Billy Joel: 52nd Street Vinyl LP

Why you'll love it

This remastered stand-alone reissue from the Billy Joel 50 Years series comes with a printed inner sleeve. 52nd Street was his first No. 1 album, holding the top spot for eight weeks, and won the Grammy for Album of the Year.

This edition

Remastered
Printed inner sleeve
Billy Joel 50 Years series
Lyrics included
Stereo mix

About the album

Few albums can claim to have started a format, but 52nd Street has a fair shout. On October 1, 1982, it reached shelves in Japan as catalogue number 35DP-1, first in the sequence of the first 50 compact discs, and when Sony went back to pressing vinyl in 2018, it was the first record off the line again.

Coming off The Stranger, Joel and producer Phil Ramone wanted a fresh sound, so they brought in jazz players and named the record after the Midtown street where the bebop clubs once thrived. Columbia's offices and A&R Recording were both on West 52nd at the time; that's the studio's freight elevator on the cover. Freddie Hubbard blows trumpet on "Zanzibar," "Big Shot" was sparked by a dinner with Bianca Jagger, "Rosalinda's Eyes" was inspired by his mother, and "My Life" became a Top 3 hit. "Honesty" is still a slow-dance staple.

Rolling Stone placed it on its 500 Greatest Albums list. Plenty of people bought it on CD in 1982 to hear what the future sounded like; we're happy to report it was a piano and a trumpet.

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