Billy Joel: The Bridge to Russia

This programme contains some strong language.

MUSIC: "Piano Concerto No. 1" by Tchaikovsky

As long as I can remember, the prevailing political climate

was the Cold War.

The Soviet Union were the bad guys.

And it was scary.

I had a fear of the Soviet Union, I had a fear of Russians.

I thought they were this monolith...

warlike people who just wanted to destroy the United States.

In school we had air-raid drills to practise what we should do

in case a bomb goes off.

Dive under the desk until the "All Clear" sounds.

Even when we were little kids, we knew - "That isn't going to help.

"If there's a war, the whole place is going to go up in flames.

"We are all going to get incinerated by... radioactive fire."

Yes, it was scary

and it really never went out of your consciousness.

It was always there.

There was always some kind of crisis between the United States

and the Soviet Union, even though there were periods of warming,

it always went back to the same paranoia.

There was a moment, though, that I remember very well

when I was a little boy,

in the '50s, when all of a sudden, we became aware of the Russians

as people. There was a famous classical pianist named

Van Cliburn,

who went to the Soviet Union and played at a piano competition

and he won. All of a sudden, they liked our guy and we...

sort of... well... "They can't be that bad, they like our guy."

There was a moment of hope

and warmth in this Cold War and it was caused by a musician.

That had a big impact on me.

I thought, "Wow, this music stuff is really powerful.

"This crosses across cultural lines, political lines..."

And when we were asked if we wanted to perform in the Soviet Union,

that's the first thing that popped into my head.

MUSIC: "Back In The USSR" by Billy Joel

The cultural exchange idea with the Soviet Union was at a point

where it was time that you could bring in a major

rock'n'roll artist.

I said, "Billy Joel's the guy."

He was at the height of his popularity and I think it was...

Russians were really ready to experience

and be open to an American artist.

He is an American treasure and I think most people

have a Billy Joel song that is officially part of their DNA,

part of their life, part of their family.

The invitation came from the Soviet Ministry of Culture.

I knew this was a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity

and I said, "I'm going to do this,

"but I'm going to take my family with me."

The idea of a major American rock'n'roll artist

going into the Soviet Union when, for decades, there had been a policy

of anti rock'n'roll, was a big step.

Are you at all concerned that your trip will be used

by the Soviets to whitewash the human rights situation?

I'm not a politician and I don't think me

not going there is going to help the situation. I'm going

there as a musician.

Er, I want to get more communication going between us.

People over there like pop music, they like rock'n'roll.

I think this kind of communication can only help things.

'When we did the press conference in New York,'

I didn't want to make an announcement at that time that -

"We're hoping to make a cultural breakthrough, we are hoping to warm things up."

Because that would have given me feet of clay.

I would have been dead from the get-go.

I didn't want expectations to be that high.

It's so funny, what you grow up thinking...

that they were the enemy, they hated us,

we hated them.

When he announced it, I think it was at New Jersey...

the people booed.

They were like "Boo! Boo!"

And Billy said, "Hey, they love music too.

"That's why we're going to play music for them."

We have the opportunity to bring our whole show there,

lock, stock and barrel, exactly the way we do it in the States,

over there. And it's not even cos it's the Soviet Union...

to be able to do that in another country, that's, that's great,

I love that idea.

The Russians had really never staged a rock'n'roll concert.

They really didn't know how... we had to teach them.

When the Russians saw the trucks coming to the venue

they were shocked.

There were close to half a dozen semi-tractor trailers pulling in

-with equipment.

-And it had never been done before,

going across the Eastern Bloc. Between the six trucks of

equipment and probably 130 to 140 people,

it was an impressive caravan.

Billy took the entire show - full staging, full lights,

so it was what he was doing round the rest of the world,

it was a contemporary rock show, so, surely, they had never seen anything like that.

When the stuff started coming out of the trucks, people in the street started getting excited.

-IMITATES RUSSIAN ACCENT:

-"Look at this, what's that?"

They had never seen anything like that.

Billy was the first to bring over the American rock'n'roll machine.

Once you get the rock'n'roll machine in - I've always said,

"Once the machine starts rolling, you're not stopping it."

Rock'n'roll was forbidden,

and it was forbidden not only play rock'n'roll in a concert,

officially, but also make records with the songs

which they don't confirm.

If you do it, they could put you into prison.

They could do different things, make your life sad and very difficult.

Sometimes... political news...

they could show...

a very short piece of, of somebody's rock'n'roll concert

to show how terrible is the capitalistic art.

How it's...

"They behave themselves like animals.

"They look like monkeys.

"They are not dancing, they are shaking."

Anything that made people emotional, whether it was

religion or whether it was behavioural science that would

teach them a different way of looking at things,

or whether it was rock'n'roll they didn't like - number one.

Number two... anything that gathered people together was also a problem.

If you make that kind of a life choice - "I will be

"a rock'n'roll musician,"

you will have to find your way between the authorities

who think rock'n'roll is another propaganda weapon

of the world imperialist

and your artistic aspirations when you know that rock'n'roll is great.

The things that were being talked about in the songs -

the behaviours were just... they were

just contrary to what an authoritarian regime

would feel comfortable with.

In wasn't paranoid but I didn't know what kind of a reception we were going to get.

TRADITIONAL GEORGIAN CHANTING

THEY SPEAK IN GEORGIAN

All right.

Thank you.

'But we were greeted very warmly, we hit it off with everybody.'

The first place we went to, which turned out to be my favourite place,

was Georgia.

You know, it was almost like flying into Southern California.

The reason why we go to Tbilisi is because there's

these guys that do these Georgian chants up in this

monastery way up on a hill.

