Wednesday 1/27/2021 12am ET: Feature LP: Billy Joel – Piano Man (1973)

Piano Man is the second studio album by American recording artist Billy Joel, released on November 9, 1973 by Columbia Records. The album emerged from legal difficulties with Joel’s former label Family Productions, and ultimately became his first breakthrough album.

The title track, a fictionalized retelling of Joel’s experiences with people he met as a lounge singer in Los Angeles, peaked at No.  25 on the US Billboard Hot 100 and No.  4 on the Adult Contemporary singles chart. “Travelin’ Prayer” and “Worse Comes to Worst” peaked at Nos. 77 and 80 on the Hot 100, respectively, while the album itself peaked at No.  27 on the US Billboard 200. The album was certified gold by the RIAA in 1975, but Joel received only $8000 in royalties (US$38,011 in 2019 dollars)

1. “Travelin’ Prayer” 4:16
2. “Piano Man” 5:37
3. “Ain’t No Crime” 3:20
4. “You’re My Home” 3:14
5. “The Ballad of Billy the Kid” 5:35
6. “Worse Comes to Worst” 3:28
7. “Stop in Nevada” 3:40
8. “If I Only Had the Words (To Tell You)” 3:35
9. “Somewhere Along the Line” 3:17
10. “Captain Jack” 7:15

Billy Joel – acoustic piano, organ, electric piano, harmonica, vocals
Michael Omartian – accordion, arrangements (tracks 1-4, 6-10)
Jimmie Haskell – arrangements (track 5)
Richard Bennett – guitars
Larry Carlton – guitars
Dean Parks – guitars
Eric Weissberg – banjo, pedal steel guitar
Fred Heilbrun – banjo
Wilton Felder – bass guitar
Emory Gordy Jr. – bass guitar
Ron Tutt – drums (tracks 1–9)
Rhys Clark – drums (track 10)
Billy Armstrong – violin
Laura Creamer – backing vocals
Mark Creamer – backing vocals
Susan Steward – backing vocals

Tuesday 1/5/2021 2pm ET: Feature LP: Billy Joel – The Stranger (1977) 30th Anniversary

The Stranger is the fifth studio album by American singer Billy Joel, released in September 1977 by Columbia Records. It was the first of Joel’s albums to be produced by Phil Ramone, with whom he would go on to work for all of his albums up until his 1986 album The Bridge.

The Stranger was released a year following Joel’s previous studio effort, Turnstiles, which had sold modestly and peaked low on the US charts, prompting Columbia to consider dropping Joel if his next release did not sell well. Joel wanted the album to feature his newly-formed touring band that had formed during the production of Turnstiles, which consisted of drummer Liberty DeVitto, bassist Doug Stegmeyer, and multi-instrumentalist saxophonist/organist Richie Cannata. Seeking out a new producer, he first turned to veteran Beatles producer George Martin before coming across and settling on Ramone, whose name he had seen on albums by other artists such as Paul Simon. Recording took place across the span of three weeks, with DeVitto, Stegmeyer and Cannata being featured in addition to other studio musicians filling in as guitarists on various songs.

Spending six weeks at No. 2 on the US Billboard 200, The Stranger is considered Joel’s critical and commercial breakthrough. Four singles were released in the US, all of which became top-40 hits on the Billboard Hot 100 charts, including “Just the Way You Are” (#3), “Movin’ Out (Anthony’s Song)”, “She’s Always a Woman” (both #17), and “Only the Good Die Young” (#24). Other songs, such as “Scenes from an Italian Restaurant” and “Vienna”, have become staples of his career and are frequently performed in his live shows. The album won two awards at the 1978 Grammy Awards, winning Record of the Year as well as Song of the Year for “Just the Way You Are”. It remains his best-selling non-compilation album to date, and surpassed Simon & Garfunkel’s Bridge over Troubled Water to become Columbia’s best-selling album release, with more than 10 million units sold worldwide. Rolling Stone later named it one of the 500 greatest albums of all time.

