Genesis Duke released

Duke Genesis

Released: March 28, 1980 Peak: 11 US, 12 UK, 13 CN, 22 AU, 8 DF Click for codes to charts. Sales (in millions): 1.0 US, 0.3 UK, 5.0 world (includes US + UK), 7.00 EAS Genre: classic rock

Tracks: Behind the Lines [5:31] (23 DF) Duchess [6:40] (5/9/80, 42 CL, 46 UK) Guide Vocal [1:18] Man of Our Times [5:35] (39 DF) Misunderstanding [3:11] (5/10/80, 14 US, 14 CB, 9 HR, 3 RR, 32 AC, 3 CL, 42 UK, 1 CN, 3 DF) Heathaze [5:00] Turn It on Again [3:50] (3/3/80, 58 US, 55 CB, 60 HR, 5 CL, 8 UK, 2 AU, 4 DF) Alone Tonight [3:54] (37 DF) Cul-de-Sac [5:02] Please Don’t Ask [4:00] Duke’s Travels [8:41] Duke’s End [2:04] Total Running Time: 55:06 The Players: Phil Collins (vocals, drums, percussion) Mike Rutherford (guitar, bass, backing vocals) Tony Banks (keyboards, backing vocals)

Rating: 3.898 out of 5.00 (average of 21 ratings)

About the Album Genesis returned in 1980 with Duke. “Gone were all of the progressive rock elements that had been present in their music since 1970, and in their place was a slickly commercial pop/rock sound. The public responded in kind by lofting it to the number one spot in England, a first for the band, while it reached number 11 in America. “If And Then There Were Three suggested that Genesis were moving toward pop, Duke is where they leaped into the fray. Not that it was exactly a head-first leap;” AM “there was still a heavy dose of prog, as the concluding ‘Duke’ suite made clear,” AM “with Gabriel-style Genesis, with fanfare-like keyboards, martial drumrolls and the old opulence.” JP However, “Guide Vocal, has lyrics that give Gabriel a definitive kiss-off” JP and this is album is more “modernist art rock, quite dissimilar to the fragile, delicate [Gabriel-era] Selling England by the Pound.” AM Generally, though, “the band…have peppered the album with pop songs” AM in which “the music usually stays upbeat…and every so often the hazy instrumental passages clear up for the kind of straightforward songs that would define latter-day Genesis.” JP That “new signature sound” AM is clearest on the singles. “Misunderstanding” “is a light, nearly soulful, heartache song” AM while “Turn It on Again” “is a thunderous arena rocker.” AM The pair of songs “showcase the new version of Genesis at its absolute best. The rest of the record comes close to matching them” AM on this “schizoid but invigorating album.” JP Resources/References: AM AllMusic.com review by Stephen Thomas Erlewine JP Jon Pareles, Blender magazine (10/07). Pages 118-9. Related DMDB Pages: First posted 3/3/2010; last updated 9/14/2025.

Pink Floyd hit #1 with “Another Brick in the Wall”

Another Brick in the Wall (Part II) Pink Floyd

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The Jam’s “Going Underground” debuted at #1 in the UK

Going Underground The Jam

Writer(s): Paul Weller (see lyrics here) Released: March 10, 1980 First Charted: March 22, 1980 Peak: 17 CL, 2 CO, 13 UK, 50 AU, 7 DF (Click for codes to singles charts.) Sales (in millions): 0.25 UK Airplay/Streaming (in millions): -- radio, 13.9 video, 37.85 streaming

Awards: Click on award for more details.

