I like being an "active adult" –– especially considering the alternative.
You can read the story beginning on page 16 of this online PDF.
Here's how it starts out...
Showing posts with label billy joel. Show all posts
Showing posts with label billy joel. Show all posts
Saturday, December 21, 2019
I got a nice write-up in Philadelphia's Jewish Exponent
I like being an "active adult" –– especially considering the alternative.
You can read the story beginning on page 16 of this online PDF.
Here's how it starts out...
Monday, October 22, 2018
I got a nice shoutout at the Philadelphia Broadcast Pioneers (video)
My friend and former Metromedia FM radio station WMMR colleague T. Morgan -- holding the mike in the photo -- (that's friend and colleague Michael Tearson on the right) had some nice words to say about me at the Philadelphia Broadcast Pioneers meeting last week.
Morgan tells the story of how I put a brand new radio station on the national map and made a star out of unknown, un-signed Billy Joel.
T. and M.T. spoke about WMMR's 50th Anniversary.
The printed materials Morgan refers to are here.
The "How Dennis Wilen Made Billy Joel A Star" saga was retold recently by Victor Fiorillo in Philadelphia Magazine.
I'm famous for 15 minutes yet again!
Here's the video, all cued up to right before my mention:
Friday, July 27, 2018
Phamous in Philadelphia for phiphteen minutes once again
Philadelphia Magazine is retelling the story of Billy Joel's breakout to stardom in Philadelphia and it's all my fault!
Read the whole story @ Philadelphia Magazine Thanks to VINNIE for the clipping.Here’s How Philadelphia Created Billy Joel
The hitmaker, who plays Philly on Friday, tells us all about it.
....Back in 1971, Joel was a no-name 22-year-old from Long Island. In November of that year, he released his first album, Cold Spring Harbor, which got virtually no attention or airplay. But then one day in 1972, Philly music producer Dennis Wilen, who had launched a live WMMR concert series from Philadelphia’s Sigma Sound Studios, got wind of this singer-pianist named Billy Joel during a visit to New York. Wilen invited Joel to do one of those WMMR live broadcasts....
Friday, January 6, 2017
Look. Mom! I'm big in Japan!
If this is what they mean by globalization, count me in! Or source me out. However it works.
My music with/by Billy Joel is hella story. Read all about it here....
Thursday, December 22, 2016
Super Interview with Sigma Sound Studios' Joe Tarsia
Legendary recording engineer and Sigma Sound Studios founder Joe Tarsia sits down to talk about his decades-long career "behind the board" in the music industry - from his early days at Cameo Parkway Records, to his long-standing relationship with Gamble & Huff of Philadelphia International Records, and the creation of "The Sound of Philadelphia" featured on over 200 gold & platinum-selling records, including David Bowie's Young Americans.
Joe gives me a nice shout out around 23:00 in...
Saturday, March 5, 2016
Hey, Mom! We made the Philly Pops Billy Joel Program Book
If you're at the Kimmel Center for the Music of Billy Joel concert by the Philly Pops, you might recognize this handsome young guy in the program book.
Sunday, February 14, 2016
Still famous after all these years: BILLY JOEL redux
I've gotten lotsa press over the years, but my Billy Joel Captain Jack adventure is probably one of my greatest hits.
This ^^^^ image is a screencap of an ad on Facebook excerpting the Philadelphia Magazine story from August of last year.
You can read a short version of the saga in my Amazon review of Billy's CD.
And look for my retelling of the story in the upcoming Sigma Sound Studios documentary.
Sunday, August 9, 2015
How my version of 'Captain Jack' made Billy Joel a star
I spoke with Philadelphia Magazine's Victor Fiorillo two months ago about Billy Joel and me. His story is now online:
Billy Joel has released just one studio album in the past 20 years — a 2001 recording of his classical compositions that you’ve likely never heard. Yet when he takes the stage in Philadelphia on August 13th, he’ll do so at Citizens Bank Park in front of some 40,000 fans and play through his repertoire of modern American classics. He’s a true star, and one with a fiercely loyal following. But it wasn’t always that way.Continued @ PhillyMag.com....
