Glass Houses - A Billy Joel Podcast

With An Innocent Man, Billy Joel took an important step forward by taking a big leap backward. Released August 8, 1983, the ten-song album sold a million copies within two months of its release and four million just a year later. And, it boasts a Number One single with two more hitting the Top Ten. The album, famously, is an homage to the pre-British Invasion music from Billy’s youth. But as styli...

In 1987, Billy Joel and his band embarked on an unprecedented tour of the Soviet Union. And, when the original documentary “A Matter of Trust” came out, fans got a behind-the-scenes look at what turned out to be a controversial career move.   At the time, the country was still under Communist rule, shrouded in secrecy, and, to put it mildly, deeply mistrusted by the West. Even many of Billy’s fans...

The first song on an album sets the stage for the record, but what about the closer? Should the last song act as a grand finale, leave you wanting more, or exist somewhere in between?    In this episode, we’re finding out what worked best for Billy Joel. We’re ranking    the closing songs on his 12 studio albums, plus the live Songs in the Attic, from our least to most-favorite.    And, this time...

Summer is upon us and this summer, we are entering the season of celebrating Billy Joel's An Innocent Man. In celebration of the album's 40th anniversary, I (Michael) wanted to kick things off with this playlist episode.   I'm celebrating that songs that inspired An Innocent Man. Some are obvious and some are more subtle but these next songs are classics in American popular music and It was a blas...

Live in Frankfurt is probably the closest BIlly Joel got to being in a Spinal Tap sequel. The show, recorded on June 18, 1994, is just as notable for its mishaps as it is the band’s solid performance.    The show captures the band on the River of Dreams tour, and the full video gives a warts-and-all look at what can go wrong at a concert: We watch as the band struggles through what appears to be s...

Greatest Hits Volume III had a lot to live up to. Volumes one and two documented Billy on a hot streak, releasing hit after hit and album after album. Those compilation records, released in one double package, became an iconic, best-selling release all its own.    By contrast, Greatest Hits Volume III came out a few years after what became Billy’s final pop album. He had been mostly out of the spo...

For over five decades, Billy Joel's illustrious career has produced a wealth of media, capturing his journey as one of the 20th century's most celebrated songwriters.    Enter John Jackson, Billy's full-time archivist, tasked with collecting and organizing artifacts that range from photos and newspaper clippings to studio outtakes and raw video footage.   Some items become part of booklets or box...

Fans and critics alike took Billy Joel’s live shows in 1976 and 1977 as a sign that Turnstiles was going to be his big break. That wasn’t the case, but it wasn’t for lack of trying.   Starting six weeks before the album’s May 1976 release, the Turnstiles tour was Billy’s most intense schedule to date. It still stacks up against his busiest chart-topping years.    With the Lords of 52nd Street line...

Billy Joel: The Video Album Volume II is another back and forth across Billy’s discography. The ten selections here vary from promo reels shot in the 1970s, unvarnished black-and-white live footage and barebones soundstage performances in the early 80s, to full-blown stylized and choreographed productions from the peak of the MTV era.    Once again, we’re treated to a revue of how music videos pro...

In late 2021, a hidden gem in Billy Joel's history was released as part of a nine-record Box Set The Vinyl Collection Volume One. The two-LP Live at The Great American Music Hall was recorded in 1975 over several nights in San Francisco. It captured the band in transition before Billy kicked off recording sessions for Turnstiles.   Now, fans can snag a standalone copy on limited-edition, opaque gr...

Turnstiles is almost an overlooked gem in Billy Joel’s catalog. Released in 1976, the album featured many of the musicians that would go on to define his sound over the next decade of records And, many of the songs became concert classics and fan favorites in the years to come.    At the time, however, it was a commercial flop that was eclipsed by the release of The Stranger in 1977. It wasn’t unt...

This year, Billy Joel is embarking on his first co-headlining tour since 2009. And, the Glass Houses Podcast was there on opening night.  Billed as “Two Icons, One Night,” the Billy Joel / Stevie Nicks tour kicked off on March 10, 2023 at SoFi Stadium in Inglewood, California. Prior to the show, fans were curious about the show order, setlists, and whether each artist would make a guest appearance...