GEORGIAN CHANTING

They actually were hundreds of years old, these chants.

They would heal the sick.

So, we would listen to them, do something

and then Billy would start...

CLICKS FINGERS

..that, you know, that American doo-wop thing.

SINGS DOO-WOP

CHANTING

LAUGHTER

Mark, you knew that one.

-I knew that one!

-You knew that one.

-I knew all the moves.

I forgot the words, though.

All right, so tonight...?

ALL: Yeah!

..we can do this stuff.

Are you going to be at the opera house tonight, right?

We was just going to jam with the other players

but I don't know how everybody found out and everybody came, you know?

SHE SPEAKS IN GEORGIAN

Billy got duped because he was told that "it will be a jam session".

MUSIC: "My Life" by Billy Joel

# I don't need you to worry for me

# Cos I'm all right... #

And it was, basically, a full-scale concert.

# I don't want you to tell me it's time to come home... #

The PA was so bad that Billy blew out his vocal cords.

Right in the beginning he pushed really hard,

the crowd went crazy, they loved it and Billy gave it his all

and he kind of suffered for the rest of the tour because of that.

CHEERING

BILLY SPEAKS IN GEORGIAN

The reaction was fantastic, he felt, and the guys in his band,

they felt a warmth

and when they feel this warmth, you know, this is a two-way road,

you just cannot say no to the people who just give you everything

they have and they are so hospitable.

Boy, they rolled out the red carpet.

It was so kind, so warm, so welcoming...

so much wine rolling and vodka, and dancing and music and singing...

GEORGIAN SINGING

I've been all over the world for many, many years...

HE TRANSLATES

..and I've never been to a place

where people have gone so much out of their way to be warm

and hospitable to us

and I didn't realise I was going to be this glad to be here...

It was incredible that the environment was so amazing.

They were incredibly gracious. They wanted to give everything they had.

CHEERING AND WHISTLING

What's the maximum benefit you would like to achieve out of this

entire two-week experience?

If you could produce a result of your dreams, what would it be?

Make a lot of friends.

Make a lot of contact with people here.

Have them know what kind of people we are.

Make some people happy with my music

and get something that can be continued

more and more, maybe it will grow?

MUSIC: "Big Man On Mulberry Street"

We had to bring in staging equipment, cartons, chairs...

they didn't have enough chairs. They had to go to churches,

union halls, schools, to get the chairs.

# Why can't I lay low?

# Why can't I say what...

# And get myself into some boring routine

# Why can't I calm down? #

-Well, that's Pete's anyway, right?

-Yeah, but I can usually

hit it on my own.

So do you want to do She's Always A Woman, or what?

Er, I'll know what's going on as I go through the show.

We supposed to start in two hours?

How's your throat feel?

-Feels like it hurts.

-Are you ready for the press?

-When do you want to do them?

-As soon as you're ready.

But if I'm dressed for the show and doing interviews -

it's like a show in itself.

-By the time the show starts I'll be a wreck, overloading.

-Yeah?

I'm beginning to overload.

-CAMERAS CLICK

-Please stay on this side.

-Wait, let me answer...

How has the audience been responding? I hear you had a surprise when you were downstate.

In Georgia, down in Tbilisi. We set up a little jam session

and it turned into a concert, which kind of ripped me up,

cos it wasn't my PA, I couldn't hear my voice.

The show could drop dead. I mean, some countries don't know me as well as other countries

and I've got a sore throat, I'm, like, ragged,

which is why we're trying to keep these things short

cos every time I say something...

it's kind of killing my concert.

In that case, let me just ask you one more thing...

It was a lot of pressure to be there, you know.

This was a big challenge that we took on. We didn't know what we were getting into,

he didn't know what he was getting into.

So, I went out and saw the audience.

-How did they look?

-Very quiet.

HE CLEARS THROAT

-I figured that.

-So don't get thrown, you know?

< Huh? You?

You need new buddies, guys...

HE CHUCKLES

-Can you do it?

-I don't know... till I get up there.

MUSIC: "Angry Young Man"

# There's a place in the world For the angry young man

# With his working class ties

# And his radical plans

# He refuses to bend he refuses to crawl

# And he's always at home with his back to the wall

# And he's proud of his scars and the battle's he's lost

# And struggles and bleeds as he hangs on his cross

# And he likes to be known as the angry young man... #

We were all nervous about going on for the first show.

We get on there and we start with Angry Young Man

And we were noticing people in the front, like,

putting their fingers in their ears, making faces like...

like that and stuff like that

and...

I see Billy playing the piano and he looks up and goes -

"We're dead! We're dead! It's over!"

It started out...

..very quiet, very attentive...

er... polite.

You know what, not too dissimilar to the first time we played in Japan.

# I once believed in causes too

# I had my pointless point of view

# And life went on no matter who was wrong or right... #

Jumping up and down, jumping on chairs was not acceptable.

It wasn't just not accepted, it was prohibited.

They had never heard volume like that.

They had never seen lighting like that.

The big shots who got the tickets in the front didn't like it,

it was excruciating to them, which I kind of wanted.

You know, we kind of drove them away.

They left after a couple of songs.

They gave their tickets to the kids in the back

and outside, and then we had a real rock'n'roll show.

# Yes, there's always a place for the angry young man

# With his working class ties and his radical plans

# He refuses to bend he refuses to crawl

# He's always at home with his back to the wall

# He's proud of his scars and the battles he's lost

# And struggles and bleeds as he hangs on his cross

# And he likes to be known as the angry young man. #

CHEERING

Billy's trying desperately to connect, this is, you know,

it's rock'n'roll, get up and, and come up to the stage.

