Monday, January 26, 2009

BJ sucks!

I meant Billy Joel, potty-brain. This article reminds me of the discussion I had with the Grif a few years back over whether or not Billy Joel deserves his place in the rock n' roll Hall of Fame. Grif, a bona fide Joel fan put up a strong defense against my accusations that he is a derivative talent at best, but no one changed the other's mind. I still think Billy Joel sucks, and the Grif still lights candles to an altar made entirely of Billy Joel album covers.
And I think I've done it! I think I've identified the qualities in B.J.'s work that distinguish his badness from other kinds of badness: It exhibits unearned contempt. Both a self-righteous contempt for others and the self-approbation and self-congratulation that is contempt's backside, so to speak. Most frequently a contempt for the supposed phoniness or inauthenticity of other people as opposed to the rock-solid authenticity of our B.J.

1 comment:

grifter said...

yes, we'd all rather have full sex rather than just a BJ.