52nd Street (album)

52nd Street
Studio album by Billy Joel
Released	October 13, 1978
Recorded	A&R Recording, Inc., 799 7th Avenue at 52nd Street, New York City; July – August 1978
Genre	Rock
Length	40:26
Label	Family Productions/Columbia
Producer	Phil Ramone
Billy Joel chronology
The Stranger (1977) 52nd Street (1978) Glass Houses (1980)
Singles from 52nd Street
"My Life" Released: October 28, 1978 "Big Shot" Released: January 1979 "Honesty" Released: 1979 "Until the Night" Released: March 1979

Professional ratings
Review scores
Source	Rating
Allmusic	[1]
Robert Christgau	B−[2]

52nd Street is the sixth studio album by American singer-songwriter Billy Joel, released on October 13, 1978. It was the first of four Joel albums to top the Billboard charts and earned him two Grammys (for a total of four). It was also the first ever music CD to be commercialized (source: http://web.archive.org/web/20080802133849/http://www.sony.net/Fun/SH/1-20/h5.html)

Three songs reached the Top 40 in the United States, contributing to the album's success: "My Life" (#3), "Big Shot" (#14), and "Honesty" (#24).^[3] It was similarly well received by critics, earning the 1979 Grammy for Album of the Year.^[4] This Grammy was presented to its producer, Phil Ramone. Upon Ramone's death, 52nd Street's Album of the Year Grammy was passed on to Joel.

Allmusic praises Joel for expanding stylistically on 1977's The Stranger, describing 52nd Street as "more sophisticated and somewhat jazzy."^[5] (Jazz trumpeter Freddie Hubbard guests on "Zanzibar".) The title is a reference to 52nd Street, which was one of New York City's jazz centers in the middle of the century. Joel's label was headquartered on 52nd Street (in the CBS Building) at the time of the album's release. The studio in which 52nd Street was recorded was also on 52nd Street, a block away from the CBS Building.

On October 1, 1982, 52nd Street became the first album to be commercially released on compact disc by Sony Music Entertainment when it went on sale in Japan.^[6][7] In 2003, the album was ranked number 352 on Rolling Stone magazine's list of the 500 greatest albums of all time.^[8]

Track listing

All songs written and composed by Billy Joel.

Side one

1. "Big Shot" – 4:03
2. "Honesty" – 3:56
3. "My Life" – 4:44
4. "Zanzibar" – 5:13

Side two

5. "Stiletto" – 4:42
6. "Rosalinda's Eyes" – 4:41
7. "Half a Mile Away" – 4:08
8. "Until the Night" – 6:35
9. "52nd Street" – 2:27

Song notes

The song "Rosalinda's Eyes" was inspired by Joel's mother (deceased: July 13, 2014) Rosalind Nyman Joel.^[9] The song was also featured in an episode of the cult classic TV series, Freaks and Geeks (entitled Carded and Discarded), in 2000.^[10]

Personnel

• Billy Joel – acoustic piano, Yamaha CP-70 electric grand piano, Fender Rhodes, synthesizers, vocals
• Doug Stegmeyer – bass, backing vocals
• Liberty DeVitto – drums
• Richie Cannata – saxophones, organ, clarinet
• Steve Khan – electric guitar, acoustic guitar, backing vocals
• Freddie Hubbard – flugelhorn and trumpet on "Zanzibar"
• Mike Mainieri – vibes and marimba on "Zanzibar" and "Rosalinda's Eyes"
• David Spinozza – acoustic guitar on "Honesty"
• Donnie Dacus & Peter Cetera – background vocals on "My Life"
• David Friedman – orchestral chimes and percussion on "Until the Night"
• Ralph MacDonald – percussion on "Rosalinda's Eyes" and "Half a Mile Away"
• Eric Gale – electric guitar on "Half a Mile Away"
• Frank Floyd, Babi Floyd, Zack Sanders, Milt Grayson, & Ray Simpson – background vocals on "Half a Mile Away"
• George Marge – sopranino recorder on "Rosalinda's Eyes"
• Hugh McCracken – nylon string guitar on "Until the Night" and "Rosalinda's Eyes"
• Robert Freedman – horn and string orchestration on "Until the Night" and "Honesty"
• Dave Grusin – horn orchestration on "Half a Mile Away"
• David Nadien – concertmaster
• Ted Jensen - mastering

