March 25, 2025 • 23 mins
"52nd Street" is the sixth studio album by Billy Joel, released on October 13, 1978. Following the massive success of The Stranger (1977), this album solidified Joel’s status as one of the premier singer-songwriters of the late '70s.
The album blends rock, jazz, and pop influences, incorporating a more sophisticated, urban sound compared to its predecessor. It won the Grammy Award for Album of the Year in 1980, marking a peak in Joel’s career. The title refers to the famous 52nd Street in Manhattan, once a hub for jazz musicians, which reflects the album’s jazzier elements.
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Episode Transcript
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SPEAKER_04 (00:00):
It's just the normal noises in here!
SPEAKER_00 (00:13):
This is Polyphonic Press, the podcast where two
music fans pick a classic albumcompletely at random.
Using the patented random albumgenerator, they are given an
album to review from a curatedlist of over 1,000 classic
releases spanning multiplegenres.
And now on to the show.
(00:35):
Here are your hosts, Jeremy Boydand John Van Dyke.
SPEAKER_05 (00:47):
Hey, welcome to Polyphonic Press.
I'm Jeremy Boyd.
I'm John Van Dyke.
And uh let's not waste any time.
We've got the patented randomalbum generator right in front
of us here.
Uh so let's hit the button andsee what album we're gonna be
listening to this week.
SPEAKER_01 (01:01):
The album you will be reviewing this week is 52nd
Street by Billy Joel.
SPEAKER_05 (01:07):
Alright.
Alright.
I'm not familiar.
I'm probably familiar with someof the songs on this album.
Yeah, probably.
But I don't know the album.
But anyway, this is adescription of the song.
It says 52nd Street is the sixthstudio album by Billy Joel,
released on uh October 13th,1978.
(01:28):
Following the massive success ofThe Stranger, this album
solidified Joel's status as oneof the premier
singer-songwriters of the late70s.
The album blends rock, jazz, andpop influences, incorporating a
more sophisticated urban soundcompared to its predecessor.
It won the Grammy Award forAlbum of the Year in 1980,
(01:49):
marking a peak in Joel's career.
The title refers to the famous52nd Street in Manhattan, once a
hub for jazz musicians, whichreflects the album's jazzier
elements.
Alright, so this was released onuh October 11th, 1978, and the
genres are uh rock and jazzrock, and uh the label is Family
(02:12):
Productions and ColumbiaRecords, and uh it was produced
by Phil Ramon.
And uh if you're listeningalong, which we do encourage you
to do, the album is split up uhpretty evenly between side one
and side two.
There's uh nine songs of thealbum, so the first four uh
songs make up side one.
Um so uh the song the albumstarts with uh Big Shot and side
(02:38):
one ends with Zanzibar.
So if you want to pause at theuh after the song Zanzibar, and
we'll have a discussion at thehalfway point.
And uh we've linked the album inthe show notes to both Spotify
and Apple Music so you can getit on your preferred uh
streaming service.
And I think without further ado,okay, here we go.
(03:03):
Here's the uh the first song onthe album, Big Shot.
Alright, and uh ending side onewith Zanzibar.
(03:23):
Uh yeah, I'm actually pretty uhI'm enjoying this uh so far.
It's uh it's a little more pop,but uh yeah, I'm I'm I'm I was
never that big into Billy Joel,but I'm actually really enjoying
his songwriting here.
He is a good songwriter.
SPEAKER_04 (03:41):
Yeah, it's not a bad album.
It's uh again, yeah, like yousaid, it's a little bit poppier
than what I would nor normallygo for, but it's uh it's still
it's still it's not bad at all,really.
SPEAKER_05 (03:54):
Um and the two songs that I know so far, Big Shot in
my life, I've I've heard thosesongs.
Those are big hits that he had.
Billy Joel has sort of alwaysstruck me as he's he's kind of
like the the Quentin Tarantinoof music.
(04:15):
Okay.
In the sense that he so if youknow about anything about
Quentin Tarantino's filmmaking,he tends to borrow a lot and he
he'll make uh different films indifferent genres that he likes.
(04:36):
And I feel like Billy Joel doesthe same thing.
Like there was one album he didin the eighties where each song
was a different style, like adifferent like one was like a
Motown song, one was like afifties rock and roll kind of
thing.
So So in the sense that he sortof does he's he s sort of
(05:00):
decides okay, I'm go I'm goingto make a song in this j genre
right now.
The same the much the same waythat Quentin Tarantino does.
Um and I kind of feel like he'ssort of doing that a little bit
here.
Uh like um this that songZanzibar had a lot of that was
probably one of the descriptionof the album was talking about
(05:23):
the the more jazz influences onthe album.
