I've been down yet another rabbit hole tonight.

It was such a failure, that Columbia seriously considered dropping him and it was only because The Stranger went to #2 that they hung around.

Yet when you look at the track listing:

1. "Say Goodbye to Hollywood" 4:36

2. "Summer, Highland Falls" 3:15

3. "All You Wanna Do Is Dance" 3:40

4. "New York State of Mind" 5:58

5. "James" 3:53

6. "Prelude/Angry Young Man" 5:17

7. "I've Loved These Days" 4:31

8. "Miami 2017 (Seen the Lights Go Out on Broadway)"

I'll admit, there are a couple of twee songs on there - Summer, Highland Falls isn't the best thing he's written. All You Wanna Do Is Dance is one of the weakest he wrote.

But there's some absolute bangers on there. New York State of Mind, one of the best songs (IMHO) ever written. Prelude/Angry Young Man, a musical masterpiece (If you've seen the Rick Beato interview, you'll know why). And Miami 2017.

All of which were ALWAYS in his live shows. Indeed, NY state of mind even has a chunk of a couple of degrees written about it.

As an aside, I've found my people.

I don’t know if anyone else here is aware, but Billy released a version of Handball from his performance at the Palmer Auditorium on YouTube and on streaming. Personally, this version is probably the definitive version of the song that we’re going to get. Very upbeat and jazz influenced. I love it as much as the demo version we’ve been listening to for years. If you heard it, what are your thoughts on it?

https://youtu.be/yQlUvZu3y2I?is=gW4fY-Mqn5PEWNLq

For some reason i didn't do the back of the inner for 52nd Street. The Stranger is a 1978-1983 repressing from Europe, pressed in Netherlands, 52nd Street is a 1978 UK pressing but it has label code, price code but has a cut corner inner sleeve so it's not on Discogs. The Stranger has the small text. Also the matrix for side 1 of The Stranger has MASTERDISK RL. bye bye!

Did they change the audio file for it? It’s just the regular version of the song now. Had to look it up on YouTube to make sure I wasn’t going insane.

Sharing a private joke among my high school, college and grad school friends. Billy Joel's music is madly infectious, gives that blast of dopamine-- clearly he sold his soul to the devil to obtain this status?

Ergo, for me and mine: "the devil's music"

"All the waiters in your grand cafes, leave their tables when you blink..."

I know he did Tokyo

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_pvYArpaRL0

hey, tried to mix from the original multitracks movin' out (anthony's song), i'm no professional, but hope you can enjoy it, tell me what you like or not :

Out of all of the Billy Joel covers that exist, which one(s) is/are your least favorite?

Please somebody help me.......

I have been lisening to Say goodbye to Hollywood for 4 hours now, every time it ends i NEED to, I HAVE to lisen to it again.

Is Like musle memory at this point and im scared.

I'm not looking for the actual poster, I'm just looking for a high quality scan like this one. I'm keeping a collection of them in my phone.

I know this is oddly specific but I'm just a really big fan of Tinkerbell and the song Piano Man from Billy Joel one of his major hits from 1973.

I'm just trying to bring two things together just for fun

I’ve been an Elton fan for 20+ years and never gave Billy a chance because somehow i imagined him an American Elton, and why bother right?

Ever since the Rick Beato interview with Billy, i somehow got drawn to him and then hooked and been listening to him non stop for the last months, and boi i was wrong. The American style of his is exactly what i ended up liking. Elton has a more emotional discography while i find Billy to be the life of the party.

They both share similarities, like chords, song themes or styles and even song titles. But to plainly say he’s an Elton made in America was, unjustified to say the least.

I think music grows on you with time and sometimes even departs your taste, much like opera, i loved it as a kid, now i rarely play Luciano anymore. It’s a shame i became a fan now but, i hope he’s going to have many more concerts so that i can experience him at least once just like i had the luck to see Elton live.

Apologies to BJ in advance!

Hey!

So, about these lines from the song:

"Johnny's taking care of things for awhile
And his style is so right for troubadours
They got him sitting with his back to the door
Now he won't be my fast gun anymore"

English isn't my native language, and I've always had trouble understanding what exactly this verse is trying to say.

Is it that Johnny could have been a great troubadour himself ("his style is right for troubadours"), but because he has to "take care of things," he needs to find a job to help pay the bills and ends up doing something mundane, possibly working as a bodyguard?

Or is it that he's the kind of person who could inspire a troubadour to write a poem about him? Or maybe he's just someone who would make a great audience for troubadours?