AL

 

Please allow me join the slobbering Al-aholics on the Web.  

There.  

I feel better now.

OK, now quite seriously...I have been pretty much a long time Billy Joel fanatic (bear with me, you'll see how I get here) and an apparently closeted Al fan.  I mean, everyone knows that I love BJ.  But almost no one realizes that I can also sing all the words to "Midnight Star."  Without a cheat sheet.

Let me officially state that I am now OUT OF THE CLOSET.

But see, way back when I was a kid, OK, a teenager, I found myself on a Holy Quest to track down a copy of "Eat It."  I really don't recall why anymore.  Most likely, the kids I couldn't stand at school were listening to a lot of Michael Jackson, and I'd seen enough MTV to recognize the anti-Jackson when I saw him.

The upshot of this is, the very first album by anyone that I ever bought was "In 3-D."  And I got it well over a year prior to my first Billy Joel album.

In fact, I picked up that first Billy Joel album because I came across it while buying Madonna's "Like a Virgin" and I got some deal if I bought 2 albums at once.  And why was I buying Madonna?  Because by that time I was really really into "Dare to be Stupid."  And I enjoyed "Like a Surgeon" enough to seek out the original.

Wait.  It gets scarier.

If you've gotten this far, you are probably familiar with the concept of the Polka Medley.  If you're not, on most Weird Al albums, there's a track of 10 or 12 pop songs medleyed together with an accordion.  Your life is not complete without listening to at least one polka medley.

I only knew one song on the medley on "In 3D."  I started listening to the radio to try and learn the rest of the songs.  Eventually I latched onto a DJ by name of Mark Bolger.  Bolger played a lot of screwy stuff on his shows...and this was on a Top 40 station.  Anyway, Bolge played more Al, and Loudon Wainwright III, and did some of his own stuff (someday I'll have to get a copy of "Lorne Greene, Sex Machine" here.)  And he was nice enough to allow me call him and talk to him on an almost daily basis.  He had an autographed picture of Al to give away once, and he saved it for me.  If you want the full story, click here.

So, of course, when I wandered off to college, I did radio.  I did radio when I was in vet school.  I'm not doing radio now, and I kinda miss it.

Would I have done this stuff if I hadn't tracked down a copy of "Eat It?"  Maybe.  No idea.  I didn't even realize the connection until I was re-organizing my music collection and discovered that I owned Billy Joel's entire back catalog.  Well, I already knew that.  My surprise was to discover that the only other person who shared this honor was Weird Al.

I'm comfortable with my inner geek.  After all, I freely admit to playing with plastic horses on the weekends, too.

Al Links

WAY cool concert stories and lots of photos!

POODLE HAT TOUR (2003-2004)

RUNNING WITH SCISSORS (1999-2000)

 

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