In the mid 80s, Billy Joel penned the lyric “After 1986 what else could be new?” If you were to judge that based on his 1989 hit “We Didn’t Start The Fire,” you’d think he meant it.

But a closer look at that video and the others from the Storm Front album suggest otherwise.

For this episode we’re looking at Eye Of The Storm. Released in 1990, it’s a home video collection of the videos from the multi-platinum album Storm Front.

While that album contained many songs about personal relationships and Billy’s life, the videos focus much more on the world at large at the end of the 1980s.

We’ll dig deep into the five music videos. And, we’ll take a look at a soundcheck and radio broadcast recording from early in the Storm Front tour. 

Join us as we dig deep into Eye of The Storm and more.

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We're back with another playlist episode this week. We have so much fun putting these together and sharing some of our favorite music with you all.

Michael is back with more of his favorites over the past several years. From 90s alternative to 2010s soul and singer/songwriters, these have been mainstays for Michael and we are excited to share them with you!

Again, if you dig what you hear, we'd appreciate you checking out and picking up some new music by these artists wherever you get your music!

PLAYLIST #3: 

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Twenty-seven years ago this month, two titans of pop music teamed up for a run of sold-out shows that would set the tone for tours to come.

We’re talking about the first Face to Face tour featuring Billy Joel and Elton John. In the summer of 1994, the two hit-making piano players shared the stage for a then-unprecedented run of twenty-one sold-out shows in the United States.

In hindsight, the tour could have been a disaster with a huge crew, two full bands, an exceptionally long show, and even a bout of food poisoning. But audiences loved it, and the pair would go on to team up for a total of seven tours over fifteen years. 

It’s been more than a decade since the last Face to Face concert. But, this summer, we’re diving deep into the very first shows featuring Elton John and Billy Joel. 

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By the end of the seventies, Billy Joel had found success with a formula that blended elements of pop, rock, and jazz around a singer-songwriter frame. And, he was about to turn all that on its side. The Live In Houston 1979 bootleg is proof of it.

The video features Billy and the Lords of 52nd Street at the Summit in Houston, TX on November 25th. Their sound has been streamlined since the frenetic free-for-all on 1977’s CW Post radio broadcast. But, they’re not quite as settled into the arena stage show they’ll have perfected by 1982’s Live From Long Island. 

Instead, this concert presents a top-tier rock and roll band at the top of their game, with an audience of thousands cheering them on. But, for as revelatory as this concert is, it’s shrouded in a bit of mystery. 

The show took place well after the 52nd Street tour ended. It was professionally shot and edited, but never officially released. As a result, the only video footage available is grainy and suffering from generation loss. Finally, the show features three songs from the forthcoming Glass Houses. That album would mark a stylistic shift, and Billy even mentions that producer Phil Ramone is in the audience. 

But it’s easy enough to put those lingering questions about the how and why to the side and just enjoy the show. And, that’s what we’re doing with this episode. Join us, as we dig deep into Billy Joel: Houston 1979.

Date: November 25, 1979

The band:

The Setlist: 

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An album’s first track has a lot to live up to. The song must engage the listener right away and get them excited for what’s to come. Sometimes, it’s the record’s lead single and hopefully the band’s next hit. Other times, it’s just the song most likely to get people excited. Or, it’s a little of both.

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Usually, a late-career live album is a victory lap, an excuse to tour, or at worst, an excuse to make some extra cash. For Billy Joel, however, it was a sign that he was back on the scene. 

Released on June 13, 2006, 12 Gardens Live is a two-disc set. It features performances from Billy’s groundbreaking run of a dozen shows at Madison Square Garden between January 23 and April 24 of that year.

In many ways, it feels like a retrospective: You have all the big hits, fan favorites, plus a handful of rarities that even hardcore fans never though they’d hear live. 

But, 12 Gardens Live also serves as proof of concept for Billy’s return to touring after a two-year sabbatical. And, it sets the tone for his monthly Garden residency that began in 2014. 

With the exception of Mike DelGuidice, who joined the fold in late 2013, the album features the new solidified lineup he’s used ever since. The exception to that is the return of saxophonist Richie Cannata, who played alongside Mark Rivera on this tour. 

Other than that, this document laid the groundwork for the next 14 years and, hopefully many more to come. 

Join us as we dig deep into 12 Gardens Live.

