The Old Grey Whistle Test was a weekly TV music show during the 70s and 80s on the BBC in the UK. Unlike most other shows of the era, the bands and artists always performed live, with no lip syncing. The sax player here is Richie Cannata.
Great video from a great show, TOGWT, was hosted by DJ Bob Harris and always featured live music of the time. For many UK residents this show was our first exposure to top American talent, like Billy Joel or Bruce Springsteen, but mainly the show was a steady diet of British Prog Rock of the Era and there are some amazing performances that were captured back when musicians could reproduce the record on stage as well as the studio ✌️
My dad played that album nonstop for the entire summer after it came out, so it is a massive part of my childhood, and remains one of my favorite albums by anyone of any genre.
This was the song my wife and I had our first dance to at our wedding, 18 years ago. It was also my late grandfather's favorite song. My wife and I now live in what was his house. Thank you for reacting to this wonderful song that is so significant to my family.
I think you guys would love his song, "Lullaby" 😊 Written for his daughter and just beautiful. And "Longest Time" is a MUST!! It's an acapella that he sings all the vocals for.
Billy Joel is a poet. I love his lyrics and he just comes across as a very down to earth guy. Sooo many great songs to check out....one of my favorites is Vienna
From the same concert there is a rendition of "New York State of mind" which is just remarkable and really showcases his piano abilities. The thing about music is that it's kind of like a time capsule. I can remember the chapter of my life when this song was popular and was on the radio quite often. I love that music can do that.
Big hit from my kindergarten year. Gotta love it!!! I'm still waiting for my favorite, "The Longest Time." It's acapella, and everything is done by Billy Joel. The bass is the only instrument.
Jay/Amber, you'll LOVE his "The Stranger", "All About Soul", "Only The Good Die Young" and "She's Always A Woman" !!!! His album "The Stranger" is in my top 5 of all-time!! edit- A double dip on today's song, you did this one on Jan 29, 2023 also. Jay, Carole King is great, but had help on lyrics by Gerry Goffin and others. Most songs are written on piano, not always by singers.
JAY, I think I may have a new favorite Billy Joel song for you: "Pressure." It's an uptempo rocker like the other Billy Joel songs you like AND it has a sick 1980s synth riff that has a little of that "Sunglasses At Night" flavor, but faster and more aggressive. For real, don't sleep on "Pressure." It's a great Billy Joel track. In fact, I was so obsessed with the synth riff when I first heard it back in the day, it was one of the first things I learned to play on piano.
A great, #1 hit for Billy in 1977, off one of his best albums The Stranger. It’s truly a great song, and still holds up today. Thanks for the trip down memory lane! Great job you two!
This song peaked at the #3 spot on the Billboard Hot 100 chart during the spring of 1978. The song was Billy Joel's biggest hit song in the late 1970s until It's Still Rock & Roll To Me went to #1 on the Billboard Hot 100 chart in the early spring of 1980. A beautiful song indeed!!!
ONLY THE GOOD DIE YOUNG! That will totally scratch your itch, J, for an up-tempo Billy Joel rocker (studio version), and it has a great sax solo in it and that bass guitar line is just mind-blowing. His voice is incredible on it. It's from his iconic album The Stranger, which every song on that album is amazing. Including this one that you just reacted to.
Billy Joel wrote "Just The Way You Are" about his first wife, Elizabeth. A pure expression of unconditional love, he gave it to her as a birthday present. He also wrote "She's Always a Woman" and "She's Got a Way" for Elizabeth as well.
Billy Joel is a master at his craft and yes many of his songs are deeply introspective. "Vienna", "New York State of Mind" and "Lullaby (Goodnight My Angel)" and "And So it Goes" are some of my favorites.
For years, this was everyone's favorite at wedding receptions. There probably wasn't a single wedding where this wasn't the first song played at the reception. Sometimes, it was even played at the wedding ceremony itself. Truly one of the greatest love songs ever written.
"And So It Goes" is an absolutely beautiful song. Almost anything from The Stranger, 52nd Street, Glass Houses and my favorite, The Nylon Curtain is superb.
According to your Reactions app, you've reacted to this song already, almost exactly a year ago Anyway, I want you to react to "The Longest Time" next, a song that gets near the end of his prime It's a lovely little song that contains plenty of beautiful harmony that you'll enjoy
I saw hm in concert when The Longest Time album was released. The whole band gathered around in a half-circle and sang that acapella and it was just perfect!
1st heard it by barry white, and loved it. discovered bill joel later, got all his albums, and this song is still, for me, the greatest ever written. only "here, there and everywhere" comes close, so long as emmylou sings it
Stop and think about this for a moment (Jay & Amber), you jump in the car (some time in the late 70s) to go to work, or the mall, or where ever, turn on the radio ... and this song is playing. That's just how it was. We were so spoiled. And being born in that time you had no concept that it would go away. Great music was taken for granted. It was just THERE. All the time. For decades.
Didn't realize you hadn't reacted to this yet. One of my favorites. I don't think you've heard "She's Always A Woman" which is off the same album. Also one of my favorites and deserves a listen if you haven't.
@@tanisdevelopment You are absolutely correct. I looked it up and they reacted to it Jan. 29th of last year. I watch many reaction channels and can't remember every song that everyone has done, but you'd think they would have remembered. I guess after listening to 3 songs a day every day, they have too many songs in their head.😊 .
A large part of what makes his songs so unique and great is because he was fortunate enough to have Liberty Devito as his drummer. Talk about musicality! That man’s contributions to Billy Joel’s songbook is immeasurable!
This song would always be playing on the radio in ‘80 -81 on Friday afternoons as I drove to San Diego from El Centro to spend the weekend with my girlfriend/wife-to-be. She passed away in 2014 but this always reminds me of those good times.
Billy singing this is just pure love for his woman. ❤ saw Billy a couple of years ago at Old Trafford (football/soccer stadium in Manchester uk). The guy hasnt had a new chart hit for over 25 years yet that stadium was packed and he was AMAZING ❤❤❤ lets see some of todays artists doing that in 25 years time ;)
Joel's Greatest Hits I & II is one of the best selling albums in American history; certainly if not the best selling compilation album ever. Owned both the CD and original LP. Definitely part of pop music history. Every single song on that album is a must-listen. However, that list of songs is just the tip of the iceberg that is Billy Joel. So many great songs that never got any radio air time. You just don't know.
When an artist appears on the Old Grey Whistle Test, this is typically early in their career. The OGWT was one of the best TV shows featuring new artists and hits. Additionally the artists often played live on the OGWT. The host of the show was "Whispering" Bob Harris. He was very soft spoken hence why "Whispering" is associated with his name. This is one of Billy Joel's best hits. He's so young here. Another desert island disc. My desert island is getting a little cuttered lol.
The best live version of "Just the Way You Are," I've ever heard, is Billy's December 29, 1982 performance at Nassau Coliseum in Uniondale, New York. Mark Rivera played the sax solo and he knocked it out of the park. Really, the whole concert is great. It's available on RU-vid. It's worth checking out if you're a Billy Joel fan.
If you're wondering what on earth was The Old Grey Whistle Test ; When music moguls got the first cut of a record, they would play it to the doormen in grey suits, known colloquially as the old greys, guys who often were the doormen at at the in/out doors of places where musicians would sit and write songs. Any song they could recall and whistle, after having heard it a couple of times, was deemed to have passed the old grey whistle test and was destined to become a popular hit.
