Billy Joel - Uncool?

This morning I was listening to a little bit of Whad'ya know? on NPR. It was a repeat of a 2005 show where Michael was talking to Chuck Klosterman. At one point Michael asks Chuck something like "So you like Billy Joel?", but with a smirk in his voice like he was asking about Barry Manilow. Then after Chuck talked about an interview he did with him, Michael asks "Since you like Billy Joel, what about Neil Diamond?"

I'm confused. It's not that I care what people think about Billy Joel, but I've never heard of any kind of uncool easy listening type stigma attached to him in pop culture. Obviously, everyone's familiar with the jokes about Barry Manilow, and I guess Neil Diamond has a kind of easy-listening vibe going which some people think is uncool. But Billy Joel? His catalog is pretty mainstream pop-rock, and he has at least one all-time great song in "Piano Man". It just struck me as odd. So wha's up here? Am I missing something, or was Michael Feldman just trying too hard to be funny?