One of the best parts of having older siblings is you can raid their music collect. I discovered Pink Floyd, Crosby Stills and Nash and David Bowie from my brother, Ronnie, with his copies of Meddle, Deja Vu and Diamond Dogs, respectively. From my sister, Karen, who is closer in age to me, when I discovered Elton John's Captain Fantastic and the Brown Dirt Cowboy, I was introduced to really great song writing for the first time. Those other albums had great lyrics, but Bernie Taupin's storytelling in Captain Fantastic just blew me away. Definitely, Elton's best. She had Stones albums, the Eagles, Rush and the Beatles among others. At that time, I saw them as their music, not mine. It wasn't until I discovered Billy Joel that I had my music.
I know a lot of people don't care for his music. He is too light for the rockers; he plays a piano and not a guitar. He has all those pop hits. Yet the pop music fans seem to reject him as well. 52nd Street, probably his best album, did win the Best Album Grammy in 1980, but he is relatively ignored after that. In 1979, "Just the Way You Are" won for best song Grammy, but the album that it is on, The Stranger, has far better songs on it ("Scenes from an Italian Restaurant" and "Vienna" to name only two), didn't even get nominated. It is people like me, who fall somewhere in the between, that hold him in high esteem.
I have always loved the piano. Elton John, Keith Emerson, Leon Russel, Rick Wright (Pink Floyd), Rick Wakeman (Yes), Page McConnell (Phish), Ray Manzarek (The Doors) and Nicky Hopkins (session musician for the Stones) are a few of my favorites. So, it makes sense that I would be a fan of Joel, but he is also a great song writer and a decent singer with an appropriate amount of attitude.
Saving up to buy an album was an achievement when I was 14. They cost about $7.00 at the time and so I had to save up at least two weeks' allowance to buy one. Hence, it had to be a good one. The Stranger was one of the first I ever bought. "Movin' Out" and "Only the Good Die Young" was getting played on the radio. My mother hated "Only the Good Die Young." She was one of the Catholic ladies that wanted it removed from the radio because it "encouraged people to be bad," as if anyone ever needs encouragement to do that. I think it was the line "Catholic girls start much too late" that did it. Perhaps it was the fact that it was forbidden fruit that I wanted it so badly.
While waiting for his next albums to come out, 52nd Street, I remember buying his back catalog at bargain bins or used records stores. Before The Stranger, there was Piano Man, Streetlife Serenade and Turnstiles. I have a foggy memory of biking home with one of them in a plastic bag in my left hand and my right hand on the bike handle. Kids! Right?
At some point in the early 1980's, I wrote a fan letter to Billy. The only fan letter I ever wrote; in it, I asked him if the next time he came to Providence, if he could play the song "Angry Younge Man." The Innocent Man tour in 1984 opened in Providence. I went with my friend Scott and my little sister, (I think I remember this right) and not only did he play the song, but he opened the show and the tour with it. It was phenomenal. It looked a little like this:
When 52nd Street eventually came out, I bought it in 8 track as opposed to album. I loved this album. While my friends started getting into early heavy metal (Judas Priest, Kiss, Van Halen etc.), I was getting into the piano and horns on "Zanzibar", "Half a Mile", "Rosalinda's Eyes" and "Stiletto". It was then that I realized that a lot of the best songs never get played on the radio. I loved the second half of this album (aka side 2) but none of these songs were ever hits.
Like a good fan, I would buy his new albums as soon as they came out, before I had heard any of the songs. I loved Glass Houses and Nylon Curtain which was very Beatle-esque. Something happened in 1983. An Innocent Man, his 9th album, came out and I hated it. It was all candy pop, very little piano with a 1950's doo wop influence. I was so disappointed. I ended up liking the last song, "Keeping the Faith," but the rest the album I find unlistenable ... even now.
In 1986, The Bridge, his 10th album, came out and I didn't like either. I thought I would get into it, eventually it was at least back to the style of his older albums, but it never happened. It had a few good songs, namely "Baby Grand" and "Big Man on Mulberry Street," but overall, it was very disappointing. The spell was broken. I couldn't get into the rest of his catalog. I don't know if he changed or if my taste had, probably both but I was done with him. I still love the stuff that I grew up with, but the newer stuff never did it for me. I realize that what I am calling "new" here, is about years old. These type of things happen when you get old.
I recently saw the HBO documentary, "Billy Joel: And So It Goes." It made me really think about his career and how it influenced me. Last year, 2025, he was diagnosed with normal pressure hydrocephalus causing problems with his hearing, vision and balance. So, don't expect to see his live anytime soon.
His albums in ranking of my favorite to least:
- 1) 52nd Street
- 2) Turnstiles
- 3) Nylon Curtain
- 4) Glass Houses
- 5) Piano Man
- 6) Streetlife Serenade
- 7) Songs in the Attic (live)
- 8) The Bridge
- 9) Cold Spring Harbor
- 10) Kohuept (live)
- 11) Stormfront
- 12) River of Dreams
- 13) An Innocent Man
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