BILLY JOEL 100. Today: #40-36. More-  tomorrow.

Caffè Lattè presents:

THE 100 MOST ESSENTIAL SONGS BY

BILLY JOEL

William Martin Joel was born in The Bronx, New York in 1949. He grew up on Long Island and began studying the piano in 1953. Billy joined his first band 10 years later. In 1971, he signed a recording contract as a soloist. That year, he released his solo debut album. Since then, his music has been the soundtrack for countless fans.

Here are 100 of his best works…

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40

AND SO IT GOES

Billy has a habit of closing his albums with a ballad. That role was fulfilled by the moving “And So It Goes” for ‘Storm Front’. It was inspired by Billy’s relationship wit Elle McPherson in 1983. He realized they would not last much longer as a couple. As it did not fit the theme of his ‘An Innocent Man’ album, the song was not included on that LP. The tender love song finally surfaced on an album 6 years later.

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39

C’ETAIT TOI (YOU WERE THE ONE)

While new wave and punk had influenced the new direction of ‘Glass Houses’, the album did also contain some sweet ballads such as “C’etait Toi”. Billy begins the track singing in English before switching to French lyrics.

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38

BABY GRAND

Ray Charles was a musical idol of Billy’s. The two first recorded together as part of U.S.A. For Africa when a collection of musicians congregated to cut “We Are The World” in 1985. Billy penned “Baby Grand” as a tribute to the piano. Uncle Ray joins him on this duet from ‘The Bridge’.

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37

HALF A MILE AWAY

After experiencing his best sales with ‘The Stranger’ album, Billy injected more jazz and recorded a follow-up LP that was just as strong. ‘52^nd Street’ was named after the Manhattan hot spot for jazz in the 1930-60s. Phil Ramone was at the helm again as producer. The public greeted the new album with enthusiasm, sending it to #1 in America for 8 weeks. It also topped the charts in Canada, Australia and New Zealand. Later, the dic collected the Album of the Year Grammy. “Half A Mile Away” is a fun upbeat track where a man is at his workplace wishing he was out with his friends.

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36

SUMMER, HIGHLAND FALLS

‘Turnstiles’ reflected what was going on in Billy's life at the time. He and his wife Elizabeth had returned to the East Coast. They rented a residence in Highland Falls in upstate New York. Billy was conscious that his marriage was nearing its conclusion. The lyrics of "Summer, Highland Falls" find him reflecting on his life and growing old: “they say that these are not the best of times, but they’re the only times I’ve ever known”.

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Hear the songs as updated on this blog via the new Spotify playlist:

https://open.spotify.com/playlist/2rYz7gZBJy1zHNoITZ8HwV?si=7ba2b1960f404546