was really cool to play it, and the
lyrics really meant a lot. But to us, back then,
it was about Billy returning to New York and
all the things that he missed about New York.
It didn't take hold until, like, 9 -11 and all
that kind of stuff about how important New York
is to people and how... You know, it's the center
of the world. It really is the center of the
world. And, you know, Richie Cannata has the
best story about it because when he came in to
the studio and he brought a saxophone and we
were just finishing up Angry Young Man and he
heard Angry Young Man and he said, I don't know,
what am I going to do in this business? Angry
Young Man. And then Billy said, I want you to
play sax on this song. And he played them the
basic track of New York State of Mind. And that's
when Richie knew what he had to do in that song.
And when the COVID hit and they did that show
at Central Park, the big show that was going
to be the comeback, New York was still live again.
Richie played that solo with the Philharmonic.
Yes. Yeah. That's how big that song became. I
mean, you really can't get bigger than that song
as far as a songwriter goes. It's like, I mean,
Paul McCartney said if he wrote any of Billy
Joel's songs, he would have loved to have written
Just The Way You Are. But I think New York State
of Mind is like, it's an anthem, you know? It
truly, truly is. Well, Liberty. You got to kick
off the festivities this evening with the first
song on side A. And you get to take us home with
the last song of the night. The last song on
side B. Summing up this mixtape. No pressure
at all. The only reason why I'm picking this
song is because out of all the Billy Joel songs,
it is my favorite song. Favorite. Because I think
we played the hell out of it. The intention.
of having a sound and a style of another band
that we really loved is on it, you know? So the
song I have to pick as the end is Laura from
the Nyland Kirk. Wow. Yeah. Close it out with
Laura, which isn't quite a ballad, but, you know,
and it rocks just like the other song you were
talking about. It's not quite a ballad, but,
you know. Laura. Wow, I love that pick. That's
a nice, deep pick. Again, I have to ask, like
I've said a couple of times tonight, why wasn't
that a massive single for the band? It defies
my imagination. Well, you got an album that has
Allentown, Thresher, Room of Our Own. What else
was on that, Marcus? Good Night, Saigon, we talked
about that before. It's like the whole album
was kind of the tip of the hat to The Beatles
for us. And Laura, sometimes when the guitar
solo does, I have to think to myself, am I listening
to a Beatles song or is this us? You know? Yeah.
I even did the Ringo. You know, that fell that
he does all the time. That album is my favorite
album of all. There's some great stuff on that
record. And I think that's considerably one of
his most underrated albums, even though there
were hits on it. I feel like as a whole, people
automatically jump to The Stranger. They automatically
jump to Glass House's 52nd Street. And the nylon
curtain gets like overlooked when it shouldn't.
Yeah. I mean, Scandinavian skies. So great. Massive.
That's like a Beatles tune, you know. The strings
and everything. And then going back to the concert
album we were talking about earlier. One of my
favorite covers I've ever heard the band play
was back in the USSR from that Russian concert.
How much fun was actually playing a Beatles song
in Russia back in the USSR? Playing a Beatles
song before the Beatles could play it. We played
it before McCartney played it in Russia. Yes!
Yeah, we played Russia when the wall was still
up. He went after the wall came down. It was
the perfect song to play. I mean, come on. And
they knew it. You know, the Russian people, they
weren't allowed to listen to rock and roll and
nothing like that. The way they used to get music
was one guy, they would smuggle in a tape. So
they smuggle in the White Album, right? And they
have these boom boxes. Maybe about 10 or 20 guys
would have their boom boxes and they would put
blank tapes in each one. And the one guy that
has the original tape. Now, they're in a forest
somewhere where nobody else can see them or hear
them. He drops his tape in. They press record
and he presses play. And that's how the tapes
got around in Russia. Or they would cut them
to x -rays, you know, because you can record
on an x -ray somehow. I don't know how to do
it, but I've seen that too in Russia. So they
knew back in the USSR. So there's no joking around
when they say it's a Russian bootleg. No joke.
That was the only way they can hear music. Wow.
Only way. So they really didn't know much about
Billy when we went there. He was billed as an
American poet that was coming over. And they
only had like three stations, TV stations. And
someone would be in the middle of watching their
favorite show on that station. And all of a sudden,
boom, one of our videos would be. show up in
the middle of that show. Well, he is an American
poet, so they didn't lie. Yes, he is. And you
talk about influences from other bands and stuff
like that. There was this thing called the musical
ring that Billy did. It was actually set up like
a boxing ring. And they would take local rock
musicians that were in the party or whatever,
but they were rock musicians. And the commentator
would tear them down, like almost to embarrass
them that they're playing rock and roll music.
