IT'S BETTER THAN DRINKIN' ALONE: The Official ILM Track-by-Track BILLY JOEL Listening Thread

catching up:

"careless talk": this is ok but it's so close to being sorta good that it's frustrating, the chorus is just... doing nothing
"christie lee": idk this is a trifle but it's a fun trifle
"leave a tender moment alone": wow this song is fucking wonderful

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xBUj8TPWE9E

Keeping the Faith, the album’s closing track, final single, and imo biggest grower, offers a summary statement on his teenage revivalism, set to a musical backing closer to the chart-toppers of the early 70s. The video, in turn, could only be a product of 1984. It’s cute, but for me cheats the song of some of its affecting sincerity. The track peaked at #18 on Billboard (#3 Adult Contemporary), rounding out the album’s quintet of top-forty hits. With "An Innocent Man," it would be held off the first Greatest Hits double-album, arriving only on Volume III in 1997.

Some versions of the single include longer mixes, and a Wikipedia editor on a mission declares: The actual 7" and 12" mixes have never been released on CD or even in digital format for stores like iTunes - despite customer demand. You can hear the cluttered, five-minute “Special Mix” here and decide for yourself how serious an injustice this is.

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I've always liked this one, mostly for the way in which he tempers rose-coloured nostalgia with realism ("the good old days weren't always good"). Plus, the whole presentation, from the jaunty horn arrangement to Billy's wistful vocal, is just a joy to listen to--the aural equivalent of a nice cold beer in the shade.

little bit of foreshadowing

https://i.imgur.com/nJMGdFq.gif

"The good old days weren't always good..."

Though I initially found this song, and its backyard-lazing suburban dad protagonist, pretty off-putting, I've come to really like it. I especially like the different "faiths" that get blended together here - honoring the musicians who unknowingly provided the soundtrack to all his sweet and stupid teenage adventures, honoring the teenage buddies and lovers, and honoring the music itself and its special power - we've gotten so so used to tedious boomer narratives about what a revelation rock and roll was, but man, I believe Billy when he declares "and then I was saved." Preceding it with the most shopworn of rock rhymes, desiYAH and fiYAH, only cements that for me - the very metaphors he uses to make sense of his life and his feelings come from this music, it's in his bones.

Yeah, this song is some really good lyric writing, with a specificity on par with songs like "Movin' Out," e.g., "Wore matador boots, only Flagg Brothers had 'em with a Cuban heel/iridescent socks with the same color shirt and a tight pair of chinos." Or "Ate an awful lot of late-night drive-in food, drank a lot of take-home pay" -- that's practically a Springsteen lyric!

Also wrapping an album like this, comprising all these pastiches of music he grew up with, with a song that's basically a thesis statement about the album itself and his life, is a pretty non-Billy move!

Leave a Tender Moment Alone - def "Raindrops Keep Falling On My Head" except w Stevie Wonder-style harmonica.
Keeping the Faith - I don't think I know this one but holy shit that opening Bo Diddley chunka-chunka = George Michaels' "Faith" (dunno if that was intentional on GM's part). This arrangement sounds strangely undercooked. Horn arrangement is good. That phased keyboard sound is gross.

It's a damn good Stevie Wonder impersonation. Because he played on Elton's big single that year, I thought it was Wonder.

I have a soft spot for the bouncy vibe of this song. And as Phil said, it has some choice lines. "Drank a lot of take-home pay" alone is like a full short story.

In a Chev-uh-ro-lay!

Having a deeply spiritual engagement with music/art/culture (in lieu of religion) is a worthy theme and highly relatable to me. But I don't need to hear this song very often. Like, once every few years is just about right. It cloys otherwise. I H8 the video.

"thought I was the Duke of Earl" is another line that kinda floors me. again, in a different context it'd just be a lame "hey remember that?" namecheck. here though he's taking this song that I've always enjoyed but never thought much about, and taking me into the mind of a teenager who believes, unquestioningly, that the Duke of Earl is as awesome as he boasts - the coolest, sexiest dude on the planet. this clarity softens us up to believe joel's remembering something real about himself, a very specific kid that he was, and this in turn makes it seem likely that the red-haired girl and the chevrolet and this specific encounter are all also real and important. there's such a sweetness to it.

by comparison there are only a few details in, say, the film "stand by me" that seem quite as unforcedly honest, and at least one of them - that the twelve-year-olds are not too old or too macho to love "lollipop" - is also about pop music. if only reiner had as much interest in kiefer sutherland's greasy toughs, the comparison to this song might go further.