About the Song: The Jam were an English punk rock/new wave band which formed in 1972 and released six studio albums before their breakup in 1982. Their first chart single was 1977’s “In the City” from their debut album of the same name. Their success steadily grew until their tenth chart entry, “Going Underground,” debuted atop the UK charts. It was the first song to do so in six years. KL Despite The Jam’s success in their homeland, they never reached the Billboard Hot 100 in the United States. The Jam were actually touring the United States when they found at “Going Underground” hit #1. Drummer Rick Buckler said, “It was a shock when we got to #1, otherwise we wouldn’t have been in the states…We had a good drink that night. However, everyone wanted to be back in Britain. We made out we had all come down with a virus. We canceled the rest of the tour of the States. We flew back to Britain on Concorde to record ‘Going Underground’ on Top of the Pops for the following week.” SF The song wasn’t intended as a single. It was supposed to be the B-side of “Dreams of Children,” but “Going Underground” became the hit. “Striking the right balance aggressive punk posturing, Beatlesque guitar and catching singalong pop to create perfect harmony, the single would become The Jam’s defining release.” XFM “Going Underground” might appear to be about London’s tube rail system, but it wasn’t. KL Singer Paul Weller wrote it in protest of the British Conservative government’s policy to spend taxpayers’ money on building their nuclear arsenal instead of funding other government programs. SF The song references the Russian invasion of Afghanistan in December 1979. KL Resources: DMDB encyclopedia entry for The Jam KL Jon Kutner and Spencer Leigh (2005). 1000 UK Number One Hits: The Stories Behind Every Number One Single Since 1952. London, Great Britain: Omnibus Press. Page 259. SF Songfacts WK Wikipedia XFM Mike Walsh (editor) (2010). The XFM Top 1000 Songs of All Time. Elliott & Thompson Limited: London, England. Page 205. First posted 10/13/2021; last updated 11/12/2022.

Billy Joel’s Glass Houses released

Glass Houses Billy Joel

Released: March 12, 1980 Peak: 16 US, 9 UK, 17 CN, 2 AU Click for codes to charts. Sales (in millions): 7.0 US, 0.1 UK, 11.2 world (includes US and UK) Genre: pop/rock singer-songwriter

Tracks: Click on a song title for more details. You May Be Right Sometimes a Fantasy Don’t Ask Me Why It’s Still Rock and Roll to Me All for Leyna I Don’t Want to Be Alone Sleeping with the Television On C’Etait Toi (You Were the One) Close to the Borderline Through the Long Night Total Running Time: 35:06

Rating: 4.003 out of 5.00 (average of 23 ratings) Quotable: “The closest Joel ever got to a pure rock album.” – Stephen Thomas Erlewine, AllMusic.com Awards: (Click on award to learn more).

About the Album “The back-to-back success of The Stranger and 52nd Street may have brought Billy Joel fame and fortune, even a certain amount of self-satisfaction, but it didn’t bring him critical respect, and it didn’t dull his anger. If anything, being classified as a mainstream rocker – a soft rocker – infuriated him, especially since a generation of punks and new wave kids were getting the praise that eluded him.” AM “Instead of turning out to be a fiery rebuttal to his detractors, the album is a remarkable catalog of contemporary pop styles, from McCartney-esque whimsy (Don’t Ask Me Why) and arena rock (All for Leyna) to soft rock (C’etait Toi [You Were the One]).” AM “Comparatively a harder-rocking album than either of its predecessors, with a distinctly bitter edge, Glass Houses still displays the hallmarks of Billy Joel the pop craftsman and Phil Ramone the world-class hitmaker. Even its hardest songs, including the top-10 hit “You May Be Right” and top-40 hit “Sometimes a Fantasy,” “have bold, direct melodies and clean arrangements, ideal for radio play.” AM “The Stranger and 52nd Street were fine albums in their own right, but it’s nice to hear Joel scale back his showman tendencies and deliver a solid pop/rock record… [that is] the closest Joel ever got to a pure rock album.” AM The Songs Here’s a breakdown of each of the individual songs.

