Comments for Joel, Billy, 52nd Street

Honesty rules.

52nd Street is perhaps one of the best albums released ever. It show a depth that few other artists will ever hit. It was totally deserving of the 1978 Grammy for Album of the year. Totally deserving of the 1978 Grammy for album of the year!

The song "My Life" was used as the theme song for the short-lived ABC early 1980's comedy "Bosom Buddies," starring Tom Hanks and Peter Scolari. The show now appears in syndication on the USA Network, but the theme song has been changed for the syndiated version of the show.

Named after the jazz-haven "52nd Street" this album features various solo instruments, basically lending a different colour to each track. There's not a bad track on this album and it remains good for occasional playing, having enough substance to hold up well over time, Ian Thomas.

I don''t like 52nd Street as much as I used to. "Honesty" is the best thing on it. "Big Shot" is still pretty rocking, and "My Life" still keeps a groove, along with "Stiletto". But stuff like "Half A Mile Away" and "Until The Night" just don''t measure up for me like they used to. I have a funny bootleg version of "Zanzibar" from The Bridge to 52nd St. boot. That boot also contains a much better version of "Rosalinda''s Eyes" entitled "Senorita".

This is Billy`s little foray into the world of jazz, a world he doesn`t re-enter until _The_Bridge_. "Zanzibar" has a nice little jazzy trumpet solo bit in a couple of places, and "Rosalinda`s Eyes" and "52nd Street" have nice jazzy feels. "Half A Mile Away" is more accessible horn-line jazz, very groovy. This album takes a while to grow on one, IMHO, but "Big Shot", "Honesty", "My Life", "Stiletto", and "Until The Night" should be easily accessible to most audiences. _52nd_Street_ was recorded at A&R Recording, Inc, with Doug Stegmeyer on bass and vocals, Liberty DeVitto on drums, Richie Cannata on saxes, organ, and clarinet, Steve Khan on electric and acoustic guitars, plus Freddie Hubbard on trumpet, Mike Mainieri on vibes and marimba, David Spinozza on acoustic guitar, David Friedman and Ralph MacDonald on percussion, Eric Gale on electric guitar, George Marge on sopranino recorder, Hugh McCracken on nylon string guitar, and Donnie Dacus, Peter Cetera, Frank Floyd, Babi Floyd, Zack Sanders, Milt Grayson, and Ray Simpson on vocals.