Most people think... you know, "There's us and there's them."

Billy's like - "Hey,

"the closer you are to your audience the more you can relate."

MUSIC: "The Longest Time"

# If you said goodbye to me tonight

# There would still be music left to write

# Ah-ah-ah

# What else could I do?

# I'm so inspired by you

# That hasn't happened for the longest time... #

I took a wireless mic, jumped off the stage

and ran down the aisle to the back of the room where all the real fans

were and they started crowding around me and then I led them back

the stage, being the Pied Piper.

As the people started to go, he was like...

"Come on, come on!"

He kept bringing them in, and ultimately, they came.

# For the longest time... #

He was trying everything that he could to

engage the people and once the Soviets got it, they got it.

# I have been a fool for lesser things... #

All right!

# I want you so bad

# I think you ought to know that

# I intend to hold you for the longest time... #

He's a shit stirrer, he likes to get in there and stir things up.

His desire to bring the subversive aspects of rock'n'roll

around the world, you know, that's part of his nature,

it's like - "Come on, this is some great stuff

"and this is freedom and let's kick up some dust."

# Ah-hah... #

CHEERING

SPEAKS RUSSIAN

Whatever you say, baby!

LAUGHTER

Feel good!

# Long...

# Yes...

# Ti... ha, ha...

# Chi... ha, time... #

Was it OK that I said, "We like it when you come...?"

It was OK, the same when I was on stage, the same situation.

-Two, three first songs, they didn't know what to expect.

-OK.

-I don't like to tell people what to do.

-Right.

But I just thought they wanted to hear what I liked.

-Yeah.

-And they liked it.

Everybody who was screaming, it was not just they were fans

of Billy Joel, they never heard his songs,

but he brought such an energy, such a freedom energy...

his eyes, his appearance, his music...

everything.

Brought something which they never heard

and they felt that it was forbidden.

And we all understand that moment - that something is changing.

And there are all the seats empty that the kids had been in

and the soldiers stepped up on the seats and started doing this.

-Oh, really?

-And singing and dancing - all the soldiers.

And all the kids and soldiers together

and then this man in a black suit...

came up and went...

And the soldiers had to get back off the chairs and act like

-they weren't having a good time again.

-Yes...

Music was so controlled that when Billy went there it was like,

"You know what? It's time to have a good time."

MUSIC: "Uptown Girl"

# Uptown girl

# She been living in her uptown world... #

The music brought a taste of freedom and that's what I think Billy

was hoping his music would bring.

# I'm gonna try for an uptown girl

# She been living in her white bread world

# As long as anyone with hot blood can

# And now she's looking for a downtown man

# That's what I am... #

The thing that I remember the most about the Soviet Union was

they had nothing, absolutely nothing.

I mean, I left blue jeans there,

jean jackets...

The only thing they could give us was this love

and they kept doing this from the front of the stage...

they kept doing this.

I was like - "I can't believe that these are the people

"that I feared all through school.

"They are going like this now."

And all we kept hearing was - "We can't believe that you're here,

"we can't believe you came here to do this for us."

Billy Joel was great in Moscow, his concert lasted

three and a half hours.

He played in a large sports hall,

everybody in Russia was sure that it was impossible to make

a real good sound in this sports hall because of its acoustics.

Billy Joel proved that it's possible.

# She'll understand what kind of guy I've been

# And then I'll win

# And when she's walking

# She's looking so fine

# And when she's talking

# She'll say that she's mine

# She'll say I'm not so tough

# Just because

# I'm in love

# With an uptown girl... #

That was an impulsive moment. I hadn't planned that when I brought

Alexa out on stage

and I said - "You know what,

"I'm going to grab her and bring her to the middle of the stage

"and let the audience see my kid."

There was just like a daddy moment.

"I'm proud of my kid, look at my kid. Isn't she cute?"

And she was dancing and rocking out and the people were cheering

and for them it meant, "Look, he trusts us."

Alexa represented a little bit of the future for

our relationship with the Soviet Union. Here's our little seed

that's going to be raised, you know, in this environment

of friendship and openness.

# Uptown girl

# My uptown girl

# Uptown girl

# My uptown girl...

# Oh... #

I took my daughter to the Soviet Union

because I wanted to show the Russian people -

I trusted them enough to bring my own child with me there.

"I don't think anything bad is going to happen to us.

"And I want you to see my family and I want my family to see you."

And it turned out to be a very important part of our trip.

Alexa was a bit of a curiosity and everywhere we went

all of the Russians would turn and say, "Malenki, malenki!"

And I think it meant something like, "Little darling."

The Russian women would lean over and give her a little squeeze.

You know, we made friends by having our family with us.

I wanted my daughter to do something that

she would think was fun. We took her to the Gorky Park Circus.

-Christie, look at her.

-Wow!

This is the first time she's riding a horse.

Look at her, look at her!

Yeah! Yeah.

We watched them rehearsing and there were these twins, twin brothers who were clowns.

Victor was one of the clowns. I got to be friendly with him, turns out this guy was a huge fan.

This guy, Victor, he had such a... It was like he had known Billy all his life.

And he had this extraordinary connection with Billy.

How does he like the show?

THEY SPEAK RUSSIAN

We like the honesty. You are absolutely honest.

You are democratic in your behaviour.

We do know what it is all about and we do know how much energy you put into your show.

And for all these things...

I really think Billy connected with the honest, and the, uh,

just how truthful and revealing some of these people were.

And Victor was, Victor was one of those people.

Did, did other people in the audience say how they felt about the show?

HE SPEAKS RUSSIAN

Why does he ask this question? Why is he so interested in the opinion of the audience?

Perhaps he was surprised or shocked by something.