1. “Movin’ Out (Anthony’s Song)” 3:30
2. “The Stranger” 5:10
3. “Just the Way You Are” 4:52
4. “Scenes from an Italian Restaurant” 7:37
5. “Vienna” 3:34
6. “Only the Good Die Young” 3:55
7. “She’s Always a Woman” 3:21
8. “Get It Right the First Time” 3:57
9. “Everybody Has a Dream” 6:38

Live at Carnegie Hall, June 3, 1977

“Miami 2017 (Seen the Lights Go Out on Broadway)” – 5:11
“Prelude/Angry Young Man” – 6:05
“New York State of Mind” – 8:20
“Just the Way You Are” – 4:56
“She’s Got a Way” – 3:32
“The Entertainer” – 6:09
“Scenes from an Italian Restaurant” – 7:35
“Band Introductions” – 2:02
“Captain Jack” – 6:51
“I’ve Loved These Days” – 4:29
“Say Goodbye to Hollywood” – 6:45
“Souvenir” – 2:09

Billy Joel – vocals, acoustic piano, keyboards, synthesizers, Fender Rhodes
Richie Cannata – organ, tenor saxophone, soprano saxophone, clarinet, flute, tuba
Dominic Cortese – accordion (4, 5)
Richard Tee – organ (9)
Hiram Bullock – electric guitar
Steve Khan – six and twelve string electric guitars, acoustic rhythm guitar, high string guitar
Hugh McCracken – acoustic guitar (3, 4, 7, 8, 9)
Steve Burgh – acoustic guitar (3, 7), electric guitar (4)
Doug Stegmeyer – bass guitar
Liberty DeVitto – drums
Ralph MacDonald – percussion (2, 3, 8, 9)
Phil Woods – alto saxophone (3)
Patrick Williams – orchestration
Patti Austin – backing vocals (9)
Lani Groves – backing vocals (9)
Gwen Guthrie – backing vocals (9)
Phoebe Snow – backing vocals (9)

Sunday 12/27/2020 12pm ET: Feature Artist – Mick Jones

Michael Leslie Jones is a British musician, singer, songwriter, and record producer, best known as the sole remaining original member of the British-American rock band Foreigner. Prior to Foreigner, he was in the band Spooky Tooth.

Michael Leslie Jones was born on 27 December 1945 in Portsmouth, England. Jones started playing guitar at an early age, and decided to pursue a career in music. He began his professional music career in the early 1960s as a member of the band Nero and the Gladiators, who scored two minor British hit singles in 1961. After the demise of Nero and the Gladiators, Jones worked as a songwriter and session musician in France for such artists as Françoise Hardy, Sylvie Vartan, and Johnny Hallyday (“The French Elvis”), for whom he wrote many songs, including “Je suis né dans la rue” and “À tout casser” (which features Jimmy Page on guitar). When The Beatles toured France in 1964, they befriended Mick when Hallyday’s girlfriend and future wife Sylvie Vartan played on the same bill as they did. Between 1965 and 1971 Jones recorded in France with Tommy Brown (Thomas R. Browne) as State of Mickey & Tommy, as well as under other session names including the Blackburds, Nimrod, and the J&B.

After leaving France to return to his home country, Jones joined Gary Wright, formerly of the band Spooky Tooth, to form Wonderwheel in 1971. In 1972, Jones and Wright reformed Spooky Tooth, and after this Jones was a member of the Leslie West Band. He also played guitar on the albums Wind of Change (1972) for Peter Frampton, and Dark Horse (1974) for George Harrison.

In 1976, Jones formed Foreigner with Ian McDonald and recruited lead singer Lou Gramm. Jones co-produced all of the band’s albums and co-wrote most of their songs with Gramm. Jones wrote the band’s most successful single, “I Want to Know What Love Is”, by himself. Tensions developed within the band during the late 1980s, attributed to a difference in musical taste between Gramm, who favoured a more hard-edged rock, as opposed to Jones’ interest in synthesisers. Gramm left the band in 1990 but returned in 1992. In 1989, Jones released his only solo album titled Mick Jones on the Atlantic Records label. Jones is the only person to play on every Foreigner album.