Accolades

Grammy Awards

Year	Recipient/Nominated work	Award	Result
1979	52nd Street	Album of the Year[4]	Won
		Best Pop Vocal Performance - Male[4]	Won
	"Honesty"	Song of the Year[11]	Nominated

Charts

Weekly charts Chart (1978–80) Position Australian Kent Music Report Chart[12] 1 Austrian Albums Chart[13] 4 Canadian RPM Albums Chart[14] 1 Dutch Mega Albums Chart[15] 33 Finnish Albums Chart[16] 28 French SNEP Albums Chart [17] 2 Italian Albums Chart[18] 12 Japanese Oricon LP Chart[19] 9 New Zealand Albums Chart [20] 1 Norwegian VG-lista Albums Chart[21] 5 Spanish Albums Chart[22] 13 Swedish Albums Chart[23] 18 Swiss Albums Chart[24] 21 UK Albums Chart [25] 10 U.S. Billboard 200 [26] 1 West German Media Control Albums Chart [27] 19

Year-end charts Chart (1978) Position Canadian Albums Chart[28] 48 Chart (1979) Position Australian Albums Chart[12] 5 Austrian Albums Chart[29] 17 Canadian Albums Chart[30] 16 French Albums Chart[31] 25 Italian Albums Chart[18] 54 Japanese Albums Chart[32] 14 New Zealand Albums Chart[33] 10 Norwegian Albums Chart (Vinter Period)[34] 7 UK Albums Chart[35] 61 U.S. Billboard 200[36] 1 Chart (1980) Position Japanese Albums Chart[37] 81

Certifications and sales

Region	Certification	Sales/shipments
Canada (Music Canada)[38]	5× Platinum	500,000^^
France (SNEP)[39]	Gold	242,500[40]
Hong Kong (IFPI Hong Kong)[41]	Gold	7,500^*
Japan (RIAJ)[42]	Gold	470,000[43]
New Zealand (RMNZ)[44]	Platinum	15,000^^
United Kingdom (BPI)[45]	Gold	100,000^^
United States (RIAA)[46]	7× Platinum	7,000,000^^
^^shipments figures based on certification alone ^xunspecified figures based on certification alone

