Billy Joel’s 52nd Street released

52nd Street Billy Joel

Released: October 13, 1978 Peak: 18 US, 10 UK, 15 CN, 15 AU Click for codes to charts. Sales (in millions): 7.0 US, 0.1 UK, 12.0 world (includes US and UK) Genre: pop/rock singer-songwriter

Tracks: Click on a song title for more details. Big Shot Honesty My Life Zanzibar Stiletto Rosalinda’s Eyes Half a Mile Away Until the Night 52nd Street Total Running Time: 40:26

Rating: 3.911 out of 5.00 (average of 26 ratings) Awards: (Click on award to learn more).

About the Album Billy Joel hit the big time with 1977’s The Stranger, the best-selling album of his career. The follow-up album, 52nd Street, shows an artist who doesn’t abandon that song but is also intent on not repeating himself. Joel returned to the studio with Phil Ramone with the aim of making the follow-up “more sophisticated and somewhat jazzy.” AMHe expanded his “rock vocabulary and influence” GR by injecting “his sound with a new swing, enlisting jazz musicians.” GR However, as on The Stranger, Joel “never shies away from big gestures and melodies.” AM 52nd Street showcases “punching-bag rockers and sublime, Broadway-worthy ballads” DB such as on “Big Shot” and “Stiletto” respectively. “That isn’t necessarily bad, since Joel’s strong suit turns out to be showmanship – he dazzles with his melodic skills and his enthusiastic performances.” AM “He also knows how to make a record. Song for song, 52nd Street might not be as strong as The Stranger, but there are no weak songs…and they all flow together smoothly, thanks to Ramone’s seamless production and Joel's melodic craftsmanship.” AM “It’s remarkable to think that in a matter of three records, Joel had hit upon a workable, marketable formula – one that not only made him one of the biggest-selling artists of his era, but one of the most enjoyable mainstream hitmakers. 52nd Street is a testament to that achievement.” AM It also won him Grammys for Album of the Year and Best Pop Vocal Performance – Male. The Songs Here’s a breakdown of each of the individual songs.

Big Shot Billy Joel

Writer(s): Billy Joel Released: January 1979 (single), 52nd Street (1978), ), Greatest Hits Volume I & II (1985), The Hits (2010) B-side: “Root Beer Rag,” “Half a Mile Away” First Charted: 2/9/1979 Peak: 14 BB, 13 CB, 11 GR, 18 HR, 12 RR, 9 CL, 13 CN, 91 AU, 8 DF Click for codes to charts. Sales (in millions): 0.5 US Airplay/Streaming (in millions): -- radio, -- video, 49.33 streaming About the Song: Always keen to remind listeners that he can rock as well as he can sing ballads, Joel delivers “Big Shot” in a similar vein to “Only the Good Die Young” from The Stranger. Billboard called it “an upbeat rocker” WK driven by “powerfully rhythmic backing” WK while Cash Box called it “tough-edged and sassy” with “a dramatic arrangement of guitars, piano, horns and drums.” WK Lyrically, Record World praises “Joel’s fine sense sarcasm and his finesse as a story-teller are perfectly blended.” WK Billboard noted the song had “very contemporary lyrical content.” WK The song “is superficially about the protagonist mocking a woman with a severe hangover for her intoxicated escapades around town, making numerous social and verbal faux pas while high on alcohol and other drugs.” WK Joel said the song is about himself and someone he was close to. WK He also said he wrote it after having dinner with Mick and Bianca Jagger. He was thinking of Mick singing it to her. WK

Honesty Billy Joel

Writer(s): Billy Joel Released: April 1979 (single), 52nd Street (1978), The Ultimate Collection (2000), The Essential (2001) B-side: “The Mexican Connection,” “Root Beer Rag” First Charted: 4/13/1979 Peak: 24 BB, 23 CB, 12 GR, 17 HR, 11 RR, 9 AC, 8 CL, 16 CN, 80 AU, 20 DF Click for codes to charts. Sales (in millions): 0.5 US, -- UK, 1.15 world (includes US + UK) Airplay/Streaming (in millions): -- radio, 108.0 video, 110.92 streaming About the Song: On 52nd Street Joel doesn’t quite come up with a ballad as iconic as “Just the Way You Are” or “She’s Always a Woman” (both from the previous album The Stranger) but he does come close with “Honesty.” In his book The Words and Music of Billy Joel, Ken Bielen called it “a predecessor of the power ballads of the 1980s and 1990s.” WK Michael Lawson of The Phoenix said it was “well suited for middle-of-the-road tastes.” WK The song was “generally praised [for] its lyrics and piano instrumentation.” WK Record World said it was “a big ballad featuring Joel’s sensitive vocals and piano style.” WK Cash Box called it “a provocative and melodic ballad full of words and meanings.” WK AllMusic.com’s Stephen Thomas Erlewine called it one of Joel’s best songs. WK “Honesty” was released as the third single from the album and became the album’s third top-40 hit. In France, the song reached #1 and was ranked the 10th biggest hit of the 1970s in France. WK It was nominated for a Grammy for Song of the Year.

