Cranky Old Man Strikes Back

419. BILLY JOEL, "It's Still Rock And Roll To Me"
Produced by Phil Ramone & Billy Joel; written by Billy Joel
CBS 8753 1980  Billboard: # 1

Believe it or not, this was Billy Joel's highest chart position ever.  And he deserved it.  

Glass Houses, the album on which this song appeared, was Joel's least pretentious ever, a deliberate attempt to come out with an album of songs that it would be fun to play live, without the self-conscious homages that he would use to make An Innocent Man a few years later.  The album, and this song in particular, was a response to the rise of New Wave, saying that it wasn't new but just a repackaging by record companies and journalists of older sounds and styles.  He wasn't saying it wasn't fun.  He was just saying that it wasn't a revolution.

You know, I can't believe I'm typing this next clause, but Billy Joel was right.

But this is by no means a blanket absolution.  For one thing, "We Didn't Start the Fire" still feels a little too much to me like the Long Islander doth protest too much.