Doc OTM. Sweetness: He had to steal condoms from his dad.

I can never hear "Duke of Earl" without thinking of this.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Uy4K-qt0m1Q

I can never heard "Duke of Earl" without thinking of Cypress Hill

catching up:

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Careless Talk - I could CARE LESS for this limp Happy Days crap and I don't want to TALK about it

Christie Lee - I like this! good energy...totally seems like Springsteen outtake from The River, rock n' roll

Leave a Tender Moment Alone - interesting the first song that feels kinda "70s" to me instead, not a bad slice of AM Gold. i'm a sucker for that "sitcom theme song" harmonica sound

Keeping the Faith - hell yeah, i forgot about this Billy jawn, this is a classic...agree on the great balance between nostalgia yet not seeing things through rose-colored glasses...honestly, of all the songs we've heard thus far, I think this is by far Billy's best lyric writing, really touching but not treacle, affectionate but clear eyed

Yeah, this song is some really good lyric writing, with a specificity on par with songs like "Movin' Out," e.g., "Wore matador boots, only Flagg Brothers had 'em with a Cuban heel/iridescent socks with the same color shirt and a tight pair of chinos." Or "Ate an awful lot of late-night drive-in food, drank a lot of take-home pay" -- that's practically a Springsteen lyric!

― Monster fatberg (Phil D.), Thursday, November 2, 2017 11:25 AM (one hour ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

great imagery, "take-home pay" in particular is a great phrase i'm not sure i've heard in any other song, had thought of cuban heels recently after VG's Petty RIP piece which pointed out Petty as a Cuban heel guy too

also the "keepin' the faaaaaaiiiiiiiiith-yeah" in the chorus is the type of line that really suits billy's overblown style of singing

weirdly had not thought of this song in years and it's def now to me one of his all-time best

Combed my hair in a pompadour
Like the rest of the Romeos wore
A permanent waaaaaaaave

keeping the faith - love the lyric, so many cool details and twists as noted above. the matador boots/flagg bros/cuban heel/iridescent socks/chinos verse is a feat not only of lyrical specificity but also of stuffing a few too many syllables into a couple bars and making it flow like it's nothing. it's a very un-billy-like moment and it's great. i like the idea of the music but not the execution. i think liberty comes up short in particular. i get the impression he's been restraining himself throughout this album, trying to be faithful to the era billy is paying homage to when his own quirks and instincts might dictate something different. it works really well for most of the album but on this one i'm completely missing any real sense of the groove the song is aiming for. and at this exact moment i'm blaming him. i agree with this: This arrangement sounds strangely undercooked. Horn arrangement is good.

Trying to hold back sharing with the room how happy I was when I finally made it with a red-haired girl in a Chevrolet.

Granted, it was this kind of Chevrolet:

https://i.imgur.com/uQQCH8R.jpg

Love the specific clothing details both in this and "Still Rock and Roll to Me" ("How about a pair of pink sidewinders / and a bright orange pair of pants").

And of course "Engineer boots / leather jackets / and tight blue jeans"

"They were all impressed / with your Halston dress"

beats "your new English clothes" for sure.

forever pining for a younger man's clothes

One of the very very few Billy Joel songs (maybe the only??) where i like the lyrics more than the music. Music is totally fine but a little bit unpolished; the lyrics are great. Most of what I like about them has been covered

tooka fressh packaLuckies an' a mint called Sen-Sen

I'm going to disagree with the posters saying the music is underbaked. I generally like it when a Joel song foregrounds guitar instead of piano. The understated drums give room for percussion - I think the quiet-but-insistent shaker that holds down the 16th-note feel is key.

A messier arrangement might have fought with a melody that I think is unimpeachable. The only things I would change about this song are some of the cornier vocal adlibs - whoawhoawhoa ohyesidid yeahyeahyeah. The lyrics are strong; the song doesn't need filler.

The '80s-leaning a/c station in my area played the hell out of this in the late '90s.

What's next – the two new songs for the comp?

Glad you asked!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=M9BNoNFKCBI

We Are The World, a charity single by "United Support of Artists For Africa" released in March of 1985, probably needs no introduction. One of the biggest-selling singles in history, it helped raise tens of millions of dollars that from what I can tell did actually go towards immediate short-term famine relief in Ethiopia and Sudan. Its mini-duet between Billy Joel and Tina Turner has gone overlooked in previous examinations of the project but surely we can do it justice here.

