4 Billy Joel Deep Cuts From the 80s That We’re Still Replaying

Billy Joel entered the 80s on a ridiculous hot streak. If anything, he raised his game in the new decade. Each album seemed to bring a slightly different style. But the hits just kept on coming, regardless of the slight shifts in approach.

In fact, the hits were so plentiful for Joel in the decade that some highly deserving tracks didn’t receive as much exposure. Here are four that you should consider for your next Billy Joel playlist.

“I Don’t Want To Be Alone”

The Glass Houses album features as deep a lineup of Joel songs as any of his LPs. The New Wave style was well-suited to his no-BS lyrics and natural melodicism. We could have gone with any one of the non-singles from this record as a solid selection for this particular list. But let’s shine a spotlight on “I Don’t Want To Be Alone”. The song flirts with reggae in the verses before surging into a poppy chorus. Lyrically, Joel, as he does a few times on the album, plays the role of a single guy trying to navigate the dating scene, even though he feels ill-equipped to do so. You can sense the narrator’s desperation rising throughout the song as he tries to make a connection.

“Christie Lee”

You could tell just by listening to the album that Billy Joel was having the time of his life making the An Innocent Man album. The guy was spending most of his free time dating a series of models, so there was that. But mostly, he was enjoying the chance to go back and pay homage to the music he loved as a kid. Each of the songs on the record is specifically tied to some act or song from his youth. “Christie Lee” lets him do his best amalgamation of Little Richard and Jerry Lee Lewis. Joel bangs away at the piano with demented glee. The name chosen for the song’s femme fatale was no accident. Joel would marry Christie Brinkley a few years after the album’s release.

“The Night Is Still Young”

It’s always been common practice for pop and rock stars to beef up compilations by adding a new song or two to the mix. Billy Joel did so with his extremely successful Greatest Hits – Volume I & Volume II package in 1985. In fact, he released a pair of new singles from the package to entice radio stations. The well-meaning but slightly corny “You’re Only Human (Second Wind)” came first. “The Night Is Still Young” followed it up, and it’s the only one of the four songs on this list to make the Top 40. But it only crawled in at No. 34, so it’s not like it was a smash. And people tend to forget about it because it’s not found on a studio LP. But “The Night Is Still Young” soars nonetheless, an example of Joel’s knack for turning a personal ballad into an anthem.

“Leningrad”

Storm Front delivered a nice bounce-back album in 1989 for Joel after the somewhat middling The Bridge three years before. Perhaps that’s because several of the songs were directly inspired by personal experiences. That gave Joel more skin in the game and led to more emotional writing and lived-in performances. “Leningrad” was inspired by Joel’s highly publicized visit to the Soviet Union a few years before. During that time, he made fast friends with a fellow who made a living as a circus clown. Over a stirring melody, Joel draws the conclusion that we would all be less likely to make assumptions about so-called “enemies” if we could meet them face to face.

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