And I think that song inparticular is probably the
biggest jazz influence songwe've heard, at least so far.
SPEAKER_04 (05:33):
So far, yeah.
Um well yeah, it has an entirejazz breakdown in it.
Um and it's uh yeah, it's prettycool.
Um the song was like uh I alwaysliked the song My Life, I
thought it was a pretty goodsong.
Uh Big Shots surprisingly uhrocky for someone like him.
Um although, you know, he hewould definitely dabble in that
(05:55):
from time to time.
Like uh I think it was on his uhdebut uh or at least his
previous album, the the one thatmade him big was uh what was the
song?
Um Piano.
No, I was thinking uh Only theGood Die Young was a pretty
rocky song, so but uh yeah, um Iyou know I definitely respect
(06:17):
his uh um dabbling into othergenres and stuff like that, and
uh you know pulling out whateverhe wants to do.
SPEAKER_05 (06:25):
So you know it's funny, I was why uh there was um
uh so Conan O'Brien has a reallygood podcast uh and uh actually
Chris Robinson was on there andthey he brought up um they were
trying to figure out as whatwhat's that one Billy Joel song
(06:46):
where he turns into a vampireand they're going, what?
What are you talking about?
And then the light bulb, youcould see the light bulb go off
in Conan O'Brien is like, oh,it's no no no no no, you had to
be a big shot, dincha.
Like that there's that one linedelivery in the song Big Shot
that he delivers like almostlike like um uh like Dracula or
(07:12):
something.
Yeah, okay.
Yeah.
And it's just I I every time Ihear that every time I hear
that, I can't not think of thatfor since I heard that.
Yeah.
He doesn't he doesn't make hedoesn't make new music anymore.
Uh he mostly tours, so he's Idon't I don't know if he was
(07:35):
which I kinda respect.
I mean I kinda respect that hesort of said, you know what, I'm
not I I just I don't he hasn'tmade a new album of new music
since nineteen ninety-three, sointeresting.
Yeah, so it's like he sort ofrealized, like, you know, I
don't really have anything elsein me.
Like this is this is it.
SPEAKER_04 (07:57):
Which is I I respect uh um him recognizing that about
himself, but uh I'm also alittle surprised that he
wouldn't have anything else inhim.
SPEAKER_05 (08:08):
Yeah, me too.
But you know, he I I get he wasvery prolific in his first Oh,
uh late seventies, earlyeighties, he was all over the
place.
Yeah, peak.
In the 70s, he put out one albumevery year.
This is 78, and this is hissixth album.
(08:28):
Six, yeah, sixth album.
Yeah.
And put his first one out in 72.
So that's one a year in the 70s.
Which I mean, that's that's insinsane output, you know.
SPEAKER_04 (08:44):
So Billy Joel doing this in the late 70s was sort of
like uh I I guess being more ofa uh again, he's a little more
rock and roll than just a popartist, but uh, but for the sake
of the argument, he's more of apop star.
And and the the output from likepeople who are like right in the
(09:04):
forefront of the pop musicindustry is generally uh a
little bit more um morefrequent, more prolific than say
most bands, like if you're inlike rock and roll or jazz or
something like that, you canusually get away with like one
every few years.
Even today you you get a littlebit like that.
SPEAKER_05 (09:25):
So Yeah, you kind of have to stay relevant.
You have to you have to sort ofup your your output to to stay
relevant.
So I think, you know, what likeif this were to be released
today, I don't I don't think Idon't think it would really do
(09:45):
much.
Like this is sort of like i ithas sort of gone on like this is
this album has become like uh analbum that people sort of
reference, but it still has thatlike it's still sort of stuck in
time, it's store still s sort ofstuck in the late 70s.
(10:06):
Like people s listen to it nowlike in a sort of a
retrospective sort of way, butit like it's still sort of um
like it's still sort of a a late70s kind of album.
Like and so I don't think ifthis style of music, like this
style that he is doing here, ifit were to be released today, I
(10:28):
don't think it would really domuch.
SPEAKER_04 (10:30):
Um Yeah, it's it's got a little bit of that show
tune sort of vibe to it, and ina little bit.
And sometimes, you know, umElton John would be sort of the
same way, and uh you know andand you know that's not really a
bad thing.
It's just it's definitely a uh astyle in rock and roll that
(10:57):
really only existed in the late70s, mid-late seventies.
Um yeah, even in the eighties,uh, you know, with uh Punkman
being around for a while and newwave taking over, that that sort
of style was very it just seemedvery old hat and it never came
back.
Unless you were like actuallyputting on like a uh a musical
(11:19):
or something like that.
Yes, exactly.
Exactly.
Um that's not actually acomplaint.