In between his Foreigner commitments, Jones also started a side career as a producer for such albums as Van Halen’s 5150 (1986), Bad Company’s Fame and Fortune (1986) and Billy Joel’s Storm Front (1989).

He co-wrote with Eric Clapton the song “Bad Love” on Clapton’s Journeyman album, and in 2002 co-wrote the song “On Her Mind” with Duncan Sheik. In the late 1990s and early 2000s, he played with Bill Wyman’s Rhythm Kings.

He was married to socialite/writer Ann Dexter-Jones, mother of Mark, Samantha and Charlotte Ronson. Ann and Mick have two children, Annabelle and Alexander Dexter-Jones. Married for nearly 25 years, Jones and Dexter-Jones divorced in 2007. In 2017, the couple remarried. He also has two sons, from prior relationships, Roman and Christopher Jones.

In addition to the Foreigner albums, Jones has produced the following:

5150 – Van Halen (1986)
Fame and Fortune – Bad Company (1986)
Dead, White and Blue – Flesh & Blood (1989)
Save the Last Dance for Me – Ben E. King (1989)
Storm Front – Billy Joel (1989)
In Deep – Tina Arena (1997)
Beyond Good and Evil – The Cult (2001)

Sunday 12/27/2020 12am ET: Feature LP: Billy Joel – Storm Front (1989)

Storm Front is the eleventh studio album by American singer-songwriter Billy Joel, released on October 17, 1989. It was Joel’s third album to reach No. 1 in the U.S. and features “We Didn’t Start the Fire”, a fast-paced song that cataloged a list of historical events, trends, and cultural icons from 1949 (when Joel was born) until 1989, which was Joel’s third Billboard No. 1 hit.

“I Go to Extremes”, a song describing the ups and downs of his emotional life, placed at No. 6. Other songs that placed in the top 100 were “And So It Goes” (No. 37), “The Downeaster ‘Alexa'” (No. 57), and “That’s Not Her Style” (No. 77). The album was also nominated for five Grammy Awards.[8] The album’s cover depicts the maritime storm warning flag indicating wind forces 10–12, the highest intensity on the Beaufort scale.

“That’s Not Her Style” – 5:10
“We Didn’t Start the Fire” – 4:50
“The Downeaster ‘Alexa'” – 3:44
“I Go to Extremes” – 4:23
“Shameless” – 4:26
“Storm Front” – 5:17
“Leningrad” – 4:06
“State of Grace” – 4:30
“When in Rome” – 4:44
“And So It Goes” – 3:38

Monday 12/14/2020 10pm ET: Feature LP: Billy Joel – Ultimate Collection (2001)

The Ultimate Collection is a double-disc compilation album by American singer-songwriter Billy Joel. It was first released by Sony Music Entertainment Japan in December 2000, and subsequently issued in the most of European and Oceanian countries with slightly different track listings (replacing Japanese top-3 charting hit “The Stranger” with live version of “You’re My Home”).

This career-spanning compilation features some of Joel’s early notable compositions and hit singles which were disregarded on his Greatest Hits series, although several fan favorites like “Scenes from an Italian Restaurant”, “Pressure” and “Big Shot” were excluded alternatively. It became a smash hit worldwide, entering top-5 on the charts in several countries including United Kingdom.

The Ultimate Collection was not issued in the United States, however Legacy Recordings released another similar compilation The Essential in October 2001.