Back in 1971, Joel was a no-name 22-year-old from Long Island. In November of that year, he released his first album, Cold Spring Harbor, which got virtually no attention or airplay.
Then one day in 1972, local music producer Dennis Wilen [photo], who had launched a live WMMR concert series from Philadelphia’s Sigma Sound Studios, got wind of Joel during a visit to New York and invited him to do a show.
Thursday, October 22, 2009
1974 Album Review: Billy Joel "Streetlife Serenade"
I wrote this
With Streetlife Serenade, his third solo long-player, Billy Joel has taken off his gloves. Gone are the slushy strings that mired his pounding piano in a mush of romantic glop. Excised are the tonsils that held back his soaring tenor.
The title track speaks of a "shopping center hero." Whether this is Billy or one of his subjects is irrelevant. Billy's intensely autobiographical approach reflects the angst of life in the seventies, and in the suburbs.
You couldn't say this conceptually coherent record is about loneliness, although it is inhabited by occasionally lonely people. And it isn't about alienation, because everyone seems to be able, finally, to relate. This is an album about you and me, and him over there, and her, and everybody, just coping.
"Los Angelenos" tells the story of refugees from everywhere, driving their sports cars "nowhere on the streets with Spanish names." Billy lays down a Rhodes riff that burns, and then sneers the opening vocal with a passion that makes Elton John, to whom he is most often compared, sound middle-aged. By the time he gets to the overdubbed organ ride at the end, he has followed the lead of Ray Davies' "Celluloid Heroes" from Hollywood Boulevard into the hills and canyons of L.A., where people "go to garages to get exotic messages."
The organ segues to a bluesy synthesizer as Billy flies back home to Long Island for a Sunday afternoon barbecue with the folks ("The Great Suburban Showdown"). You must go home again, and Billy does with an instinct for self-satire that allows him to criticize with love.
Next is "Root Beer Rag," an instrumental in the classic rag form. It shows off his compositional and performing abilities on the piano in a tasty interlude. Side One closes with "Roberta," a bittersweet love song to a call girl, or "out-call" as they are affectionately known in Smogville.
Side Two is more optimistic, and opens with the follow-up to "Piano Man," boldy titled "The Entertainer." We pick up the narration of Billy's career when he's only as god as his last record, as the expression goes, and he's out to continue the road to success. To touches of Rick Wakeman synthesizer, Billy adds the fast-picking banjo that made "Travellin' Prayer" on the previous disc such a mover. Columbia probably intends this as a single, but the line about getting laid might turn off some Top 40 programmers. (Question: If Mick Jagger laid a divorcee in New York City, can Billy?)
"Last of the Bigtime Spenders" is the lp's only weak tune. In it, Billy indulges his propensity for the quick rhyme and the easy lyric and comes up with the highest cliche quotient in recent memory. Granting some tongue-in-cheek poetic license in the theme ("I'm the last of the bigtime spenders 'cause I'm spendin' my time on you") the inclusion of even more chestnuts ("make the grade," "small-time operator," "make the best of the situation," and "you can call me the great pretender") makes this tune a prime copyright for some sappy country singer. Billy can do better. (While we're nitpicking, does Billy sing the title track through his sinuses ore is something wrong with my $2000 stereo?)
Side Two's optimism continues with a raveup called "Weekend Song," similar in sentiment to Jesse Winchester's "Payday": an ode to T.G.I.F. A short vignette, "Souvenir," follows, and one line shows that Billy can write if he wants to. "Every year's a souvenir that slowly fades away."
The last song is an instrumental that combines the weekend with a souvenir, a soundtrack-sounding "Mexican Connection." Billy's left hand hits a Latinesque ostinato as he weaves a loping trail across the Rio Grande into the land of tequila and la tourista. Slick arrangement, evocative playing and a beautiful melody make this a real charmer.
