Billy Joel: Piano Man

Billy Joel grew up on Long Island New York, the son of an immigrant who was an accomplished classical music pianist. Billy had more of an interest in rock and roll, which his father did not like. Billy's brother is a classical music conductor in Europe. He dropped out of high school and had dreams of becoming a recording star like his idols, The Beatles. He played in a piano bar in Los Angeles, which led to the hit Piano Man in 1973. Billy teamed up with producer Phil Ramone and ended up having an amazing career which has spanned over 4 decades. He has had 33 top 40 hits, all which he wrote himself. He has sold over 150 million albums worldwide. The show I saw on the Biography channel mentioned how he has had many ups and downs in his personal life. He had a manager who took advantage of him financially, leaving him with no option other than to tour extensively over a 2 year period to get on better ground financially. He has had struggles with substance abuse, and has been divorced 3 times, most notably from model Christie Brinkley. Joel was a boxer as a young man and his aggression and fighting attitude can sometimes be seen in his music. He has toured with another pianist/rock and roll legend, Elton John. In 1987 Joel performed a groundbreaking concert in Russia at the height of the cold war. Billy's albums 52nd Street, Glass Houses, Storm Front and River of Dreams all hit #1 in the US. I admire Billy Joel very much for his staying power and his mark he has made on the world of popular music. My favorite songs of his include; Piano Man, Movin' Out, New York State of Mind, Big Shot, You May be Right, My Life, Pressure, and many more.

* Some information from Biography channel and en.wikipedia.org

Barry Manilow: I Write the Songs

I recently watched a Biography channel profile of Barry Manilow and thought I'd write a bit about this performer. Barry never planned on being a singer. He wanted to be a piano player in the background, not the star. He accompanied Bette Midler, and made money writing commercial jingles early in his career in New York City. He would also arrange music for performers such as Midler and Dionne Warwick. Before he had hit singles he would perform the commercial jingles that he wrote just so the audience would recognize something. He met Arista records chief and music mogul Clive Davis who thought he could make Barry a star. Manilow became known for his ballads such as Can't Smile without You, I Write the Songs, Could it be Magic and Mandy. From 1974 to 1980 he had hit after hit. He tired eventually of all the touring and singing these ballads. He started performing an up tempo fun song called Copacabana, and it became a big hit. He has been praised by Frank Sinatra and Bob Dylan. After 30 years of touring to bring his show to the people, Barry decided to sign a contract with a Las Vegas hotel so that the people could come to him. He has branched out by releasing albums that pay tribute to the music of the 1950, 1960s, 1970s and 1980s. He has also recorded big band type music, Christmas albums and a tribute to the greatest love songs of all time.

* Some information from Biography channel and en.wikipedia.org.

Book Review: "We'll be here for the Rest of our Lives" by Paul Shaffer

I greatly enjoyed this book since I have been a longtime fan of musician Paul Shaffer. He has been the keyboardist and band leader for David Letterman since 1982. He and Dave did the late night show at NBC from 1982 to 1993, and have been at CBS ever since. I admire Paul's musical talents, and it is obvious he has a sense of humor and a certain Las Vegas charm to him.

The book talks about his upbringing in snowy Thunder Bay, Ontario, Canada. It tells about how he moved to Toronto where he met up with some other talented, funny Canadians like Martin Short and Eugene Levy. Paul worked in musical theatre in Canada for awhile and eventually moved to New York City and got a gig playing keyboards for Saturday Night Live. He was noticed by David Letterman who was starting his own show and he wanted a musical director who could play well, but also have a sense of humor.

The book is filled with interesting anecdotes from Paul's life working with some of the biggest stars in show business. He drops a lot of names, but if I had his life I would too.

