5 Minor Billy Joel Hits We Tend to Forget

At the start of his career, Billy Joel was churning out songs that would become beloved years down the road, but achieved little commercial success at the time. But by the time he hit the late ‘70s and into the ‘80s, he could pretty much do no wrong, with just about every single he released making an incursion into the charts.

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As a result, some songs that were minor hits at the time have taken a backseat when people assess his catalog. Let’s backtrack and unearth some of his singles that did well at the time that might stir only some faint memories these days.

“Sometimes a Fantasy” from Glass Houses (1980)

Joel famously argued in the song “It’s Still Rock and Roll to Me” that categorizing music is a pointless exercise. Perhaps that was a preemptive strike against the notion that the album (Glass Houses) that included the song was Joel’s overt embrace of the new wave sound that was sweeping the music world at the time. In the ticking-clock rhythms of “Sometimes a Fantasy,” you can tell Joel had access to the early Cars records. Nonetheless, his lyrics about frustrated passion hit home on a song that squeaked to No. 36 as the fourth single from Glass Houses.

“Leave a Tender Moment Alone” from An Innocent Man (1983)

Although it wasn’t so much a calculated career move as it was Joel’s way of keeping sane after a divorce, motorcycle accident, and deadly serious album (The Nylon Curtain), An Innocent Man, with its retro charms, proved to be a gold mine for Joel. The album kept spinning out hits, to the point where it was decided a fifth single was a worthwhile idea. “Leave a Tender Moment Alone,” which was Joel’s attempt to mimic the slow-dance balladry of Smokey Robinson, justified that choice by making it to No. 27.

“The Night Is Still Young” from Greatest Hits – Volume I & Volume II (1985)

At the absolute height of his popularity following the success of An Innocent Man and the attention-grabbing marriage to Christie Brinkley, Joel consolidated his gains with a double best-of set. He recorded some new songs to promote it. The first single, “You’re Only Human,” was a well-meaning but somewhat hokey hit which made it to the Top 10. Following that, “The Night Is Still Young,” featuring mumbled verses and a roof-raising chorus, also did some damage, making it to No. 34 in the U.S.

“Modern Woman” from The Bridge (1986)

All right, we’re cheating here, in that we claimed this was a list of minor hits. In actuality, “Modern Woman” shot all the way to No. 10 in 1986. It was featured in the film Ruthless People and was released as the lead single from The Bridge, so the hype helped it to its chart status. But it just feels like it’s not a song people talk too much about today, certainly not as much as others in Joel’s catalog. It’s a bit of an old-fashioned romp, sounding like something of a vintage much earlier than even the influences that fueled An Innocent Man.

“And So It Goes” from Storm Front (1989)

Die-hard Billy Joel fans likely understand the worth of this track, with Joel himself even speaking of it fondly when looking back through his catalog. But at the time of its release as a single, “And So It Goes” only inched to No. 37 on the pop charts. That’s kind of understandable, as it’s a hushed, restrained track, featuring some somber piano work. But it’s a beauty of a song. The inspiration was Joel’s brief, pre-Brinkley dalliance with supermodel Elle Macpherson. Specifically, Joel was recollecting the feeling of knowing the relationship was doomed to fail, even if it hadn’t quite reached that point yet.

Photo by Richard E. Aaron/Redferns