O1. “Just the Way You Are” 4:50
2. “My Life” 4:43
3. “It’s Still Rock and Roll to Me” 2:57
4. “An Innocent Man” 5:18
5. “Piano Man” 5:37
6. “You’re My Home” 3:12
7. “Everybody Loves You Now” 3:11
8. “The Entertainer” 3:40
9. “Streetlife Serenader” 5:16
10. “New York State of Mind” 6:03
11. “Say Goodbye to Hollywood” 4:38
12. “She’s Got a Way” 3:00
13. “Movin’ Out (Anthony’s Song)” 3:29
14. “She’s Always a Woman” 3:20
15. “Honesty” 3:49
16. “You May Be Right” 4:12
17. “Don’t Ask Me Why” 2:57
18. “Miami 2017 (Seen the Lights Go Out on Broadway)” 5:09

1. “Uptown Girl” 3:16
2. “Tell Her About It” 3:50
3. “The River of Dreams” 4:07
4. “The Longest Time” 3:37
5. “We Didn’t Start the Fire” 4:47
6. “Goodnight Saigon” 7:02
7. “Allentown” 3:49
8. “All for Leyna” 4:12
9. “This Is the Time” 4:59
10. “Leave a Tender Moment Alone” 3:53
11. “A Matter of Trust” 4:08
12. “Modern Woman” 3:50
13. “Baby Grand” (Duet with Ray Charles) 4:04
14. “I Go to Extremes” 4:21
15. “Leningrad” 4:03
16. “The Downeaster ‘Alexa'” 3:43
17. “You’re Only Human (Second Wind)” 4:48
18. “All About Soul” (Remix) 5:58

 

 

Friday 12pm (Part 1)/ 4pm (Part 2) ET: Feature Artist – Billy Joel

William Martin Joel (born May 9, 1949) is an American singer-songwriter, composer, and pianist. Commonly nicknamed the “Piano Man” after his first major hit and signature song of the same name, he has led a commercially successful career as a solo artist since the 1970s, having released twelve studio albums from 1971 to 1993 as well as one studio album in 2001. He is one of the best-selling music artists of all time, as well as the sixth best-selling recording artist and the third best-selling solo artist in the United States, with over 150 million records sold worldwide. His 1985 compilation album, Greatest Hits Vol. 1 & 2, is one of the best-selling albums in the US.

Joel was born in 1949 in The Bronx, New York, and grew up on Long Island, both places that influenced his music. Growing up, he took piano lessons at the insistence of his mother. After dropping out of high school to pursue a musical career, Joel took part in two short-lived bands, The Hassles and Attila, before signing a record deal with Family Productions and kicking off a solo career in 1971 with his first release, Cold Spring Harbor. In 1972, Joel caught the attention of Columbia Records after a live radio performance of the song “Captain Jack” became popular in Philadelphia, prompting him to sign a new record deal with the company and release his second album, Piano Man, in 1973. After releasing the albums Streetlife Serenade and Turnstiles in 1974 and 1976 respectively, Joel released his critical and commercial breakthrough album, The Stranger, in 1977. This album became Columbia’s best-selling release, selling over 10 million copies and spawning several hit singles, including “Just the Way You Are”, “Movin’ Out (Anthony’s Song)”, “Only the Good Die Young”, and “She’s Always a Woman”; another song on this album, “Scenes from an Italian Restaurant”, is Joel’s favorite of his own songs and has become a staple of his live shows.

Saturday 7pm / Sunday 5pm ET: Great Soul Performances with Bobby Jay

As difficult as I’m sure it will be, this evening on “Great Soul Performances” we will be saluting and paying tribute to one of my childhood friends; the tallest kid in the neighborhood, the late Leroy Binns, who sang with the Charts, the Cadillacs, the Del Vikings and others.

There’ll be music by the Charts, Little Isidore & the Inquisitors, Joel & the Dymensions, Jimmy Castor, the Cadillacs, J.R. Bailey, Laura Nyro with LaBelle (Patti LaBelle-Sarah Dash-Nona Hendryx), the Dovells, the Encounters, Les Cooper & his Soul Rockers, Prince Joseph’s Premiers (Joe Grier), plus I’ll be joined by Leroy’s friends, Joe Grier, Reggie Barnes, Dickie Harmon, Paul Roland Martinez, Joe Rivera and Earl Swindell with their recollections of Leroy. The tribute begins at 7PM ET, 6PM CT, 5PM MT and 4PM PT.