I was surprised at the beginning, because it was a very quiet response.

To me, the audience is as much of the show as I am.

You coming here, it is not just music.

It will be a bridge, you know, to bridge the gap

in the relations between our countries.

And they are not just beautiful words.

I am not a politician, I am not talking about politics,

that's just my own ideas, from the bottom of my heart.

And this is why I am not making any political speeches on the stage.

HE TRANSLATES

Let the music speak.

That's really great.

When Victor said, "You could be a bridge," it confirmed what I had hoped.

That I could make this connection.

That we can have that kind of impact.

That we can make a breakthrough.

Him saying that really confirmed what I had hoped for.

# What's the matter with the clothes I'm wearin'?

# Can't you tell that your tie's too white?

# Maybe I should buy some old tab collars?

# Welcome back to the age of jive

# Where have you been hiding out lately, honey?

# You can't dress trashy till you spend a lot of money

# Everybody's talkin' 'bout the new sound

# Funny, but it's still rock'n'roll to me

# It doesn't matter what they say in the papers

# It's always been the same old scene...#

Billy was really a perfectionist and he wanted these concerts to come off right.

The adrenaline was really flowing with him.

He was excited to be going in there and it was also the unknown for him, too.

# How about a pair of pink sidewinders? #

I can't imagine being the focal point, being responsible for it all

and then, on top of it, being responsible as a figure

and an emissary of your culture and your country.

And then having the glare of all that on you night and day.

He knew that this was a historical concert.

He knew that it was very meaningful. He'd invested some of his own funds, a lot of them, in doing the show

and I think he was, he had a lot emotionally invested in having it come off well.

# ..and a whole lot of money

# It's the next phase, new wave, dance craze, anyways

# It's still rock'n'roll to me

# Everybody's talkin' 'bout the new sound

# Funny, but it's still rock'n'roll to me. #

CHEERING AND APPLAUSE

He was under tremendous pressure.

Because if they whole thing doesn't go right, it will have

a tremendous impact on his career in the United States.

It didn't seem that there was any time to just chill out when

we were there. It was constantly something going on.

I was either touring around Moscow

or I was doing press conferences with the media

or I was talking to my own technicians,

or trying to do things with my wife and my daughter.

It was constant - 24/7. And it wore me down.

He was like a pressure cooker, ready to explode.

# You have to learn to pace yourself

# Pressure!

# You're just like everybody else

# Pressure!

# You've only had to run So far, so good

# But you will come to a place Where the only thing you feel

# Are loaded guns in your face

# And you'll have to deal with pressure! #

The novel feeling of going to Russia, doing something special, turned into a lot of frickin' work for him.

Billy's voice was kinda ragged. He wasn't really happy

and he had his new baby and he had his wife there

and it was after Chernobyl and she was paranoid about drinking the water

and the food was shitty.

# Pressure! #

I could tell that the rubber band was getting pulled

tighter and tighter and tighter and something was gonna blow.

# Pressure!

# Oooh, pressure!

# I need my sweet damn pressure! #

So there was that tension there, you can feel it.

We're just playing the songs, but I could feel Billy working it and...

and looking around and finally it exploded.

# What I really need is stimulation Thought it was only my imagination

# It's just a fantasy, ooh, ooh

# It's all you need...#

We went there to see the fans and see the Russians,

for the first time, enjoy a rock'n'roll show.

Where you can't see them unless you turn the lights on.

Wayne had said that, you know, he's got great coverage,

but nobody in the world is going to know that anybody was there.

Every time those lights went on, to light the audience, so the film crew could see the audience,

people would freeze.

I would see people waving their arms, lights come on, boom. People just go back like that.

# Why does it always seem to hit me in the middle of the night?

# Stop it!

# Tell me there's a number I can always dial

# Let me do my show For Christ's sake! #

I hear Billy singing and he's saying something.

But I can't hear what he's saying.

You're playing away and all of a sudden you hear on your monitor, "Bam!"

You go, "What was that?" And I look over and he's just storming off

down the stage and the piano is upside down!

Pieces of piano go flying everywhere, I think one almost winged his wife.

I thought that's part of the whole thing and I started clapping.

At one point, he took the microphone and started smashing the microphone.

I didn't realise he was so upset until you can see him hit a microphone on his grand piano.

# Ah, sure, it would be better if I had you here to hold me

# Be bop a loo ah

# It's better, baby, but believe me it's the next best thing. #

They did finally stop lighting the audience. Once I threw the piano, they went,

"Oh, I guess he doesn't want us to light the audience."

Thank you!

He overreacted to the lights turning on. It was great theatre.

It was great for a special, but, I'm sorry, Billy, I think you overreacted.

I tear ass back to the dressing room, because I'm gonna tell him.

I open the door and he's standing there soaking wet, drenched like a drowned rat,

and we both look at each other like we're gonna go at it.

And there was this moment where we both completely relaxed our shoulders

and I just started to cry. And I said,

"Look, I'm sorry, I would never try and fuck up your show." He said, "Yeah, I know, I overreacted."

We hugged each other and then we looked at each other and went,

"Should we go out there screaming and fighting for the press?"

I came all the way here, I don't want our own people ruining the show!

I'm sorry.

I feel so much better now!

LAUGHTER

Kids came up to us after the show, they really liked it, the Russian kids couldn't believe it.

-IN RUSSIAN ACCENT:

-"This is part of the show!"

"What are you going to trash tomorrow?"

"We'll think of something."

With the worldwide press there, he got worldwide attention, you know,

for different reasons than he anticipated.

Billy Joel's show in Moscow included something new - a temper tantrum.