Just because a song is pressed to vinyl doesn't mean it's set in cement. Any band playing the same song live for years or even decades is bound to stray from the original arrangement.    Billy Joel is no exception. And, given his dissatisfaction with his earliest records, it's no surprise that some of his oldest songs have seen significant revisions over the years.    In this episode, we're tracki...

Here at Glass Houses - A Billy Joel Podcast, we’re not just Billy Joel fans. We’re also fans of other podcasts.    Since setting up shop in early 2020, we’ve connected with other podcasters with shows about music. Some of them have had us on as guests, and now we’re happy to return the favor.    For our second roundtable episode, we’re speaking with three podcasters who are also Billy Joel fans. T...

1989 was a high water mark for Billy Joel’s career. He released another chart-topping album, Storm Front, and its number-one hit “We Didn’t Start the Fire.”  That single also found a home in history classrooms around the United States - a feat fitting for someone who once aspired to be a teacher. But the events that preceded its fall release foreshadowed the chorus of the title track from Billy’s...

Billy’s return to touring in 2006 included a stop at one of the oldest arenas in the world. The concert was captured for posterity with a beautifully-shot, full-length video available for free online.  On July 31, 2006, Billy and the band, minus a key member, played outdoors at the Coliseum in Rome. It was many fans’ first glimpse at the lineup he’d keep for the next 17 years and running, more or...

The Nylon Curtain turned 40 last September, and we can’t help but take one last look at it as we start the new year.      Back in September, we did our album spotlight where we discussed the history and making of the album along with our track-by-track commentary. This time, we’re speaking with two people who helped make the album into the classic we all know today.      Our guests for this episod...

Sometimes the best part of a big meal is the leftovers. There’s nothing like taking a little bit of everything from the night before, heating it up, and settling in for a second round. And, for the second year in a row, just in time for the holidays, that's what we’re doing here at Glass Houses.      This is our second Odds and Ends episode, where we take pieces of conversations from the year that...

There are more than just musicians behind a great-sounding album. No matter how well they play, or how good the songs are, it doesn’t mean much if the recording doesn’t capture them the right way.    And, when it came to many of Billy Joel’s most iconic albums, the person responsible for shaping much of their sound was Jim.     Billy Joel, along with the Lords of 52nd Street and others put some gr...

Did you know there’s a connection between Billy Joel and one of the most popular cartoons of the 1980s?      We didn’t know either until a few weeks ago.      Recently, Michael and I interviewed Larry Franke, who was second engineer on Songs in the Attic and the Nylon Curtain. During the conversation, Larry mentioned that, after working with Billy and Phil Ramone, he worked on the cartoon Thunderc...

Filmed over two nights in June 1990, Live at Yankee Stadium was a hit on VHS and on cable TV upon its release later that year. But, it’s been overlooked in the decades after, with only a handful of songs available and a production style that quickly felt dated.     But, that’s all changed with a deluxe release in the fall of 2022. Fans got to see a newly-edited version of the film in theaters, com...

This episode is all about meeting new people in the Billy Joel world.    First, we're telling the story of when we, your hosts, finally met after recording virtually for nearly three years. We've hinted at it online and some listeners asked about it. So, we thought we'd tell the story here along with our memories of seeing the new Live At Yankee Stadium sneak preview in Sag Harbor this summer    T...

There are make-or-break moments in every successful musician’s career. Sometimes they’re huge, cataclysmic events. Other times, they’re subtle nods that point a performer in the right direction.    For Billy Joel, a pair of shows in November of 1973 was the latter. And, we have the tapes to prove it. Piano Man had just been released, and Billy was grinding out dates opening for the Beach Boys and...

For someone who hasn’t released an album in nearly 30 years, Billy Joel is all over the TV. His music, his touring band, and his likeness get featured regularly on sitcoms, primetime dramas, prestige shows, and cartoons made for, for lack of a better word, mature audiences.      These pop culture references have helped keep Billy in the public eye for the last few decades. They also reveal a lot a...

The Nylon Curtain wasn’t nearly as popular as Billy Joel’s albums just before and after this release. But, it still spawned a handful of hits, classics, and perennial fan favorites and concert staples. And today, it’s regarded by fans and critics as Billy’s most accomplished artistic statement.   Released in 1982, The Nylon Curtain came just after the string of smash hit albums from The Stranger i...