Piano Man’s Tantrum Wreckage Added to Cafe’s Rock Esoterica

The rock memorabilia display in New York’s Hard Rock Cafe recently acquired a small, rather beat-up electric piano that bears the inscription “Trashed in the U.S.S.R.”

The piano belonged to Billy Joel, and his tantrum is one of the highlights of the 90-minute documentary by Martin Bell, “A Matter of Trust: Billy Joel in the U.S.S.R,” which can be seen at 9:30 tonight on ABC television outlets.

The film is what prompted Joel’s well-publicized attack on the innocent instrument. He said later he thought that the camera lights were intimidating the audience.

To pay for the tour, Joel commissioned two movies: a concert film for HBO, directed by Wayne Isham, and the documentary by Bell, an Englishman whose documentary on runaways, “Streetwise,” was nominated for an Oscar in 1985.

The hey-look-they’re-just-like-us impact of Bell’s film is perhaps faded somewhat in the wash of publicity from the Moscow summit. But it is still a lovely travelogue and an interesting backstage portrait of a rock tour.

“It’s difficult making films about rock ‘n’ roll in general,” Bell said. “Because of films like ‘Spinal Tap,’ that form is so well parodied. But the thing that was interesting to me was the Soviet Union and also Billy’s music.”

Surprisingly, he said, it was not that difficult to work in the Soviet Union, except for the difficulty of changing travel plans, since Aeroflot is demandingly prompt and always fully booked.

“The other problem is, it’s difficult getting food after 10 o’clock at night. So you’re limited to vodka and caviar and sturgeon. How difficult can it be?

“The interesting thing to me was that it wasn’t at all what I expected it to be. I mean, I really did go with an idea of what the place would look like. I thought it would be dull and gray and uninteresting. It wasn’t. It was the opposite--lively, full of color and the people incredibly warm.”