The Ultimate Collection (Billy Joel Album)
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The Ultimate Collection (Billy Joel Album)
''The Ultimate Collection'' is a double-disc compilation album by American singer-songwriter Billy Joel. It was first released by Sony Music Entertainment Japan in December 2000, and subsequently issued in the most of European and Oceanian countries with slightly different track listings (replacing Japanese top-3 charting hit " The Stranger" with live version of " You're My Home"). This career-spanning compilation features some of Joel's early notable compositions and hit singles which were disregarded on his ''Greatest Hits'' series, although several hits and fan favorites like "Only the Good Die Young", "Captain Jack", "Vienna", "Scenes from an Italian Restaurant", "Pressure" and "Big Shot" were excluded alternatively. It became a smash hit worldwide, entering top-5 on the charts in many countries, including United Kingdom. ''The Ultimate Collection'' was not issued in the United States, though Legacy Recordings Legacy Recordings is an American record label that is a divi ...
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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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Only The Good Die Young
"Only the Good Die Young" is a song from Billy Joel's 1977 rock album '' The Stranger''. It was the third of four singles released from the album. Song information "Only the Good Die Young" was controversial for its time, with the lyrics written from the perspective of a young man determined to have sex with a Catholic girl. The song was inspired by a high school crush of Joel's, Virginia Callahan. The boy/narrator believes that the girl is refusing him because she comes from a religious Catholic family and that she believes premarital sex is sinful. He sings, You Catholic girls start much too late, but sooner or later it comes down to fate. I might as well be the one. Attempts to censor the song only made it more popular, after religious groups considered it anti-Catholic,The Story Behi ...
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Glass Houses (album)
''Glass Houses'' is the seventh studio album by American singer-songwriter Billy Joel, released on March 12, 1980. It features Joel's first song to peak at on ''Billboard'''s Pop Singles chart, "It's Still Rock and Roll to Me". The album itself topped the Pop Albums chart for six weeks and was ranked on ''Billboards 1980 year-end album chart. The album is the 41st best selling album of the 1980s, with sales of 7.1 million copies in the U.S. alone. In 1981, Joel won a Grammy Award for "Best Male Rock Vocal Performance" for his work on ''Glass Houses''. According to music critic Stephen Thomas Erlewine, the album featured "a harder-edged sound" compared to Joel's other work, in response to the punk and new wave movements. This was also the final studio album to feature the original incarnation (Joel, Richie Cannata, Doug Stegmeyer, Russell Javors and Liberty DeVitto) of the Billy Joel Band, augmented by new lead guitarist David Brown. Multi-instrumentalist Cannata left th ...
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It's Still Rock And Roll To Me
"It's Still Rock and Roll to Me" is a song written and performed by Billy Joel, from the hit album '' Glass Houses''. Released in 1980, the song peaked at number 1 on the ''Billboard'' Hot 100 charts for two weeks, from July 19 through August 1, 1980. The song spent 11 weeks in the top 10 of the ''Billboard'' Hot 100 and was the 7th biggest hit of 1980 according to American Top 40. The song conveys Joel's criticisms of the music industry and press, commenting on new musical styles of the time such as new wave being mere rehashes of older musical styles. It also addresses changing trends and attitudes of the era. The single eventually reached Platinum status from the RIAA for sales of over 1 million copies in the United States. Pop rock musician Drake Bell covered the song in 2014 on his rockabilly album ''Ready Steady Go!''. History and composition Joel wrote the song in response to critics that often described his music as adult contemporary, middle-of-the-road pop. He felt ...
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52nd Street (album)
''52nd Street'' is the sixth studio album by American singer-songwriter Billy Joel, released on October 11, 1978, as the follow-up to his breakthrough album, '' The Stranger.'' Joel tried to give the new album a fresh sound, hiring various jazz musicians to differentiate it from his previous albums. It was the first of four Joel albums to top the ''Billboard'' charts, and it earned him two Grammys. Three songs reached the Top 40 in the United States, contributing to the album's success: "My Life" (number 3), "Big Shot" (number 14), and "Honesty" (number 24). It was similarly well received by critics, earning the 1980 Grammy for Album of the Year. This Grammy was presented to its producer, Phil Ramone. Upon Ramone's death, ''52nd Street''s Album of the Year Grammy was passed on to Joel. The album was among the first commercially released on the compact disc format, reaching store shelves on October 1, 1982, in Japan (it was one of 50 CDs released that day, including ''The Stran ...
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My Life (Billy Joel Song)
"My Life" is a song by Billy Joel that first appeared on his 1978 album ''52nd Street''. A single version was released in the fall of 1978 and reached No. 2 on the U.S. adult contemporary chart. Early the next year, it peaked at No. 3 on the ''Billboard'' Hot 100. Musical structure The song begins with drums, electric bass, and a left-hand piano part, followed by a keyboard riff in the right hand. The riff is also used as a fill between verse and chorus sections and is also played at the end. The section order is intro-verse-fill-chorus-bridge-v-f-c-b-solo-c-outro. Chicago members Peter Cetera and Donnie Dacus performed the backing vocals and sang along with Joel during the bridge and in the outro ("Keep it to yourself, it's my life"). "My Life" was used as the theme song for the ABC television series ''Bosom Buddies'' (1980–82), albeit in a re-recorded version with a different vocalist. However, due to licensing issues, it does not appear on the VHS and DVD releases of ...