I mean, you know I I find youget that mostly from artists for
some reason when they're pianoplayers.
They sound they just sort ofhave that sort of sound, whereas
a guitar player doesn't give offthat sort of a vibe for some
(11:42):
reason.
I I don't know.
It's just something I'venoticed.
SPEAKER_05 (11:46):
And it's not Yeah, because I mean we yeah, uh it's
something that I definitelydefinitely noticed when we did
that Elton John album, uhCaptain Fantastic.
Um yeah, it's it's it's I don'tyeah, I don't well his his whole
thing was very, you know, hewould wear outrageous costumes
(12:07):
and stuff in the 70s.
But more than that, yeah, themusic sort of was more I I don't
even know what the word for itis, like more in that vaudeville
sort of uh thing, I suppose.
I did manage to find a few uhinteresting facts about the
album.
Um uh this was actually thefirst album to ever be released
(12:30):
on CD.
Uh in 1982, 52nd Street madehistory as the first
commercially available compactdisc uh CD when uh Sony released
it in Japan.
The mark this marked thebeginning of the CD era in
music.
Um this was I guess there has tobe a first, right?
SPEAKER_04 (12:52):
So some CD had to be it, and I guess this one isn't.
That's actually kind of cool.
SPEAKER_05 (12:59):
Yeah.
So the Grammy winning success,the album uh won Album of the
Year at the 1980 Grammy Awards,uh cementing Billy Joel's place
among the music's elite.
It was the first album to receit was his first album to
receive this honor, whichactually kind of surprised me
because I know he had had uhquite a bit of success earlier
(13:21):
than this album, so I didn'trealize that it you know it was
that late that he won a Grammyfor his work.
SPEAKER_04 (13:30):
Yeah.
You know, he had some like sortof like a cult following, and I
think his stuff has since becomepopular.
His earlier stuff has sincebecome popular.
Which sort of happens.
Um kind of like uh with uh youknow, Bob Seeger or uh Steve
Millerband?
Yeah, Steve Miller.
(13:50):
Like the Steve Miller band.
Although mo it's his stuff hisearly stuff has seems to be
largely ignored again.
SPEAKER_05 (13:57):
That's true.
That is true.
SPEAKER_04 (13:59):
I rarely hear it anywhere.
I mean, I had to search it out,and it's pretty good.
Um actually I was thinking of umum Oh, Bruce Springsteen.
SPEAKER_05 (14:11):
Oh yes.
Yeah, his first couple albumswere sort of more underground.
Yeah, it wasn't yeah, I guess itwasn't until Born to Run that he
sort of broke through.
Exactly.
So yeah, then this uh this albumuh has a jazzier sound inspired
by 52nd Street's history, whichwe covered in the description.
It says the the album uh titlereferences 52nd Street in
(14:36):
Manhattan, once a hotbed forjazz clubs and famous musicians
like Charlie Parker and Mil andMiles Davis.
Uh the influence is heard intracks like Zanzibar, which
features a trumpet solo by jazzby jazz great Freddie Hubbard.
Um, so that's pretty cool.
Um it says uh it In My Life, thesong In My Life became a TV
(14:59):
theme song.
Uh the song In My Life, or MyLife, sorry, uh was used as the
theme song for the TV show BosomBuddies, uh starring a young Tom
Hanks.
However, Billy Joel did not singthe TV version.
Studium studio musiciansre-recorded it.
Interesting.
The cover art shot outside of itwas CBS Studios.
(15:20):
The album cover featured BillyJoel holding a trumpet, uh, was
shot in an alleyway near CBSStudios in New York.
Um, the location was just offthe real 52nd Street, tying the
album's title and jazzinspiration.
So those are some interestingfacts about the album.
Uh so I guess we'll get into thesecond side of the album, but uh
(15:43):
before we do that, uh let's hearfrom our friends over at the
Pick a Disc podcast.
So uh check that out.
SPEAKER_03 (15:51):
Do you like music?
Do you like podcasts?
Chances are you like musicpodcasts, like this one, for
example, Pick a Disc, whereevery Fortnite a guest comes on
to talk about an album forwhatever reason they want to.
Sometimes I like it, sometimesperhaps even something else
other than just like it.
Just listen to the podcast andfind out.
We talk about the album, we talkabout the songs, we talk about
the artists, we talk abouttangent things that are slightly
related, and sometimes wedeviate off tangents.
(16:13):
But don't worry, we'll alwaysbring it back in the end.
But you can find us on all yoursocial medias and all the
podcast apps for searching forpick a disc.
You can also find us on the partof the Weedie Podcast Network
under link tree slash weedlypodcasts.
And until then, happy listeningto all those discs that you are
picking.
Goodbye.