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Pardon the pun, but for Billy Joel, 1988 was the calm before the storm. 

Billy and the band had just come off an exhausting, groundbreaking two-year tour that saw them on four continents. And, they capped it all off with a historic run of six shows in the now-former USSR. Billy was the first pop act from the west to get this kind of access behind the iron curtain. 

Behind the scenes, Billy was ready for a break. In fact, he was ready to take some time off even before The Bridge came out in 1986. But, the record label insisted on a new album and tour. 

By the time this cycle was done, Billy powered down for a year. Aside from a few cameos, his work as a pop star was on hold. But, he pulled double duty on his work as a Dad. 

He spent time with his daughter, Alexa Ray, who was now two years old. And, when he went to work, he appeared on TV shows and in movies that would appeal to kids her age. 

The next year would be a busy one:A new album, a new lineup of musicians, and a lawsuit that would drag on for years. His career would look vastly different than it had just 12 months prior. 

We’ll get to that year in a future episode. But for now, let’s dig deep into 1988.

We also pick up where we left off with our Part 2 of covering Billy Joel's awards show appearances and nominations.

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What changes when other piano players perform Billy Joel’s music? What elements shine through? What’s it like to be tasked with performing music written by one of the most popular recording artists of the 20th century? 

This is the second installment of our two-part series where we talk with piano players who have been tasked with interpreting and performing Billy’s music. Previously, we spoke with Michael Cavanaugh, who led the pit band through hundreds of performances of the hit Broadway production Movin’ Out. 

This time, we’re speaking with Hyung-ki Joo, the classical pianist and comedian who arranged and performed the recordings on 2001’s Fantasies & Delusions. 

Join us, for the second installment of our two part series, where we dig deep into the music of Billy Joel with musicians who learned and interpreted these pieces.

Hyung-ki Joo - https://hyungkijoo.com

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Billy Joel is no stranger to awards shows and other accolades. Following 1977’s The Stranger, he’s won a handful of industry awards, was nominated for plenty more, and gave a few memorable — and in, one case, literally show stopping — performances. 

And, when you’re tracking award show appearances over three decades, you also start noticing trends and changes within the industry and its major players over the years. 

But before taking a look back, we have some exciting news for Billy Joel fans: The core of the classic Lords of 52nd Street band has reconvened to record with another East Coast piano player. 

This year, Evan Toth recorded his new album, The Show, at Richie Cannata’s Cove City Sound Studios on Long Island in Glen Cove. The record features Richie on sax and organ along with Russell Javors on guitar, Liberty Devitto on drums, and current Lords bass player Malcolm Gold. 

This marks the first time since 1981’s Songs In The Attic that Richie, Russell, and Lib have all been on the same album. So, we sat down with Evan to discuss his music and his experience recording with the Lords of 52nd Street. 

So before we dig deep into Billy Joel’s award show appearances, nominations, performances and awards from 1978 through 2013, we’ll find out more about what it was like getting the band back together.

Evan Toth: https://www.evantoth.com

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After 1993’s River of Dreams, fans waited and wondered if Billy Joel would ever release another pop album. The answer, as we know now, turned out to be no. But, nearly a decade after that release, we saw a new development for Billy’s music. 

The first years of the new century saw three new releases that featured Billy Joel’s music, but without him playing on two of them. In 2001, Sony Music released the two-disc Essential Billy Joel. 

But, in terms of new music, Billy also released Fantasies and Delusions that year. It premiered music that Billy had written in the style of 19th century romanticism. Then came the award-winning Broadway production Movin’ Out in 2002, which strung many of his hit songs into a loose dance-based narrative.  

The styles of these two projects are very different. But, they shared a common thread: Both featured other musicians interpreting Billy’s music. In Movin’ Out, Michael Cavanaugh led the pit band through hundreds of sold out shows. And, the Fantasies and Delusions recordings were arranged and performed by classical pianist Hyung-ki Joo. 

What changes when other piano players perform Billy’s music? What elements shine through? What’s it like to be tasked with performing music written by one of the most popular recording artists of the 20th century? 

In a special two-part series, we’re asking just that. And, we’re going right to the sources. This episode features a new interview with Michael Cavanaugh about his Broadway experience. And, stay tuned for the second installment featuring our conversation with Hyung-Ki Joo. 

Join us, as we dig deep into the music of Billy Joel, with two players who learned and interpreted the pieces.

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