Forty Years Since One of Piano Man's Spectacular Albums
Billy Joel has released a number of hits from the mid 70s to about the mid 80s, but his most concentrated time period came between about 1977 and 1983. During this period he released one of his more spectacular works yet.
And it's still a msterpiece to me.
Glass Houses, Joel's seventh LP was a massive success from this day four decades ago when it showed up on the market. The LP landed five singles, the third of which, It's Still Rock and Roll to Me, was his first reach #1 on the Bilboard Hot 100. The album was also issued with an alternate cover showing Joel's face looking through a broken glass hole. This was the artwork also used on some CD editions.
How about the album charts?
From a weekly perspective, the album was number 1 in the US, Canada, and even Iceland! The album was in the top 10 in six countries, and top 20 in France, Switzerland, and the Netherlands.
The end-of-year results were even more astounding. Glass Houses managed the top 10 in Australia, Canada, Norway, and the US. It cracked the top 20 in New Zealand, and just missed the top 20 in Japan.
The singles
As previously stated, there were five singles released from this album.
All for Lenaya: This was the lead single only in Europe. The single cracked the top 40 in the UK and was a top 20 hit (#16 to be exact) in Spain.
You May be Right: Though it did not chart in the UK unlike the singles that sandwich it, You May be Right was a top 10 hit in the US and Canada and by 1981 peaked at #40 in Canada and #75 in the US. Being the opening track on the album, it (appropriately) starts with the sound of glass breaking.
It's Still Rock'n'Roll to Me: This 60s-shuffle influenced track expresses the declining fame of a musician, contrary to the ideas presented in his 1975 hit The Entertainer. The song reached #1 on the US Bilboard Hot 100 in mid-July and stayed there for the rest of the month, and spent 10 weeks in the top 10. According to drummer Liberty Devito, the sound engineer suggested to him to tune his snare drum very low to make the "flop" sound. The song also peaked in the top 10 in the US and Canada by 1981, and was a top 20 hit in the UK (#14), and a top 10 hit in Australia and Ireland.
Don't Ask me Why: This acoustic latin-style track was not much of a hit compared to his last few singles, but it did make the top 10 in Canada and the US. It's definitely one of Joel's more "odd" songs.
Sometimes a Fantasy: Most likely to the sexually suggestive lyrics, the fifth and final single off Glass Houses did not chart all that well, missing the top 20 mark in Canada, and just barely a top 40 hit in the US. The single was contraversial due to its subject matter - a protagonist convincing his signficant other to have phone sex. Quite appropriately, as you will see in the photo below, the photo shows Joel dialing on a telephone and the song opens with the sound of a number being dialed.
The Band
OK, Billy Joel IS a solo artist; however like a few other artists of the day suchas Bryan Adams, Joel always used a fixed band as opposed to session players.
After 1971's Cold Spring Harbor, Joel began recruiting musicians to form a permanent ensamble for recording and touring. The first recruit was drummer Liberty DeVito, who had a New York-style drumming skill about him, which Joel highly approved of. Other members who played on this (and a few previous albums) were guitarist Dave Brown (Glass Houses was his debut), guitarist Russell Javors, bass player Doug Stegmeyer, and saxophonist/keyboardist Richie Cannata.
When it came to recording 1983's An Innocent Man, Mark Rivera, who is still in his band, replaced Richie Cannata. This continued for the next six years until Billy Joel worked with Mick Jones of Foreigner fame to produce 1989's Storm Front. Joel let Stegmeyer go and brought in multi-instrumentalist Crystal Telefiero, who is still in the band. Tommy Byrnes, who toured since the Storm Front tour, is also a current member.
Today's lineup of Joel's band features drummer Chuck Burghi (who played on the Movin' Out musical), guitarist Michael DelGuidice, trumpet/trombone player Carl Fischer, and original Rainbow keyboardist David Rosenthal.
And it's still a msterpiece to me.
Glass Houses, Joel's seventh LP was a massive success from this day four decades ago when it showed up on the market. The LP landed five singles, the third of which, It's Still Rock and Roll to Me, was his first reach #1 on the Bilboard Hot 100. The album was also issued with an alternate cover showing Joel's face looking through a broken glass hole. This was the artwork also used on some CD editions.
How about the album charts?
From a weekly perspective, the album was number 1 in the US, Canada, and even Iceland! The album was in the top 10 in six countries, and top 20 in France, Switzerland, and the Netherlands.
The end-of-year results were even more astounding. Glass Houses managed the top 10 in Australia, Canada, Norway, and the US. It cracked the top 20 in New Zealand, and just missed the top 20 in Japan.
The singles
As previously stated, there were five singles released from this album.
All for Lenaya: This was the lead single only in Europe. The single cracked the top 40 in the UK and was a top 20 hit (#16 to be exact) in Spain.
You May be Right: Though it did not chart in the UK unlike the singles that sandwich it, You May be Right was a top 10 hit in the US and Canada and by 1981 peaked at #40 in Canada and #75 in the US. Being the opening track on the album, it (appropriately) starts with the sound of glass breaking.
It's Still Rock'n'Roll to Me: This 60s-shuffle influenced track expresses the declining fame of a musician, contrary to the ideas presented in his 1975 hit The Entertainer. The song reached #1 on the US Bilboard Hot 100 in mid-July and stayed there for the rest of the month, and spent 10 weeks in the top 10. According to drummer Liberty Devito, the sound engineer suggested to him to tune his snare drum very low to make the "flop" sound. The song also peaked in the top 10 in the US and Canada by 1981, and was a top 20 hit in the UK (#14), and a top 10 hit in Australia and Ireland.
Don't Ask me Why: This acoustic latin-style track was not much of a hit compared to his last few singles, but it did make the top 10 in Canada and the US. It's definitely one of Joel's more "odd" songs.
Sometimes a Fantasy: Most likely to the sexually suggestive lyrics, the fifth and final single off Glass Houses did not chart all that well, missing the top 20 mark in Canada, and just barely a top 40 hit in the US. The single was contraversial due to its subject matter - a protagonist convincing his signficant other to have phone sex. Quite appropriately, as you will see in the photo below, the photo shows Joel dialing on a telephone and the song opens with the sound of a number being dialed.
The Band
OK, Billy Joel IS a solo artist; however like a few other artists of the day suchas Bryan Adams, Joel always used a fixed band as opposed to session players.
After 1971's Cold Spring Harbor, Joel began recruiting musicians to form a permanent ensamble for recording and touring. The first recruit was drummer Liberty DeVito, who had a New York-style drumming skill about him, which Joel highly approved of. Other members who played on this (and a few previous albums) were guitarist Dave Brown (Glass Houses was his debut), guitarist Russell Javors, bass player Doug Stegmeyer, and saxophonist/keyboardist Richie Cannata.
When it came to recording 1983's An Innocent Man, Mark Rivera, who is still in his band, replaced Richie Cannata. This continued for the next six years until Billy Joel worked with Mick Jones of Foreigner fame to produce 1989's Storm Front. Joel let Stegmeyer go and brought in multi-instrumentalist Crystal Telefiero, who is still in the band. Tommy Byrnes, who toured since the Storm Front tour, is also a current member.
Today's lineup of Joel's band features drummer Chuck Burghi (who played on the Movin' Out musical), guitarist Michael DelGuidice, trumpet/trombone player Carl Fischer, and original Rainbow keyboardist David Rosenthal.
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