Wall Street: Money Never Sleeps Falls Short of the Original

I really wanted this to be as good as the first one, which came out in 1987. Like most sequels, the original was so much better. Money Never Sleeps has Michael Douglas returning as financial giant Gordon Gekko. The film opens with his getting released from prison for insider trading. Like the first film, he takes a young broker under his wing, this time played by Shia LeBeouf. Gekko's original protegee, Bud Fox, played by Charlie Sheen, has a cameo with a few lines. It just so happens that LeBeouf is engaged to Gekko's estranged daughter. This is ironic since she is turned off to Wall Street traders by the actions of her corrupt father. She is played by Carey Mulligan, and she had a much better script to work with last year when she starred in the Oscar nominated An Education. Josh Brolin plays a slimy adversary of Gekko's who LeBeouf ends up working for. Oliver Stone appears in a cameo in this film as well as many CNBC personalities such as Maria Bartiromo and Jim Cramer. Other stars included Frank Langella and Susan Sarandon. The script is too long, not organized well, and I found myself looking at my watch wondering when it would end. In a great film you care about the characters and a great film will leave you wanting more. The Wall Street of 1987 had that effect on me. Still all of these years later I can watch it again and again. It was so quotable, and modern day traders still remember it as the ultimate movie about high finance in New York City. So many artists have their biggest hits early in their career and they spend the rest of their careers trying to get back that magic that they once had in their work. I am beginning to feel that way about Oliver Stone. The actors and the sets and costumes can all be good, but if the script is not polished, you don't have a hit. Wall Street 2 needed a better script that could interest people as much as the first one.

Thirteen Years after Wall Street comes Boiler Room

If you liked Oliver Stone's drama about high stakes stockbrokers in New York, Wall Street (1987), you need to check out Boiler Room (2000). The two are so similar that the characters in Boiler Room actually quote Wall Street word for word in one scene as they watch the film at the home of one of the brokers. They are similar, but yet different enough that I would recommend both.

Boiler Room stars Giovanni Ribisi as Seth Davis, a college dropout who runs a casino out of his home. His dad, played by Ron Rifkin, is a judge and he just wants his son to get a decent, honest job. The relationship between Seth and his dad is similar to that between Charlie Sheen and his father in Wall Street (played by Martin Sheen). Both sons yearn to please their fathers. In Wall Street, Bud Fox was taken under the wing of Gordon Gekko, and Gekko gave him the respect his father had not. The elder Sheen was concerned about the bad influence Gekko had on his son. It was the same with Boiler Room since Seth's dad was dubious about this firm where people were making obscene amounts of money.

One night a broker stops by Seth's casino to gamble and Seth is impressed with his Ferrari, and he learns he works for a firm called J.T. Marlin (the name is similar to prestigious firm J.P. Morgan). The firm has an office on Long Island, NY and Seth gets a job as a trainee broker. Others in the office are played by Vin Diesel, Nicky Katt and Jamie Kennedy. In an obvious nod to Alec Baldwin's character in David Mamet's ode to the world of salespeople, Glengarry Glen Ross, Ben Affleck plays the tough as nails head of the brokerage house who wants his employees to sell by any means necessary, if they want to keep their jobs. The secretary at the firm is played by Nia Long, and like Wall Street, there is a love triangle. In Boiler Room it is between Seth, the secretary, and one of Seth's supervisors. In Wall Street the love triangle was between Charlie Sheen, Daryl Hannah and Michael Douglas.

The longer he works there Seth begins to wonder why no one has heard of this firm, why they are on Long Island and not in Manhattan, and how they can possibly pay brokers more commissions than any other firm. Seth is making a lot of money, but still he has mixed feelings about the morality of what he is doing. "Greed is good" could be the tagline for Boiler Room just like it was with Wall Street.

***Spoilers below***

Seth is investigated by the FBI and he finds out that J.T. Marlin is nothing but a house of cards and an illegal con game, or a boiler room. In exchange for his freedom he blows the whistle and tells the FBI about the firm. He copies his files from work onto a disk he will give to federal agents. Seth leaves the office just before federal agents raid it, and he tips off Vin Diesel's character to get out as well. An alternate ending has a former client of Seth's, Harry Reynard, showing up at J.T. Marlin with a gun to get his revenge. Harry had lost his life savings through investing in the firm's shoddy investment schemes.