Still Billy Joel to Me

Questions & Answers with the one and only Jon "Bermuda" Schwartz, Weird Al's drummer since 1980!

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Accordion Kid
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Still Billy Joel to Me

Post by Accordion Kid »

Dear Bermuda,



Was there any idea to put It's Still Billy Joel to Me on the first album?

And do any of you have anything against him. (Trying not to laugh asking that- he's my second favorite artist behind Al and I love Al's version as well as the original)
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Post by bermuda »

Not that I know of. Al never got permission for it... not even sure he asked, given the tone of the lyrics!
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Post by DXSSI »

Al actually adressed this one in Ask Al for April 2000... here it is.



Homely Bubert of Santa Rosa, CA asks: Hey, Al! A while back I heard your Billy Joel parody demo ("It's Still Billy Joel To Me") on the Dr. Demento Show, and was just wondering why it never got into one of your LPs. Never got the rights? Decided it was a bit harsh? Just curious.



I wrote that in 1980, but even by 1983 (when my first album came out) it felt a bit dated. Also, we figured that Billy wasn't very likely to give us his blessing on that one anyway, so we never even bothered asking.



(Gee, I hope the webmaster of Al's site doesn't get mad at me for using this info...) :wink:
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Post by bermuda »

Actually, I wish that people would try to look up the info first, before asking me a question that's already been answered in Ask Al or elsewhere on the official site.



Please re-read my post at the top of the "Ask Bermuda" forum - "weirdal.com and Ask Bermuda"
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algonacchick
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Post by algonacchick »

Hi, Jon! I just want to say that I've found out a lot of things I never knew by looking at weirdal.com! It's wondeful! And I'm sure that I can speak for all the fans when I say thanks for working so hard to keep the site current and informative. I check it out every day! And thanks for being available here to answer what few questions there are that can't be answered by going there. I appreciate that!

Patti
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Post by Ash »

Hi, Jon! I just want to say that I've found out a lot of things I never knew by looking at weirdal.com! It's wondeful! And I'm sure that I can speak for all the fans when I say thanks for working so hard to keep the site current and informative. I check it out every day! And thanks for being available here to answer what few questions there are that can't be answered by going there. I appreciate that!
Patti
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Alapeleke
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Post by Alapeleke »

I have the Ask Al's memorized @.@ hehe I thik I might read them again before Alcon. I read the permanent record thing yesterday 8)
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Re: Still Billy Joel to Me

Post by bermuda »

And do any of you have anything against him.


Forgot that part of the question, sorry...



I don't know about the other guys, but I certainly have nothing against Billy, I'm a big fan of his classic stuff in the 70s & early 80s.
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mrmeadows
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Billy Joel

Post by mrmeadows »

Hey! My first post! Cool!



Anyway, there was a short audio documentary narrated by Dr. Demento at the OC Concert I went to yesterday where they addressed the Billy Joel issue. In fact, they had an sound byte of Mr. Joel himself being asked if he had heard Al's song (I guess it had been a popular request on Dr. D's show at the time). Anyway, he said that yes, he had heard the song (he even sang the line "what's the matter with the songs he's singing/can't you tell that they're pretty lame?"!) and thought it was funny. I also remember seeing him on the letters page of MAD Magazine a few years back responding (positively) to an article where they parodied a bunch of his songs. Too bad Al didn't ask his permission...sounds to me like Billy's got a good sense of humor and would have given him the OK!



Meadows
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