Hit Parade: Still Billy Joel to Me Part 1

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Tv & Film, Arts, Music

4.2 • 2K Ratings

🗓️ 12 August 2022

⏱️ 60 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

So, sure—Billy Joel’s first Top 40 hit, way back in 1974, was “Piano Man,” and the nickname stuck. But for a guy who became famous sitting behind 88 keys, few of his biggest hits are really piano songs. In fact, on all three of his No. 1 hits on the Billboard Hot 100, keyboards are not the primary instrument. The truth is, Joel isn’t the Piano Man, he’s the pastiche man. He has openly admitted to borrowing genre tropes, vocal styles, and even specific song hooks from his Baby Boom-era heroes, from Ray Charles to the Beatles to the Supremes. He’s been a jazzy crooner, a saloon balladeer, an anthem rocker, even a pseudo-punk. And on his most hit-packed album, he literally tried on a different song mode on every single—and was rewarded for it. This month, Hit Parade breaks down the uncanny success of pop magpie Billy Joel, the guy who would try anything for a hit: the next phase, new wave, dance craze, any ways. Podcast production by Benjamin Frisch and Kevin Bendis Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Transcript

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0:29.0	anti mini cheddar. They don't get cheddar than this.
0:34.0	Could be the greatest cheese no cover.
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0:46.0	Add some cheese to the moment, with mini-chedders baked with real cheese.
0:50.0	Welcome to Hip Parade, a podcast of pop chart history from Sleight magazine
1:00.0	about the hits from coast to coast.
1:03.0	I'm Chris Malanfi, chart analyst, pop critic, and writer of Sleight's Why is the Song No. 1 series.
1:10.0	On today's show, 40 years ago, in April 1980,
1:19.0	a well-established pop star was making his comeback into the top 10 on the Billboard charts.
	...

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