You May Be Right Billy Joel

Writer(s): Billy Joel Released: 3/7/1980 (single), Glass Houses (1980), Greatest Hits Volume I & II (1985), The Ultimate Collection (2000), The Essential (2001), The Hits (2010) B-side: “Close to the Borderline” First Charted: 3/14/1980 Peak: 7 BB, 8 CB, 2 GR, 7 HR, 2 RR, 48 AC, 2 CL, 64 UK, 6 CN, 28 AU, 2 DF Click for codes to charts. Sales (in millions): 1.0 US Airplay/Streaming (in millions): -- radio, 38.5 video, 110.97 streaming

Awards: (Click on award to learn more).

About the Song: After becoming a Grammy-winning artist with his top-10 hit “Just the Way You Are” and his 1978 album 52nd Street, Billy Joel still wasn’t satisfied. He was angry that “critics still lumped him in with the middle-of-the-road-soft-rock balladeers of the era.” SG With his 1980 album Glass Houses, Joel intended to “throw a rock at the image people had” FB of him and “show that he could rock as hard as anyone else.” SG The first sound on the album in the lead song “You May Be Right” is of breaking glass. It corresponded with the album cover depicting Joel about to throw a rock at an all-glass house. It was a statement to his critics that people in glass houses shouldn’t throw stones. SF “The snarl of the motorcycle-riding You May Be Right” DB made it clear this would be a harder-rocking album than its two predecessors. The song is sung from the perspective of a man being told he is reckless. The character “confirms the suspicion, admitting that he is crazy and extolling the virtues of a more carefree, but dangerous existence.” SF Cash Box called the song “witty, urbane, and energetic.” WK It features hard guitar playing “reminiscent of Chuck Berry and the Rolling Stones.” WK Record World said “Joel’s rock energy blends well with his pop melodies on this smashing cut.” WK The song gave Joel another top-10 hit and was the first of four top-40 hits from the Glass Houses album. Joel himself considers it one of his top 5 songs. SF

Sometimes a Fantasy Billy Joel

Writer(s): Billy Joel Released: 10/11/1980 (single), Glass Houses (1980) B-side: “All for Leyna” First Charted: 10/11/1980 Peak: 36 BB, 40 CB, 39 HR, 22 RR, 12 CL, 29 UK, 21 CN, 23 DF Click for codes to charts. Sales (in millions): -- Airplay/Streaming (in millions): -- radio, 2.6 video, 15.17 streaming About the Song: “The terrifically paranoid Sometimes a Fantasy” DB is what Billboard magazine called a “melodic, fast paced rocker” WK that “starts with a telephone ring and a rockabilly vocal.” WK Record World called it a “pulsating rocker for AOR-pop.” WK It gave Glass Houses its fourth top-40 hit. “The lyrics are about a sexually frustrated man who tries to convince his significant other to have phone sex. He explains that he is lonely since they are far away from each other (which is implied by the fact that his phone call is long distance).” WK

Don’t Ask Me Why Billy Joel

Writer(s): Billy Joel Released: 7/24/1980 (single), Glass Houses (1980), Greatest Hits Volume I & II (1985), The Ultimate Collection (2000), The Essential (2001) B-side: “C’Etait Toi (You Were the One)” First Charted: 8/2/1980 Peak: 19 BB, 21 CB, 17 HR, 10 RR, 12 AC, 8 CL, 73 UK, 4 CN, 4 DF Click for codes to charts. Sales (in millions): 0.5 US Airplay/Streaming (in millions): -- radio, 4.80 video, 42.75 streaming About the Song: Joel offers “McCartney-esque whimsy” AM on “Don’t Ask Me Why,” the album’s third top-20 hit. “The track contains all acoustic and Latin percussion instruments performing in an Afro-Cuban rhythmic style. An eclectic, instrumental Latin Ballroom piano solo, played over the bridge section after the second verse, is also featured in part of the song.” WK Billboard said the song was “catchy” WK while Record World called it “one of [Joel’s] easy rollin’ romantic piano ballads that often become pop standards.” WK Cash Box said the lyrics deal with “themes of success and chance” WK backed by a “crisp pop/Latin/rock rhythm.” WK

