There’s a Good Chance That Were It Not for these Two Men, You Wouldn’t Be Reading This Blog Right Now
As I was watching the concert, it struck me how these two men have influenced me life and how long it's been - even though it feels like yesterday - that I first discovered their music.
My mom, arguably as big of an Elton John fan as I am, took Aaron and me to the Billy Joel and Elton John Concert in Kansas City at the Sprint Center. (Thanks again mom!)
My life was incalculably changed because of both Billy Joel and Elton John, as most of you who know me realize, and seeing them live together at the Sprint Center in Kansas City tonight was awesome. I had never seen Billy Joel in concert, but this was my third time seeing Elton John (the first was at Madison Square Garden in New York City in 2001 for my birthday during college, the second was in 2005).
Anyway, as a kid, I had gotten in horrible fights with my parents, my dad in particular, about being forced into piano lessons. After a lot of struggle, and near throw-down fights, I won and quit entirely.
On January 1st, 1998, I watched a special with Billy Joel on VH1 Storytellers and I had never seen someone have so much fun playing and composing on a piano – I didn’t know it was possible. Within a few days, I signed back up for lessons (as you can imagine, my parents didn’t fight me!) and within a few years, was really, really good. Of course, shortly thereafter I discovered Elton John and I’ve been a super-fan ever since (we’re talking a collection of original LP’s that most people have never heard of including demo albums from when he was in his early twenties).
Later, when I left for college, a vocal scholarship paid roughly half of my $140,000 four-year university bill and I was able to test out of years worth of piano work, not to mention how much easier music theory was as a result. I got to experience things most people cannot even imagine. As part of my degree program, I was required to perform in the choir on some of the best stages in the world, including those in Lincoln Center – performing on stage with the Brahm’s Requiem with the Dresdan Philharmonic and Beethoven’s 9th Symphony with the New York Philharmonic at Avery Fisher Hall in Lincoln Center in my early twenties is still one of my best memories. (I’ll find some photos from backstage and try and post them sometime.)
My Internship at Warner Music, the Record Label
I used to listen to Elton John LP's on an old record player in the university library as I studied because I wanted to know how the music sounded when it was released - not re-mastered and downloaded. To this day, I still prefer Elton John on LP because there is something magical about it.
At one point during my senior year of college, one of my two internships was at Warner Music Group, the record label. I asked to be in contracts department because I wanted to understand how the business side of the industry worked. One of my jobs, as a lowly intern, was shoving publishing royalty statements into envelopes after matching them to a list. One of the things that still makes me laugh is that everyone – even Madonna – was referenced either by their full name or their production company (e.g., Madonna Ciccone or Boy Toy Productions for Madonna or Sword in the Stone Publishing for Tori Amos), except for Cher. Her statements literally said “Cher”. That was it. (more…)