When Billy did it, he sat in there and he played
a Russian classical piece. And he also, I forget
the name of the piece, but he also inserted the
part that the Russians had taken out. He did
that too. Really? was so good on the show that
after we left they discontinued the show yeah
wow yeah well before i go through side b i'm
gonna address the elephant in the room just because
there are probably some billy joel fans that
are sitting there saying how the hell did you
guys get through 20 songs and not talk about
it so just to talk about the song because i would
feel like it would be a criminal not to for the
people that love the song so much what are your
thoughts on piano man where does that sit for
you because obviously they call billy joel the
piano man it's the song you've probably played
more than any other billy joel song so does it
suffer from overkill you know we used to play
it at the end of a show or something like that
really and i used to be playing the drums and
i just look over time ago i can't believe you
wrote this shit I mean, I remember, you know,
before we were in the band, way before we were
in the band, hearing the song on the radio and
thinking like, you know, oh, look, Billy Joel
from the Hassles, he's got a record out now.
It's nice, you know. I mean, I remember seeing
him go to Shea Stadium and watching the ball
game on TV, and the crowd found out that he was
there. And they started to sing Piano Man. This
was, like, maybe two years ago. And I remember
calling Richie and saying, like, it was so great
to see Billy proud and up there. But you've got
to think of something, that if it wasn't for
the Stranger and 52nd Street and Glass Houses
and Alan Kirk, nobody would be singing Piano
Man these days. You know what I mean? I would
have been, like, there and then gone. Very true.
So we kept them alive. We kept it alive for him.
I think even he got bored with the song. That's
why the crowd sings. How many times can you sing
it? I know. And that is the one, I guess. But
even now on the current tours, it's kind of earlier
in the night. He doesn't close with it, which
when I saw you with the band back in the 90s
many, many times, that was always the last song
of the night. Closer. Yeah, we, the Lords of
the Second Street, we do it too, close with Piano
Man. People wait for it. They know it's there.
They know it's got to be on the set list. You
know, you have to do it. There's certain songs
you have to do. That's why they're not on this
list. There you go. Young, still rock and roll
movie. Those are the songs you have to do. You
may be right. You know, Say Goodbye to Hollywood
was a great one. Oh, Say Goodbye to Hollywood's
amazing. I'm surprised that you didn't bring
that one up because I thought of it, but I thought,
oh, he's going to be my favorite. Oh, it's on
my list. It's just we didn't get there for some
reason, but I think we got a lot of fantastic
stuff. Side B consists of Prelude, Angry Young
Ma 'am from the concert album, Allentown, The
Downeaster Alexa, Zanzibar, Los Angelinos from
Songs in the Attic, Code of Silence, Goodnight
Saigon, All for Lena. New York state of mind
and Laura head over to the ultimate songs of
Billy Joel page at my weekly mixtape .com to
hear the entire mixtape. We have created tonight
via the embedded playlist Liberty. I know you're
busy right now with the Lords of 52nd street.
What does 2023 have in store for the Lords? A
whole bunch of gigs that are coming up just in
Florida. So we're playing a lot, playing a lot.
and my other band the slim kings you know playing
out the house drum of a richie canada studio
and where people come in they want that billy
joel drum sound you know get the call going out
to cove city and play out there so still a lot
of playing going on i mean we're coming out of
the covid like slowly but it's really starting
to happen now you know it's all good well The
door will always be open, Liberty, anytime you
want to come back on the show and do a volume
two to this because there are so many songs we
left off the table tonight. Yes, we did. Yes,
we did. You know, it's funny because I'm looking
at my list too and so how many that we didn't
even touch. You know, I mean, you love songs
like you said, your dad, you remember that. The
way that song touched him, imagine that all these
songs have that same feeling to me of being there
and getting the phone call in the middle of the
night and like, what do you think of this? And
I'm telling them, it's okay, you know. Oh, I
knew you were going to say that and he hangs
up the phone and writes something different,
you know. But all these songs, I mean, Leningrad,
we went. I sat next to him and we wrote the song,
you know. And it was like, yeah, that's exactly
what it was like. to go there you know he just
has a way of being able to tell that story that
you want to tell whether it's about something
you did or or some girl that you loved or you
could do it in two and a half minutes you know
well liberty i think i'm putting it lightly when
i say what an honor and a pleasure it was to
have you on my weekly mixtape tonight thank you
so much again for joining me well thanks for
the invite brian this has been great Remember,
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That's all for this week. Thanks again for listening.
And until next time, enjoy the tunes.