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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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Just The Way You Are (Billy Joel Song)
Just the Way You Are may refer to: Film and television * ''Just the Way You Are'' (1984 film), a 1984 American comedy-drama * ''Just the Way You Are'' (2015 film), a 2015 Filipino teen romantic comedy-drama * "Just the Way You Are" (She-Ra: Princess of Power), an episode of ''She-Ra: Princess of Power'' Music Albums * ''Just the Way You Are EP'', a 1991 EP by the Goo Goo Dolls, or the title song Songs * "Just the Way You Are" (Billy Joel song), from the 1977 album ''The Stranger'' ** re-issued by Barry White on the 1978 Album '' The Man'' * "Just the Way You Are" (Bruno Mars song), 2010, also known as "Just the Way You Are (Amazing)" * "Just the Way You Are" (Milky song), 2002 * " Just the Way You Are (Drunk at the Bar)", a 2011 song by Brian McFadden * "Just the Way You Are", 2008 song by Kindred the Family Soul * "Just the Way You Are", 2011 song by Johnny Gill * "Just the Way You Are", a song by Kumi Koda from ''Trick'' * "Just the Way You Are", a song by William Shakespe ...
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The Essential Billy Joel
''The Essential Billy Joel'' is a Sony music compilation of songs by American singer/songwriter Billy Joel. It was released on October 2, 2001, and has been certified Triple Platinum by the RIAA. In conjunction with the release of the album, ''The Essential Video Collection'' was released, comprising Joel's most popular music videos. On August 26, 2008, ''The Essential 3.0'' was released containing a third disc with seven additional tracks.allmusic.com - The Essential Billy Joel Limited Edition 3.0 - Overview AllMusic (previously known as All Music Guide and AMG) is an American online database, online music database. It catalogs more than three million album entries and 30 million tracks, as well as information on Musical artist, musicians and Music .../ref> Track listing All songs written by Billy Joel. Disc one Disc two Disc three Chart performance Weekly charts Year-end charts Certifications } } } References {{DEFAULTSORT:Essential Billy Joel Bi ...
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Legacy Recordings
Legacy Recordings is an American record label that is a division of Sony Music. Formed in 1990 after Sony's acquisition of CBS Records, Legacy originally handled the archives of Sony Music-owned labels Columbia Records and Epic Records. In 2004, under the Sony BMG joint venture, the label began to manage the archives of RCA Records, J Records, Windham Hill Records, Arista, LaFace, Jive, and Buddah Records. Legacy Recordings also distributes Philadelphia International Records and the catalog of recordings produced by Phil Spector. It is not related to the defunct British independent label Legacy Records. Reissues The ''Essential'' series are one- or two-disc compilations of an artist's extensive catalog. On occasion, certain albums in this series would include a limited edition third disc (labeled ''Essential'' ''3.0''), or be revised to include an artist's newer work (for example ''The Essential Bob Dylan).'' , several volumes in the ''Essential'' series are available on vin ...
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Big Shot (song)
"Big Shot" is a song performed by Billy Joel from his 1978 album ''52nd Street'', released as a single in early 1979. The song would become the second hit single from the album, peaking at #14 in the United States. Lyrics and music The song is superficially about the protagonist mocking a woman with a severe hangover for her intoxicated escapades around town, making numerous social and verbal ''faux pas'' while high on alcohol and drugs ("But now you just don't remember all the things you said / And you're not sure you want to know / I'll give you one hint, honey; you sure did put on a show!"). The song makes reference to late 1970s ''nouveau riche'' fads such as Elaine's restaurant and Halston. During a Q&A session at Florida State University in 1996, Joel stated the song is about someone he was very close to, and also about himself. In an interview in 2006, Joel said, "I read that the song 'Big Shot' is said to be about a date I had with Bianca Jagger. I never had a date with ...
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Pressure (Billy Joel Song)
"Pressure" is a 1982 song by American musician Billy Joel released as a single from the album ''The Nylon Curtain'' and reached #20 on the US ''Billboard'' Hot 100. The synthesizer-driven rock song tells about the pressure of creating and the pressure of being a provider. Themes and lyrics In ''Night School'', a show airing on MTV in 1982 that ran roughly a half-hour long, in which he answers questions posed by audience members, Billy Joel reveals that the pressure he was talking about in the song was something along the lines of writing pressure and pressure to provide. The PBS children's TV series ''Sesame Street'' and New York PBS member station WNET ("channel 13") are also mentioned in the first bridge, and the magazine ''Time'' is mentioned in the second. Single and album edits The single version removes the third verse (starting with "Don't ask for help, you're all alone") and the second bridge. This version of the song was included in the original release of the '' Gr ...
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