Pop music's catalogue is teeming with songs inspired by real-life women, and a new bombshell book, "The Girl In The Song," details 50 female muses behind some of modern music's most iconic recordings, including The Kinks' "Lola," Neil Diamond's "Sweet Caroline," George Harrison's "Something," Leonard Cohen's "Chelsea Hotel No. 2," The Knack's "My Sharona," Pink Floyd's "See Emily Play," and Bob Dylan's "It Ain't Me Babe." Some of the book's findings are surprising (Neil's ditty was about Caroline Kennedy; the Kinks' Ray Davies wrote about Warhol-affiliated drag queen Candy Darling; Leonard sang about Janis Joplin). But perhaps the book's biggest shocker is that Billy Joel's smash "Uptown Girl" wasn't written about his then-wife Christie Brinkley, who famously played the titular character in that song's video...but by another '80s supermodel, Elle Macpherson.

According to "The Girl In The Song" authors Michael Heatley and Frank Hopkinson, Billy Joel was vacationing in the Caribbean when something happened to that only occurs during rock-star vacations or maybe in Penthouse Forum letters: He ran into Elle, his future missus Christie, and a then-unknown model/singer named Whitney Houston, all of whom were staying at the same hotel. Billy actually first dated the Australian Elle, not all-American beauty Christie, after that encounter, and Elle was in fact the model who inspired Billy's doo-woppy hit (which was then titled "Uptown Girls," plural). Later, Billy moved on to Christie, switched the song title to be singular, cast Christie in the "Uptown Girl" video, and made her his wife for the next nine years.

You know, we wonder if Christie knew at the time that she wasn't really the uptown girl her downtown-man husband had in mind all long. Well, if she didn't know it then, she certainly does now.

Sometimes the music business is like the comics page of a newspaper.

No, I don't mean it's badly drawn and likely to stain your fingers. I mean it more in the way that you have artists constantly fighting for a limited amount of space. In rare cases a strip can go for decades and still be funny. (Yesterday's "Mary Worth," for instance, was hilarious!) Sometimes the strip will end and the artist will mercifully give way to younger blood - thank you, "Cathy" - but other times, no matter that the actual creator has retired or died, they won't do the noble thing and free up space on the comics page for someone else.

In the music world, Billy Joel fits in the last category. Save for the being dead factor, he is the Charles M. Schulz of pop music. Just like the "Peanuts" gang, Billy Joel was a part of growing up. And, just like "Peanuts," I haven't missed him in the two decades since I've stopped paying attention.

But now the former "Piano Man" is back, with the 40th anniversary of his debut album, "Cold Spring Harbor," right around the corner. Columbia/Legacy Recordings has decided to start the festivities early, with Tuesday's release of "The Hits," a collection of 19 hits from Billy Joel's 22-year pop career.

(Before you "Joelly-Rollers" start sending me hate mail, do the math: His first album came out in 1971. His last album came out in 1993. Everything he's done since then, minus the boat-building, has been reruns.)

I'll give him this: For the time, Joel was a deservedly major star. He wrote catchy, inoffensive pop songs that became a staple for anyone growing up in the 1970s and 1980s. They seemed destined to be classics.

These days, "classics" might not be the right term. "Songs that are mired in a specific era" seems more accurate, although admittedly clunkier. His swipe at the music industry in "The Entertainer" is especially dated, as is his song about the decline of "Allentown." And don't get me started on "We Didn't Start The Fire," a non-apology on behalf of Baby Boomers for the sorry state of the world - the world in 1989, anyway.

Then there are songs such as "Pressure," "Movin' Out (Anthony's Song)" and "Only The Good Die Young" that, even if they sound dated, show Joel at the top of his songwriting game.

It's nice to find out that someone besides my mom reads "The Richter Scale."

I kid. I'm pretty sure she doesn't read it.

This morning I received an e-mail that was a thoughtful, well-reasoned response to all the criticism I leveled in this week's column at Billy Joel.

