I’ll second “Captain Jack”. Love the chorus.
Always A Woman is my top pick.
2nd vote goes to Only The Good Die Young.
Miami 2017!
sentimental nod for “My Life”.
Seconded/Thirded/Fourtheth… whatever.
Drewtwo99, you’ve made me listen to some old tracks I hadn’t in a while- thanks. However, I then had to pick a single one out of dozens and dozens of songs, so ::shakes fist angrily:: My nomination is a rather unusual one: Tomorrow is Today, off of Cold Spring Harbor, a song supposedly based off Joel’s suicide note. I’ve since read that that album was edited (or whatever that aspect of it is called; I’m not up on the terminology) poorly and his voice sounded distorted and notably higher than it was, but this actually serves to better emphasize the anger and despair behind the lyrics. It’s pretty darned powerful.
And my seconding goes to Only The Good Die Young.
In listening to many of these amazing songs once again, I remain astonished that Joel doesn’t rate his own voice highly. I remember driving up to college (so this would’ve been in the late 1980s) listening to an interview with him on WNEW where he said he didn’t consider himself a singer.
But listen to “Vienna” or “Only the Good Die Young” or “An Innocent Man” or “Through the Long Night” and you hear a guy who can make his voice sound bluesy or rough/rocker or doo-wop or just plain sweet. Maybe he was just being humble or modest. IMHO he’s got one of the most listenable voices in pop/rock, even if it lacks the technical prowess and beauty of… I dunno, singers like Ian Gillan, Jack Bruce or Stevie Wonder. Joel has an extremely effective voice no matter what genre he sings in, which is rare. Guy can sell a song, is what I’m saying.
Welll… MTV premiered in August '81, and “Pressure” was a 1982 song. The video’s premiere was in September '82. So it’s a pretty early video but I wouldn’t call it one of the first. (Unless you mean one of the first Joel videos, in which case, that’s probably true.)
I’m gonna be obscure and nominate** I’ve Loved These Days**.
Seconding NYSOM.
I remember a few years ago being astonished that Billy Joel was on C-SPAN of all places. He gave a talk complete with piano at The National Press Club.
If you have a couple hours to spare, I strongly recommend watching his appearance on Inside the Actors’ Studio. It’s all here:
The man really missed his calling as a teacher.
Seconded.
My nomination: Ballad of Billy the Kid
Not only is it a capella but Joel does all the singing himself despite how it appears in the video. It’s an amazing feat but my vote also goes to Scenes from an Italian Restaurant.
I pick Stiletto because no one else did.
Piano Man first, We Didn’t Start the Fire second.
Off topic - Yes, Cold Spring Harbor was mastered at the wrong speed. I had that album on an 8-track and Joel sounded like one of the Chipmunks, as if he recorded it while on helium. Joel himself said that when he heard the record, he ripped it off the turntable, ran outside, and threw it down the street like a Frisbee. Years later, it was remastered at the correct speed and re-released. However, Artie Ripp, Joel’s original producer and the legal owner of the master recordings, significantly altered the songs, adding string arrangements where there hadn’t been any originally, and altering drum tracks. “Tomorrow is Today” was one of the songs changed from the original recording.