2024 is shaping up to be a big year for Billy Joel. The Piano Man announced awhile back that he will be wrapping up his longtime residency at Madison Square Garden in July (after his 150th show). He will turning 75 on May 9th. And — perhaps most significantly — he released his first new pop song in many years on February 1st. “Turn the Lights Back On,” that song, is vintage Joel: a piano-based ballad with reflective lyrics. Although there are no plans for a full album as of now, longtime Joel fans are just happy to bask in the knowledge that his songwriting talent hasn’t left him.
With all these milestones happening, it feels like a good time to visit Joel’s back catalog. But we’re all familiar with his big hits: from “Piano Man” to “Uptown Girl,” and from “Just the Way You Are” to “It’s Still Rock and Roll To Me.” Those songs (and many others) have become part of popular music’s vernacular. So what we’ve done at Classics Du Jour is to take a look back at some of the great songs Joel has written that don’t get as much attention — and there are a lot of them!
Between 1973 and 1993, Joel released 11 studio albums on Columbia Records. But there was also the independently released effort Cold Spring Harbor in 1971, when he was still another struggling singer-songwriter. Each of these albums has two or three excellent deep cuts to recommend them. There have also been some worthwhile songs that have turned up as B-sides or on compilations.
Below is a list of 20 Joel songs you may have missed — from the most recent (“Turn the Lights Back On”) to the oldest (another ballad, “Got to Begin Again”). In between you’ll find everything from Beatlesque pop (“Laura”) to jazz-influenced tunes (“Zanzibar,” “Baby Grand”) to rockers (“That’s Not Her Style,” “Los Angelenos”) to ’50s-styled ballads (“This Night”). Taken together, this list proves that there is much more to the Piano Man than the hits!
Scroll down to the bottom of this list to listen to these 20 Deep Cuts from Billy Joel on Spotify!
20 Turn the Lights Back On — 2024
“Turn the Lights Back On,” Joel’s first new pop song in decades, is a lovely ballad that he cowrote with Freddy Wexler, Arthur Bacon and Wayne Hector. “I’m late, but I’m here right now,” he sings. “Did I wait too long/To turn the lights back on?”
Joel’s only pop releases since 1993 were the songs “All My Life” (which he wrote for Tony Bennett) and “Christmas in Fallujah” (which was sung by Cass Dillon), both from 2007.
Billy Joel Releases First New Video in Decades for ‘Turn The Lights Back On’
19 The Great Wall of China — 1993
From Joel’s 1993 swan song River of Dreams comes “The Great Wall of China,” a catchy cut with Beatlesque flourishes. The song is allegedly a kiss off to Joel’s former manager (and brother-in-law), Frank Weber.
18 That’s Not Her Style — 1989
“That’s Not Her Style” opened the 1989 Storm Front disc in fine fashion. It’s a rocker about Joel’s then-wife, model Christie Brinkley and her treatment by the tabloids.
17 House of Blue Light — 1989
“House of Blue Light” was the B-side of Joel’s 1989 smash, “We Didn’t Start the Fire.” It’s a bluesy track about a guy seeking solace from the road and from his problems — not necessarily in that order.
16 Baby Grand — 1986
From 1986’s The Bridge comes this classic duet between Joel and the late Ray Charles. “Baby Grand” is a love letter to the piano, sung by two of the greats.
15 Big Man on Mulberry Street — 1986
Another one from The Bridge. “Big Man on Mulberry Street,” which kicks off side two, is a ‘40s-style song about an emotionally tortured mobster. To wit:
“I’m so romantic
I’m such a passionate man
Sometimes I panic
What if nobody finds out who I am?”
Could this have provided the inspiration for Tony Soprano?
14 This Night — 1983
An Innocent Man, from 1983, was Joel’s tribute to the music he grew up on in the ‘50s and early ‘60s. It was also a massive success, producing no fewer than seven singles! “This Night” was not one of those. But it’s a great tune all the same — a straightforward love song as it might have been done in the doo wop era.