The author of the e-mail? I'm reasonably certain it was Billy Joel.

While it pains me on the one hand to receive such a harsh rebuke from a singer I grew up listening to, Joel made some valid criticisms. I present his response below.

Adam,

While I strongly believe that you are entitled to your opinion as to whether my songs are "mired in a specific era," there are two other comments in your recent review on LehighValleyLive.com which need correcting.

1.) Your statement that the song "We Didn't Start The Fire" "was written as a non-apology on behalf of baby boomers for the sorry state of the world, etc., etc." is inaccurate. I believe that you probably read that nonsense in other "indie" reviews of that song. Just because an opinion is stated and published somewhere doesn't make it true. That song was written for a 21 year-old who was bemoaning the state of the world that he was about to inherit in his impending adulthood. I wanted to illustrate to him that the world was a mess during my own adulthood and that it would most likely continue to be a mess when the next inheritors came along after him. The young man who I wrote it for was Sean Lennon, John's son. I do not assume that I am the ordained "Voice of The Baby Boomers," nor do I believe that my own generation had no part in creating the sorry state of the world we will be leaving either.

2.) You seem to think that any collection of hits or repackaging of an artist's music is actually the personal undertaking of the artist whose name is on the label. Wrong again - most recording artists don't even own their own recordings and I am among them. Unless it has been otherwise specifically excluded from a recording artist's contract, it is completely at the discretion of the record label to repackage and market most artists' material in the form of "The Best of..." or "Greatest Hits," etc., etc. I, personally, do not believe that my hit records were my best material, nor do I believe that my hits were my "Greatest" music. I have often publicly expressed my distaste for these collections. Had it been my choice, none of these "Hits" packages would have been released at all. As far as I'm concerned, my last album was released in 2001 as "Fantasies & Delusions."

If you do intend to continue as a reviewer, I would urge you to research the subject of your material more thoroughly in the future before you feel entitled to criticize other recording artists. I wish you much good luck in a very difficult time to attempt to earn a living in the music industry.

Sincerely,
Billy Joel

He's moving in.

Billy Joel unveiled his 20th Century Cycles shop Saturday with a cocktail party and hopes that he can kick-start a motorcycle enthusiast scene on Long Island and a revival for downtown Oyster Bay.

Billy Joel inaugurated his motorcycle gallery "20th Century Cycles" on Saturday November 6th, 2010, in a town known as Oyster Bay, Long Island, with a simple but elegant bike loving bash celebrating the debut of his current motorcycle collection and exhibit space - now open to the public. Located in a former Ford dealership, then carpet store and then dance studio on Audrey Avenue, the vacant space was completely gutted, renovated, and transformed from a decaying storefront to a gleaming showroom with the characteristics of a clubhouse/art gallery. Stacks of cool bike magazines from this shore and others await patrons in a comfy couch area within a few steps of the neon jukebox, Coke and cappuccino machines. You are greeted with walls appointed with vintage posters, gas station signs and rare relics, hanging over functioning workbenches, and tool drawers. Exposed rafters and original beams, and new skylights affixed to the roof, extend the sense of space. The "oil heads" and "rice burners," "cruisers" and "café racers" are beautifully presented as if they were center stage at the glorious Fillmore East.

This gallery is lucky to be in such passionate hands that imagined the metamorphosis of each bike on display; with both gallery space and 2-wheel motor machines enjoying a complete makeover, with no detail excluded. Displaying a collection of some 60 bikes lined up in neat rows, each a story on its own, where the important icons of their day are well represented with names like Ducati, Yamaha, Honda, BMW, Royal Enfield, BSA, Triumph, Harley Davidson, Moto Guzzi and others, leaning on their kick stands, suggesting the attitude of Brando; The Wild One; each a customized contender! A century's iconoclasts are all here in some shape or spirit.

