Defend the Indefensible: MOVIN' OUT

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What can be said in favor of this 90-minute Billy Joel medley with interpretive dance accompaniment by Twyla Tharp?

1. Caused me to realize that the '70s record most closely resembling Franz Ferdinand's "Take Me Out" is not a new-wave record, but BJ's "The Stranger"

2. Proved there exists a more bad and hated version of "We Didn't Start the Fire" than the original

3. Many young, healthy, near-naked people doing flips

4. ?????????????????????????????

― Guayaquil, Monday, 11 July 2005 17:15 (twenty years ago)

Okay, this is impossible.

― The Ghost of Dan Perry (Dan Perry), Monday, 11 July 2005 17:19 (twenty years ago)

4. the soundtrack has no songs from glass houses. meaning the soundtrack doesn't ruin any of the songs from his masterpiece. (don't even question me about that statement.) which is a definite plus.

― fact checking cuz (fcc), Monday, 11 July 2005 17:29 (twenty years ago)

in his early lyrics, joel seemed so angry at those who sold out for the money. as often is the case, he became every bit the man he likely never wanted to be.

indefensible.

― ZionTrain (ZionTrain), Monday, 11 July 2005 17:33 (twenty years ago)

But alas, fcc, the show starts out with a full-throated "It's Still Rock and Roll To Me!" Maybe Twyla Tharp is from an awesome alternate earth in which BJ's best record in fact does not contain this ass song.

― Guayaquil, Monday, 11 July 2005 17:33 (twenty years ago)

Well I saw it and the dancing was entertaining.

That's really the best I can do.

― Candicissima (candicissima), Monday, 11 July 2005 17:35 (twenty years ago)

is "all for leyna" in the show? that was a good one. joel was stellar at conveying utter emotional exhaustion on record.

― ZionTrain (ZionTrain), Monday, 11 July 2005 17:36 (twenty years ago)

cast album in not-including-show-opening-number shockah!

― fact checking cuz (fcc), Monday, 11 July 2005 17:41 (twenty years ago)

I was forced to see this. It has no redeeming quality. Save a few hours of your lives.

― Forced to See It (Big Loud Mountain Ape), Monday, 11 July 2005 17:46 (twenty years ago)

I was all huffy to explain that "Movin' Out (Anthony's Song)" is the most defensible Billy Joel song in existence, but this seems only defensible in the sense of being utterly fucking ridiculous.

― miccio (miccio), Monday, 11 July 2005 17:48 (twenty years ago)

I was forced to hear about this from someone who saw it. Save your time - don't even get in a conversation about it. Aw, fuck.. too late.

― geyser muffler and a quarter (Dave225), Monday, 11 July 2005 17:48 (twenty years ago)

You're only human, guys.

― Alfred Soto (Alfred Soto), Monday, 11 July 2005 17:52 (twenty years ago)

the old folks think it's dynamite!

― ZionTrain (ZionTrain), Monday, 11 July 2005 17:52 (twenty years ago)

http://www.vnn.vn/dataimages/original/images346294_Billy_Joel2.jpg

― miccio (miccio), Monday, 11 July 2005 17:56 (twenty years ago)

I love Billy Joel. So Movin' Out isn't really that hard to defend.

1. It was better than the Elton John concert a month before
2. They took Keeping the Faith and made it much better, but I can't figure out how. My friend explains it as 'more rocking guitar'
3. The girls in it were cute
4. I mean, come on, Billy Joel's cool

But yeah, the new version of We Didnt Start the Fire isn't very good (sounds better when you're watching the show than alone, though). I never thought the original was bad, though.

― WillS, Tuesday, 12 July 2005 01:28 (twenty years ago)

There's part of your problem right there.

― The Ghost of Dan Perry (Dan Perry), Tuesday, 12 July 2005 11:06 (twenty years ago)

Uh...something good to say...well, a Billy Joel musical probably wouldn't offend me to the core the way that Beach Boys musical would have. I have less emotional investment in Billy Joel's music, and one can easily hear his songs as show tunes...

I give up. The lesser of two evils does not equal defensibility.

― mike a, Tuesday, 12 July 2005 12:13 (twenty years ago)

I have a friend who played in the Broadway show, so I guess you could say one good thing that came out of it was that he beefed up his resume. Not sure that this in itself constitutes a proper defense.

