“My game plan for, “Storm Front” was simply to make a better record, one that I liked. I was unhappy with the way “The Bridge” came out. You can hear the seams on that album – it was a bad stitching job. Christie and I’d just had Alexa, and you can hear on that record that I would rather have been at home with the baby than with the band in the studio. That’s what the song “Temptation” was about – the temptation was a baby, not another woman.”114
“Storm Front” presented the rock poet more energized than he’d been for a long time, and contained a whole series of notable hits, with “We Didn’t Start the Fire” leading the way: In the space of roughly five minutes Billy Joel checks off in catchwords 40 years of post-war history; a short chronicle of events from his year of birth 1949 up until 1989. It’s one of the few Joel songs for which the lyrics were written before the music. This musical history lesson in fast-forward mode became not only one of Billy Joel’s biggest hits, but is also often used by teachers during history classes. The record company even issued a special cassette edition for schools; it included explanations by Billy Joel, who himself is very much interested in history.
The album also featured a number of songs that, one way or another, addressed his relationship with Christie: “That’s Not Her Style”, “When in Rome”, “State of Grace”, “Shameless”, “And So it Goes” and, last but not least, the title song “Storm Front”. Even if officially it was being denied, the perfect-couple’s marriage was heading towards a crisis. Reading between the lines, there were clues to be found in the lyrics, despite the passionate declarations of love in “That’s Not Her Style” and “Shameless”. Other songs implied that there were problems, just like in any marriage: “When in Rome” describes the difficult situation a working couple faced, and the ballad “State of Grace” deals with misunderstandings and communication problems between a man and a woman. The celebrity marriage had sailed into rough waters, as the rock song “Storm Front” suggested.
“I Go to Extremes” can be seen as a kind of self-portrait. Like many artists, Billy Joel is prone to mood swings: on top of the world one minute, in the depths of despair the next. However, his description of a manic-depressive personality who knows no compromise remains without consequences in the song: it is like it is – “Darling I don’t know why I go to extremes / too high or too low, there ain’t no in-betweens”.
“Leningrad” is a song that resulted out of the tour of Russia: Billy Joel describes his meeting with the Russian clown Viktor, who made his daughter Alexa laugh in an amusement park in Leningrad. The song sketches (with autobiographical references) the life of a Russian and an American, who both grew up with reciprocal enemy stereotypes during the Cold War. It ends with a plea for tolerance and mutual understanding. Joel’s optimistic atmospheric picture of the global political turnaround at the end of the 1980s expresses the hope for a peaceful future that was felt at the time.
“Storm Front” conquered the charts at first go, climbing to number 1 on the Billboard charts; even Time Magazine acknowledged appreciatively: “A monster hit album.”
Billy Joel reacted to the financial problems caused by Frank Weber’s mismanagement and misdemeanors in his usual way: In November 1989 he and his new band started rehearsing for another world tour. It began in Worcester Massachusetts in December 1989, and ended in Mexico City in March 1991. Between those dates they played around 170 concerts in 16 different countries and sold 3.5 million tickets. It once again brought in a good deal of money for Billy Joel’s stricken music company.
However, despite the huge success, Joel had had enough of the constant touring: “Well, I hate hotels, I hate matching furniture. I hate airports. I hate flying. I hate being without my family”
Billy Joel on stage, Munich, 1990 · © Helmut Ölschlegel
Joel told Rolling Stone. And on being questioned as to why on earth he still went on tour, he answered: “I like to play. It goes back to before I was a recording artist or any of this rock-star crap. That’s what the fun is. It’s as close to sex as you can get. For this tour, we’ve set up a schedule where we are on for six weeks and we go home for two, which I think is civilized. Which I always asked for in the past, and for some reason or other with the people who used to be handling my career, that never happened. Because it didn’t pay off for them. Fortunately, my kid is in nursery school, so if she joins me on the road somewhere, it’s not like she’s missing English Lit 5.”115
On January 22, 1990, just as the tour had started, an initial judicial ruling was made in the case against Frank Weber: The New York State Supreme Court ordered Weber to pay Billy Joel two million dollars. The case had become increasingly complicated, because the ex-manager had tried (unsuccessfully) to countersue his ex-boss. In May 1990, Weber finally had to declare bankruptcy, leaving in his wake a whole mountain of debt. However, this by no means meant an end to the court disputes, as was later to become evident.
