Billy Joel: His Life, Songs And Albums Online Trivia | Music

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1. Billy Joel was born in 1949 in the Bronx, and soon moved to Hicksville Long Island. His adolescent passions were the odd mix of boxing and studying piano. After hearing a British band for the first time he dropped everything (including high school) to pursue music full time. Who was this strong, early influence?

Answer: The Beatles

After seeing The Beatles on the Ed Sullivan show in 1964, Joel decided he wanted to be a musician and a ten-year journey to find success ensued. His early Long Island bands include 'The Echoes,' 'The Lost Souls,' The Hastles' and 'Atilla.' None would satisfy the young Joel and he moved to session work and writing rock criticism for a magazine.

2. In 1971, Joel was opening shows for the J. Geils Band and the Doobie Brothers. A poor record deal saw him perform under a pseudonym at California's Executive Lounge piano bar. The song 'Piano Man' was created from this experience. From the song, what is Paul's occupation?

Answer: Real-estate novelist

Joel had signed a record deal with Family Records. It was a poor deal and basically signed Billy Joel for life! His first album, 'Cold Spring Harbor,' was actually mastered and released at a higher speed. It was an embarrassment to him. Disillusioned with touring and the record, Billy assumed the name Bill Martin and started to write new material, much of which would appear on his second LP 'Piano Man.'

3. The rest of the 70's were good to Billy. 'The Stranger' and '52nd Street' earnt him countless awards and number one hits. On the cover of his 1980 album Glass Houses, what was Billy throwing a stone at?

Answer: Glass House

After the relatively softer albums of 52nd Street and The Stranger, Joel again showed his talent for song writing across many styles and widened his market appeal with the guitar influenced Glass Houses LP. It reached number one and stayed there for six weeks.

4. From the 1982 song 'Goodnight Saigon', "they met as soul mates" on which Island?

Answer: Parris

'Goodnight Saigon' is off the 1982 Album 'The Nylon Curtain,' which also spawned the hits 'Allentown' and 'Pressure.' It was a concept album about baby boomers and their experiences. Even with the classic songs already mentioned, the album didn't have the same appeal as his previous releases and was seen as a commercial disappointment.

5. The album 'The Bridge' had hit songs 'A Matter of Trust' and 'Modern Woman.' 'Code of Silence,' was a duet with Cindi Lauper. Another song 'Baby Grand' featured a duet with which blues artist?

Answer: Ray Charles

For the follow up of 'Innocent Man,' Joel employed the vocal talents of the old and the new. Cyndi Lauper added her new wave voice on the song 'Cone of Silence,' while Ray Charles added his rich blues voice in the duet 'Baby Grand.'

6. What was Billy in 1983?

Answer: An Innocent Man

The 1983 release of 'An Innocent Man' secured Joel's popularity throughout the 1980's with the title track, 'Uptown Girl' and 'Tell Her About It.' The album celebrated his new love with Christie Brinkley. It also saw Joel find a wider audience by embracing MTV.

7. Billy Joel was bidding his goodbye's on the 1976 album 'Turnstiles.' Who or what was he saying goodbye to?

Answer: Hollywood

Joel had been living in LA for a couple of years. 'Say Goodbye to Hollywood' was not a parting shot at tinsel town as many commentators wrote. By his own admissions, he enjoyed his time there but felt he needed to get back to his true home. You could say he was in a 'New York State of Mind' and needed to return home.

8. Billy Joel's first solo release, the intimate 'Coldspring Harbour' album, displayed his raw talent for melody. Only one of these following sweet songs came from the album. Which one?

Answer: She's Got A Way

As mentioned before, this album was incorrectly recorded at a higher speed, giving Billy's vocals an ever-higher pitch. Joel was disgusted in the album when he first heard it, ripped it off the turntable and threw it down the street. The error in the mastering was not fixed for another 12 years.

9. A live version of this anti-drug song became an underground hit years before its actual release on the 'Piano Man' album. It's also the song that attracted the interest of Joel's long time publisher Columbia Records. Which song is it?

Answer: Captain Jack

Some say that Captain Jack was a real person, a drug dealer that lived near Joel in Oyster Bay NY. 'Captain Jack' is also is also slang for marijuana. A Philadelphia radio station recorded the song live while Billy was still working under the pseudonym Billy Martin. Columbia liked what they heard and went after Joel, signing him into a new record deal. 'Captain Jack' was officially launched on his first album with Columbia 'Piano Man.'

10. The cover of Billy Joel's album 'River of Dreams' was a sleepy painting that featured a dreaming Billy. Through his mind were a vibrant river, a fishing trawler, Adam and Eve, a factory and many more items that have featured in his music. Who painted the cover for the album?

Answer: Christie Brinkley

Billy Joel and Christie Brinkley divorced not long after 'River of Dreams' was released ending an eight-year marriage. They had one child together, Alexa, who has been the subject in a number of Joel songs, notably the beautiful 'Lullaby' in which he answers Alexa's difficult question 'what happens when we die?' According to Joel, a little piece of us enters the heart of family and friends so there will always be a part of you (in them).

