Billy Joel
 Long Island's answer to Bruce
Springsteen, Billy Joel fashioned his image as a hometown boy turned
superstar over the course of 25 years of hard work.
Joel had humble beginnings, both personally and musically. Born
in 1949, he dropped out of high school just short of graduation
to follow his love of music. His early projects proved less than
successful; he bombed in failed bands like the Echoes, the Hassels
and Attila, also enduring a stint as a lounge pianist and
later, as a composer of commercial jingles.
1.lounge: n. 闲逛, 休闲室, 长沙发 vi. 闲荡, 懒洋洋地躺卧 vt. 虚度光阴
2.jingle: n. 叮当声 v. (使)作叮当声, (使)押韵
Finally, Joel decided to go it on his own as a singer-songwriter.
He unknowingly signed a lifetime contract with the financially struggling
Family Productions and recorded the album Cold Spring Harbor
in 1971. After hearing a live version of the song "Captain Jack"
on the radio, Columbia Records bought out Joel's contract and shortly
after released his 1973's Piano Man. The title track made
it to the Top 40, thus beginning Joel's rise to the top.
Streetlife Serenade, released in 1974, was a fairly successful
follow-up, reaching No. 35 on the album charts. Joel's 1976 album
Turnstiles, despite its strength in songwriting (witness
the tense, percussive piano of "Angry Young Man" or the jazz-inflected
ballad "New York State of Mind") proved a disappointing commercial
effort.
1.percussive: adj. 敲击的
Trouble with his producer and management company during this time
led Joel to enlist the help of producer Phil Ramone, known for his
work with such luminaries as Barbra Streisand, Paul Simon
and Frank Sinatra. The switch gave Joel the commercial and creative
jumpstart he needed and resulted in the brilliant 1977 album The
Stranger, highlighted by the Top 40 singles "Just the Way You
Are," "Movin' Out (Anthony's Song)," "She's Always a Woman" and
"Only the Good Die Young." The album went platinum and reached No.
2 on the charts.
1.luminary: n. 发光体（如日、月等天体），知识渊博的人
An equally impressive follow-up was 1978's 52nd Street,
notable for rock-edged singles like "My Life" and "Big Shot." It
earned Joel a Grammy Award for Album of the Year (1980) and was
also his first No. 1 album. Now riding the wave of stardom, Joel
released the new-wave influenced Glass Houses in 1980, producing
a second No. 1 album and earning another Grammy, this one for Best
Rock Vocal Performance, Male.
Joel's next album, 1981's Songs in the Attic, revisited
some old material from early in his career. It was difficult to
maintain the high level of success he had achieved, and 1982's more
subdued effort, The Nylon Curtain was not as welcomed
commercially as its predecessors. Joel explored a more light-hearted
sound on 1983's An Innocent Man with doo-wop-flavored songs
like "The Longest Time" and "Uptown Girl." Joel rounded out this
phase of his career with a double-album greatest hits collection
and the 1986 album The Bridge.
1.subdue: v. 征服
In 1989, Joel parted ways with producer Ramone, as well as most
of his band, and released the decidedly different Storm Front,
scoring several major hits, including the hard-rocking title song
and "We Didn't Start the Fire," a tongue-twisting history lesson.
Joel made an easy transition into the '90s with River of Dreams,
a more whimsical, poppy number that cemented Joel's
success as an enduring chart-topper. 1.whimsical:
adj. 反复无常的, 古怪的
2.cement: n. 水泥, 接合剂 vt. 接合, 用水泥涂, 巩固 vi. 粘牢
Although his massive fortunes and high-profile failed marriage
to model Christie Brinkley might indicate otherwise, Joel has maintained
his status as a working-class hero throughout his career, infusing
his songs with tales of family life and paying tribute the local
institutions that witnessed his rise to the top.
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