Billy Joel A to Z

Greetings friends. Elon and Dave finally get to go to the residency at MSG as we are invited by the great Steve Mandel from the Tonight Show. We had such a great time, yelled out December Song and 3:05 multiple times and tried to poach new listeners. So -- there was no way we weren't doing a special podcast about our experience at the July 20, 2022 Billy Joel Concert at Madison Square Garden. Host...

Welcome to the finale of the letter "S" in Billy Joel world. Today's episode is entitled Surprises and it is the 7th track of of 1982's The Nylon Curtain . Break all the records, burn the cassettes - Elizabeth Webber gets Nothing! Yes, another EW song but this is it. After she bought papers for him to sign everything over to her in the wake of a horrific motorcycle accident Billy wrote this song a...

Hello everyone and welcome to our first of 13 Billy Joel Discography album wrap-ups. On today's episode we are discussing, the 1976 Billy Joel album - Turnstiles. This is such a milestone album and such a fan classic it takes 2 episodes to tell. And fortunately we are completely excited that musician Paul Loren will join in on the conversation on this one. In Part 2 we are so fortunate to have Pau...

Hello everyone and welcome to our first of 13 Billy Joel Discography album wrap-ups. On today's episode we are discussing, the 1976 Billy Joel album - Turnstiles. This is such a milestone album and such a fan classic it takes 2 episodes to tell. And fortunately we are completely excited that musician Paul Loren will join in on the conversation on this one. Watch Paul impress Elon and Dave with exp...

Billy's greatest song ever and apparently it's about manic depression. Summer Highland Falls is the second song off of Billy Joel’s legendary fourth studio album, Turnstiles, which was released on May 19, 1976. AND, it is also the second song off of Billy’s 1981 live album, Songs in the Attic. The song, although not a hit in the classic sense, has gained its reputation simply from all of...

Streetlife Serenader is the first song and the 'kind of' title track off of Billy Joel’s third album Streetlife Serenade. Apparently he decided to put an “R” at the end of the album name, which makes sense since the album Streetlife Serenade is considered a pretty lazy album.  HOWEVER, the song also appears on 1981’s Songs in the Attic album so I guess Billy likes it. He calls it a celebratio...

Today we discuss the title track that kicks off the second side of the 1989 and Billboard Number 1 selling album entitled, Storm Front. The song Storm Front is all about Billy's other favorite topic besides girls, food and Long Island. It's about meteorological awareness. Yeah that's right, low pressure systems, falling barometers and of course the Beaufort scale. All the stuff rock 'n roll i...

Stop in Nevada is the seventh song off of Piano Man released in November 9, 1973. Billy can say it's about a woman trying to get a quicky divorce in Reno back in the 70's but we all know it's Li'l Lizzy Weber again up to her old tricks. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Today on Billy Joel A to Z we head back to the best album of 1979 in 52nd Street and the song Stiletto. In this uptempo track from Billy's sixth studio album, Billy Joel sings about an irresistible but dangerous woman who wields emotional manipulation like a sharp blade. It comes complete with a funky bass line, finger snaps, and cliffhanger breaks. And it's the only song where Liberty DeVitto pla...

Welcome back to another quality episode of Billy Joel A to Z. Today we discuss the one of three songs NOT to be released off of the Stormfront album entitled, State of Grace . State of Grace is the third song on side two or the 8th song off of the CD. Billy says this song may be about Christie Brinkley slipping away BUT Christie Brinkley says it's the opposite. Of course she doesn't have...

A few episodes we let you know that She's Right on Time was Billy's "Xmas" song. Well, Souvenir is Billy's "New Year's Song". Souvenir has the distinction as being the shortest song in the Joel cannon, which is followed by an instrumental on the 1974 album Streetlife Serenade , an album that was pretty much 'phoned in' as Billy had run out of material. In fact his producer, Michael Stewart, told h...

Somewhere Along the Line is the ninth song, just before Captain Jack, on the Piano Man Album released November 9, 1973.   This one's definitely a strange one, as Billy talks about 4 things that will catch up to us somewhere along the line. Of course, Billy made it through all of those things so -- now the songs irrelevant. Good for him. 😉 Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for...

Well, the S's had so many songs we've decided to double up on the wrap up and wrap up the first ten songs. Confused? We're not used to having so many songs in one letter. In this episode we also talk about Johnny Cash's unfortunate 80's period and why Jew's miss out by not having a Xmas tree - after talking about She's Right on Time of course. Also, listener feedback as always and a preview into t...