As well, for any who were around at the time, perhaps this provides an opportunity, in the wake of An Innocent Man's success, to reflect on Billy Joel, Superstar. What was he like as a member of the pop firmament? By the time I was cognizant of such things, he had receded into being an Adult Contemporary artist who I knew through his old 70s and early 80s songs. Here, he stands confidently alongside genuine titans of the field (and some also-rans), some of whom will show up in duets on his next LP. What a strange fate for the cranky little Long Island nobody with big dreams and a big piano. Hey, Billy - everybody loves you now!

What was he like as a member of the pop firmament?

Undeniably huge, but perhaps a bit corny? Not quite fuddy-duddy, but not exactly edgy or of-the-moment either.

He occupied a space in between Neil Diamond (old and busted) and, say, Howard Jones (the new hotness).

Compared to a Simon LeBono or Lauper-type star, he was old news but didn't yet seem like a forebear or father figure. More like an older brother back from college, or an uncle with an earring.

What a time it was to be alive.

https://i.imgur.com/7wuNxv6.jpg

I should say, an uncle with an earring... and a Camaro.

I guess we're lucky BJ didn't hurl body sweat over his one line in "We Are the World" like Kenny Loggisns and Bruce did; he doesn't disgrace himself. But he's not Dionne, Daryl Hall, or Steve Perry.

Kids were buying his records and MTV aired his videos as much as any Duran Duran or MJ. It was still OK to be pudgy and ugly and older than 30.

for reference, Billy got one vote (Euler!) in this if I do say so iconic ilx poll

Who Bodied Their Verse On "We Are The World"??

however, his vote was mitigated by Alex in NYC coming off the top rope, calling Billy a "Crappy craphound of the crappiest order."

couple other ppl express positive feelings about his contribution

https://i.imgur.com/IkBSkVK.jpg

MJ: So I really enjoyed "Allentown".

BJ: Thank you.

MJ: No, seriously. Coming from a place like Gary, Indiana, it's about time someone put into words the struggles felt by the workers of blue-collar America.

BJ: Um, yes. Thank you again.

lol

maybe cuz I was in the Midwest but Billy was fuckin huuuge in my mind, closer to Springsteen that Howard Jones, all those early MTV new wave acts became nostalgia/ironic like 3 years after they came out, like oh remember that goofy Flick of Seagulls stuff? very odd phenomenon come to think

I'd imagine Billy started playing arenas in the late 70s and never looked back?

I hope it's MJ drinking from that can of Bud.

That photo brings to mind Gene Siskel's old standard of judging a movie: is this movie more or less interesting than a recording of these actors having lunch together would be. I would love to have been a fly on the wall during the recording of this, but that doesn't mean I want to listen to this song again.

tooka fressh packaLuckies an' a mint called Sen-Sen

first time i've ever seen that line written out. never had anything close to an idea of what he might be saying.

maybe cuz I was in the Midwest but Billy was fuckin huuuge in my mind, closer to Springsteen that Howard Jones

ditto in the northeast. as much a rock star as pop star. billy was pretty much the slash in pop/rock. and a bigger star than springsteen, as far as most of the world was concerned, until born in the usa changed the map. and though he was over 30 and stuff, he made cool videos.

https://i.pinimg.com/736x/71/1a/54/711a54af35486a99b8c28d215ec391a6--sen-sen-my-grandmother.jpg

https://i.pinimg.com/736x/88/c7/fd/88c7fdb07f72dacb474588e997a20f05--vintage-medical-vintage-ads.jpg

Man, people had weirdly shaped dicks back then.

Interestingly, I looked up what year Trojan condoms became available (just to validate this song's accuracy, lol) and the answer is: 1916!

In my youth, there was a popular "meme" (avant la lettre) stating that it was ironic for Trident to be a brand of gum because trident means "three teeth."

Further, it was ironic that a brand of condoms was named Ramses, because Ramesses had at least 80 children.

One might strain this joke further by noting that "Trojan" is similarly undercutting because it evokes the Trojan horse - something that seemed harmless on the way in, but once it was in it broke open and lots of men spilled out.

Magnum sounds like a gun that shoots bullets.

Good one! Or, alternatively, a large champagne bottle that spews uncontrollably when popped open.

