The Stranger (album)
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The Stranger (album)
''The Stranger'' is the fifth studio album by American singer Billy Joel, released in September 1977 by Columbia Records. It was the first of Joel's albums to be produced by Phil Ramone, with whom he would work for five subsequent albums. Joel's previous studio effort, ''Turnstiles'', had sold modestly and peaked low on the US charts, prompting Columbia to consider dropping him if his next release sold poorly. Joel wanted the new album to feature his touring band, formed during the production of ''Turnstiles''. The band consisted of drummer Liberty DeVitto, bassist Doug Stegmeyer, and multi-instrumentalist saxophonist/organist Richie Cannata. Seeking out a new producer, he first turned to veteran Beatles producer George Martin before coming across and settling on Ramone, whose name he had seen on albums by other artists such as Paul Simon. Recording took place over three weeks, featuring DeVitto, Stegmeyer and Cannata. Other studio musicians filled in as guitarists on various songs ...
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Billy Joel
William Martin Joel (born May 9, 1949) is an American singer, pianist and songwriter. Commonly nicknamed the "Piano Man (song), Piano Man" after his album and signature song of the same name, he has led a commercially successful career as a solo artist since the 1970s, having released 12 pop and rock studio albums from 1971 to 1993 as well as one studio album of classical compositions in 2001. He is one of the List of best-selling music artists, best-selling music artists of all time, as well as the seventh-best-selling recording artist and the fourth-best-selling solo artist in the United States, with over 160 million records sold worldwide. His 1985 compilation album, ''Greatest Hits (Billy Joel albums), Greatest Hits Vol. 1 & 2'', is one of the List of best-selling albums in the United States, best-selling albums in the United States. Born in The Bronx, Joel grew up on Long Island, where both places influenced his music. Growing up, he took piano lessons at his mother's insi ...
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Beatles
The Beatles were an English rock band, formed in Liverpool in 1960, that comprised John Lennon, Paul McCartney, George Harrison and Ringo Starr. They are regarded as the most influential band of all time and were integral to the development of 1960s counterculture and popular music's recognition as an art form. Rooted in skiffle, beat and 1950s rock 'n' roll, their sound incorporated elements of classical music and traditional pop in innovative ways; the band also explored music styles ranging from folk and Indian music to psychedelia and hard rock. As pioneers in recording, songwriting and artistic presentation, the Beatles revolutionised many aspects of the music industry and were often publicised as leaders of the era's youth and sociocultural movements. Led by primary songwriters Lennon and McCartney, the Beatles evolved from Lennon's previous group, the Quarrymen, and built their reputation playing clubs in Liverpool and Hamburg over three years from 1960, initia ...
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Rolling Stone's 500 Greatest Albums Of All Time
"The 500 Greatest Albums of All Time" is a recurring opinion survey and music ranking of the finest albums in history, compiled by the American magazine ''Rolling Stone''. It is based on weighted votes from selected musicians, critics, and industry figures. The first list was published in a special issue of the magazine in 2003 and a related book in 2005. Related news articles: * * Critics have accused the lists of lending disproportionate weight to artists of particular races and genders. In the original list, most of the selections were albums by white male rock musicians of Anglo backgrounds, with the top position held by the Beatles' '' Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band'' (1967). In 2012, ''Rolling Stone'' published a revised edition, drawing on the original and a later survey of albums released up until the early 2000s. Another updated edition of the list was published in 2020, with 154 new entries not in either of the two previous editions. It was based on a new survey ...
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Rolling Stone
''Rolling Stone'' is an American monthly magazine that focuses on music, politics, and popular culture. It was founded in San Francisco, San Francisco, California, in 1967 by Jann Wenner, and the music critic Ralph J. Gleason. It was first known for its coverage of rock music and political reporting by Hunter S. Thompson. In the 1990s, the magazine broadened and shifted its focus to a younger readership interested in youth-oriented television shows, film actors, and popular music. It has since returned to its traditional mix of content, including music, entertainment, and politics. The first magazine was released in 1967 and featured John Lennon on the cover and was published every two weeks. It is known for provocative photography and its cover photos, featuring musicians, politicians, athletes, and actors. In addition to its print version in the United States, it publishes content through Rollingstone.com and numerous international editions. Penske Media Corporation is the c ...
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Simon & Garfunkel
Simon & Garfunkel were an American folk rock duo consisting of the singer-songwriter Paul Simon and the singer Art Garfunkel. They were one of the best-selling music groups of the 1960s, and their biggest hits—including the electric remix of " The Sound of Silence" (1965), "Mrs. Robinson" (1968), "The Boxer" (1969), and " Bridge over Troubled Water" (1970)—reached number one on singles charts worldwide. Simon and Garfunkel met in elementary school in Queens, New York, in 1953, where they learned to harmonize and began writing songs. As teenagers, under the name Tom & Jerry, they had minor success with "Hey Schoolgirl" (1957), a song imitating their idols, the Everly Brothers. In 1963, aware of a growing public interest in folk music, they regrouped and were signed to Columbia Records as Simon & Garfunkel. Their debut album, ''Wednesday Morning, 3 A.M.,'' sold poorly; Simon returned to a solo career, this time in England. In June 1965, a new version of "The Sound of Silence" a ...