Sometimes a Fantasy is the second song off of the first side of Glass Houses and was released as a single on October 11, 1980 peaking at 36. For some reason the single version is 39 seconds longer. That never happens so -- right there - classic podcasting. But, there's also a hilarious video for this one, made way before anyone heard the name MTV so . . . that's not fantasy. It's the real thing. O...

Today is a great day as we talk about the amazing, underrated song beloved by all true Billy fans, Sleeping with the Television On . Sleeping with the Television On is the seventh track off of Billy's seventh and Grammy nominated album, Glass Houses, which was released on March 12, 1980. We love this song but most of the episode is talking about how television used to sign off before it went...

Today we tackle our third song in a row that begins with the pronoun “She”. AND, our third song in a row about Billy’s first wife, the good time Charlie that is Elizabeth Webber.  She’s Right on Time kicks off the second side of The Nylon Curtain, which came out on September 23, 1982. Billy wrote this song with a Christmas theme instead of making an entire schmaltzy holiday album. A...

In 1971 the world got introduced to Gene Hackman, Willy Wonka and Dirty Harry and in November of that year that dude from the Hassles went solo and put out his first album as a singer songwriter, entitled “Cold Spring Harbor”. She's Got a Way is the first song from the first album anyone ever heard from Billy Joel and today we discuss the heck out of it. Billy re-recorded a live version of th...

Today we get to talk about a Billy Joel classic in She’s Always a Woman . This beautiful ballad is the seventh song of a perfect album that is, “The Stranger”. She’s Always a Woman was the fifth and final song released off of the album on August 12, 1978 and peaked at 17 on the Billboard charts on October 14, 1978. Is it She's Always a Woman or She's Only a Woman? A slight change makes a...

The only song in the Billy Joel catalogue that is better known by someone else who sings it - today's episode is the song "Shameless". Shameless is the fifth song of Billy Joel's 11th album, Stormfront. It was Garth Brooks who took this song to number 1, but that's only number 1 on the country charts so, who cares. As we say in this episode, a weird Elon parody could make it to number 1 on the cou...

The only way to word this one is, once again, the way they title "Friends" episodes - "The One after Scenes from an Italian Restaurant". “Shades of Grey” is the fifth song off of Billy Joel’s twelfth and final studio album, River of Dreams – released August 10, 1993.  Billy's reflection on writing this song is that he (and we're quoting here) became "more rabbinical". The song is a...

The explosive conclusion of Billy Joel's greatest song. Scenes From an Italian Restaurant . We really go into some detail about this one. Why wouldn't we? It is the fourth track on the first 'perfect album' side of The Stranger and came out on September 29, 1977. It was never released as a single, which makes it even more epic that this is Billy's most famous song. Today we talk about the final fo...

This is it folks. The ONE. Scenes From an Italian Restaurant . Obviously in two parts. We really go into some detail about this one. Why wouldn't we? It is the fourth track on the first 'perfect album' side of The Stranger and came out on September 29, 1977. It was never released as a single, which makes it even more epic that this is Billy's most famous song. Today we talk about the first three m...

Scandinavian Skies , as Billy himself says, is the weirdest one and the 8th track off of 1982's The Nylon Curtain . It is a clear nod to John Lennon and the Beatles that even someone who wasn't a fan of the Beatles can figure out from the first note. Complete with flight announcements and plane landings. Whatever. Next episode is Scenes from an Italian Restaurant so. . . . Hosted on Acast. See aca...

Today we begin the songs beginning with the letter "S" and we get to start with a biggie. Say Goodbye to Hollywood, the clear tribute to Ronnie Spector and The Ronettes song "Be My Baby", kicks off Billy Joel’s incredible fourth studio album bomb, Turnstiles.  It also kicks off the second side of the the live album, Songs in the Attic.  Ronnie Spector ended up covering the song hers...

Another letter crossed off and the 5 Billy Joel songs that we've gone over that begin with the Letter "R" are on the agenda today. More Marvin Hamlisch/Billy Joel drama, more Rosalinda Eyes ads and lots more nonsense and informative information from our listeners and, of course, getting ready for the "S"s, which include some of the biggies. Also, a little tidbit from Billy Joel's unreleased studio...