Ménage Á Pop is a three times a week intimate discussion between two people and a piece of pop culture.
We all plastered our dorms rooms with posters of Pearl Jam and print-ads for PJ Harvey. But with these snapshots to portray us, we also chose to neglect a rather pertinent artist. Someone we came of age humming along with but turned against that Freshman year Thankfully TV writer Brian Stampnitsy (STILL- STAR-CROSSED) is here to right that sleight with a little proper-in-length praise for Billy Joel and his a-cappella single, THE LONGEST TIME.
Today’s guest, BRIAN STAMPNITSKY is a writer for television whose credits include the 2017 ABC drama STILL STAR-CROSSED. Follow him on INSTAGRAM @bstampy and marvel at a full month of his outerwear @30days30shirts.
POP NOTES
Released as the fourth single off AN INNOCENT MAN (1983) in March 1984, THE LONGEST TIME reached number 14 on the Billboard Hot 100 charts.
Production on the album AN INNOCENT MAN began shortly after Billy Joel’s divorce from his first wife. He credits this new found freedom and it ensuing teenager-like lifestyle, as the main inspiration in doing a nostalgia-based concept album.
THE LONGEST TIME was recorded a-cappella in tribute to the doo-wap bands of Billy Joel’s youth, most notably Frankie Lymon and the Teenagers. While the originally intention was to perform with backing singers, Bill Joel ultimately recorded each vocal track separately with album producer Phil Ramon layering them together in post-production.
The original melody for the song can be traced back to a piano ballad entitled THE TIME OF YOUR LIFE composed by Billy Joel in the late 70s. This original version remained unreleased until a demo of it appeared on the the 2005 Billy Joel box set MY LIVES.
‘90s R&B performers BOYZ II MEN have quoted this song as an influence, stating it was one of the few current radio singles with vocal harmonies for them to perform in high school.
Early in his career Billy Joel also worked as a Music Critic for print journalism. He soon found critiquing fellow musicians’ efforts to be painful and vowed to never do it again. This promise served as the reason he tuned down an offer to judge the 10th season of American Idol (a role Aerosmith’s Steven Tyler then filled for two years).
Billy Joel has been inducted into both the Songwriters Hall Of Fame (1992) and the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame (1999).
Come back Wednesday as Brian searches the dial for some sobering reruns that aren’t WHO’S THE BOSS.
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MUSIC FEATURED IN TODAY’S EPISODE:
“Three Ways To Do That” (opening theme) composed and performed by The Madeline Prior. All rights reserved with Not A Holograms podcasts.
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