After his disastrous experience with Frank Weber, Billy Joel decided that he would no longer rely on a manager, but, in future, make important decisions himself. And so he founded Maritime Music, which would from now on take care of his business concerns.
He faced something of a dilemma: Being a musician, he wanted to have as little to do with financial and legal concerns as possible. On the other hand, he no longer wanted to be the victim of cheats and scammers. He of all people, he who had so often been accused of being a cold and calculating commercial artist, had been repeatedly cheated out of millions.
“What am I gonna do? Artists don’t think like accountants. We think like artists. We’re supposed to represent the other side. We’re knuckleheads when it comes to business. Money isn’t why I did what I’ve done with my life. I did what I did because it made me happy. But I’m tired of getting it taken away from me by other people who haven’t earned it. I do all the work – shouldn’t I have the money? And what about my kid’s future? There’s a lot of sharks out there. She’s going to need all the protection she can get. I don’t think money solves problems. I think money creates more problems than anything else. And fame is the great neutralizer when it comes to wealth. We have to spend that money to try to live a normal life.”116
Still, apart from the exhaustion of touring, there were enjoyable moments that emphasized the increasing recognition for Billy Joel’s work. In December 1990, along with Johnny Cash, Quincy Jones and Aretha Franklin, he officially became a ‘living legend’: Only 41 years-old, he was awarded the “Grammy Living Legend Award” for his life’s work. Still at the height of his creativity, he was slightly bemused at receiving the honor at such a young age. He was also fundamentally against that kind of television show: “The difference between the music business and TV is this: in the music business they lie to you but they don’t expect you to believe them; in TV they lie to you and actually expect you to believe them, because they’re wearing suits.”112
The world-famous musician, always very much a Long Island local hero, was also the happy recipient of a very special honor bestowed by the town of Huntington: in July 1991 they re-named a park “Billy Joel Cold Spring Harbor Park”.
Billy Joel on stage, Munich, 1990 · © Helmut Ölschlegel
In addition, in June 1992 he finally received his high school diploma from Hicksville High, 25 years after he’d left. The fact that he’d dropped out of school had always nagged at him. His mother Rosalind attended the graduation party, and the school choir sang “Summer, Highland Falls”. The headmaster was his former English teacher, Richard Hogan. It was due to a missed English grade that Billy had at that time not received his diploma. Meanwhile, however, the teachers had examined Billy’s song lyrics and decided his English proficiency was up to scratch. This is how Billy Joel self-deprecatingly commented on the affair: “Well, here I am Mom. I’m actually going to get my high school diploma, and it’s only twenty-five years after everyone else gets theirs. But Mom, don’t worry. I can finally pull
myself out of this dead-end job I have and start working on a career with a real future…”113
Viennese Blood
In the meantime, Alexander Joel had given up his law studies in London to pursue a career in music: he was intent on becoming a conductor. His father, who’d, had to give up his dreams of being a musician and who was always more concerned with having a secure job, was not exactly enamored with this decision. The subject caused arguments at home, but in the end a compromise was reached: Alexander was allowed to take a time-out of one year from his studies, so that he could prepare for the entrance exam for the Vienna Conservatory of Music.