Following “G.S.P.” will be “Great Soul Performances 2: The 80s,” where on the playlist you’ll hear songs by: Teddy Pendergrass, El DeBarge, Fred Parris & the Satins, Stephanie Mills, the Trammps, Aaron Neville & the Neville Brothers, the Clark Sisters, Billy Joel, Roberta Flack & Donny Hathaway, Johnny Mathis, Gladys Knight & the Pips and more. The 80s start at 9PM ET, 8PM CT, 7PM MT & 6PM PT. I hope you’ll join me later this evening for our tribute to Leroy Binns on RadioMaxMusic.Com. Below you’ll see photos from my archive of Leroy and many of his friends.

Monday 10pm ET: LP Lounge with Willie B

A Christmas Gift for You from Phil Spector (originally released as A Christmas Gift for You from Philles Records) is an album of Christmas songs, produced by Phil Spector, and originally released as Philles 45 in 1963. Spector treated a series of mostly secular Christmas standards to his “Wall of Sound” treatment, and the selections feature the vocal performances of Spector’s regular artists during this period. The album peaked at No. 13 on Billboard magazine’s special, year-end, weekly Christmas Albums sales chart in December 1963.

The album was reissued by Apple Records in 1972, with different cover art—a photograph of Spector dressed as a heavily bearded Santa Claus, wearing a “Back to Mono” button—and retitled Phil Spector’s Christmas Album. This version of the album went to No. 6 on Billboard’s special Christmas Albums sales chart in December of that year, which was its highest chart ranking. It was also in 1972 that the album made its debut on the UK Albums Chart; it would re-chart in 1983, peaking at No. 19. On the week ending December 15, 2018, A Christmas Gift for You from Phil Spector entered the main Billboard 200 albums chart for the first time (at position No. 48), eventually peaking at No. 12 three weeks later (on the week ending January 5, 2019).

In 2003, the album was voted No. 142 on Rolling Stone magazine’s list of the 500 greatest albums of all time, maintaining the rating in a 2012 revised list. In 2017, it was ranked the 130th greatest album of the 1960s by Pitchfork. Brian Wilson of the Beach Boys has cited this album as his favorite of all time. The album was included in Robert Dimery’s 1001 Albums You Must Hear Before You Die.

The Stranger is the fifth studio album by American singer Billy Joel, released in September 1977 by Columbia Records. It was the first of Joel’s albums to be produced by Phil Ramone, with whom he would go on to work for all of his albums up until his 1986 album The Bridge.

The Stranger was released a year following Joel’s previous studio effort, Turnstiles, which had sold modestly and peaked low on the US charts, prompting Columbia to consider dropping Joel if his next release did not sell well. Joel wanted the album to feature his newly-formed touring band that had formed during the production of Turnstiles, which consisted of drummer Liberty DeVitto, bass player Doug Stegmeyer and saxophonist Richie Cannata. Seeking out a new producer, he first turned to veteran Beatles producer George Martin before coming across and settling on Ramone, whose name he had seen on albums by other artists such as Paul Simon. Recording took place across the span of three weeks, with Devitto, Stegmeyer and Cannata being featured in addition to other studio musicians filling in as guitarists on various songs.

Spending six weeks at No. 2 on the US Billboard 200, The Stranger is considered Joel’s critical and commercial breakthrough. Four singles were released in the US, all of which became top-40 hits on the Billboard Hot 100 charts, including “Just the Way You Are” (#3), “Movin’ Out (Anthony’s Song)”, “She’s Always a Woman” (both #17), and “Only the Good Die Young” (#24). Other songs, such as “Scenes from an Italian Restaurant” and “Vienna”, have become staples of his career and are frequently performed in his live shows. The album won two awards at the 1978 Grammy Awards, winning Record of the Year as well as Song of the Year for “Just the Way You Are”. It remains his best-selling non-compilation album to date, and surpassed Bridge Over Troubled Water to become Columbia’s best-selling album release, with more than 10 million units sold worldwide. It was ranked at No.  70 on Rolling Stone’s list of the 500 greatest albums of all time.