Streetlife Serenade is the finest release of this major American artist. Billy is what Leon and Elton used to be.
Excellent.
- Dennis Wilen, Phonograph Record Magazine, 11/74.
- Streetlife Serenade
- Billy Joel
- Columbia KC 33146
- Released: October 1974
- Chart Peak: #35
- Weeks Charted: 18
- Certified Gold: 12/22/80
With Streetlife Serenade, his third solo long-player, Billy Joel has taken off his gloves. Gone are the slushy strings that mired his pounding piano in a mush of romantic glop. Excised are the tonsils that held back his soaring tenor.
The title track speaks of a "shopping center hero." Whether this is Billy or one of his subjects is irrelevant. Billy's intensely autobiographical approach reflects the angst of life in the seventies, and in the suburbs.
You couldn't say this conceptually coherent record is about loneliness, although it is inhabited by occasionally lonely people. And it isn't about alienation, because everyone seems to be able, finally, to relate. This is an album about you and me, and him over there, and her, and everybody, just coping.
"Los Angelenos" tells the story of refugees from everywhere, driving their sports cars "nowhere on the streets with Spanish names." Billy lays down a Rhodes riff that burns, and then sneers the opening vocal with a passion that makes Elton John, to whom he is most often compared, sound middle-aged. By the time he gets to the overdubbed organ ride at the end, he has followed the lead of Ray Davies' "Celluloid Heroes" from Hollywood Boulevard into the hills and canyons of L.A., where people "go to garages to get exotic messages."
The organ segues to a bluesy synthesizer as Billy flies back home to Long Island for a Sunday afternoon barbecue with the folks ("The Great Suburban Showdown"). You must go home again, and Billy does with an instinct for self-satire that allows him to criticize with love.
Next is "Root Beer Rag," an instrumental in the classic rag form. It shows off his compositional and performing abilities on the piano in a tasty interlude. Side One closes with "Roberta," a bittersweet love song to a call girl, or "out-call" as they are affectionately known in Smogville.
Side Two is more optimistic, and opens with the follow-up to "Piano Man," boldy titled "The Entertainer." We pick up the narration of Billy's career when he's only as god as his last record, as the expression goes, and he's out to continue the road to success. To touches of Rick Wakeman synthesizer, Billy adds the fast-picking banjo that made "Travellin' Prayer" on the previous disc such a mover. Columbia probably intends this as a single, but the line about getting laid might turn off some Top 40 programmers. (Question: If Mick Jagger laid a divorcee in New York City, can Billy?)
"Last of the Bigtime Spenders" is the lp's only weak tune. In it, Billy indulges his propensity for the quick rhyme and the easy lyric and comes up with the highest cliche quotient in recent memory. Granting some tongue-in-cheek poetic license in the theme ("I'm the last of the bigtime spenders 'cause I'm spendin' my time on you") the inclusion of even more chestnuts ("make the grade," "small-time operator," "make the best of the situation," and "you can call me the great pretender") makes this tune a prime copyright for some sappy country singer. Billy can do better. (While we're nitpicking, does Billy sing the title track through his sinuses ore is something wrong with my $2000 stereo?)
Side Two's optimism continues with a raveup called "Weekend Song," similar in sentiment to Jesse Winchester's "Payday": an ode to T.G.I.F. A short vignette, "Souvenir," follows, and one line shows that Billy can write if he wants to. "Every year's a souvenir that slowly fades away."
The last song is an instrumental that combines the weekend with a souvenir, a soundtrack-sounding "Mexican Connection." Billy's left hand hits a Latinesque ostinato as he weaves a loping trail across the Rio Grande into the land of tequila and la tourista. Slick arrangement, evocative playing and a beautiful melody make this a real charmer.
Streetlife Serenade is the finest release of this major American artist. Billy is what Leon and Elton used to be.
Excellent.
- Dennis Wilen, Phonograph Record Magazine, 11/74.
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