3. Billy Joel's "This Night" vs. Beethoven's "Pathetique Sonata"
Raised and still living on the lovely land of Long Island like myself, Billy Joel is not only our favorite local boy made good but one of my personal heroes, so it's a little tough to slight him here. I'm going to do it anyway. "This Night" is off of Billy Joel's only concept album, "An Innocent Man," in which all the songs are arranged in the doo-wop style of the late '50s/early '60s when Joel grew up (hence the inclusion of the hits "The Longest Time" and "Uptown Girl"). The chorus of "This Night" is actually based off Beethoven's perfect piano piece, "Pathetique Sonata," which was incidentally played in its entirety by Schroeder in the first Peanuts movie, A Boy Named Charlie Brown. Joel himself has since admitted to "borrowing" the music. Blame the statute of limitations. Hey, dead, German piano geniuses can't sue! http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=luo4wUQMwYY
Michael Perone
Michael Perone has written for The Baltimore Sun, Baltimore City Paper, The Island Ear (now titled Long Island Press), and The Long Island Voice, a short-lived spinoff of The Village Voice. He currently works as an Editor in Manhattan. And he still thinks Michael Keaton was the best Batman.
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