 

Tuesday 6pm ET: Sounds of The 80s

This week on the Sounds of The 80s we feature music from:  DeBarge, Def Leppard, Journey, Beach Boys, Limahl, Johnny Lee, Billy Joel, Rolling Stones, Van Halen, Culture Club, Icehouse and more . . . 

Wednesday 11pm: Feature LP: Billy Joel – An Innocent Man (1983)

An Innocent Man is the ninth studio album by American singer-songwriter Billy Joel, released on August 8, 1983. The concept album is a tribute to the American popular music of Joel’s adolescent years with Joel paying homage to a number of different popular American musical styles from the late 1950s and early 1960s, most notably doo-wop and soul music. The album cover artwork was taken on the front steps of 142 Mercer Street, just north of the intersection of Mercer and Prince Street in the SoHo neighborhood in New York City.

The album featured three Billboard Top 10 hit singles: “Tell Her About It” (No. 1), “Uptown Girl” (No. 3) and “An Innocent Man” (No. 10). Four other singles were released from the album: “The Longest Time” (No. 14), “Leave a Tender Moment Alone” (No. 27), “Keeping the Faith” (No. 18) and “This Night” (US B-side of “Leave a Tender Moment Alone”). “Tell Her About It” and “Uptown Girl” garnered international success—”Uptown Girl” reached No. 1 in the UK, Australia and New Zealand. An Innocent Man remained on the US Pop album chart for 111 weeks, becoming Joel’s longest charting studio album behind The Stranger. For over a year, the album remained on the charts in the UK, Japan and Australia.

1. “Easy Money” (Homage to James Brown and Wilson Pickett) 4:04
2. “An Innocent Man” (Homage to Ben E. King and The Drifters) 5:17
3. “The Longest Time” (Homage to doo-wop groups like Frankie Lymon and the Teenagers) 3:42
4. “This Night” (Homage to Little Anthony and the Imperials; also to Ludwig van Beethoven’s Pathetique sonata) 4:17
5. “Tell Her About It” (Homage to Motown groups like The Supremes and The Temptations) 3:52
6. “Uptown Girl” (Homage to Frankie Valli and The Four Seasons) 3:17
7. “Careless Talk” (Homage to Sam Cooke) 3:48
8. “Christie Lee” (Homage to Little Richard or Jerry Lee Lewis) 3:31
9. “Leave a Tender Moment Alone” (Homage to Smokey Robinson) 3:56
10. “Keeping the Faith” (Lyrical homage to Pre-British Invasion Rock n Roll) 4:41

Tuesday 4pm: Sounds of The 80s

This week on Sounds of The 80s we feature music from:  Toto, Kenny Loggins, Prince, Dan Fogelberg, Gloria Estefan, Robin Williams, Blues Brothers, Elton John, Billy Joel, Peter Cetera, Alabama, Romeo Void and more . . .

Wednesday 4pm: Sounds of The 70’s

This week on the Sounds of The 70s:  Yes, Wet Willie, Tony Orlando & Dawn, John Mellencamp, Elton John, Rattles, Rolling Stones, David Bowie, Abba, Queen, Chicago, Billy Joel, Helen Reddy, Jackson Browne and more . .  

Wednesday 2pm: Sounds of The 70s

This week on Sounds of The 70s.  Temptations, Jackson Browne, Billy Joel, Harry Chapin, Lou Rawls, Neil Young, Elton John, Paul McCartney & Wings, Rod Stewart, Jacksons, Van Halen, Stevie Wonder, Blondie and more . . . 

Wednesday 2pm: Sounds of The 70s

This week on Sounds of The 70s.  Edward Bear, Billy Joel, Van Morrison, Bruce Springsteen, Elton John, Supertramp, America, Abba, Peter Frampton, Led Zeppelin, Marshall Tucker Band, Bachman Turner Overdrive and more. . . 

Tuesday 2pm: Sounds of The 80’s

Today we feature music from Starship, Billy Joel, Clash, Elton John, Beach Boys, John Mellencamp, Rockpile, Lenny Kravitz, Billy Squier and more . . .