It’s Still Rock and Roll to Me Billy Joel

Writer(s): Billy Joel Released: 5/12/1980 (single), Glass Houses (1980), 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: “Through the Long Night” First Charted: 5/13/1980 Peak: 12 BB, 13 CB, 14 GR, 14 HR, 14 RR, 45 AC, 1 CL, 14 UK, 13 CN, 10 AU, 1 DF Click for codes to charts. Sales (in millions): 4.0 US, 0.20 UK, 4.41 world (includes US + UK) Airplay/Streaming (in millions): -- radio, 39.50 video, 311.61 streaming

Awards: (Click on award to learn more).

About the Song: Joel “saw the kind of press that punk and new wave bands were getting, and he decided that there wasn’t actually anything new about these new bands.” SG In railing against the new sound, however, he ended up embracing it. In fact, “thanks to his innate brattiness and gift for stylistic wandering, Joel was able to pull it off better than just about anyone.” DB “You May Be Right,” the first single from Glass Houses, was “basically an Elvis Costello/Joe Jackson new-wave rave-up.” SG The follow-up single, “It’s Still Rock and Roll to Me,” “is a sharp, well-written song” SG that “works in the same mode…but with some angry snark in the mix, as well.” SG With a sound that “ironically Joel showed on the “Cars-imitating It’s Still Rock and Roll to Me” DB that it “came naturally to him.” DB His first #1 found him “sarcastically raging against the idea that he should have to switch his style up, to adapt to a new sound…even as he… [does] exactly what he complains that he shouldn’t have to do.” SG Interestingly, even Rolling Stone critic Marsh acknowledged that the song “redeemed the project commercially.” FB Musically, it “is more mannered than ‘You May Be Right.’…It’s a controlled and locked-in rockabilly shuffle – as if Joel is proving how old these new sounds are by making them sound as old as possible.” SG “At times, it nods in the direction of Bruce Springsteen, Joel’s fellow tri-state beach-town road warrior; Richie Cannata’s saxophone solo is a straight-up Clarence Clemons bite. But Joel never tries to wail his way into transcendence, the way Springsteen always did. Joel is more concerned with airing out petty grievances.” SG

All for Leyna Billy Joel

Writer(s): Billy Joel Released: February 1980 (UK single), 10/11/1980 (B-side of “Sometimes a Fantasy”), Glass Houses (1980), The Ultimate Collection (2000) Peak: 17 CL, 40 UK, 35 DF Click for codes to charts. Sales (in millions): -- Airplay/Streaming (in millions): -- radio, 2.9 video, 14.61 streaming About the Song: “All For Leyna” was released as the lead single for Glass Houses in the UK, but not in the U.S. “The lyrics tell the story of the protagonist who meets a girl named Leyna, and, after a one-night stand, becomes obsessed with her.” WK

I Don’t Want to Be Alone Billy Joel

Writer(s): Billy Joel Released: Glass Houses (1980) Peak: -- Click for codes to charts. Sales (in millions): -- Airplay/Streaming (in millions): -- radio, -- video, 3.90 streaming

Sleeping with the Television On Billy Joel

Writer(s): Billy Joel Released: Glass Houses (1980) Peak: -- Click for codes to charts. Sales (in millions): -- Airplay/Streaming (in millions): -- radio, -- video, 7.98 streaming

C’était Toi (You Were the One) Billy Joel

Writer(s): Billy Joel Released: 7/24/1980 (B-side of “Don’t Ask Me Why”), Glass Houses (1980) Peak: -- Click for codes to charts. Sales (in millions): -- Airplay/Streaming (in millions): -- radio, -- video, 2.78 streaming

Close to the Borderline Billy Joel

Writer(s): Billy Joel Released: Glass Houses (1980) Peak: 25 CL Click for codes to charts. Sales (in millions): -- Airplay/Streaming (in millions): -- radio, -- video, 2.22 streaming

