Piano Man Presents Longtime Agent with Long Island Music And Entertainment Hall of Fame Honor
Photos Courtesy of STEVE LEUNG
STONY BROOK, N.Y – Billy Joel told an enthusiastic audience on Saturday night it was the early devotion and diligence of his longtime agent, Dennis Arfa, that guided his career from local New York clubs and into top-name arenas around the world. Joel’s remarks came during Arfa’s induction ceremony into the Long Island Music And Entertainment Hall of Fame.
Arfa, Joel’s longtime booking agent who reps some of the biggest rockers in the music world, was honored by longtime client Joel on the opening night of a two-day Billy Joel Symposium, an academic conference that drew attendees from around the globe to the regional Hall of Fame’s Stony Brook, N.Y., location.
Joel said it was Arfa’s strong convictions that boosted his band to the heights of fame, landing him arena gigs and stadium shows around the world, and even a Madison Square Garden residency that ran for 10 years.
“The thing people should know is that Dennis’ prime motivation was never just to make something bigger,” Joel said. “It was to give the artist — in this case me — the best possible environment to work and that mattered because we all started out behind the eight ball.”
Arfa’s illustrious roster includes names like Metallica, Motley Crue, Rod Stewart, Rodney Dangerfield and Andrew Dice Clay, but on this occasion it was fellow Long Islander, Joel, who on sang Arfas’ praises. The induction was held during the Billy Joel Symposium, an academic conference which drew scholars and educators armed with research and papers related to Joel’s impact on society.
“I would like to thank the Hall of Fame and would like to thank Billy because I wouldn’t be here without him,” Arfa said. “On Aug 16, 1976 I officially became Billy’s agent and for the first time in my life I represented somebody I believed in musically, as a writer, performer and street savvy and humble guy.
“My fantasy in my 20s was to represent an artist to sell out Madison Square Garden before I was 30 years old,” Arfa said. “In December 1978 Billy accomplished that three times and the first of many of my dreams had come true.”
There were many more accomplishments yet to come between the two, who worked together for some 50 years.
Also on hand at the induction ceremony were band members, team members, friends and fans, all jamming into the Music And Entertainment Hall of Fame, which shone brightly for the special occasion.
“It was actually Billy Joel who suggested that in addition to musicians from Long Island we should honor other entertainers from Long Island and that’s why we renamed the venue to include entertainment,” said Ernie Canadeo, chairman of LIMEHOF.
The creation of the venue came about primarily from the efforts of founders Norm Prusslin, Jim Faith, and Canadeo.
The Billy Joel Symposium was created by 2nd Vice Chair & Education Advisory Board Chair Tom Needham. The immaculately detailed event was a love letter to Joel, one of Long Island’s own, and the New York “everyman,” whose music carved out a unique niche in bringing the city’s stories to life.
“A lot of people looked at us and saw a problem,” Joel recalled during Arfa’s induction. “Dennis looked at us and saw a possibility. At the time the conventional wisdom was I should open for bigger acts, The Beach Boy, J. Geils, Loggins and Messina, The Doobie Brothers, Olivia Newton John, The Eagles. You name it we opened for them. In huge arenas, that was the route. That’s what people did. Dennis didn’t buy it. He saw something in what we were doing that needed to be nurtured.
“He pushed me, too,” Joel said. “He pushed me to write rockers that could fill the bigger places with bigger sounds. He was always thinking about the show, the audience, the next room, the next level. And over time, those levels got pretty big.
“Who comes up with the idea I should play Carnegie Hall? Dennis. Who comes up with the follow up to my first Madison Square Garden run and says ‘Let’s do Yankee Stadium? Dennis. Who comes up with the idea to close Shea Stadium? Dennis. Who comes up with the idea to put me together with Elton John in two of the biggest places in 17 years? Dennis. And who hatches the idea we should play Madison Square Garden every month for 105 months? Dennis.
“Madison Square Garden is not just another arena, not to me,” Joel said. “It’s the biggest stage in the world in a lot of ways and Dennis knew what it could mean. He understood not just the business of it but the symbolism of it, the statement of it. He had the courage to say ‘This is what we should do.’ That’s one of the things I admire about Dennis He has courage. He fought conventional wisdom, he fought the status quo. He fought anyone who said ‘That’s not how it’s done.’
“Dennis believed in me more than I believed in me.”
In addition to Billy Joel’s speech, a tribute video was made by the Hall of Fame, with interviews from many of the musicians Arfa represented, among them Stewart, Dice Clay, and Tommy Lee of Motley Crue.
The Long Island Music And Entertainment Hall of Fame has several exhibits of interest currently running, with the newest being “Everybody Loves Raymond The Ultimate Fan Experience,” a collection that immerses visitors into the the TV home of Ray Romano’s hit show.
For more information go to the Long Island Music & Entertainment Hall of Fame website.
– Edited by Donna Balancia