I know it's shocking. My mother doesn't understand

to this day why I would jump on a grand piano.

But sometimes, that's how I feel.

HE IS TRANSLATED TO RUSSIAN

Vladimir Vysotsky was a poet and singer-songwriter.

He was buried in the outskirts of Moscow.

There was a line waiting to visit his grave longer than the line going to visit Lenin's tomb.

This blew me away. I said, "Who is this guy?

People were waiting for hours just to leave flowers on the grave.

The lyrics. That's what it's all about, he was a poet.

But he decided it was easier to get his message across to the people using the guitar and the music.

He came to Russia, not just as another American. He was reading a lot about Russia.

So, it was such a pleasure for me to talk to him about Russia, Russian history,

Russian ways, Russian culture,

because he had the background.

Let me bring out my friend, Oleg Smirnoff, to translate.

This is Oleg.

He's OK, he's OK.

We didn't accept the official translator they wanted to give us.

One of the people who helped put the show together from outside of Russia

found this guy for us.

He was, kind of, a freelance guy, which is, sort of, being on the outside in Russia.

If you're a freelancer, that's not always looked on approvingly by the authorities.

But he was the guy, I trusted him. He would point out,

"Watch out, that is KGB."

"Watch out, there may be microphone there."

My marching orders were, "Stick like a piece of chewing gum to Billy."

And that's what I did.

OK, let's go from here. Yeah!

High-five, high-five.

This is the same in Russia.

He couldn't keep up with Billy. I couldn't keep up with Billy in English.

And every time he'd mention Oleg, he'd be like...

and break out into this dance. But he was great.

If I forget to say that, in the beginning, you say that.

I will say one word, intermission, and you will put it before Mulberry.

And I said, "Billy, you will have to talk on stage."

But I explained to Billy, that's the only way for them to understand

what you want to get across, the message.

I'd like to dedicate this next song to Vladimir Vysotsky.

OLEG TRANSLATES

SONG: "Honesty"

# If you search for tenderness

# It isn't hard to find

# You can have the love you need to live

# But if you look for truthfulness

# You might just as well be blind

# It always seems to be so hard to give

# Honesty is such a lonely word

# Everyone is so untrue... #

Honesty had a whole new ring to it, a whole new meaning,

a whole new depth.

Billy related it to Vladimir Vysotsky

and Vladimir's truth, that the told.

The songs that touched me the most that we performed in Russia

were ones that related to how the audience saw his music.

And I think the one that was most meaningful that way was Honesty.

And I think they genuinely got that...that was the real Billy.

They understood that that was part of his soul.

He wanted to get the message across -

"It's about you guys.

"I'm not just another guy from United States

"who just sings about great girls, bad boys and love lost.

"I'm singing about my life, your life."

# Honesty is hardly ever heard

# And mostly what I need from you. #

I'm aware of your son, through the people...

INTERPRETER SPEAKS

..who have come to see his grave site.

And when I ask people who were there why they were here...

..they told me, "He spoke the truth."

So I would like this toast to be "the truth."

# W, X, Y and Z...

# Be-be-be-be-be-be-be

# Be-be-be-be-be-be-be. #

THEY LAUGH

I like the ending - she did a retard.

SONG: And So It Goes

# In every heart, there is a room

# A sanctuary safe and strong

# To heal the wounds from lovers past

# Until a new one comes along

# I spoke to you in cautious tones... #

Yeah - pretty heroic stuff, man.

We were kind of enchanted with Leningrad

because we got back on the water.

So there we were by the river,

and of course, there's beautiful, beautiful Russian girls.

The band was just in heaven.

I do remember just feeling more relaxed there.

-Oh, thank you!

-OK.

There were situations where he didn't need my translation.

We just go out and walk around and talk to the people

and just try to absorb Russia.

He wanted to get out there with the people

and it was always fun to watch Billy -

almost like Barack Obama -

campaigning out there in the crowd.

Is this where the rock'n'rollers hang out?

INTERPRETER SPEAKS

MAN RESPONDS IN RUSSIAN

All of them, you know, heavy metal guys.

Everybody.

-They just like heavy metal.

-Yeah, heavy metal guys.

'And he just stopped and started talking to the guys

'and they said'

"Yeah, it's difficult to be somebody who doesn't look like the rest

"of the guys - long hair, clothes, you know, jeans with holes."

And Billy said, "I know exactly what you are talking about

"because I was just a guy like you."

He was my favourite rock 'n' roll musician.

INTERPRETER SPEAKS

BOY RESPONDS IN RUSSIAN

I want you to have something.

I'm not religious, but I wear a St Christopher medal.

RUSSIAN INTERPRETER SPEAKS

For travelling.

This is for John Lennon guy.

And then a woman came from nowhere.

WOMAN SPEAKS IN RUSSIAN

These guys, they love rock 'n' roll, so they're great guys?

So, rock 'n' roll guys, you think they're greatest guys?

Those who love rock 'n' roll, you think they're the greatest?

"This is the shame of our country", she says.

She said, "Oh...you're the worst in this country.

"You just betray our country.

"Look what picture you paint for these foreigners.

"This is not what Russia is about."

And Billy told them, "You know what?"

That's what my mother said about me...

INTERPRETER SPEAKS

..when I had long hair. When I was saying, "Peace!"

LAUGHTER AND APPLAUSE

We had people like that in my country, too.

The government wanted everybody to grow up and be like they were.

But the young, they were emulating the United States

and the rest of the world and rock 'n' roll -

leather jackets and stuff like that.

When Billy went in in the summer of '87, it was sort of a perfect storm.

This, with regard to rock 'n' roll, was really the opening point

where everything from there on changed.

When my daughter was born...