Through the Long Night Billy Joel

Writer(s): Billy Joel Released: Glass Houses (1980) Peak: -- Click for codes to charts. Sales (in millions): -- Airplay/Streaming (in millions): -- radio, -- video, 2.16 streaming

Resources/References: AM AllMusic.com review by Stephen Thomas Erlewine FB Fred Bronson (2003). The Billboard Book of Number One Hits (5th edition). Billboard Books: New York, NY. Page 527. DB David Browne (6/07). Blender magazine. Pages 114-5. SF Songfacts page for “You May Be Right” SG Stereogum (3/30/2020). “The Number Ones” by Tom Breihan WK Wikipedia page for “All for Leyna” WK Wikipedia page for “You May Be Right” WK Wikipedia page for “It’s Still Rock and Roll to Me” WK Wikipedia page for “Don’t Ask Me Why” WK Wikipedia page for “Sometimes a Fantasy” Related DMDB Pages: First posted 3/6/2011; last updated 2/11/2026.

 

50 years ago: “Happy Days Are Here Again” goes to #1

Happy Days Are Here Again Ben Selvin

Writer(s): Milton Ager, Jack Yellen (see lyrics here) First Charted: March 1, 1930 Peak: 12 US, 11 GA, 3 DF (Click for codes to singles charts.) Sales (in millions): -- US, -- UK, -- world (includes US + UK) Airplay/Streaming (in millions): -- radio, -- video, -- streaming

Awards: Click on award for more details.

About the Song: “Happy Days” was originally written for the movie Chasing Rainbows and sung by Charles King and Bessie Love. JA It accompanied a scene where World War I soldiers learn the war has ended. TY Unfortunately, the song was cut from the film. When movie producer Irving Thalberg heard the song played at Hollywood’s Roosevelt Hotel, he wanted to know why such a great song wasn’t in the movies. When he found out it had been cut from one of his own films, he immediately had it put back. Unfortunately, the movie was a failure. RCG However, the “bright and tuneful” RCG song which urged everyone to “sing a song of cheer again” found life beyond the film. The publishers took it to George Olsen, whose orchestra played it at the Pennsylvania Hotel Ballroom in Manhattan a few days after the October 1929 stock market crash. RCG Jack Yellen, the song’s lyricist, recalled the dining room being populated with “gloom-stricken diners.” Olsen directed his singers to “sing it for the corpses” and, according to Yellen, “after a couple of choruses, the corpses joined in…[and] before the night was over, the hotel lobby resounded with what had become the theme song of ruined stock speculators as they leaped from hotel windows.” SS The song became an unofficial anthem for the Great Depression. Franklin D. Roosevelt used it in his 1932 Presidential campaign and it was adopted by the Democratic party SB as their “unofficial theme song for years to come,” WK being used again in campaigns by Harry Truman and John F. Kennedy. RCG Three versions of the song charted in 1930. Ben Selvin and Benny Meroff each took it to the top; Leo Reisman’s orchestra, with a vocal from Lou Levin, hit #3. Judy Garland adopted the song as an allegory of her life. RCG The song has been featured on more than 70 commercially-released albums and in more than 80 films. WK Some of the notable recordings were by Mitch Miller and Barbra Streisand. WK Resources: JA David A. Jasen (2002). A Century of American Popular Music: 2000 Best-Loved and Remembered Songs (1899-1999). Routledge: Taylor & Francis, Inc. Page 69. RCG RimChiGuy.com The Old Songs (1900-1929) SB Songbook1.wordpress.com SS Steve Sullivan (2013). Encyclopedia of Great Popular Song Recordings (Volumes I & II). Scarecrow Press: Lanham, Maryland. Page 364. TY Don Tyler (1985). Hit Parade 1920-1955. New York, NY: Quill. Page 47. Related Links: First posted 3/8/2016; last updated 7/25/2022.