SPEAKER_02 (16:39):
Thank you.
Here's side two.
SPEAKER_05 (16:43):
Alright, and ending the album with uh 52nd Street.
Um yeah, I I enjoyed this album.
Uh the second half sort of h hadmore of those the um the
showtune sort of uh vibehappening with it.
But uh yeah, I think overallit's a pretty pretty good pop
(17:05):
album.
Um Yeah, it's not bad at all.
You know, he's one of thoseartists that you know it it's it
was surprising because like thatthat last song, fifth 52nd
Street, he sounded like acompletely different singer, and
I actually had to look it up tosee if it was someone else
singing, and there's no creditto someone else singing that
(17:28):
song.
So I I I'm assuming that it'shim singing that.
Yeah, I guess so.
So yeah, so I like he's like Isaid, he's one of those artists
that I think he's one of thoseartists that are he's kind of
like um in terms of likecomparing him to another
(17:50):
musician, he's n he's more likeuh I don't know, I don't know
who else to compare him to, buthe's m he's not necessarily
writing songs uh that are verypersonal.
At least not here, I don'tthink.
They're more songs that are sortof they're more of like the the
(18:14):
sort of uh cinematic in someway.
Cinematic, but more so like likethe brill building sort of style
of songwriting, whereas likesort of writing songs in four to
like to be hits or to be likewriting songs for the sake of
(18:34):
writing a song rather thansomeone like Bruce Springsteen
who would like I've got a batchof songs that I've written, so
now it's time to make an album.
It's sort of like Billy Joel issort of just sort of churning
them out.
Not not to say that they're badsongs, but I feel like they're a
little less personal.
SPEAKER_04 (18:56):
Yeah, it could be.
Um you know, uh some of themprobably are personal to him in
some way or another.
But the uh but the the style ofwriting is definitely uh it it's
not I I think I know what youmean.
It it doesn't sound like it it'sit doesn't sound like
introspection or anything likethat.
(19:18):
It sounds like exactly yeahYeah, it's it's not
introspective.
SPEAKER_05 (19:23):
Yeah, it's it's like cr it's crafting a song rather
than writing poetry for lack ofa better word and and putting it
to m to music.
But that's not really a fair wayto say it.
I don't quite know how to sayit, but I think I think you know
what I mean.
SPEAKER_04 (19:41):
I think I know where where you're trying to get to,
and yeah, it's it's a littlehard to sort of put your finger
on.
SPEAKER_05 (19:47):
So like what would be your three sort of standout
tracks on the album then Let'ssee here.
SPEAKER_04 (19:55):
Um well I gotta go with My Life, because that's
just a good song.
I've always liked that one.
Um Maybe Half a Mile Away waspretty good.
And I guess I'm gonna go withBig Shot.
SPEAKER_05 (20:13):
So those are those are solid choices.
Yeah, I would probably go with Ireally like Stiletto.
I like the piano the the rhythmof the piano and stiletto.
Um and I liked Honesty and Ithink I'd heard Honesty before
somewhere.
It just has the It was a minorhit from the album.
(20:35):
Like it wasn't a a huge hit, butit was, you know, released as a
single.
So you probably would have heardit.
Um so yeah, it goes Stiletto,Honesty, and yeah, probably Big
Shot.
I I I always like that song.
I always like that song.
Um so then would you listen tothis album again?
SPEAKER_04 (20:58):
Probably.
It's not one of the ones I'd puton all the time.
But uh, you know, from time totime it might be alright.
SPEAKER_05 (21:07):
Yeah, yeah, same here.
I mean, I I think you know, it'sone of those albums that it's
sort of like you know, you youyou I I would have to be in a
certain mood for it.
I'd have to be I would have tobe in a pretty like positive,
sort of upbeat mood in order tohear to want to hear this again,
I think.
(21:27):
But the I think I would like toit's like a it's almost a party
album.
Uh like a not necessarily a big,you know, dance album, but a
song that you would put on at alike a party, like a uh uh a
song, an album you would put onum at a at a like a party, a
gathering of friends orsomething, you'd put this album
on.
(21:48):
Yeah, I can see that.
Uh so yeah, so I guess we'll uhend the episode there.
Uh, thank you so much forlistening if you made it this
far.
Uh if you did enjoy the show,don't forget to subscribe so you
know so you don't miss anyfuture episodes.
And uh we'd love it if you uhwould leave us a rating and
review because it really helpsuh new listeners find us.
And if you want to support theshow and get some exclusive
(22:11):
content, you can get a shout-outat the during these episodes,
and uh you can get these uhepisodes the day before we go
live.
Head on over to our Patreon, goto patreon.com slash polyphonic
press.