INTERPRETER SPEAKS

..which was New Year's, 1986...

..I looked at her...

I said, "What kind of world is this going to be?"

INTERPRETER SPEAKS

When she says to me, "What did you do in the Cold War, daddy?"...

INTERPRETER SPEAKS

..what am I going to say?

INTERPRETER SPEAKS

I have a feeling that what's going on in your country right now

is very much like the '60s.

OK?

He went into this with the same kind of, um...of belief and commitment

that this was his personal contribution to try to do something

to ease this enormously tense relationship

between two countries that could blow up the world.

SONG: "The Times They Are A-Changin"

# Come, gather round, people wherever you roam... #

APPLAUSE

# And admit that the waters around you have grown

# And accept that soon you'll be drenched to the bone

# If your time to you is worth savin'

# Then you better start swimmin' or you'll sink like a stone

# For the times they are a-changin'... #

'I did a TV show and they asked if I would sing a song

'and I sang Bob Dylan's The Times They Are A-Changin','

cos things were really coming to a boil.

You could tell when you went there -

the atmosphere was fraught with change.

Things were about to bust loose.

The old order was going to be swept away

and we were there at a good time for this to happen.

# For the loser now will be later to win

# For the times they are a-changin'... #

I thought Gorbachev was a realist.

He recognised that something had to give.

The Russian people weren't content to go with the flow any more.

Gorbachev loved rock 'n' roll from his youth,

when he was student of Moscow University.

He recognised what was going on,

where the old Politburo people and the old guard

would have just clamped down.

Gorbachev opened the doors.

If it hadn't have been for him, we wouldn't have been able to go.

# For the times they are a-changin'

# The line, it is drawn

# The curse, it is cast

# The slow one now will later be fast

# As the present now will later be past

# The order is rapidly fadin'

# And the first one now will later be last

# For the times they are a-changin'. #

APPLAUSE

If somebody is saying that we expected some changes,

it's a lie, because nobody could expect what happened.

Rock 'n' roll is freedom.

It will make you free.

It will make you believe in the universal language of music.

This song is about young people living in the northeast of America.

INTERPRETER SPEAKS

Their lives are miserable because the steel factories are closing.

They desperately want to leave,

but they stay because they were brought up to believe

that things were going to get better.

INTERPRETER SPEAKS

Maybe that sounds familiar.

CHEERING AND APPLAUSE

SONG: "Allentown"

# Well we're living here in Allentown

# And they're closing all the factories down

# Out in Bethlehem they're killing time

# Filling out forms

# Standing in line

# Well, our fathers fought the Second World War... #

The people, they understood what was going on in Allentown in America

which was the same as what was going on there.

So they could relate to the lyrics and feel the music.

# Danced with them slow

# And we're living here in Allentown

# But the restlessness was handed down

# And it's getting very hard to stay... #

And this guy Victor came to every show,

both in Moscow and in Leningrad.

I don't know how he got around,

cos it was not easy for people to get around there.

There he was, in the front row, every night, doing this - "Yay!"

He was having a great time.

I just feel in love with Victor. He had the most expressive face.

I just loved to see the Russians let go and start to feel it, yo know?

And Victor was the most expressive of all.

He wanted to, like, throw his heart and soul.

He was the cheerleader for this.

He was the cheerleader for that.

He was trying to express what he was feeling, and he just kept...

with all his heart and soul, would go like this.

You know, "My heart is exploding."

I think he was just thrilled to be included in this thing

that was happening in this country, and he had a ringside seat

and access to the folks that were doing it -

and knew that he was equally appreciative.

# Hey, hey, hey

# Hey, hey, hey, oh, whoa-oh

# And it's getting very hard to stay

# And we're living here in Allentown

# Woo-ooh-ooh

# Woo-ooh-ooh. #

It said, "Billy, you've conquered our hearts."

-And there was another one, "Billy, well done."

-What does this say?

-ALL:

-"Billy, you've conquered our hearts."

-All right.

Did you see the one that says, "New York..."

That's the guy in the circus.

That we met just on the loose.

Look at this!

They were smiling tonight - they weren't smiling the other night.

They were liking it, man.

I got smiles from these cold faces I never got before.

Usually they're very stone-faced.

I made - I think I made some friends here.

And it's not that easy to make security guys smile, you know?

Same thing in the States, man.

People that never heard your music before.

I'm writing my songs all over again.

I'm enjoying the show more now than I have for a long, long time.

Cos I - you know, I forgot.

I forgot what it means to people. You know?

It's really important here.

My friend.

My circus friend.

-Stop that!

-HE LAUGHS

I'm not the Pope.

-HE SPEAKS RUSSIAN

-He's the best guy in the audience.

HE INTERPRETS

You give me the energy to do my show.

This is - this is my heart, here.

They really developed a very close relationship.

Billy saw something in him which really touched him.

I'm signing "Billy".

Just Billy. HE SPEAKS RUSSIAN

Cos that's me.

HE SPEAKS RUSSIAN

# Slow down you crazy child

# You're so ambitious for a juvenile

# But then if you're so smart

# Tell me, why are you still so afraid?

# Mmmm

# Where's the fire what's the hurry about?

# You better cool it off before you burn it out

# You got so much to do and only so many hours in a day

# Hey... #

When we went to Russia

and we saw this society that had suffered for so long,

and that their day-to-day lives were so difficult

compared to anything that we had...

that we had known, my first impression was sadness.

It made me realise that the world was a very big place.

Watching people in their day-to-day life -

that's the thing that I remember most.

Seeing people in their environment waiting in line for food,

breadlines, things like that - that is what I came away with.

And I think that Billy felt the same way.