11. In 1987 Billy had a sell out tour in which communist country?

Answer: Russia

Following the tour, Joel released the mildly received live CD 'Kohuept' which simply means 'concert' in Russian. While in Moscow, Joel and his daughter met a clown in a city park. The three became friends and met again by arrangement in Leningrad. Two years later Joel would release 'Leningrad,' the sad life story of a Russian circus clown, one of his finest songs.

"So my child and I came to this place
to meet him , eye to eye and face to face
He made my daughter laugh
Then we embraced
We never knew what friends we had
Until we came to Leningrad."

12. On 'Songs In The Attic,' one particular song was staged 41 years in the future. It told a tale about the destruction of a great city. Where was the storyteller speaking from when telling the story about the destruction of that great city?

Answer: Miami

In the song Miami 2017 (Seen the Lights Go Out on Broadway), Joel was telling the song from Miami in the year 2017. He sees himself as a 60-year old telling the story to his grandchildren from a Florida retirement home. The inspiration for this song came back in his Los Angeles days after he read a newspaper article that claimed New York was falling apart and a lot of New Yorkers were deserting the Big Apple for Miami due to a financial crisis. Joel felt compelled to return home and show a true New Yorker's loyalty. 'New York State of Mind' appeared on the same album.

13. There's a scene down on Sunset Boulevard, a heavy machine and a guy called Bobby. "Bobby's driving through the city tonight" in which vehicle? (You may need to sing the last line)

Answer: rent-a-car

"Bobby's driving through the city tonight, through the lights, in a hot new rent-a-car" is a line from one of Billy's first commercial giants, 'Say Goodbye To Hollywood.'

14. If you chose between a bottle of red and a bottle of white, depending on your appetite, what would you be eating tonight?

Answer: Italian

The ballad 'Scenes From an Italian Restaurant' came together from three separate ideas and was written in parts. The idea for the intro and reprise to the song 'a bottle of red, a bottle of white, all depends upon your appetite' actually came from a waiter at an Italian restaurant near Joel's home.

The Brenda and Eddie piece came from something he had written earlier called 'The Ballad of Brenda and Eddie'.

15. On Billy Joel's second album release 'Piano Man,' there was a song called 'Ballad Of Billy The Kid.' In which two directions was Billy a legend? ("___ and ___ of The Rio Grande")

Answer: East and West

'The Ballad of Billy the Kid' was most recently performed and recorded by Billy Joel on the '2000 Years: Millennium Concert' release.

16. According to Billy Joel there was a very lonely word on '52nd St.' What was it?

Answer: Honesty

Following up the brilliant 'Stranger' album would be no easy task for a lesser artist. Joel managed it easily and the album '52nd Street' was yet another hit for Joel. It had no weak songs. 'Honesty,' 'My Life' and Until The Night' were the best from the album. There seemed no end to his creativity.

17. Billy Joel entered the 1980's with a harder, guitar driven rock & roll sound, and with the help of MTV (and a pretty wife) he reached out to find a new generation. Which of these albums was not an 80's release?

Answer: River of Dreams

The late 80's were a turbulent time for Joel. His very public financial woes saw him sue his brother-in-law manager for 90 million dollars. He was hospitalized with kidney stones, was divorced, sacked his band keeping only Liberty DeVitto, and still managed to sneak another CD into the market with 'Storm Front' in 1989. The high rotation airplay for 'We Didn't Start The Fire' would ensure Joel had another multi-million selling CD.

18. "Hot Funk Cool Punk and even if it's ____ ____, it's still rock and roll to me!" What are the missing words?

Answer: old junk

The line is from the song 'It's Still Rock & Roll to Me' from the 'Glasshouses' album. 'Glasshouses' would earn Joel yet another Grammy award, this one for 'Best Male Vocal Performance 1981'

19. Billy Joel and Elton John, the two greatest piano men from either side of the Atlantic, joined forces and toured extensively together. What name did they give the tour?

Answer: Face to Face

Both Billy Joel and Elton John have always had the utmost respect for each others work. They decided to join forces in 2001 and the resulting 'Face to Face' tour went ahead selling out venues around the world.

20. Not one to sit back and enjoy his achievements, Billy Joel rediscovered a love for classical music and set to work writing and arranging his own compositions. A collection of classical music was released in 2001. What was the title of this CD?

Answer: Fantasies and Delusions

Billy Joel claimed he was bored of ballads and rock and wanted to push his boundaries by composing classical music. He employed the talents of classical pianist Richard Joo to perform the short pieces and 'Fantasies and Delusions' became a reality. There seems there's no end to the piano man's talent.

Hope you enjoyed the quiz and the memories.

Source: Author bertho

This quiz was reviewed by FunTrivia editor Dalgleish before going online.
Any errors found in FunTrivia content are routinely corrected through our feedback system.

Billy Joel: His Life, Songs And Albums Quiz

Billy Joel's journey into music has spanned five decades. His natural ability to create melodies and write lyrics that come straight from the soul, have at some point touched us all. Note: Quiz upgraded Oct, 04.

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