And um, you know, if you canalso check out the website, uh
go to polyphonicpress.com.
You can get the whole backcatalog of all these episodes
(22:34):
and uh all other updates thereand everything like that.
And um, yeah, I think thatpretty much does it.
Uh, I'm Jeremy Boyd, and I'mJohn Van Dyke.
Take it easy.
It's just the normal noises in here!
SPEAKER_00 (00:13):
This is Polyphonic Press, the podcast where two
music fans pick a classic albumcompletely at random.
Using the patented random albumgenerator, they are given an
album to review from a curatedlist of over 1,000 classic
releases spanning multiplegenres.
And now on to the show.
(00:35):
Here are your hosts, Jeremy Boydand John Van Dyke.
SPEAKER_05 (00:47):
Hey, welcome to Polyphonic Press.
I'm Jeremy Boyd.
I'm John Van Dyke.
And uh let's not waste any time.
We've got the patented randomalbum generator right in front
of us here.
Uh so let's hit the button andsee what album we're gonna be
listening to this week.
SPEAKER_01 (01:01):
The album you will be reviewing this week is 52nd
Street by Billy Joel.
SPEAKER_05 (01:07):
Alright.
Alright.
I'm not familiar.
I'm probably familiar with someof the songs on this album.
Yeah, probably.
But I don't know the album.
But anyway, this is adescription of the song.
It says 52nd Street is the sixthstudio album by Billy Joel,
released on uh October 13th,1978.
(01:28):
Following the massive success ofThe Stranger, this album
solidified Joel's status as oneof the premier
singer-songwriters of the late70s.
The album blends rock, jazz, andpop influences, incorporating a
more sophisticated urban soundcompared to its predecessor.
It won the Grammy Award forAlbum of the Year in 1980,
(01:49):
marking a peak in Joel's career.
The title refers to the famous52nd Street in Manhattan, once a
hub for jazz musicians, whichreflects the album's jazzier
elements.
Alright, so this was released onuh October 11th, 1978, and the
genres are uh rock and jazzrock, and uh the label is Family
(02:12):
Productions and ColumbiaRecords, and uh it was produced
by Phil Ramon.
And uh if you're listeningalong, which we do encourage you
to do, the album is split up uhpretty evenly between side one
and side two.
There's uh nine songs of thealbum, so the first four uh
songs make up side one.
Um so uh the song the albumstarts with uh Big Shot and side
(02:38):
one ends with Zanzibar.
So if you want to pause at theuh after the song Zanzibar, and
we'll have a discussion at thehalfway point.
And uh we've linked the album inthe show notes to both Spotify
and Apple Music so you can getit on your preferred uh
streaming service.
And I think without further ado,okay, here we go.
(03:03):
Here's the uh the first song onthe album, Big Shot.
Alright, and uh ending side onewith Zanzibar.
(03:23):
Uh yeah, I'm actually pretty uhI'm enjoying this uh so far.
It's uh it's a little more pop,but uh yeah, I'm I'm I'm I was
never that big into Billy Joel,but I'm actually really enjoying
his songwriting here.
He is a good songwriter.
SPEAKER_04 (03:41):
Yeah, it's not a bad album.
It's uh again, yeah, like yousaid, it's a little bit poppier
than what I would nor normallygo for, but it's uh it's still
it's still it's not bad at all,really.
SPEAKER_05 (03:54):
Um and the two songs that I know so far, Big Shot in
my life, I've I've heard thosesongs.
Those are big hits that he had.
Billy Joel has sort of alwaysstruck me as he's he's kind of
like the the Quentin Tarantinoof music.
(04:15):
Okay.
In the sense that he so if youknow about anything about
Quentin Tarantino's filmmaking,he tends to borrow a lot and he
he'll make uh different films indifferent genres that he likes.
(04:36):
And I feel like Billy Joel doesthe same thing.
Like there was one album he didin the eighties where each song
was a different style, like adifferent like one was like a
Motown song, one was like afifties rock and roll kind of
thing.
So So in the sense that he sortof does he's he s sort of
(05:00):
decides okay, I'm go I'm goingto make a song in this j genre
right now.
The same the much the same waythat Quentin Tarantino does.
Um and I kind of feel like he'ssort of doing that a little bit
here.
Uh like um this that songZanzibar had a lot of that was
probably one of the descriptionof the album was talking about
(05:23):
the the more jazz influences onthe album.
And I think that song inparticular is probably the
biggest jazz influence songwe've heard, at least so far.
SPEAKER_04 (05:33):
So far, yeah.
Um well yeah, it has an entirejazz breakdown in it.
Um and it's uh yeah, it's prettycool.
Um the song was like uh I alwaysliked the song My Life, I
thought it was a pretty goodsong.
