October 26 – Billy Joel – On Marriage and Money

On Marriage and Money is not a new album by Billy Joel, it’s just my observations. You know I belong to this Facebook group the WNEW-FM Fan Club. Well, this morning someone posted the article about Billy Joel’s marriages as told in a new biography about him. As the particular newspaper that carried the article is a horrible rag, I am not naming it nor the name of the article. The point is though that the article’s title seems to suggest that his three wives were only after his money, when the truth is that Joel, as much as we love him, is an idiot. Let’s not forget that he came upon his first wife via his dear friend and colleague, who was married to her at the time and with whom he had a child. Yes, Billy was very young at the time so perhaps we can excuse him. But those of us for whom Billy Joel is the hometown boy, as twice previously noted throughout this blog, his rumored prowling was notorious. I don’t know exactly what his marital status was at the precise time, but it was the early eighties and though I never saw him, I would walk into my local haunt to find out that he had just been there and rode off with some girl that he had just picked up. The ex told me of a time he was there when the bar was half empty, or as he explained, half full, depending on how you look at it, when he witnessed just that, and told me how this happened numerous times, according to the boytalk in the bar.

So why would I call this incredible talent an idiot? First, if you haven’t already noticed, it’s one of my favorite expressions used to admonish those for I have some level of respect, and because I don’t know what he was thinking when he made some of those boneheaded decisions that cost him both love and money. He and Christie Brinkley were the it couple, particularly for us Islanders, who welcomed the California girl because they were just so darned cute together. Yes, as the story goes his first wife took him for a bundle, and then her brother took him for a ton when Joel was married to Brinkley. But whatever is said, I think he screwed up royally with the lovely model. They really seemed in love. As for his third wife, I guess I’m not keeping up with things, because I didn’t know he was long divorced from his bride 32 years his junior.

No, this blog is not a gossip column, but please allow me my dalience. I apologize and promise that I will try to refrain from doing it again. I doubt I’ll read Billy’s bio, and will wait for the movie version, to which I will drag the ex.

Tonight’s workout was Beatles #1 again, and since the last post it’s been Bob Dylan and a CD for a future post.