Alexander displayed talent for music very early on, sitting at the piano with his father as a young child, and receiving piano lessons from the age of seven, and violin tuition somewhat later. He was a sensitive, introspective only-child, who suffered from the family’s numerous house moves. He was born in London in 1971 and was still a baby when the family moved to Paris and, later, to Amsterdam. There then followed a couple of difficult years in Bad Homburg, Germany. Audrey Joel remembered that her son slept very little during this time and kept her on her toes until she was nearly exhausted. It wasn’t until they moved to Vienna that things got a little more peaceful: the Joels lived in the Austrian music metropolis from 1976 until 1980 and instantly realized that this was the place for them.
Photos of Alexander Joel as a child · © Joel family
Alexander’s fondest childhood memories were of Vienna, the nice apartment and the happy atmosphere in the local wine-tavern district. He could hardly speak German at the time, and went to the French school where he met children from all over the world. He didn’t have a Jewish upbringing. He explains: “Religion never played a big part in our home” and goes on to say that his philosophy of life was influenced mostly by literature, art and music. “If you ask me, it’s more important to be a decent person than to be religious.”
Helmut Joel was continually away from home, working for General Electric, particularly in Eastern Europe; but when he was at home his favorite pastime was to sit at the piano and play – preferably Chopin. He hardly ever talked about the Nazi past.
The Joels would go to see operas and operettas: “I remember ‘Carmen’, ‘Die Fledermaus [The Bat]’ and Der Zigeunerbaron [The Gypsy Baron] in particular”, reminisces Alexander Joel. “I was always allowed to sit in the front of the box and watch the conductor. My father always used to prepare me for the performance by playing the music on the piano and telling me the story. I used to enjoy that.”
Young Alexander had tasted blood and, when at home, he would often put opera recordings on the turntable and conduct using a knitting needle as a baton. He was still very young when he told his parents that his ambition was to be an orchestra conductor. That was an unusual career aim at an age when most boys dreamed of becoming policemen or pilots. A self-portrait from this time exists that shows Alex in the role of conductor. When in 1980 the family was due to relocate once more, Helmut gave his son an unusual gift in order to make the move somewhat more bearable: a piano score of Die Fledermaus and a conductor’s baton. Alexander didn’t want to leave Vienna, but had to go with his parents to London, where he once again visited a French school. “We realized that Alex had something special, but we didn’t quite know what it was,” tells Audrey Joel, “but I did always hope it would have something to do with classical music.”
Although England was the home of his mother, Alexander didn’t really get along in his new environment. He no longer really enjoyed playing piano, didn’t want to practice, and his schoolwork was suffering as puberty encroached: “For a while I was extremely lazy because I’d discovered a new passion – soccer.” Alex began spending all of his time on the soccer pitch, and dreamed of becoming a professional soccer player. For many years music took a back seat, even pop and rock music didn’t particularly interest the teenager.
In 1985, Helmut now being a pensioner, the family was on the move again, this time to a house near Geneva, Switzerland. Alexander’s worried parents sent him to the renowned Le Rosey boarding school in Rolle in the canton of Vaud – an elite school for the rich and famous. This was where he was to be cosmopolitically educated and primed for an international career. Former pupils of the school include: King Albert of Belgium, Prince Rainier of Monaco, Iranian Shah Mohammad Reza Pahlavi and American businessman Paul Rockefeller. Discipline, achievement and good manners were just a few of the essential virtues taught in the strict school-world that was Le Rosey.
The days were rigorously regimented and left little room for personal freedom. This was something Helmut Joel was very familiar with from his own time spent in a Swiss boarding school.
Alexander went from a French school system to an English one, something that seemed to suit him better. Suddenly he was one of the best in his class. “I didn’t feel particularly good among all those new-rich celebrity kids.” The daughter of soul-diva Diana Ross and the son of opera star Placido Domingo were among his fellow pupils. He is still good friends with another ex-pupil, Julian Lennon. The son of John Lennon and Yoko Ono is only a few years younger than Alexander, but knew Billy Joel better than Alexander himself did. “I used to ask Sean: ‘What’s Billy really like?’”
