"Tell Her About It" is a song written and performed by
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 ...
released as a single from his album ''
An Innocent Man
''An Innocent Man'' is the ninth studio album by American singer-songwriter Billy Joel, released on August 8, 1983. The concept album is a tribute to the American popular music of Joel's adolescent years with Joel paying homage to a number of ...
'' (1983). The song hit the number one spot on the
''Billboard'' Hot 100 chart for one week on September 24, 1983, replacing "
Maniac
Maniac (from Greek μανιακός, ''maniakos'') is a pejorative for an individual who experiences the mood known as mania. In common usage, it is also an insult for someone involved in reckless behavior.
Maniac may also refer to:
Film
* ' ...
" by
Michael Sembello
Michael Andrew Sembello (born April 17, 1954) is an American singer, guitarist, keyboardist, songwriter, composer and producer from Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.
Sembello was nominated for an Academy Award and a Golden Globe for his 1983 song " ...
. The single was certified Gold by the
RIAA
The Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) is a trade organization that represents the music recording industry in the United States. Its members consist of record labels and distributors that the RIAA says "create, manufacture, and/o ...
for US sales of over 500,000 copies.
Single
A "special version" mixed by
John "Jellybean" Benitez
John Benitez (born November 7, 1957), also known as Jellybean, is an American musician, songwriter, DJ, remixer, and music producer. He has produced and remixed artists such as Madonna, Whitney Houston, Michael Jackson, and the Pointer Sisters ...
was also released as a 12-inch maxi single. The cover art varied depending on the country of release. The remixed version was longer, approximately five-and-a-half minutes. The B-side featured Joel's song "Easy Money" from the same album, and a live recording of the song "
You Got Me Hummin'
"You Got Me Hummin'" (also known as "You've Got Me Hummin'") is a popular song written by Isaac Hayes and David Porter. It was first popularized by Sam & Dave, who had a Top 10 R&B hit with the song in 1966 on Stax Records. It was subsequently ...
" written by
Isaac Hayes
Isaac Lee Hayes Jr. (August 20, 1942 – August 10, 2008) was an American singer, actor, songwriter, and composer. He was one of the creative forces behind the Southern soul music label Stax Records, where he served both as an in-house songwri ...
and David Porter.
In the lyrics of the song, the singer exhorts a young man to tell the woman he loves how he feels about her before he misses his chance.
Reception
''
Cash Box
''Cashbox'', also known as ''Cash Box'', was an American music industry trade magazine, originally published weekly from July 1942 to November 1996. Ten years after its dissolution, it was revived and continues as ''Cashbox Magazine'', an online ...
'' said that the song "harks back to
oel'surban rock ’n’ roll roots" and begins "with a
falsetto
''Falsetto'' (, ; Italian diminutive of , "false") is the vocal register occupying the frequency range just above the modal voice register and overlapping with it by approximately one octave.
It is produced by the vibration of the ligamentous ed ...
straight out of
Smokey Robinson & The Miracles
The Miracles (also known as Smokey Robinson and the Miracles from 1965 to 1972) were an American vocal group that was the first successful recording act for Berry Gordy's Motown Records, and one of the most important and most influential groups ...
and then proceeds to offer friendly advice via the sound of ’60s Motown — horns, back-up vocals, rhythms and all."
Music video
The video for the song shows Joel singing the song as if he were on ''
The Ed Sullivan Show
''The Ed Sullivan Show'' is an American television program, television variety show that ran on CBS from June 20, 1948, to March 28, 1971, and was hosted by New York City, New York entertainment columnist Ed Sullivan. It was replaced in Septembe ...
'' in 1963. The cover shot for the UK release of the song was taken from the video. An
Ed Sullivan
Edward Vincent Sullivan (September 28, 1901 – October 13, 1974) was an American television personality, impresario, sports and entertainment reporter, and syndicated columnist for the ''New York Daily News'' and the Chicago Tribune New York ...
imitator (
Will Jordan
Will Jordan (born Wilbur Rauch, July 27, 1927 – September 6, 2018) was an American character actor and stand-up comedian best known for his resemblance to, and impressions of, television host and newspaper columnist Ed Sullivan.