My Life Billy Joel

Writer(s): Billy Joel Released: 10/28/1978 (single), 52nd Street (1978), ), Greatest Hits Volume I & II (1985), The Ultimate Collection (2000), The Essential (2001), Piano Man: The Very Best of (2004), The Hits (2010) B-side: “52nd Street” First Charted: 11/3/1978 Peak: 3 BB, 3 CB, 3 GR, 3 HR, 2 RR, 2 AC, 2 CL, 12 UK, 3 CN, 6 AU, 4 DF Click for codes to charts. Sales (in millions): 3.0 US, 0.65 UK, 3.73 world (includes US + UK) Airplay/Streaming (in millions): -- radio, -- video, 384.48 streaming

Awards: (Click on award to learn more).

About the Song: “Fame can be a bitch, and so were, apparently, many of the people around Joel after The Stranger made him a star. Sounding paranoid and defensive, even on a bouncy trifle like My Life, he slid from tough to boorish as he sang about betrayal, hangovers, name-dropping cokeheads and affairs with waitresses.” DB While Joel may have sounded angry on “My Life,” the song is still “infectious” GR and “rings out with the bright bounce and touch of edge for which Joel has become known.” GR The song features Chicago’s Peter Cetera and Donnie Dacus on backing vocals. RC

Zanzibar Billy Joel

Writer(s): Billy Joel Released: 52nd Street (1978) Peak: 23 CL, 35 DF Click for codes to charts. Sales (in millions): -- Airplay/Streaming (in millions): -- radio, -- video, 62.01 streaming About the Song: On 52nd Street, Billy Joel creates music that often sounds like “responses to Steely Dan – indeed, his phrasing and melody for Zanzibar is a direct homage to Donald Fagen circa The Royal Scam, and it also boasts a solo from jazz great Freddie Hubbard à la Steely Dan.” AM

Stiletto Billy Joel

Writer(s): Billy Joel Released: 52nd Street (1978) Peak: 23 CL, 25 DF Click for codes to charts. Sales (in millions): -- Airplay/Streaming (in millions): -- radio, -- video, 9.29 streaming About the Song: Like “Scenes from an Italian Restaurant” from 1977’s The Stranger, “Stiletto” aspires to be a big Broadway number.

Rosalinda’s Eyes Billy Joel

Writer(s): Billy Joel Released: 52nd Street (1978) Peak: 25 CL Click for codes to charts. Sales (in millions): -- Airplay/Streaming (in millions): -- radio, -- video, 6.12 streaming About the Song: “Zanzibar” and “Rosalinda’s Eyes” “offer a glimpse into Joel’s range as artist and [producer Phil] Ramone’s willingness to explore.” GR

Half a Mile Away Billy Joel

Writer(s): Billy Joel Released: January 1979 (B-side of “Big Shot”), 52nd Street (1978) Peak: 25 CL Click for codes to charts. Sales (in millions): -- Airplay/Streaming (in millions): -- radio, -- video, 3.11 streaming

Until the Night Billy Joel

Writer(s): Billy Joel Released: March 1979 (UK single), 52nd Street (1978) B-side: “Root Beer Rag” First Charted: 4/28/1979 Peak: 34 CL, 50 UK, 34 DF Click for codes to charts. Sales (in millions): -- Airplay/Streaming (in millions): -- radio, -- video, 3.68 streaming

Awards: (Click on award to learn more).

About the Song: “Until the Night” is “a tale of an Everyman trying to get through the day and to overcome his insecurities until he can truly come alive at night alongside his woman.” SS Music historian Steve Sullivan said it might be the “finest song” SS from Joel’s 52nd Street album. The song “could only have been created by an artist with a deep love for pop traditions.” SS It was a “fabulous musical tribute to the sounds of Phil Spector and the Righteous Brothers.” SS Joel “achieves musical melodrama in the Spector tradition of moving from soft to steadily mounting orchestration and emotion.” SS He sings “multi-tracked baritone-tenor harmonies with himself to evoke Bill Medley and Bobby Hatfield.” SS

52nd Street Billy Joel

Writer(s): Billy Joel Released: 10/28/1978 (B-side of “My Life”), 52nd Street (1978) Peak: -- Click for codes to charts. Sales (in millions): -- Airplay/Streaming (in millions): -- radio, -- video, 2.18 streaming

Resources/References: AM AllMusic.com review by Stephen Thomas Erlewine DB David Browne (6/07). Blender magazine. Pages 114-5. RC Rod Couch (2015). The Top 500 Songs of the Rock Era: 1955-2015. Page 207. GR Grammy.com (10/13/2017). “Remember When? Billy Joel’s Multi-Grammy-Winning ‘52nd Street’” by Nate Hertweck SS Steve Sullivan (2013). Encyclopedia of Great Popular Song Recordings (Volumes I & II). Scarecrow Press: Lanham, Maryland. Pages 570-1. WK Wikipedia page for “Big Shot” WK Wikipedia page for “Honesty” Related DMDB Pages: First posted 3/28/2008; last updated 2/11/2026.