The spectacle draws the spectator in for a micro inspection of the subtle color choices; gas tanks painted shades of gray, forest greens, brilliant reds, yellows and a spectrum of blues. You'll notice handlebars of various configurations; fender racks; and engine accessories; seats and saddles; with each bike a definitive original in this 20th century pantheon. No iPods and Bose speakers here. A Wurlitzer jukebox is stationed, its back against the front wall, a reminder that bikes and bikers need music like fuel, and it rocks with the cadence of Cream, Johnny Cash, Hendrix, Dion, Led Zeppelin, and of course The Beatles. On the flat screen TV, you’ll notice films like "Leather Boys," a black and white British biker flick, circa 1964, with great footage of café racers set against the comings and goings at the famed Ace Café.

You can't have a launch party in Oyster Bay without offering a sampling of the local oysters and a few cold beers, with some shrimp thrown in for good and tasty measure. Inviting friends and bike aficionados, Billy Joel's guests included Representative Peter King (R-Seaford) and Nassau County Executive Edward Mangano, Mike Seate/Café Racer Magazine & TV Series, Peter Nettesheim/Nettesheim BMW Museum, BMW USA's Roy Oliemuller, and Glenn Gamboa, writer for Newsday. Glenn's conversation with Billy Joel in the shop's back office, before the party, is shared below. Thank you Glenn and Newsday.

Glenn Gamboa: Growing up here, did you think you'd ever have a store in Oyster Bay?
Billy Joel: When I was very young, I probably entertained the idea of being in some sort of entertainment business. I didn't know whether it would be a piano store or a music shop, where I would teach students, or - I don't know - a bar/restaurant...the first place I lived on my own was in Oyster Bay. I was always enchanted by this little village.

Glenn Gamboa: The store is going to be open on weekends?
Billy Joel: We're going to start with weekends. On the weekend, there are a lot of Long Island motorcyclists driving around with no place to go. There's this kind of aimless cruise that everybody does on the weekends. They all like to see other people's bikes and they like other people to see their bikes. So where do you go? It's kind of dumb luck. They go to the Oak Beach Inn parking lot. They go out to somewhere in the Hamptons or Montauk, Bayville, or Jones Beach. I was hoping this could become kind of a focus point for people aimlessly riding around on the weekends. There are no cars in the lot here (pointing to the parking lot across from the shop on Audrey Avenue) on the weekends because the Town of Oyster Bay employees are all gone. We could fit five motorcycles in one car spot. We could fit a lot of bikes there. It's not what everybody's worried about - the lifestyle-biker-bad-guy...a lot of affluent people own motorcycles and the demographic is all over the place.

Glenn Gamboa: Do you think you'll get a lot of your music fans coming to the shop to get a glimpse of you and not the bikes?
Billy Joel: Well, I'm not naïve to think that won't happen. I'm trying to encourage more of the motorcycle aficionados and motor heads, but I know there will be music fans that'll want to come and talk about music. I'm not really here for that. I'm not going to be mean or standoffish to them. Of course, I'd welcome those people. But we're trying to encourage another thing. If that helps people to pay attention to motorcycling, that's OK. There are a lot of accidents that happen because people aren't aware of motorcyclists. This will help raise that consciousness. Maybe people might think twice when they see a motorcyclist and drive more carefully because they think, 'That might be Billy Joel.' On the other hand, some people might say, 'If I knock that guy down, I won't ever have to hear his music again.' Who knows?

This is a bigger more permanent exhibit, that got its kick-start with Billy Joel's June 2009 installation "20th Century Cycles: The Motorcycle As Art and Icon" which took place at The Christy's Building Art Center, in Sag Harbor, New York. That exhibit attracted enthusiasts near and far, and inspired a desire for a permanent space that could house and share Billy Joel's endless fascination with the motorcycle as machine, artifact, and lifestyle. A cool hang, cool bikes, a place to ride to, a place to see and talk bikes, well, it's all here in Oyster Bay.

Billy Joel finished the "Face 2 Face" Tour with Elton John on March 11th, 2010 and decided to take some time off from the circus of touring, to focus on the home front. Ever creative, he poured his off stage energies into this and other endeavors, and is all smiles with his beloved bikes on display in Oyster Bay. Looking ahead to 2011, he suggested that it might be time to play.

