Imagine if he weren’t reluctant

Ron Rosenbaum is a first-rate writer, but he’s really outdone himself in his shredding of Billy Joel. (I know. Why bother? Still.) The best part is near the top, where he pulls off a hilarious 180:

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.

Oh, yeah, it’s just killing him.

4 Responses to “Imagine if he weren’t reluctant”

1. Patrick Ryan says:

   January 24, 2009 at 11:27 am

   Well it has come to this for Billy and Elton.

   “Pop superstars Elton John and Billy Joel will perform a joint concert in the Kohl Center at 7:30 p.m. Thursday, May 7. Tickets, ranging from $55 to $180, go on sale at 10 a.m. Saturday, Jan. 31.”

   The end is near.
2. ron-newman says:

   January 24, 2009 at 12:45 pm

   what’s the Kohl Center? Some new or renamed local venue?
3. acf says:

   January 24, 2009 at 4:53 pm

   I saw them perform a joint concert in the then named Fleet Center in Boston a few years ago. The concert ran for some 4+ hours and was terrific. It featured full solo sets by each and a shorter combined set with the two of them.
4. Francis says:

   January 25, 2009 at 8:10 pm

   Next, Rosenbaum unloads on Air Supply and Bo Donaldson and the Heywoods …