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        <title><![CDATA[Billy Joel shocks onlookers by playing discarded piano on Long Island sidewalk]]></title>
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            <media:title type="html">Billy Joel shocks onlookers by playing discarded piano on Long Island sidewalk</media:title>
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        <content:encoded><![CDATA[<p>He truly is the Piano Man.</p><p>Billy Joel himself gave a group of onlookers the show of a lifetime when he began playing a ragtime tune on a piano kicked to the curb in Huntington, Long Island, <strong>Newsday reports</strong>.</p><p>Cellphone video sneakily taken of Joel shows the 71-year-old, five-time Grammy winner casually performing a complicated song — identified by fans as Shelton Brooks&#8217; 1917 ragtime roll &#8220;Darktown Strutters&#8217; Ball&#8221; — in a helmet with a backpack last month.</p><p>&#8220;Not bad!&#8221; the music titan and writer of &#8220;Uptown Girl&#8221; exclaimed in the <strong>viral clip</strong> posted June 26 on YouTube. &#8220;The action is good. It just needs tuning.&#8221;</p><p>Joel then insisted that the discarded instrument is &#8220;a perfectly good piano,&#8221; and, &#8220;It&#8217;s a shame to throw it out.&#8221;</p><p>Distraught to see the piano so heartlessly thrown away, Joel added that it &#8220;should at least be donated to St. Vincent de Paul or something&#8221; to his impromptu audience.</p><p>Someone suggests a thrift store nearby and he agreed that, &#8220;They&#8217;d probably take it.&#8221;</p><p>He then tests the ivories a little more.</p><p>&#8220;These are laminated keys, the pedals work, the action is great,&#8221; Joel said. &#8220;The mechanics are perfect.&#8217;</p><p>The Bronx native was riding his motorcycle when he spotted the large wooden instrument sitting on the sidewalk.</p><figure id="attachment_15997802"  class="wp-caption alignleft"><strong><noscript><img data- data-src="/uploads/2020/07/billy-joel-4.jpg" class="lazyload" src="data:image/gif;base64,R0lGODlhAQABAAAAACH5BAEKAAEALAAAAAABAAEAAAICTAEAOw==" /><noscript><img  data-src="/uploads/2020/07/billy-joel-4.jpg" /></noscript></noscript><img class="lazyload" src='data:image/svg+xml,%3Csvg%20xmlns=%22http://www.w3.org/2000/svg%22%20viewBox=%220%200%20210%20140%22%3E%3C/svg%3E' data- data-src="/uploads/2020/07/billy-joel-4.jpg" /></strong><figcaption class="wp-caption-text"><span>Joel</span></figcaption></figure><p>Joel&#8217;s rep later confirmed to <strong>People</strong> that the clip was indeed of the beloved singer-songwriter.</p><p>The spontaneous performance marks Joel&#8217;s first live appearance since the pandemic hit and since two of his scheduled concerts at Madison Square Garden on March 19 and April 10 were postponed.</p><p>The musical maverick has expressed his staunch support of Governor Cuomo throughout the pandemic, <strong>posting a special note on his website</strong> stating that he and his wife Alexis, &#8220;are so proud of Governor Cuomo, he is family to us. He is the godfather of our daughters, Della and Remy, and we chose him knowing what a strong and steady presence he would be in their lives.&#8221;</p>]]></content:encoded>
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