A buddy of mine clued me in to this clip on Youtube. It's from an MTV show called Night School that aired in 1982. This particular episode features Billy Joel, who had just released his album Nylon Curtain and was totally at the top of his game.
Despite being on top of the music world, there he is taking questions from an audience in a high school auditorium. Sure, the questions are, for the most part, easy lobs that Billy smacks right out of the park, but the candor and wit with which he tackles even the easy questions is amazingly refreshing.
In doing so, you get a very real sense of the man who, at the time, was one of the most popular music artists in the world. To look at him, he could very well be an anonymous music teacher who may at one time have had aspirations of pop stardom. And that's what makes this interview so absolutely essential. Billy Joel succeeded despite the fact that he lacked the looks of an Elvis Presley, or the voice of a Paul Simon. Where other people allowed the voices to play with their heads, telling them they weren't good enough, Billy Joel had the perseverance to say "Fuck off".
He's the proverbial guy mistaken for a utility infielder who goes on to hit a grand slam in the bottom of the ninth inning with two outs.
The sad thing is this, though...someone uploaded this video to Youtube on May 30, 2011 and it has since received only 479 views. Rebecca Black, meanwhile, uploads her latest single to Youtube two weeks ago and it gets 21 million views and I seem to be the only one who sees anything wrong with that.
Could you imagine what an episode of Night School might be if Lady Gaga were the guest? She'd be sitting there in a meat dress with a hog's head covering up half her head blathering on about what a genius she is and, sadly, everyone there would believe her. Meanwhile, Billy Joel hit that stage thirty years ago, told it like it was, and gave you an inside glimpse of actual artistry, humor, and charm.
479 views, my fucking ass.