References

1. "52nd Street Overview". Allmusic. Retrieved 1 May 2011.
2. "Billy Joel Review". Robert Christgau. Retrieved 1 May 2011.
3. "allmusic ((( 52nd Street > Charts & Awards > Billboard Singles )))". allmusic.com. Retrieved 2011-10-03.
4. "Past Winners Search". grammy.com. Retrieved 2011-10-03.
5. Allmusic review
6. "Rock on! The compact disc turns 30". CNN. Retrieved 30 March 2013.
7. Milner, Greg (2009). Perfecting Sound Forever: An Aural History of Recorded Music. Macmillan. p. 215. ISBN 0-571-21165-8.
8. "500 Greatest Albums of All Time". Rolling Stone Magazine. Retrieved 2014-03-29.
9. "Billy Joel's mother, '78 song's namesake, dies". Tyler Morning Telegraph. Associated Press. July 16, 2014. p. 7A.
10. "Revived and Derived: "Freaks and Geeks" Ep. 7, "Carded and Discarded"". IFC. March 8, 2016.
11. "Rock On The Net: 22nd Annual Grammy Awards - 1980". Retrieved 2011-10-03.
12. Kent, David (1993). Australian Chart Book 1970–1992. St Ives, NSW: Australian Chart Book. ISBN 0-646-11917-6.
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14. "Top Albums/CDs - Volume 30, No. 21, February 17, 1979". RPM. Retrieved 2011-10-03.
15. "dutchcharts.nl Billy Joel - 52nd Street". Hung Medien, dutchcharts.nl (in Dutch). MegaCharts. Retrieved 2011-09-12.
16. Pennanen, Timo (2006). Sisältää hitin - levyt ja esittäjät Suomen musiikkilistoilla vuodesta 1972 (in Finnish) (1st ed.). Helsinki: Kustannusosakeyhtiö Otava. p. 263. ISBN 978-951-1-21053-5.
17. "InfoDisc : Tous les Albums classés par Artiste > Choisir Un Artiste Dans la Liste" (in French). infodisc.fr. Retrieved 2011-09-12.
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19. "- Yamachan Land (Archives of the Japanese record charts) - Albums Chart Daijiten - Billy Joel" (in Japanese). 2007-12-30. Retrieved 2011-10-03.
20. "charts.org.nz - Billy Joel - 52nd Street". Hung Medien, charts.org.nz. Recording Industry Association of New Zealand. Retrieved 2011-10-03.
21. "norwegiancharts.com Billy Joel - 52nd Street". Hung Medien, norwegiancharts.com. VG-lista. Retrieved 2011-10-03.
22. Salaverri, Fernando (September 2005). Sólo éxitos: año a año, 1959–2002 (1st ed.). Spain: Fundación Autor-SGAE. ISBN 84-8048-639-2.
23. "swedishcharts.com Billy Joel - 52nd Street". Hung Medien, swedishcharts.com (in Swedish). Sverigetopplistan. Retrieved 2011-10-03.
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25. "Chart Stats - Billy Joel - 52nd Street". UK Albums Chart. Retrieved 2011-08-19.
26. "allmusic ((( 52nd Street > Charts & Awards > Billboard Albums )))". allmusic.com. Retrieved 2011-10-03.
27. "Album Search: Billy Joel" (in German). Media Control. Retrieved 2011-10-03.
28. "RPM Top 100 Albums of 1978". RPM. Retrieved 2011-10-03.
29. "Austriancharts.st - Jahreshitparade 1979" (in German). Hung Medien. Retrieved 2011-10-04.
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31. "Les Albums (CD) de 1979 par InfoDisc" (PHP) (in French). infodisc.fr. Retrieved March 1, 2013.
32. "Japanese Year-End Albums Chart 1979" (in Japanese). Oricon. Retrieved 2011-09-12.
33. "The Top 50 Albums of 1979". Retrieved 4 February 2015.
34. "The Top 20 Albums of Vinter 1979". Retrieved 4 February 2015.
35. "Complete UK Year-End Album Charts". Retrieved 2011-10-04.
36. Billboard.com - Year End Charts - Year-end Albums - The Billboard 200. Retrieved 2011-10-04.
37. "日本で売れた洋楽アルバムトップ23 (Top-23 international albums on the Japanese Oricon Year-End Charts 1980". Archived from the original on 2011-08-29. Retrieved 2007-10-21.
38. "Canadian album certifications – Billy Joel – 52nd Street". Music Canada.
39. "French album certifications – Billy Joel – 52nd Street" (in French). Syndicat National de l'Édition Phonographique.
40. "Les Albums Or". infodisc.fr. SNEP. Retrieved 2011-10-03.
41. "IFPIHK Gold Disc Award − 1979". IFPI Hong Kong.
42. "RIAJ > The Record > April 1994 > Page 5 > Certified Awards (February 1994)" (PDF). Recording Industry Association of Japan (in Japanese). Retrieved July 10, 2013.
43. Oricon Album Chart Book: Complete Edition 1970-2005. Roppongi, Tokyo: Oricon Entertainment. 2006. ISBN 4-87131-077-9.
44. THE FIELD id (chart number) MUST BE PROVIDED for NEW ZEALAND CERTIFICATION.
45. "British album certifications – Billy Joel – 52nd Street". British Phonographic Industry. Enter 52nd Street in the field Keywords. Select Title in the field Search by. Select album in the field By Format. Select Gold in the field By Award. Click Search
46. "American album certifications – Billy Joel – 52nd Street". Recording Industry Association of America. If necessary, click Advanced, then click Format, then select Album, then click SEARCH