I can't speak for him, but I think he was moved by the lack of...

..basic necessities. And that strength in the people.

I remember seeing a lot of people outside of a department store -

"GUM", G-U-M, it was the department store,

and there was a big box wrapped in brown paper in the window,

and there was a line of people.

We asked, "What is that?"

Nobody knew. "It's something."

They were on line for "something", they didn't even know what it was.

I realised, "We're not going to have a war with these people.

"They don't want to fight with us."

They couldn't even get toilet paper together.

I don't want to downplay or diminish the threat

that the Soviet Union posed, but our politicians played right into it.

That's how they got votes. The Red Menace, the Red Scare.

You know, they were winding us up.

Everywhere we went, people were saying, "Viva America!

"God bless America! We love America!" They came over and they hugged me.

It was such an outpouring of love and affection and warmth

that I realised the Cold War's over for me.

# Come out Virginia don't let me wait

# You Catholic girls start much too late

# But sooner or later it comes down to fate

# I might as well be the one

# Well, they showed you a statue and told you to pray

# They built you a temple and locked you away

# But they never told you the price that you pay

# For things that you might have done

# Only the good die young

# That's what I said. #

The guys in the uniforms, who were supposed to be the crowd control,

were actually out of control.

They were jumping up and down, they were rocking out,

and we said, "OK, this stuff really works, this rock'n'roll."

At the time, if you were in your late teens into your 20s,

you had to serve in the army.

So there was a circulating group of younger men

that were all in the army,

and so a lot of what we experienced also were a bunch of kids

throwing up their hats and medals and different things like that

onto the stage and say, "Here, take my...my stuff."

# They say there's a heaven for those who will wait

# Some say it's better but I say it ain't

# I'd rather laugh with the sinners than cry with the saints

# Sinners are much more fun

# Darlin', you know only the good die young... #

How'm I doin', Mom?

# Only the good die young... #

This hat's been in my home for the past 25-plus years.

I was on stage, and there was this soldier right down front.

I remember pointing to his hat and... HE MOUTHS

And then all of a sudden he... I said, "Come on."

He gave me the hat, and you could see he was terrified for his life.

And then, in the same instant, the crowd around him was like, "Aah!"

And I took the hat, put it on my head and pranced around,

and I'm like, just on 11.

I walk back to him, and I was going to give it to him,

and he actually went like, "No, for you, for you."

And I was, like, so moved, because, you know,

I thought he was really going to get some grief for it.

# Only the good die young

# Only the good

# Only the good die young

# Woo

# Woo-hoo

# Woo-hoo-hoo. #

Another night, another nation.

They said it couldn't be done.

MUSIC: "Big Shot"

# Well you went uptown riding in your limousine

# With your fine Park Avenue clothes

# You had the Dom Perignon in your hand

# And the spoon up your nose

# And when you wake up in the morning

# With your head on fire

# Your eyes too bloody to see

# Go on and cry in your coffee

# But don't come bitchin' to me

# Because you had to be a big shot didn't you?

# You had to open up your mouth... #

He's a rock and roller. I mean, everyone's gotta remember that.

You can't just look at Billy Joel and levels of history.

This guy kicked ass, and rocks.

And he still rocks.

But he was rockin' he was up there diving in the crowd.

You know, hitting the guitar.

He was just up there just going for it.

# Yeah! #

Billy is a great showman.

There were times, which I think surprised the Russian audience,

he'd be playing around with the jib,

and then he'd throw his jacket out on the jib,

sometimes throwing his jacket onto the camera.

The Russians loved it.

He was so great at reading an audience -

"How can I show them, you know...

"that this is fun?"

# Aw but now you just don't remember

# All the things you said

# You're not sure you want to know

# I'll give you one hint, honey

# You sure did put on a show

# Yes, yes, you had to be a big shot, didn't you?

# You had to prove it to the crowd

# You had to be a big shot didn't you?

# All your friends were so knocked out

# You had to have the last word... #

The thing that I had never seen Billy do was the Peter Gabriel flop,

and just crowd surf. And I thought that was ballsy, that was pretty big.

I was really scared,

because I have never seen that kind of a stunt before.

My first thought was,

"How are we going to get the guy back on stage?!"

Or are we going to continue the concert out there?

Just imagine that. They'd never had anyone crowd surf.

And I just want every rock and roller to imagine that now - Billy Joel,

25 years ago, was crowd surfing

way before all these people were crowd surfing.

I don't know if it had been done before. I'd never seen it done.

I was on the stage, and these people were just giving us so much love

and so much enthusiasm, I said, "You know what?

"I'm going to just dive in."

And I dove into the... Maybe it was the world's first mosh pit.

I don't know. "Moshcow" pit.

Everything became symbolic.

Being able to literally put himself in their hands and say,

"I trust you.

"I know you're not going to let me fall."

And ultimately I think that's the final message,

is that we have to trust each other.

I think he felt this vibe - the right vibe -

from the very beginning.

And... And that's what helped him.

So - but I was really happy when he got back on stage.

You look at Billy's insane intensity,

which was a combination of a multitude of things.

You could see him jumping at the crane, at the Louma crane.

I wrote at the bottom of the of the Louma crane,

I put white camera tape, and I wrote, "Hey, dude."

So he sat there playing,

you could see him singing along, "What the...?!"

And he was, like, yelling at the camera, and doing that crap.

So it was a mutual kind of battle that was going on.

I think one inspired the other.

It worked for a great show.

Where'd I get that one from?

Right on, Pop. Right on, Pop!

Right on, baby!

-That was bad, man! That was bad!

-Was that bad, or what?

That was dynamite, man.

Real rock'n'roll, Billy Joel brought to Russia.

