🎧 Downbeat.fm Vol. 6 Track 7

This past weekend my wife and I watched the long (but good) Billy Joel documentary on HBO. I'm a lifelong Billy Joel fan, going back to my very young days. One of the cassette tapes that I used to want to play a lot was his Greatest Hits - Vol. I and Vol. II. It came out when I was 4, and I have vivid memories of listening to it and holding the tape box while riding in my parent's car. This was 40 years ago, and it's one of my earliest memories. Go figure it's about music.

I also had a VHS tape of his concert at Yankee Stadium in The Bronx which I probably got for Christmas when I was 9 or 10.

My second concert ever was when I was 13 and it was Billy Joel and Elton John at Giants Stadium in New Jersey (my first concert was a week or two prior and it was Phil Collins across the street at the then named Brendan Byrne Arena).

When I was younger I tended to gravitate towards his more poppy songs and singles from the radio, and as I grew older I started to gravitate to his older, deeper cuts.

The doc went into a lot about his past, his relationships, his struggles with substances, all a lot of stuff I didn't really know, but could infer from his lyrics.

I don't listen to Billy Joel that much anymore, but I do have a bunch of his records that we'll sometimes put on while cooking dinner. Since watching the documentary both my wife and I have been listening to more Billy Joel, which has been nice. He's never been on one of my "favorite artists" lists, but if I sat down and did a top 20 list, he'd definitely be included, probably very close to being in the top 10.

If you are a fan of his music, I definitely recommend checking it out.

I would love to see a doc like this about Bruce Springsteen - it could help him get the EMMY which he's missing to get an EGOT.

July's Playlist

This month’s playlist features Bear vs. Shark, Girl Tones, MJ Lenderman, Milemarker, Cursive, Tennis, Spanish Love Songs, and more!

Listen to this month’s playlist on

Quick Listening and Other Links

Another month, another legend gone. Ozzy Osbourne died at 76. You can watch a bunch of the videos from Ozzy's last concert here. The concert raised almost $200M for charity.

From McSweeney's: What your favorite classic rock band says about you.

Ben Folds talks about his new album, and resigning from his post as an artistic advisor of The Kennedy Center once Trump and his authoritarian shit heels took it over.

The new Superman movie came out this past month, and boy am I glad it was good. I was incredibly disappointed with Man of Steel and everything that followed, and I went into this movie excited, but also very nervous. Well, James Gunn did not disappoint.

And in typical James Gunn fashion, he made playlists for characters in the movie, including Lois Lane, Jimmy Olsen, Mr. Terrific, Green Lantern, Hawkgirl, and Ultraman. Lois has my favorite playlist.

Also, don't miss the Iggy Pop and Teddybear song - Punkrocker during the closing credits (and also on this month's playlist).

GWAR, standing against fascism and for public media.

If you're in the New York area you should go check out this show of concert posters by legendary artist Mike King. It's running through November 2.

This article from The Guardian is obviously focused on the music scene in the UK, but is relevant here in the US, and something I've definitely noticed here in Austin - The Live Music Capital of the World. Smaller venues are disappearing and it's getting more and more difficult for new, small and/or indie bands to make a living.

This kid is a legend. And speaking of Oasis, I can't believe they actually played shows on their reunion tour and didn't implode. (Yet.)