Uh Big Shots surprisingly uhrocky for someone like him.
Um although, you know, he hewould definitely dabble in that
(05:55):
from time to time.
Like uh I think it was on his uhdebut uh or at least his
previous album, the the one thatmade him big was uh what was the
song?
Um Piano.
No, I was thinking uh Only theGood Die Young was a pretty
rocky song, so but uh yeah, um Iyou know I definitely respect
(06:17):
his uh um dabbling into othergenres and stuff like that, and
uh you know pulling out whateverhe wants to do.
SPEAKER_05 (06:25):
So you know it's funny, I was why uh there was um
uh so Conan O'Brien has a reallygood podcast uh and uh actually
Chris Robinson was on there andthey he brought up um they were
trying to figure out as whatwhat's that one Billy Joel song
(06:46):
where he turns into a vampireand they're going, what?
What are you talking about?
And then the light bulb, youcould see the light bulb go off
in Conan O'Brien is like, oh,it's no no no no no, you had to
be a big shot, dincha.
Like that there's that one linedelivery in the song Big Shot
that he delivers like almostlike like um uh like Dracula or
(07:12):
something.
Yeah, okay.
Yeah.
And it's just I I every time Ihear that every time I hear
that, I can't not think of thatfor since I heard that.
Yeah.
He doesn't he doesn't make hedoesn't make new music anymore.
Uh he mostly tours, so he's Idon't I don't know if he was
(07:35):
which I kinda respect.
I mean I kinda respect that hesort of said, you know what, I'm
not I I just I don't he hasn'tmade a new album of new music
since nineteen ninety-three, sointeresting.
Yeah, so it's like he sort ofrealized, like, you know, I
don't really have anything elsein me.
Like this is this is it.
SPEAKER_04 (07:57):
Which is I I respect uh um him recognizing that about
himself, but uh I'm also alittle surprised that he
wouldn't have anything else inhim.
SPEAKER_05 (08:08):
Yeah, me too.
But you know, he I I get he wasvery prolific in his first Oh,
uh late seventies, earlyeighties, he was all over the
place.
Yeah, peak.
In the 70s, he put out one albumevery year.
This is 78, and this is hissixth album.
(08:28):
Six, yeah, sixth album.
Yeah.
And put his first one out in 72.
So that's one a year in the 70s.
Which I mean, that's that's insinsane output, you know.
SPEAKER_04 (08:44):
So Billy Joel doing this in the late 70s was sort of
like uh I I guess being more ofa uh again, he's a little more
rock and roll than just a popartist, but uh, but for the sake
of the argument, he's more of apop star.
And and the the output from likepeople who are like right in the
(09:04):
forefront of the pop musicindustry is generally uh a
little bit more um morefrequent, more prolific than say
most bands, like if you're inlike rock and roll or jazz or
something like that, you canusually get away with like one
every few years.
Even today you you get a littlebit like that.
SPEAKER_05 (09:25):
So Yeah, you kind of have to stay relevant.
You have to you have to sort ofup your your output to to stay
relevant.
So I think, you know, what likeif this were to be released
today, I don't I don't think Idon't think it would really do
(09:45):
much.
Like this is sort of like i ithas sort of gone on like this is
this album has become like uh analbum that people sort of
reference, but it still has thatlike it's still sort of stuck in
time, it's store still s sort ofstuck in the late 70s.
(10:06):
Like people s listen to it nowlike in a sort of a
retrospective sort of way, butit like it's still sort of um
like it's still sort of a a late70s kind of album.
Like and so I don't think ifthis style of music, like this
style that he is doing here, ifit were to be released today, I
(10:28):
don't think it would really domuch.
SPEAKER_04 (10:30):
Um Yeah, it's it's got a little bit of that show
tune sort of vibe to it, and ina little bit.
And sometimes, you know, umElton John would be sort of the
same way, and uh you know andand you know that's not really a
bad thing.
It's just it's definitely a uh astyle in rock and roll that
(10:57):
really only existed in the late70s, mid-late seventies.
Um yeah, even in the eighties,uh, you know, with uh Punkman
being around for a while and newwave taking over, that that sort
of style was very it just seemedvery old hat and it never came
back.
Unless you were like actuallyputting on like a uh a musical
(11:19):
or something like that.
Yes, exactly.
Exactly.
Um that's not actually acomplaint.
I mean, you know I I find youget that mostly from artists for
some reason when they're pianoplayers.
They sound they just sort ofhave that sort of sound, whereas
a guitar player doesn't give offthat sort of a vibe for some
(11:42):
reason.
I I don't know.
It's just something I'venoticed.