But he hadn't political sense in his songs...

But that was political action, because he brought freedom,

and he blowed up not only who were present on the concert,

but also, everybody in Russia,

was official first step of American rock'n'roll to Soviet Union.

Billy Joel's identified as the person who, I think,

turned the rock'n'roll gates open.

# One, uh-two

# Uh-one, two, three, four

CHEERING AND APPLAUSE

# Some love is just a lie of the heart

# The cold remains of what began with a passionate start

# And they may not want it to end

# But it will It's just a question of when

# I've lived long enough to have learned

# The closer you get to the fire the more you get burned

# But that won't happen to us

# Cos it's always been a matter of trust. #

Everyone was always looking at, is this the end of the Cold War?

Is this the final breakthrough?

It was like the beginning domino effect culturally of really

making a difference.

# ..to not lose your faith in this world

# I can't offer you proof

# But you're going to face a moment of truth

# It's hard when you're always... #

In a lot of ways, for those kids,

it was like the first time they ever had sex.

They had never experienced anything like this.

It was pure, unabashed release of emotion.

He was motivated so deeply by an oppression of people.

He put a wedge in there and slammed it home.

It was like he brought the first colour television.

They weren't going back to black and white after that.

# ...You have doubts

# But for God's sake, don't shut me out. #

You know, we came, we conquered, we kicked ass.

There's no question in my mind that, beginning with Billy,

rock'n'roll came in and exploded everyone's mind.

These kids go, "We want to rock! We want to do that."

A kid even came up to me after the first show and he said, "Nothing

"like this has happened since 1917", which was the Russian Revolution.

Once the genie is out of the bottle, you can't put it back in.

It happened in America.

# And some might have learned to adjust

# But then it never was a matter of trust. #

Finally, everybody was a part of the movement.

Everything that we felt that it was our little team doing,

it wasn't any more. Everybody in the room was a part of the same message.

It was all of us together.

# We've both had our share of

# Believing too long

# When the whole situation was wrong

# Some love is just a lie of the soul. #

I think it had a lot to do with how things changed over there,

because not too long after that, the wall did come down,

and the Communist Party was kicked out.

I think there were a number of dynamics going on at that time.

We were just one of them. But it was an important one.

# The cold remains of what began with a passionate start

# But that won't happen to us

# Cos it's always been a matter of trust

# It's a matter of trust

# Wuh-oh

# It's a matter of trust

# Uh-oh

# It's always been a matter of trust

# Yeah, yeah

# Wuh-oh-oh. #

CHEERING AND APPLAUSE

The world is changing, and here we are, pretty soon no more Communist

Russia, but this was also kind of the end of the band as we knew it.

The band was slightly changing, and I think everybody kind of had

an idea that this might be our last hurrah together.

I kind of had that inkling, and it was kind of bittersweet.

I'd played with Billy since 1982 on three major tours, and I sensed that

this was maybe coming to the end of an era for me

and maybe for the band that was performing with him,

and that gives you a mixture of feelings, and I really have a strong

affection and had a strong affection for the people I was working with.

You bond with people, it's almost like being in the army or something

when you go on these tours,

and I felt Billy was an incredible leader and I felt that it was

a great opportunity to have gone and done something like this.

Pretty unbelievable,

what that concert did to the Russian people,

and at the same time, it would be unfair to not point out what that

concert did to me as a human being,

seeing how much they didn't have and how much they appreciated.

When I go back and look at this Russian project and see

it as a moment in time that...

That you just can't ever be grateful enough for.

The memories and the feeling of accomplishment afterwards

so overcompensated for the exhaustion and for the missed opportunities

of family life and for all the things that you have to sacrifice to

do this sort of existence.

MUSIC: "Leningrad" by Billy Joel

# Viktor was born

# The spring of 44

# And never saw

# His father any more

# A child of sacrifice

# A child of war

# Another son who never had

# A father after Leningrad

# Went off to school... #

I wrote a song about the trip. It's called Leningrad.

It was the story of Viktor and of me, and how

he made my daughter laugh, and we recognised we have friends here.

We never knew what friends we had until we came to Leningrad.

In a way, that song kind of encapsulates

how that trip changed me.

# ..Was life in Leningrad. #

It wasn't just another concert.

Everybody who was part of this event, I think they can be very proud.

At that time, in 1987, when Russia had a choice,

they tried to make their contribution.

They tried to give this feeling to the people,

that things can get better, that they can be free.

The whole tour was about passion and communication between people.

When we got on the plane to come home, people cried,

because we thought we would never see the people that we

met in the Soviet Union.

We had gotten so close to them.

# ..Became a circus clown

# The greatest happiness

# He'd ever found

# Was making Russian children glad

# And children lived in Leningrad. #

It's hard in the entertainment business to really do

something that makes a difference in people's lives,

and being with Billy during these concerts,

I feel like I actually was part of something that made a difference.

# And in that bright October sun

# We knew our childhood days were done

# And I watched my friends go off to war

# What do they keep on fighting for?

# So my child and I came to this place

# To meet him eye to eye

# And face to face

# He made my daughter laugh

# Then we embraced

# We never knew what friends we had

# Until we came to Leningrad. #

The trip to Russia was probably the biggest highlight as a performer.

Everything after that was anti-climactic.

I'd met these people and they weren't the enemy, and what I

also hoped was that people in America

would be able to see what we did.

What happens when your kid turns to you and says,

"What did you do in the Cold War, Daddy?".

Now we had something to say.

Be safe.

WOMAN'S VOICE: Well, this is what's left of the front rows.

It was pretty wild tonight.

MUSIC: "Stiletto" by Billy Joel