> Okay, here's my opinion. Billy Joel has some
> catchy tunes. So do a host of others. But will
> they stand the test of time? How do we know
> their popularity isn't just a flash-in-the-pan
> phenomenon?
>

So what if they are? Why should we get all cerebral and pretentious over what music appeals to us? It's called pop music for a reason. I don't feel like writing an essay entitled "The Enduring Worth Of The Police" just because I think they're cool. :)

> How 'bout this: Bach, Beethoven, Mozart,
> Vivaldi, Brahms, Chopin, Mendelssohn, Liszt,
> Berlioz, Strauss, Wagner, Puccini, Haydn,
> Handel, Tchaikovsky, Katchaturian, Mahler,
> Boccherini, Saint-Saens, DeBussy, and Tallis
> rule. Billy Joel and the host of others... they
> rock.
>
> Gri"c'est mon avis"shny

Maybe only 1% of the Earth's population know who those composers are, and a small fraction more only know their music from Warner Bros cartoons. So do they *really* rule?