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Grammy Award For Song Of The Year
The Grammy Award for Song of the Year is an honor presented at the Grammy Awards, a ceremony that was established in 1958 and originally called the Gramophone Awards. The Song of the Year award is one of the four most prestigious categories at the awards (alongside Best New Artist, Record of the Year and Album of the Year), presented annually since the 1st Grammy Awards in 1959. According to the 54th Grammy Awards description guide, the award is presented: If a winning song contains samples or interpolations of existing material, the publisher and songwriter(s) of the original song(s) can apply for a Winners Certificate. Song of the Year is related to but is conceptually different from Record of the Year or Album of the Year: * Song of the Year is awarded for a single or for one track from an album. This award goes to the songwriter who actually wrote the lyrics and/or melodies to the song. "Song" in this context means the song as composed, not its recording. * Record of t ...
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Grammy Award For Record Of The Year
The Grammy Award for Record of the Year is presented by the National Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences of the United States to "honor artistic achievement, technical proficiency and overall excellence in the recording industry, without regard to sales or chart position." The Record of the Year award is one of the four "General Field" categories at the awards (alongside Best New Artist, Song of the Year and Album of the Year) presented annually since the 1st Annual Grammy Awards in 1959. According to the 54th Annual Grammy Awards description guide, the award is presented: Arrangers, songwriters, musicians and background singers of a winning recording can apply for a Winners Certificate. Songwriters can only apply for a certificate if it is a new song. Since the 55th Annual Grammy Awards in 2013, mastering engineers are considered nominees and award recipients in this category. Record of the Year is related to but is conceptually different from Song of the Year or Al ...
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Grammy Award
The Grammy Awards (stylized as GRAMMY), or simply known as the Grammys, are awards presented by the Recording Academy of the United States to recognize "outstanding" achievements in the music industry. They are regarded by many as the most prestigious, significant awards in the music industry worldwide. It was originally called the Gramophone Awards, as the trophy depicts a gilded Phonograph, gramophone. The Grammys are the first of the Big Three television networks, Big Three networks' major music awards held annually, and is considered one of the EGOT, four major annual American entertainment awards, alongside the Academy Awards (for films), the Emmy Awards (for television), and the Tony Awards (for theater). The 1st Annual Grammy Awards, first Grammy Awards ceremony was held on May 4, 1959, to honor the musical accomplishments of performers for the year 1958. After the 2011 ceremony, the Recording Academy overhauled many Grammy Award categories for 2012. History The Grammys ...
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Vienna (Billy Joel Song)
''Vienna'' is a song from Billy Joel's 1977 album '' The Stranger'', released as the B-side to his " Just the Way You Are" single. Despite its initial release as a B-side, the song's popularity has grown considerably in the decades after its release. , it is one of Joel's most-streamed songs on Spotify. Composition The song begins with a piano melody in the right hand and chords in the left, ultimately cadencing to the tonic chord of Bb. However, when the verse starts the first chord is a Gm, which is the relative minor chord of Bb. A change to the vi chord doesn't always indicate a change in key, but each verse ends with a V-i authentic cadence in Gm, indicating that a key change has taken place. The chorus begins with an Eb chord, the IV chord in Bb, which is a half step up from D, giving a rising feeling going from the verse to the chorus. The end of the chorus cadences back to the tonic of Bb with the chords C, Gb, F, Bb. Gb is the tritone substitution of the V chord for F, a ...
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Scenes From An Italian Restaurant
"Scenes from an Italian Restaurant" is a song from Billy Joel's 1977 album '' The Stranger''. In 2021, Rolling Stone ranked it the 324th greatest song of all time on their updated 500 Greatest Songs of All Time list. Release Although never released as a single, it's become one of Joel's most celebrated compositions among fans and critics alike; it appears on most of his compilation albums and is a live favorite. In an interview, Joel cites the second side of The Beatles' album ''Abbey Road'' as one of its primary musical influences. At 7 minutes and 37 seconds, it is the longest of Joel's rock music studio cuts, only surpassed by live recordings and five tracks from Joel's 2001 classical album ''Fantasies & Delusions''. On May 6, 1977, before the song's official release, Joel premiered it in a performance at the C.W. Post Campus of Long Island University. Joel dedicated that performance to Christiano's, a restaurant in the nearby hamlet of Syosset, which operated until Februar ...
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Billboard Hot 100
The ''Billboard'' Hot 100 is the music industry standard record chart in the United States for songs, published weekly by '' Billboard'' magazine. Chart rankings are based on sales (physical and digital), radio play, and online streaming in the United States. The weekly tracking period for sales was initially Monday to Sunday when Nielsen started tracking sales in 1991, but was changed to Friday to Thursday in July 2015. This tracking period also applies to compiling online streaming data. Radio airplay, which, unlike sales figures and streaming, is readily available on a real-time basis, is also tracked on a Friday to Thursday cycle effective with the chart dated July 17, 2021 (previously Monday to Sunday and before July 2015, Wednesday to Tuesday). A new chart is compiled and officially released to the public by ''Billboard'' on Tuesdays but post-dated to the following Saturday. The first number-one song of the ''Billboard'' Hot 100 was " Poor Little Fool" by Ricky Ne ...
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