Inspired by a Mexican school pal who was an excellent pianist, Alexander rediscovered his enthusiasm for music. “I soon found out that it was easier to get noticed if you played the piano – especially by the girls. So I started to practice like a madman, every minute I could get. However, I also soon realized that it was too late for a career as a concert pianist, but I never lost sight of my dream career as a professional conductor.”
Audrey and Helmut Joel in theír apartment in Vienna, 2006 · © Steffen Radlmaier
Helmut Joel playing the piano in his Vienna apartment, 2006 · © Steffen Radlmaier
Even today, Alexander is still friends with his former German teacher Claudia Fischer, who always encouraged his artistic ambitions: “Alex was an excellent pupil, but not necessarily well-behaved or conforming. He was always up to something. You couldn’t miss his musical talent, but he wasn’t good at every subject. He always had a mind of his own.”
During his summer vacations, Alexander took piano lessons in Vienna with Michael Hruby, Professor at the local academy of music. Alexander’s musical progress was such that his father no longer ventured to the piano: “As Alex continued to improve, I stopped playing piano. I couldn’t compete anymore. It frustrated me”, said Helmut Joel, who only went back to playing years later.
The Joels returned to Vienna in 1988, and not just for music’s sake. Until her retirement, Audrey Joel worked there for the International Atomic Authority, helping to finance her son’s expensive education, among other things. Helmut Joel’s health was also starting to deteriorate acutely towards the end of the 1980’s, in part due to medical negligence.
After graduating, Alexander decided to follow his father’s advice and start studying law, not least because of the career opportunities that would then become available. Most of his schoolmates were from rich families and went on to study at business schools. The “Roséens” as the boarding school pupils called themselves, were well prepared for successful careers.
Alexander applied to the exclusive King’s College in London and was offered one of the 24 places available to the almost 1,000 applicants. In 1989 he started a special course of studies that included both English and French law. However, it was not very long before he realized law was not for him: “While studying, I very soon noticed that law and justice are two completely different things. I was very unhappy and spent all my free time playing music.”
One very crucial experience for him was seeing the film “Dead Poet’s Society”. He saw the Peter Weir’s film in London with his ex-German teacher Claudia Fischer, and couldn’t help feeling he was watching his own life being played out upon the screen.
The tragicomical film plays in
an arch-conservative boarding school in America. It addresses the difficulty of growing up and finding one’s own way in life. New pupil Todd is extremely shy and stands in the shadow of his big, successful brother, who was always one of the best in school. The unsung hero of the film is the unconventional English teacher, who encourages the boys to be self-confident, and teaches them to love poetry and the beautiful things in life. Thus inspired, one of the pupils discovers his love of the theater and acts in one of the school’s Shakespeare productions. But he does this against the will of his domineering father, who doesn’t particularly care for acting or the arts. No wonder then, that Alexander found parallels to his own situation in the film.
Claudia Fischer remembers: “That was the coincidence that wasn’t. I was visiting Alex in London because I’d noticed that he wasn’t feeling too good. He was very depressed and told me: ‘I don’t want to be very rich, I want to be a musician.’ Realizing that he meant it, I encouraged him to go his own way. And I talked to his father about the problem.”
It was during this time that a close relationship developed between Alexander and his famous half-brother, who age-wise could have been his father and whom he hardly really knew at all. The large age difference and the distance between the two had, until now, prevented them getting close. “We were both at a crossroads, in other words at a very decisive age – I was 18 and he was 40. Billy was often in London at that time, and he encouraged me to pursue my career as a musician. We talked for hours on end and, in the process, discovered that we were surprisingly similar people. And not just outwardly. We were both fighters – not really like our father, but more like our grandfather.” An only child, Alexander enjoyed the feeling of having a big brother at last, and admired him immeasurably, not only because the Joel family is very small: Helmut had no siblings and Audrey had only one brother, so there weren’t too many close relatives.
Billy and the Joels--The American rock star and his German family story Page 17