Billy Joel on Dating Models and Snubbing Beatles' Producer -- Exclusive Videos and 'Complete Albums Collection' Giveaway

This week marks the release of 'Billy Joel: The Complete Albums Collection' and the two-disc Legacy Edition of his landmark album, 'Piano Man' (click below for a link to the full-album stream).

In honor of these career retrospective, Spinner has two exclusive videos of Joel discussing two other LPs from his discography, 1977's 'The Stranger' and 1983's 'An Innocent Man.' Check out both clips below, plus enter to win a copy of the 15-disc box set.

Stream Billy Joel's 'Piano Man: Legacy Edition'

Speaking of the making of 'The Stranger,' Joel reveals who he had in mind to produce the album before he worked with the legendary Phil Ramone. (He also mentions the real-life setting for 'Scenes From an Italian Restaurant,' which recently went out of business.)

"When it was time to record 'The Stranger,' it was 1977 and i had written a bunch of material, I had a good solid band at the time," Joel says. "I actually met with the producer of the Beatles, George Martin, and had asked him if he was interested in producing me. But he didn't want to use my band and I said, 'I have to use my band.' So I didn't use the Beatles' producer."

As for the making of 'An Innocent Man,' Joel talks about why the lead-up to the album was such a great time in his life. "I had gotten divorced and I started dating these different women," he says. "I was going out with models and I was a rock star. A single guy who was a rock star. I was amazed at my good fortune. I started dating Christie Brinkley at the time too, and started writing songs about these experiences. I kind of felt like a teenager all over again."
To enter the giveaway, follow us on @Spinner and retweet the giveaway tweet or comment on this article. The giveaway begins at 11AM Eastern Time ("ET") on November 9, 2011 and ends at 9PM ET on November 16, 2011. A winner will be chosen at random and notified on or about November 17, 2011. Be sure to read the official contest rules.

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