I just realized it's "my old man's Trojans" probably because Dad would be responsibly non-monogamous by bringing rubbers to the cathouse or his city girlfriend.

Or, wait, it's before the Pill. he just needed them at home.

xpost

or mom was too trad to go on the pill, and Daddy Joel didn't need anymore rugrats to feed

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Greatest Hits - Volume I & Volume II was released September 2, 1985, and would become Billy Joel's most successful album. To date, per Wiki, it "has been certified double diamond by the RIAA, selling over 11.5 million copies (23 million units) and is tied with Pink Floyd's The Wall and Led Zeppelin's Led Zeppelin IV for third most certified album of all time in the US.[3]" Elsewhere, they estimate its US sales as being roughly tied with Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band, making it the 43rd-or-so best-selling US release of all time, but obviously there's some fuzziness in a lot of these numbers, particularly for older albums.

As previously discussed, the comp features the majority of Joel's US chart singles up to that point, with some variations in tracklist depending on pressing and market. It's quite a lineup, to put it mildly, including nearly all of the songs for which he will probably still be remembered a few decades from now. Where short versions of singles were available, they were generally used ("Goodnight Saigon" seems to be the exception), then replaced with the long ones for a 1998 remaster. If you listen to it on Spotify it's further altered, with outright wrong versions of songs (the studio "Say Goodbye To Hollywood," for Pete's sake!). You can read about most of this confusing history here.

Left out of the canonical release but later restored are "Honesty," "Captain Jack," "Scenes From An Italian Restaurant," "The Entertainer," and "She's Got A Way (Live)." As just mentioned, "Keeping the Faith" and "An Innocent Man" got held over for Volume III, which didn't appear until 1997 and barely cracked single platinum, probably hurting those songs' cultural presence a bit. Totally excluded are the lower-hanging chart entries "Worse Comes To Worst," "Travelin' Prayer," and "Sometimes A Fantasy"; and the non-charting or non-US singles "The Ballad of Billy the Kid," "James," "Until the Night," "All For Leyna," "You're My Home (Live)," "This NIght," and understandably, the original "She's Got A Way" and "Say Goodbye to Hollywood."

I bother listing all these because, per industry practice, the set does include two new singles which total about ten minutes of music and thus block out space that could have been given to roughly three other songs. The presence of "The Stranger," not a US single but an airplay hit (and big in Japan), also poses the possibility of including other fan favorites or things that deserved a bigger audience than they got. The new songs were both successful singles in their own right, though, so it's as easy to argue that they helped the album's success, as to say it'd have been better to save them as backup singles for the next LP. I'll queue up the first one of them in a second, but I'll wrap this post by posing this weekend's question: what would you have done?

Side One

1. "Piano Man" 5:36
2. "Say Goodbye to Hollywood" (Live) 3:54
3. "New York State of Mind" (w/ subbed sax solo) 6:02
4. "The Stranger" 5:07
5. "Just the Way You Are" 3:36

Side Two

1. "Movin' Out (Anthony's Song)" 3:28
2. "Only the Good Die Young" 3:53
3. "She's Always a Woman" 3:17
4. "My Life" 3:51
5. "Big Shot" 3:43
6. "You May Be Right" 4:09

Side Three

1. "It's Still Rock and Roll to Me" 2:54
2. "Don't Ask Me Why" 2:57
3. "Pressure" 3:15
4. "Allentown" 3:48
5. "Goodnight Saigon" 7:00

Side Four

1. "Tell Her About It" 3:35
2. "Uptown Girl" 3:15
3. "The Longest Time" 3:36
4. "You're Only Human (Second Wind)" 4:48
5. "The Night Is Still Young" 5:28

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cLVTrD32Rs8

You're Only Human (Second Wind) is Billy's interpretation of ska and an effort to speak to teens about suicide. Released as a single (with a trimmed-out sax solo shedding a half a minute), it hit #9 in the US, #2 on Adult Contemporary, and charted in a couple of other markets. I'm not sure I've ever heard it outside of this comp - maybe his most forgotten top-tenner? It even had a video, with a harmonica-playing Billy taking up the Clarence role from It's A Wonderful Life.

Per Wiki, "Joel donated all royalties from the song to the National Committee for Youth Suicide Prevention," which I think would also include a slice of that big Greatest Hits pie. I guess the "We Are The World" spirit rubbed off on him.

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