It was an exciting occasion on Saturday afternoon, November 6th, 2010 at 4:00pm, when the doors opened for a cocktail reception, celebrating the Grand Opening of Billy Joel's "20th Century Cycles." This by-invitation-only event afforded guests a sneak preview of his shop. Among the guests were County Executive Edward Mangano, and Congressman Peter King. Joel's dog, a sweet-faced pug, named Sabrina was also present for the festivities.

The showroom is located at 101 Audrey Avenue, in the previous location of Carpets by Barnao. The shop is primarily intended to draw in bike enthusiasts, so that they may glean ideas about how to customize their own bikes. It is filled with bike memorabilia, and also vintage signs, and gas pumps. The spacious room, which has a high ceiling and multiple skylights, houses Joel's impressive collection of bikes including vintage British and Italian bikes from the World War II era, as well as modern Harley-Davidson bikes, which have been rebuilt to impart more of a retro-look.

Joel said that currently, his favorite bike is a BSA '99 Kawasaki, which was "turned into what they call a Bobber." He quickly added, "But every day it's something different. I like them all for different reasons." He concluded that there are many variables which determine what bike will be his favorite at any given time.

Joel was walking with the aid of a cane, due to a congenital hip problem, although it hardly seemed to slow him down. He was constantly making his way around the large showroom, animatedly answering questions, joking around, and smiling for photographs. Joel doesn't really think of himself as a collector, because he rides all of his bikes. "I only keep the ones I can use and ride," he says. "It ended up becoming a collection, which is one of the reasons I'm doing this; to share my good fortune with other people. Before this, they sat in my garage. They look nice, but I'm the only one seeing them. I thought, 'why not share my collection?' I ride them all; which is a good way to not put too many miles on any of them," he added, with a grin.

Joel admitted that he does some of the rebuilding work on the bikes, himself, but that Alex Puls, his mechanic is responsible for the majority of the labor. Puls advised that although some of the work on the bikes is handled by Lighthouse Harley-Davidson, in Huntington Station, he is the only full-time employee.

It is Joel's hope that 20th Century Cycles has a positive effect on other businesses in Oyster Bay. He explained, "I figure, the more foot-traffic, the more window shopping in town, the better for everyone. When I was a kid, this town was very lively. There were a lot of mom and pop shops. For awhile they were gone, and I'm starting to see them come back, now. I hope we can be part of the revitalization of the village.

Sitting in the back of his spotless new motorcycle showroom, Billy Joel bemoaned the erosion of the Oyster Bay he grew up with.

Rocker Billy Joel will be putting his feet up over the Thanksgiving holiday after undergoing hip surgery in New York at the weekend.

The "Piano Man" has been hobbling around with a cane due to a congenital hip ailment in recent weeks, and relied on the walking stick when he celebrated the grand opening of his motorcycle showroom, 20th Century Cycles, in Oyster Bay, Long Island last week.

But, he will soon be back to full health after checking into a hospital in Long Island on Saturday to have the problem fixed.

Joel recently admitted he was raring to get back on stage and start touring again after taking time off to rest his hip.

He said, "This is the longest time I've had off in I don't know how long - and I had fun. But I'm ready to start playing again."

A representative for Joel had yet to respond to requests for an update on his recovery status as WENN went to press.

The "Piano Man" is bed-ridden!

Billy Joel underwent double hip surgery in a Long Island, New York, hospital last week to fix a congenital hip ailment.

Billy Joel has gotten hip surgery.

Rock and Roll Hall of Famer Joel "is doing extremely well following bilateral hip replacement," Joel's spokeswoman, Claire Mercuri, told Newsday Wednesday.

The Bronx-born Hamptons fixture and longtime Long Islander said in an interview last week on Howard Stern's Sirius Satellite Radio show that he was soon to enter the hospital for the procedure to correct a congenital condition.