Billy Joel: What does he think about Germany -
he country of his origin?

	In 1997 the Bavarian radio station "Bayern 3" published an interview with Billy Joel concerning his relationship to Germany in the radio show "Fritz and Hits" with Fritz Egner. Thanks to Billy fan Andrea Gehr from Holzkirchen near Munich, who taped the radio show.

"Hi, this is Billy Joel, and I'm here with Fritz - Fritz with the hits!"

A man who comes from Long Island/New York and who was the Piano Man in the bars of Los Angeles: "Piano Man" Billy Joel. Billy, who composed hits like "Uptown Girl", "Piano Man" or "The River Of Dreams", has his roots in Germany.

He tells Fritz Egner about his grandfather's store in Nürnberg, about fishing, and, of course, about music. He has the feeling that he is at the top of his career: "I'm writing the best music I've ever written in my life. However, it may not be recognized by a pop music audience. They may think "Piano Man" is the best music or something I've done a long time ago. I don't care! I do this for me. I always did it for me."

This man, who will be giving a concert with Elton John in the Olympiastadion in Munich on the 14th of July 1998, Billy Joel - in "Fritz and Hits - the Sunday show"!

...Billy Joel wants to say good-bye to the world of pop music, do one last tour and then change his direction. He wants to follow the example of his idol George Gershwin. He does not think of it as a big thing and says: "I want to write popular music like Gershwin, but - just like he did, too - compose classical music also." On the one hand Gershwin wrote the song "Rhapsody in Blue", on the other hand he also wrote the opera "Porgy and Bess" - two worlds. And it is exactly this bridge between both worlds that Billy Joel wants to build.

"Hi, this is Billy Joel, and I'm here with Fritz - Fritz with the hits!"

Billy has German roots, ancestors from N¸rnberg in Bavaria. Billy's grandfather even owned a big store there: "It was a large mail order textile business, very much like in America we have 'SEARS'. Neckermann bought the business in the 30ies from my grandfather Karl Joel. Neckermann got it for a bargain. And my family had to leave the country. My family actually was wealthy. We all had money - but not me!" All this happened during the Third Reich, so that his grandfather was forced to sell the business. What does Billy think about that? "There was not a matter of being a negotiate situation. They said: 'You have to sell, or else we'll see you in Berlin and we'll talk about it.' The Family said 'no, we're gonna go.'"

But what about Billy Joel himself? He often comes to Germany, but does he anyhow hate the Germans? "No, I don't blame the children for the sins of the parents. I think that's a bad thing to do. I think it's a good thing just to know what history is and be able to look back. We don't want that to happen again."

What does Billy like about the Germans? Mainly he likes the German culture: "You have a great musical culture. All my favorite composers were German: Beethoven, Brahms, Schuman, Haydn, Mendelsson, Mozart...- all the great composers. You also have great literature, for instance Thomas Mann. You cannot ignore the great artist, great literature, great music."

...You guys have the best beer!

What about German food? Billy: "The food?! I don't know... I like 'Sp”tzle' and the beer. You guys have the best beer! I don't know why we can't get it in the States, but maybe because they just don't know what good beer is?!"

Billy's family comes from N¸rnberg - his favorite city, however, is Hamburg: "I like harbour towns. I always liked any town that is on the sea or on a harbour. If I go to the middle of America, I don't feel comfortable - I feel 'landlocked'. I have to be near the water."

What does a Billy Joel do in his spare time? He likes to go fishing. Recently, he even sold his fish to a Japanese fish merchant - he doesn't do that anymore. It is not that he doesn't want the Japanese to have his fish - "I no longer can get a commercial fishing licence, because the government has decided they're only gonna issue so many licences. It's really the right thing to do, because there's some people who would get a licence who didn't have to make a living at this. They would be sport fishermen like myself. They would be competing with the men who really had to make a living and to sell fish. So, I don't really catch fish that much anymore, because I don't want to kill fish just for the sport. I either want to eat the fish or I want to sell the fish."

Does he ever listen to the records that he made at the beginning of his career? "My first record came out in 1965 with a band called 'The Lost Souls'. It wasn't an album, it was a single. I don't have it! I don't even know how I can get a copy. 'The Hassles" I have a copy of, but I don't listen to it." He'd rather listen to the recent albums and especially what he's working on. He wants to write musicals and big operas next.

Before leaving the popmusic business, Billy Joel wants to do one last tour. He'll also come to Bavaria with Elton John this summer. One will have to wait to see how Billy's plans to make classical music turn out.