Back about a thousand years ago, I made the decision to take the plunge, make the commitment, and mail my enrollment form (with the twelve stickers and a penny attached) to the Columbia House Record Club. One of the glorious pieces of vinyl that appeared on my doorstep a short time later was the album, “The Stranger” by Billy Joel.
Now all these years later, I’m reminded of a time when I’d sit and stare at the cover art for hours, pausing now and again to lift the needle to reposition it back at the beginning. Jimmy Fallon, thanks for the trip down memory lane, via Scenes from an Italian Restaurant.
[NOTE – NBC deleted the original embedded clip, and I couldn’t track it down on YouTube, but I found it on VK. Click the link below to check it out.]
Billy Joel – Scenes from an Italian Restaurant (The Tonight Show with Jimmy Fallon 2016)
Oh, and as a bonus, The Nerdist shared this on their Facebook newsfeed today. During the commercial break, there was apparently an impromptu performance of “The Longest Time” with Billy Joel and his band, J.K. Simmons, and Jimmy Fallon.
Double bonus – there’s also a Fallon/Joel duet of the Stones, “Beast of Burden” from the Tonight Show appearance.
By the way, while putting together this post, I discovered that the Columbia House Record Club is poised for a relaunch this year. Who’da thunk? Wait, does that mean I still owe them 19 bazillion dollars for the 8-track version of Don’t Say No that I forgot to cancel (since I already had the album)?
Memory Lane!!!
In the long ago, he used to try out new material in a club in NYC that wasn’t far from one of my (many) apartments, but every time I went there, he wasn’t there. Or I’d just missed him. Oh well.
Love The Stranger.
Oh, what a bummer! Years ago, Billy had (might still) a summer home in my hometown of Gloucester, MA (his guitarist, Dave Brown, is from there) and I know bunches of people who’ve run into him. But not me – I feel your pain. 🙂