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We publish this unique and rare video because it could be one of Billy Joel’s first ever recorded videos! The Hassles found their place in music history as Billy Joel’s first recorded moment, but musically they deserve more. Though they only released two albums, the Hassles were a pretty proficient, highly enjoyable, though not particularly groundbreaking act that saw a fair amount of local attention in the Long Island area. The Hassles were a blue-eyed soul band, modeled somewhat after the Rascals, formed in Long Island in 1964 by drummer Jon Small, singer John Dizek, organist Harry Webber, and guitarist Richie McKenna. Webber was fired from the band in 1966 due to erratic behavior and Billy Joel, who had earned a local reputation as a keyboardist with the Echoes, the Lost Souls, and the Commandos (as Billy Joe Joel), was enlisted to take his place on the condition that the band also take on bassist Howie Blauvelt. The Hassles were most notable for recording the first releases to feature Billy Joel. The group released two full-length albums (United Artists Records) and a number of singles. The original line-up of the group consisted of vocalist John Dizek (September 25, 1948 – June 27, 2017), guitarist Richard McKenna, drummer Jon Small, and organist Harry Weber. In 1966 Weber was fired from the band due to excessive drug use (found dead a few years later on a railroad track) and was replaced by Howie Arthur Blauvelt and Billy Joel on bass and keyboards respectively. It is with this lineup that the band recorded their self-titled debut album in 1967. Blauvelt departed the band early in 1968 but returned later on in the year. Dizek departed the band in late 1968, at which point Joel took over on vocals. The band released their second album, Hour of the Wolf, in 1969, before disbanding. Following the demise of The Hassles, Joel and Small formed the duo Attila, whilst Blauvelt later co-founded Ram Jam. Joel later went on to a successful solo career, and Small became a video producer and director. Billy Joel (William Martin Joel, born May 9, 1949) is an American musician, singer-songwriter, and composer. Commonly nicknamed the “Piano Man“ after his first major hit and signature song of the same name as well as the similarly named 1973 album, he has led a commercially successful career as a solo artist since the 1970s, having released 12 studio albums from 1971 to 1993 as well as one studio album in 2001. He is one of the best-selling music artists of all time, as well as the seventh-best-selling recording artist and the fourth-best-selling solo artist in the United States, with over 150 million records sold worldwide. This unique video was first broadcast in AVRO’s tv program ’Vjoew!’ on May 13, 1968! Watch our great music videos ❯ More TopPop? Subscribe here ❯ More info on Wikipedia ❯ Broadcast date: May 13, 1968 This is to let you know that the video recording of the video clip was originally recorded by AVROTROS Broadcasting. AVROTROS Broadcasting hereby warrants and represents that it is the sole and exclusive owner of the physical film and/or videotape footage in this video clip. The performance of the artist(s) in the clip was filmed and recorded with the written consent of the artist(s) and their representatives. AVROTROS is a Dutch radio and television broadcaster, founded in 2014 from a merger of AVRO and TROS. From January 1st, 2014 the name of the merged broadcaster was used in joint programmes. AVRO was founded in 1923 as the Netherlands first public broadcaster. TROS started broadcasting in 1964. Toppop was a weekly AVRO pop program that was aired between 1970 and 1988. AVROTROS Broadcasting PO Box 2 1200 JA Hilversum The Netherlands TopPop was the first regular dedicated pop music TV show in the Dutch language area. Dutch broadcaster AVRO aired the programme weekly, from 1970 to 1988. Presenter Ad Visser hosted the show for its first fifteen years. World famous music artists performed on TopPop: ABBA, 10CC, Bee Gees, The Jacksons with Michael Jackson, David Bowie, Earth & Fire, Queen, Golden Earring, Boney M, KC & The Sunshine Band, Chic, Donna Summer and many many more.