13 Nobody Knows But Me — 1982
A true anomaly in the Joel catalog, “Nobody Knows But Me” appeared on the Sesame Street: In Harmony 2 album. It may be a children’s song, but it’s intelligent and infectious just the same.
12 Laura — 1982
Joel has never made any secret of his love for The Beatles. And he’s probably never sounded more Beatlesque than he did on “Laura,” from his 1982 effort The Nylon Curtain.
“Laura” is a midtempo song about a toxic relationship with a friend. Great lyrics and harmonies — not to mention Joel’s first recorded use of the F-bomb!
11 She’s Right on Time — 1982
Also from The Nylon Curtain, “She’s Right on Time” is a much happier tune — a love song with nice Christmas imagery.
10 Elvis Presley Blvd — 1982
“Elvis Presley Blvd.” was the B-side of “Allentown,” the second single from The Nylon Curtain. It was a good song in its own right — a midtempo tribute to The King with a honky tonk feel.
9 Sleeping with the Television On — 1980
Joel kicked off the ‘80s with his “New Wave” album, Glass Houses. It featured four Top 40 hits — all on side one — including his first chart topper, “It’s Still Rock and Roll To Me.”
Buried on side two was “Sleeping with the Television On,” a catchy pop song that includes the classic line “I really wish I was less of a thinking man/And more a fool who’s not afraid of rejection.”
8 I Don’t Want to Be Alone — 1980
Another one from Glass Houses. “I Don’t Want to Be Alone” is a reggae-influenced tune that opens side two.
7 Zanzibar — 1978
The centerpiece of Joel’s 52nd Street disc, “Zanzibar” is a great, jazzy tune about a guy out for a night on the town in late ‘70s New York City. Extra points for the trumpet solo by the late Freddie Hubbard.
6 Vienna — 1977
It’s hard to pick a deep cut from Joel’s 1977 album The Stranger, if only because nearly every song was either a single or a popular album track! But “Vienna,” which opens side two, does the job. It’s a piano-based ballad (with an accordion solo) that finds Joel counseling a “crazy child,” trying to tell him to take some time for himself before joining the rat race.
In a 2008 interview with the NY Times, Joel cited “Vienna” and “Summer, Highland Falls” as two of his best songs.
5 Summer, Highland Falls — 1976
From the Turnstiles disc(which was arguably Joel’s first masterpiece). “Summer, Highland Falls” is a beautiful song with philosophical lyrics and arpeggios galore.
4 Roberta — 1974
“Roberta” closed out side one of Joel’s second major label album, Streetlife Serenade. A love song to a prostitute, it was not for the faint of heart. “Roberta, how I’ve adored you,” he sings. “I’d ask you over but I can’t afford you.”
3 Los Angelenos — 1974
Also from Streetlife Serenade. “Los Angelenos” is a rocker about the young people in Southern California who are “going nowhere on the streets with the Spanish names.”
2 Somewhere Along the Line — 1973
“Somewhere Along the Line” was the next to last track on Piano Man, Joel’s major label debut. It’s a lovely song about the proverbial morning after. “It’s rainy night in Paris and I’m sitting by The Seine,” he sings. “It’s a pleasure to be soaking in the European rain/Now my belly’s full of fancy food and wine/But in the morning, there’ll be Hell to pay/Somewhere along the line.”
1 Got to Begin Again — 1971
…And we end with a beginning. “Got to Begin Again” — which is just Joel’s voice and piano — closed out Joel’s 1971 album Cold Spring Harbor. The disc itself was not his finest moment, as he has been the first to admit. But there were a few gems on it and “Got to Begin Again” is one of them. It’s the end of a long day; the young Joel is tired and confused and he’s made some mistakes. But for all that, as he says toward the song’s end, “I just can’t get you out of my mind.”
Beautiful stuff and a harbinger of things to come.
