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'It’s Still Rock and Rock' to Billy Joel

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11 Jan 2022
5 min read
Question: billy joel had his first no. 1 single in 1980 with...

Billy Joel hasn’t released a studio album since 2001’s Fantasies & Delusions . . . and, considered the depth, popularity and ongoing radio play of his massive catalogue, perhaps “The Piano Man” doesn’t need to.

With 33 top-40 hits on his C.V. and better than 150 million worldwide record sales, the native of Hicksville, New York has namely played a tune of touring, compilations and live albums across the New Millennium.

Provided that 10 of his 13 studio albums appeared in the taut window between 1971-1983, maybe it’s understandable that Joel’s prolific output of original material was ready for a breather (and, yes, the man turned 70 in 2020).

But even amid the sprawling songs and sounds, consider that Joel didn’t enjoy a No. 1 hit on Billboard’s Pop Singles chart until 1980’s “It’s Still Rock and Rock to Me,” which led his seventh studio album, Glass Houses.  

Previous to (finally) reaching the top of the totem, Joel had twice reached as high as No. 3 on the American charts, with “Just the Way You Are” and “My Life,” respectively.  Subsequently, he’d again reach No. 1 in 1983 with “Tell Her About It,” and then again in ’89 with “We Didn’t Start the Fire.” His final top-10 to-date is “The River of Dreams,” title track of his 1989 album of the same name.

A stellar commentary on the singer beefs with “New Wave” music, modern fashion trends and press criticism of musicians, the New School versus Old School rules in “It’s Still Rock and Rock to Me” are found in the lyrics from the outset.

What's the matter with the clothes I'm wearing?
"Can't you tell that your tie's too wide?"
Maybe I should buy some old tab collars?
"Welcome back to the age of jive
Where have you been hidin' out lately, honey?
You can't dress trashy till you spend a lot of money"
Everybody's talkin' 'bout the new sound
Funny, but it's still rock and roll to me


And Joel didn’t hide from his feelings when speaking with Rolling Stone upon the single’s release.

“New Wave songs, it seems, can only be about two and a half minutes long,” Joel told the mag in 1980. “Only a certain number of instruments can be played on the record —usually a very few. Only a certain amount of production is allowed or can be heard. The sound has to be limited to what you can hear in a garage. A return to that sound is all that’s going on now, so don’t give me any of this New Wave … It’s just a reaction to a rediscovered past, and a rejection of Emerson, Lake & Palmer using multi-deck synthesizers.”