SPEAKER_05 (11:46):
And it's not Yeah, because I mean we yeah, uh it's
something that I definitelydefinitely noticed when we did
that Elton John album, uhCaptain Fantastic.
Um yeah, it's it's it's I don'tyeah, I don't well his his whole
thing was very, you know, hewould wear outrageous costumes
(12:07):
and stuff in the 70s.
But more than that, yeah, themusic sort of was more I I don't
even know what the word for itis, like more in that vaudeville
sort of uh thing, I suppose.
I did manage to find a few uhinteresting facts about the
album.
Um uh this was actually thefirst album to ever be released
(12:30):
on CD.
Uh in 1982, 52nd Street madehistory as the first
commercially available compactdisc uh CD when uh Sony released
it in Japan.
The mark this marked thebeginning of the CD era in
music.
Um this was I guess there has tobe a first, right?
SPEAKER_04 (12:52):
So some CD had to be it, and I guess this one isn't.
That's actually kind of cool.
SPEAKER_05 (12:59):
Yeah.
So the Grammy winning success,the album uh won Album of the
Year at the 1980 Grammy Awards,uh cementing Billy Joel's place
among the music's elite.
It was the first album to receit was his first album to
receive this honor, whichactually kind of surprised me
because I know he had had uhquite a bit of success earlier
(13:21):
than this album, so I didn'trealize that it you know it was
that late that he won a Grammyfor his work.
SPEAKER_04 (13:30):
Yeah.
You know, he had some like sortof like a cult following, and I
think his stuff has since becomepopular.
His earlier stuff has sincebecome popular.
Which sort of happens.
Um kind of like uh with uh youknow, Bob Seeger or uh Steve
Millerband?
Yeah, Steve Miller.
(13:50):
Like the Steve Miller band.
Although mo it's his stuff hisearly stuff has seems to be
largely ignored again.
SPEAKER_05 (13:57):
That's true.
That is true.
SPEAKER_04 (13:59):
I rarely hear it anywhere.
I mean, I had to search it out,and it's pretty good.
Um actually I was thinking of umum Oh, Bruce Springsteen.
SPEAKER_05 (14:11):
Oh yes.
Yeah, his first couple albumswere sort of more underground.
Yeah, it wasn't yeah, I guess itwasn't until Born to Run that he
sort of broke through.
Exactly.
So yeah, then this uh this albumuh has a jazzier sound inspired
by 52nd Street's history, whichwe covered in the description.
It says the the album uh titlereferences 52nd Street in
(14:36):
Manhattan, once a hotbed forjazz clubs and famous musicians
like Charlie Parker and Mil andMiles Davis.
Uh the influence is heard intracks like Zanzibar, which
features a trumpet solo by jazzby jazz great Freddie Hubbard.
Um, so that's pretty cool.
Um it says uh it In My Life, thesong In My Life became a TV
(14:59):
theme song.
Uh the song In My Life, or MyLife, sorry, uh was used as the
theme song for the TV show BosomBuddies, uh starring a young Tom
Hanks.
However, Billy Joel did not singthe TV version.
Studium studio musiciansre-recorded it.
Interesting.
The cover art shot outside of itwas CBS Studios.
(15:20):
The album cover featured BillyJoel holding a trumpet, uh, was
shot in an alleyway near CBSStudios in New York.
Um, the location was just offthe real 52nd Street, tying the
album's title and jazzinspiration.
So those are some interestingfacts about the album.
Uh so I guess we'll get into thesecond side of the album, but uh
(15:43):
before we do that, uh let's hearfrom our friends over at the
Pick a Disc podcast.
So uh check that out.
SPEAKER_03 (15:51):
Do you like music?
Do you like podcasts?
Chances are you like musicpodcasts, like this one, for
example, Pick a Disc, whereevery Fortnite a guest comes on
to talk about an album forwhatever reason they want to.
Sometimes I like it, sometimesperhaps even something else
other than just like it.
Just listen to the podcast andfind out.
We talk about the album, we talkabout the songs, we talk about
the artists, we talk abouttangent things that are slightly
related, and sometimes wedeviate off tangents.
(16:13):
But don't worry, we'll alwaysbring it back in the end.
But you can find us on all yoursocial medias and all the
podcast apps for searching forpick a disc.
You can also find us on the partof the Weedie Podcast Network
under link tree slash weedlypodcasts.
And until then, happy listeningto all those discs that you are
picking.
Goodbye.
SPEAKER_02 (16:39):
Thank you.
Here's side two.
SPEAKER_05 (16:43):
Alright, and ending the album with uh 52nd Street.
Um yeah, I I enjoyed this album.
Uh the second half sort of h hadmore of those the um the
showtune sort of uh vibehappening with it.
