An Innocent Man

Lore & Background

The recording process began with a specific spark: the song "Easy Money," originally written for the 1983 film of the same name starring Rodney Dangerfield. According to Joel, this track "kicked off" the creation of the entire album. He aimed to recreate the sounds he remembered from his youth, citing early R&B, The Four Seasons, and Motown music as primary influences. While writing, Joel noted that the material came "so easily and so quickly," allowing him to relive his youth without fighting the creative flow. Despite the personal context of his divorce, he insisted the songs were not autobiographical but instead featured various fictional characters. For instance, "Christie Lee" tells a narrative about a saxophone player whose heart is broken by a woman only interested in his musical skills. The album also includes a mostly a cappella doo-wop song, "The Longest Time," which Joel was pleasantly surprised to become a hit record in the 1980s.

In Their Own Story

Billy Joel approached this project as an homage rather than a memoir, channeling specific artists like Frankie Valli and The Four Seasons for "Uptown Girl" and James Brown or Wilson Pickett for "Easy Money." The collaboration extended to the music video for "Tell Her About It," where Rodney Dangerfield made a cameo appearance at the end as an exchange for Joel's song supporting Dangerfield's film. The album achieved significant commercial success, remaining on the US Pop album chart for 111 weeks, which stands as Joel's longest-charting studio album behind The Stranger. Internationally, "Uptown Girl" reached No. 1 in the UK, Australia, and New Zealand. While the LP track listing differs slightly from cassette and original CD pressings regarding the order of "The Longest Time" and "Uptown Girl," the actual media played them in the correct LP order. The album garnered three Billboard Top 10 singles: "Tell Her About It" (No. 1), "Uptown Girl" (No. 3), and the title track (No. 10).

Reader's Guide

Listeners will find seven songs released as singles from this album, with four reaching significant chart positions alongside the three Top 10 hits. These include "The Longest Time," which peaked at No. 14, and "Keeping the Faith" at No. 18. The song "This Night" served as a US B-side to "Leave a Tender Moment Alone" (No. 27). Musically, the album features distinct personnel contributions; for example, Eric Gale plays electric guitar on "Easy Money," while Toots Thielemans contributes harmonica on "Leave a Tender Moment Alone." The production credits list Phil Ramone as producer and Jim Boyer and Bradshaw Leigh as engineers. Notably, the chorus for "This Night" is credited to Billy Joel and L. v. Beethoven, acknowledging the classical influence woven into the pop arrangement. The album was nominated for Album of the Year at the 26th Grammy Awards but lost to Michael Jackson's Thriller.

Did You Know?

• The album cover was photographed on the front steps of 142 Mercer Street in SoHo, New York City.
• 'Easy Money' was initially written for a movie starring Rodney Dangerfield and later inspired the rest of the album's creation.
• Rodney Dangerfield made a cameo appearance in the music video for 'Tell Her About It' as payment for Joel supporting his film with a song.
• Billy Joel wrote most of the album's material within just six weeks while feeling like a teenager again after dating supermodels.
• 'This Night' features a chorus credited to both Billy Joel and L. v. Beethoven.