― k/l (Ken L), Tuesday, 12 July 2005 12:19 (twenty years ago)

Defend the indefensible: Ken's friend.

― geyser muffler and a quarter (Dave225), Tuesday, 12 July 2005 12:55 (twenty years ago)

You know, he also played in Elton John's Aida, so he probably IS indefensible.

― k/l (Ken L), Tuesday, 12 July 2005 13:12 (twenty years ago)

Caused me to realize that the '70s record most closely resembling Franz Ferdinand's "Take Me Out" is not a new-wave record, but BJ's "The Stranger"

no wonder it's popular pump-up-the-stadium music!

― maura (maura), Tuesday, 12 July 2005 14:11 (twenty years ago)

i am in a way stealing this concept from miccio, who first pointed out the similarity between these two artists (so credit where credit's due) -- i think that if spoon's "sister jack" had instead been billy joel's 2005 comeback single, his impending reappraisal would have been accelerated by at least 6 months.

― PeopleFunnyBoy (PeopleFunnyBoy), Tuesday, 12 July 2005 14:14 (twenty years ago)

"I was in a drop d metal band we called Attila"

― miccio (miccio), Tuesday, 12 July 2005 14:16 (twenty years ago)

it would have worked for so many reasons, not the least of which being that it does, in fact, seem weirdly joel-biographical.

― PeopleFunnyBoy (PeopleFunnyBoy), Tuesday, 12 July 2005 14:18 (twenty years ago)

Billy Joel cannot comeback at this point. He needs to change his name. Something like "Chris Maines".

― geyser muffler and a quarter (Dave225), Tuesday, 12 July 2005 14:20 (twenty years ago)

"I was in a drop d metal band we called Attila"

wait, was he playing drop d organ in attila??? was that the secret to their success?

― fact checking cuz (fcc), Tuesday, 12 July 2005 20:27 (twenty years ago)

oh how i wondered which pedant would point out the instrumental make-up of Attila.

― miccio (miccio), Tuesday, 12 July 2005 20:28 (twenty years ago)

though I guess if anybody's allowed to fact check

― miccio (miccio), Tuesday, 12 July 2005 20:29 (twenty years ago)

glad to be of service!

― fact checking cuz (fcc), Tuesday, 12 July 2005 20:29 (twenty years ago)

I misread that at first and I thought miccio was wondering about "pedal points in the instrumental workouts of Attila."

― k/l (Ken L), Tuesday, 12 July 2005 20:32 (twenty years ago)

I am not startrekman

― miccio (miccio), Tuesday, 12 July 2005 20:34 (twenty years ago)

Anthony, do you feel a special affinity for the song "Movin' Out" because, well, it's about a guy named Anthony? After all, the full title is, as you pointed out upthread, "Movin' Out (Anthony's Song)"

― k/l (Ken L), Tuesday, 12 July 2005 20:38 (twenty years ago)

god yes

It seems such a waste of time
If that's what it's all about
If that's movin' up then I'm movin' out.

― miccio (miccio), Tuesday, 12 July 2005 20:41 (twenty years ago)

see also Chuck Berry's "Anthony Boy" and Belle & Sebastian's "Lord Anthony"

― miccio (miccio), Tuesday, 12 July 2005 20:42 (twenty years ago)

What about the Prince Spaghetti commercial? Where they still airing that when you were coming up?

― k/l (Ken L), Tuesday, 12 July 2005 20:45 (twenty years ago)

don't know it

― miccio (miccio), Tuesday, 12 July 2005 20:47 (twenty years ago)

That's probably for the best.

― k/l (Ken L), Tuesday, 12 July 2005 20:56 (twenty years ago)

I saw my buddy yesterday and asked him what the opening number was and he said, quote: "It's Only Rock and Roll To Me."

― k/l (Ken L), Friday, 15 July 2005 12:05 (twenty years ago)

I'd really love/(hate) to see the production number based on "Captain Jack".

― Pleasant Plains /// (Pleasant Plains ///), Friday, 15 July 2005 15:42 (twenty years ago)

I think it had something to do with the lead male character wandering around an alley with prostitutes or something...it's fuzzy.

― Candicissima (candicissima), Friday, 15 July 2005 16:40 (twenty years ago)

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