Early life
B ...
) introduces Joel (as "B.J. and the Affordables") after
Topo Gigio
Topo Gigio () originally known as "COCO GIGIO" was the lead character of a children's puppet show on Italian television in the early 1960s. The character, created in 1958 by artist Maria Perego, her husband Federico Caldura, and fellow artist Guid ...
, the talking mouse, finishes his skit. During the song there are different scenes of teenagers watching Joel on TV at home, crowding around appliance store windows watching him, dancing to his song. There is even a brief scene of a Soviet cosmonaut in space listening to the song, with the lyrics displayed at the bottom in the
Russian language
Russian (russian: русский язык, russkij jazyk, link=no, ) is an East Slavic languages, East Slavic language mainly spoken in Russia. It is the First language, native language of the Russians, and belongs to the Indo-European langua ...
and in
Cyrillic
, bg, кирилица , mk, кирилица , russian: кириллица , sr, ћирилица, uk, кирилиця
, fam1 = Egyptian hieroglyphs
, fam2 = Proto-Sinaitic
, fam3 = Phoenician
, fam4 = G ...
script. At the end of the song, comedian
Rodney Dangerfield
Rodney Dangerfield (born Jacob Rodney Cohen; November 22, 1921 – October 5, 2004) was an American stand-up comedian, actor, screenwriter, and producer. He was known for his self-deprecating one-liner humor, his catchphrase "I don't get no resp ...
is there preparing to go on stage under the false impression that he is next, thanks Joel for warming up the crowd. "Patriska the Dancing Bear" is instead called to the stage, much to Dangerfield's disbelief.
Live performances
Joel performed the song fairly regularly after its release for a few years during the tours to support his albums ''
An Innocent Man
''An Innocent Man'' is the ninth studio album by American singer-songwriter Billy Joel, released on August 8, 1983. The concept album is a tribute to the American popular music of Joel's adolescent years with Joel paying homage to a number of ...
'' and ''
The Bridge''. The song however was dropped after the latter tour and it has not been performed live since 1987, making it one of the very few major hits across his career that he no longer plays in his concerts.
Track listing
12-inch maxi single
Side A
#"Tell Her About It" - 3:35
Side B
#"Easy Money" - 4:02
#"
Keeping the Faith
''Keeping the Faith'' is a 2000 American romantic comedy film written by Stuart Blumberg, and starring Ben Stiller, Edward Norton (in his directorial debut), Jenna Elfman, Eli Wallach, and Anne Bancroft. This film was released by Touchstone Pi ...
" - 4:40
Charts
Certifications
See also
*
List of Hot 100 number-one singles of 1983 (U.S.)
These are the ''Billboard'' Hot 100 number one hits of 1983. The longest running number-one single of 1983 is "Every Breath You Take" by the Police at eight weeks.
That year, 9 acts reached number one for the first time: Toto, Patti Austin, Ja ...
*
List of number-one adult contemporary singles of 1983 (U.S.)
Adult Contemporary is a chart published by ''Billboard'' ranking the top-performing songs in the United States in the adult contemporary music (AC) market. In 1983, 18 songs topped the chart, based on playlists submitted by radio stations.
In t ...
References
External links
* / ⒞1983
Sony BMG
Sony BMG Music Entertainment was an American record company owned as a 50–50 joint venture between Sony Corporation of America and Bertelsmann. The venture's successor, the revived Sony Music, is wholly owned by Sony, following their buyout o ...
channel
{{Billy Joel
1983 songs
1983 singles
Billy Joel songs
Songs written by Billy Joel
Billboard Hot 100 number-one singles
Song recordings produced by Phil Ramone
Columbia Records singles