But uh yeah, I think overallit's a pretty pretty good pop
(17:05):
album.
Um Yeah, it's not bad at all.
You know, he's one of thoseartists that you know it it's it
was surprising because like thatthat last song, fifth 52nd
Street, he sounded like acompletely different singer, and
I actually had to look it up tosee if it was someone else
singing, and there's no creditto someone else singing that
(17:28):
song.
So I I I'm assuming that it'shim singing that.
Yeah, I guess so.
So yeah, so I like he's like Isaid, he's one of those artists
that I think he's one of thoseartists that are he's kind of
like um in terms of likecomparing him to another
(17:50):
musician, he's n he's more likeuh I don't know, I don't know
who else to compare him to, buthe's m he's not necessarily
writing songs uh that are verypersonal.
At least not here, I don'tthink.
They're more songs that are sortof they're more of like the the
(18:14):
sort of uh cinematic in someway.
Cinematic, but more so like likethe brill building sort of style
of songwriting, whereas likesort of writing songs in four to
like to be hits or to be likewriting songs for the sake of
(18:34):
writing a song rather thansomeone like Bruce Springsteen
who would like I've got a batchof songs that I've written, so
now it's time to make an album.
It's sort of like Billy Joel issort of just sort of churning
them out.
Not not to say that they're badsongs, but I feel like they're a
little less personal.
SPEAKER_04 (18:56):
Yeah, it could be.
Um you know, uh some of themprobably are personal to him in
some way or another.
But the uh but the the style ofwriting is definitely uh it it's
not I I think I know what youmean.
It it doesn't sound like it it'sit doesn't sound like
introspection or anything likethat.
(19:18):
It sounds like exactly yeahYeah, it's it's not
introspective.
SPEAKER_05 (19:23):
Yeah, it's it's like cr it's crafting a song rather
than writing poetry for lack ofa better word and and putting it
to m to music.
But that's not really a fair wayto say it.
I don't quite know how to sayit, but I think I think you know
what I mean.
SPEAKER_04 (19:41):
I think I know where where you're trying to get to,
and yeah, it's it's a littlehard to sort of put your finger
on.
SPEAKER_05 (19:47):
So like what would be your three sort of standout
tracks on the album then Let'ssee here.
SPEAKER_04 (19:55):
Um well I gotta go with My Life, because that's
just a good song.
I've always liked that one.
Um Maybe Half a Mile Away waspretty good.
And I guess I'm gonna go withBig Shot.
SPEAKER_05 (20:13):
So those are those are solid choices.
Yeah, I would probably go with Ireally like Stiletto.
I like the piano the the rhythmof the piano and stiletto.
Um and I liked Honesty and Ithink I'd heard Honesty before
somewhere.
It just has the It was a minorhit from the album.
(20:35):
Like it wasn't a a huge hit, butit was, you know, released as a
single.
So you probably would have heardit.
Um so yeah, it goes Stiletto,Honesty, and yeah, probably Big
Shot.
I I I always like that song.
I always like that song.
Um so then would you listen tothis album again?
SPEAKER_04 (20:58):
Probably.
It's not one of the ones I'd puton all the time.
But uh, you know, from time totime it might be alright.
SPEAKER_05 (21:07):
Yeah, yeah, same here.
I mean, I I think you know, it'sone of those albums that it's
sort of like you know, you youyou I I would have to be in a
certain mood for it.
I'd have to be I would have tobe in a pretty like positive,
sort of upbeat mood in order tohear to want to hear this again,
I think.
(21:27):
But the I think I would like toit's like a it's almost a party
album.
Uh like a not necessarily a big,you know, dance album, but a
song that you would put on at alike a party, like a uh uh a
song, an album you would put onum at a at a like a party, a
gathering of friends orsomething, you'd put this album
on.
(21:48):
Yeah, I can see that.
Uh so yeah, so I guess we'll uhend the episode there.
Uh, thank you so much forlistening if you made it this
far.
Uh if you did enjoy the show,don't forget to subscribe so you
know so you don't miss anyfuture episodes.
And uh we'd love it if you uhwould leave us a rating and
review because it really helpsuh new listeners find us.
And if you want to support theshow and get some exclusive
(22:11):
content, you can get a shout-outat the during these episodes,
and uh you can get these uhepisodes the day before we go
live.
Head on over to our Patreon, goto patreon.com slash polyphonic
press.
And um, you know, if you canalso check out the website, uh
go to polyphonicpress.com.
You can get the whole backcatalog of all these episodes
(22:34):
and uh all other updates thereand everything like that.
And um, yeah, I think thatpretty much does it.
Uh, I'm Jeremy Boyd, and I'mJohn Van Dyke.
Take it easy.
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