Song of the Day 5/21: Billy Joel, “My Life”

Bioflicks about musicians often do big box office, regardless of whether the subject approves of the project. Approval guarantees music rights, but it also guarantees a positive portrayal that omits any unpleasantness. That’s guaranteed to trigger the sort of backlash that led critics to call the recent Michael Jackson biopic “ghoulish” and “a whitewash” for ignoring his, ahem, legal difficulties.

On the other hand, proceeding without the cooperation of the subject presents its own problems, as the producers of “Billy & Me” are learning. The movie, about the pre-fame career of Billy Joel told from the viewpoint of his first manager, Irwin Mazur, has drawn more than mere disapproval from the Piano Man. The other day he actively threatened legal action.

Since 2021, the parties involved have been officially notified that they do not possess Billy Joel’s life rights and will not be able to secure the music rights required for this project. Billy Joel has not authorized or supported this project in any capacity, and any attempt to move forward without it would be both legally and professionally misguided.

From what producers have said, the portrayal of Joel during his early rock-band days is positive, but the singer’s distrust comes honestly. He and Mazur apparently parted on good terms, but a later manager, Joel’s then-brother-in-law Frank Weber, ripped him off and nearly left him bankrupt back in the ’90s. He’s since rebuilt his fortune to an estimated $250 million, and unlike many songwriters of his generation, has not sold his music catalog.

Besides, Joel has always had kind of a prickly public persona, again not without reason. Critics scorned him as shallow, overly commercial and phonily blue-collar, and his adult-contemporary leanings made him suspect in rock circles. None of this hurt his popularity – the last eight LPs he recorded, through his final album in 1993, made the top 10, and his Greatest Hits package has sold 53 million copies – but the lack of respect clearly rankled. He used to read negative reviews to his concert audiences while they booed in response.

The chip on his shoulder comes through even on an upbeat tune like “My Life,” the lead single from 1978’s “52nd Street.” It peaked at No. 3 on the Billboard Hot 100.