Re: Billy Joel -- Jewish Music?

[Kame'a Media <media...>]

Eliott Kahn wrote:

> Seth:
>
> Thanks for sharing this information. And congratulations on a successful
> interview.
>
> It still remains a mystery to me why people are so fixated on claiming as
> "one of ours," artists who display no Jewish musical idioms or literary
> themes in their work. There are people who actually labor in the vineyards
> of Jewish music, art, literature, theatre, and dance, so why must we name
> the ones as "Jewish" whose work and interests display none of these
> characteristics?

In my opinion, this is the legacy of second-class citizenship
and Jewish self-loathing.  Any famous/successful Jew will be
lionized by other Jews who see in  him/her an idealized reflection
of themselves and the dream of "making it".

Of course, American Jewry is just another segment of the greater
celebrity-driven consumer culture.  Successful entertainment figures
are routinely claimed as "one of us"; a famous pop star validates and
enhances the audience's own cultural identity, however transparent
that identity  may have become.  (And in America, this identity  has become
for many, --through generations in the 'melting pot',-- transparent enough
as to be able to read the NY Times through it).

Go figure:  At Ratner's Delicatessen in NYC, there are door-sized posters
of those exemplary Jewish role models and embodiments of Jewish values,
organized crime figures Meyer Lansky and Ben 'Bugsy' Seigel.  What would a
Jewish parent tell their kid if asked who these men are?
How would he/she explain what their larger-than-life images are doing up on a
wall
in a kosher restaurant?

(The food is superb, by the way).



Wolf

PS:  Hankus -- Billy Joel may have had a sweet-tooth for Catholic girls
(Only The Good Die Young), but he attended  regular schools in Hicksville, LI,
dropping out in his sophmore year.

>
>
> I love much of Billy Joels', Burt Bacharach's (and Felix Mendelssohn's)
> work, but I would never in a million years classify any of it as "Jewish
> music."
>
> This in no way is meant to disparage their genuine Jewish feelings or
> positive identifications as Jews. But as long as we insist on putting these
> ethnic labels on works of art, we might as well try to be as accurate as
> possible.
>
> Eliott Kahn
>
> At 09:11 PM 5/22/00 -0400, you wrote:
> > > The following is from Jewhoo, a fun website for those of us who
> > > like to play the
> > > guessing game.
> > >
> > >     "billy joel: l.i. raised singer and songwriter who does not
> > > need a listing
> > > of his credits. he is unquestionably jewish and has declared in
> > > interviews that
> > > "the jews are my people".
> >
> >This is absolutely true, that he has "declared" this. I know this because I
> >am the source for this. I interviewed him a few years ago and asked him
> >point blank if he was or wasn't, and he said of course he was, he didn't
> >understand why there was ever any question about it. Somewhere in this mess
> >of an office I have the actual transcript but I can't put my hands on it at
> >the moment. But he made clear that his parents were Jewish and that,
> >although he is not a regular synagogue-goer, he thinks of himself as a Jew.
> >
> >As for his music being "Jewish," that's a whole can of worms I don't want to
> >go near.
> >
> >--Seth Rogovoy
> >
>

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