As I mentioned with great, rude aplomb on this post from 2012, I've never given the slightest crap about Billy Joel. Yes, I realize he's NYC to the bone and all that (witness local classic rock radio's tireless insistence on wheeling out "It's Still Rock 'n' Roll To Me," "Captain Jack" and -- god help us all -- "Scenes from an Italian Restaurant" at every conceivable opportunity), but seriously -- enough already. I mean, I don't wish the man ill or anything (well, not really), but I've just never really enjoyed his music (see also Springsteen, but that's a hellfire-tempting post for another day).
In any case, a comrade of mine on the NYC-blogging front, the disarmingly astute Bob Egan of PopSpots, apparently is quite a fan of Mr. Joel's. Good sport that he is, Egan overlooks my fandom for bands he probably can't stand like SWANS, the Cro-Mags and the Plasmatics, and regularly shares information with me.
Back on that earlier post, I linked back to a typically sprawling post of Bob's which pinpointed several key album cover locations from Billy Joel. Even if you (rightly) don't think much of the Piano Man, it makes for fascinating reading.
Anyway, there is one specific spot I pass by on a semi-regular basis that I did know had a special relevance to hapless Billy Joel fans like dear Bob. When I was out on that afore-cited marathon trek around Lower Manhattan a couple of weeks back with my intrepid little kindernauts, we passed through SoHo and by a specifc stoop on Mercer Street between Houston and Prince. To walk by it now, you'd probably never give it a second thought. But to someone with a head swimming with utterly useless rock-dork trivia, I couldn't resist paying some cheeky homage to the former Mr. Christie Brinkley.
Forgive me, Mr. Egan.
Billy Joel's An Innocent Man circa 1983
Charlotte & Oliver on Mercer & Prince, 2014
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