A bottle of red... a bottle of white... whatever kind of mood you're in, we're talking Billy Joel tonight!
Pull up a table and join Kirk for a long look into one of Joel's most enduring songs, the seven-and-a-half minute, five course musical meal that is "Scenes from an Italian Restaurant." The centerpiece on Joel's breakthrough 1977 album The Stranger, Italian Restaurant has got it all: schmaltzy sax, hard rock rhythms, love, heartbreak, and a pair of harmonized clarinets.
Written by: Billy Joel
Produced by: Phil Ramone
Album: The Stranger (1977)
Listen/Buy: Apple Music | Amazon | Spotify
FEATURED/DISCUSSED:
- "Movin' Out (Anthony's Song)," "Just The Way You Are," "Vienna," "Only The Good Die Young," and "She's Always a Woman to Me" by Billy Joel from The Stranger, 1977
- Joel discussing Phil Ramone in The Complete Albums Collection documentary: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sm5-oQNENnM
- “Bohemian Rhapsody” by Freddie Mercury and Queen from A Night at the Opera, 1975
- “One Angry Dwarf and 200 Solemn Faces” by Ben Folds from Whatever and Ever Amen, 1997
- “You Never Can Tell” by Chuck Berry, 1964
- “Jack and Diane” by John Mellencamp from American Fool, 1982
- “Born to Run” by Bruce Springsteen from Born to Run, 1975
OUTRO SOLOIST: Steve Pardo
This episode's outro soloist is the one and only Steve Pardo. Steve is a Nashville, TN based producer, composer, and saxophonist. You can find out more at his website: https://www.stevepardo.com/
STRONG MERCH
Visit the Strong Songs merch store for some cool t-shirts, mugs, totes, and more: store.strongsongspodcast.com
KEEP IT SOCIAL
You can follow Strong Songs on Twitter @StrongSongs: http://twitter.com/strongsongs
And you can find Kirk on Twitter @Kirkhamilton and on Instagram at @Kirk_Hamilton: https://www.instagram.com/kirk_hamilton/
NEWSLETTER/MAILING LIST
Sign up for Kirk's mailing list to start getting monthly-ish newsletters with music recommendations, links, news, and extra thoughts on new Strong Songs episodes: https://kirkhamilton.substack.com/subscribe
STRONG PLAYLISTS
Kirk has condensed his Strong Songs picks into a single new list, which you can find on Spotify and Apple Music, and YouTube Music.
SUPPORT STRONG SONGS ON PATREON!
Thanks to all of Strong Songs' Patrons! You're the reason I'm able to keep the show going strong and ad-free. If you want to join the Patreon, go here: https://Patreon.com/StrongSongs
AUGUST 2021 WHOLE-NOTE PATRONS
Rob Bosworth
Josh Pearson
Kyle Cooke
Donald Mackie
Melissa Osborne
Christopher Miller
Tim Byrne
Patrick Funston
Jamie White
Christopher Kupski
Christopher McConnell
Joshua Jarvis
Niko
Joe Laska
Laurie Acreman
Ken Hirsh
Jez
Jenness Gardner
Simon Cammell
Guinevere Boostrom
Narelle Horn
Nathaniel Bauernfeind
Bill Rosinger
Anne Britt
David Zahm
Erin
Aidan Coughlan
Jeanneret Manning Family Four
Doug Paton
Robert Paul
Viki Dun
Dave Sharpe
Christer Lindqvist
Sami Samhuri
AccessViolation
Ryan Torvik
Merlin Mann
Fraser
Glenn
Jim Chokey
Andre Bremer
Mark Schechter
Dave Florey
Dan Apczynski
AUGUST 2021 HALF-NOTE PATRONS
Andy Painter
Karen Liu
Greg Burgess
Ailie Fraser
Simon Prieto
Breck Jones
Paul McGreal
Karen Arnold
NATALIE MISTILIS
Josh Singer
Phino DeLeon
Schloss Edward J. MD
Rhyanon Murray
Amy Lynn Thornsen
Adam W
Kelli Brockington
Stephen Rawlings
Ben Machta
Victoria Yu
Kevin Rivers
Gray Dyer
Brad Clark
Christopher
Michael J. Cunningham
Kari Kirk
Mark Boggs
mino capossela
Steve Paquin
Mary Schoenmaker
Sarah
David Joske
Emma Sklar
Bernard Khoo
Marc
Robert Heuer
Matthew Golden
Brian Meldrum
David Noah
Geraldine Butler
Richard Cambier
Madeleine Mader
Fernando Rodriguez
Timothy Dougherty
Jason Pratt
Stewart Oak
Caroline Miller
Abbie Berg
Sam Norton
Nicole Schleicher
Doug Belew
Dermot Crowley
Achint Srivastava
Ryan Rairigh
Michael Berman
stephen matthews
Bridget Lyons
Olivia Bishop
John Gisselquist
Elaine Martin
Kouroth
Sharon Tree
Belinda Mcgrath-steer
Eoin de Burca
Kevin Potter
M Shane Borders
Pete Simm
Shawn McCarthy
Dallas Hockley
Jana J
Jason Gerry
Rich Roskopf
Melissa Gallo
Nathan Gouwens
Will Dwyer Alethea Lee
Lauren Reay
Eric Prestemon
Cookies250
Spencer Shirley
Damian Brady
Angela Livingstone
Jeffrey C. Yarnell
David Friedman
Phillip Dalton
Sarah Sulan
Diane Hughes
Kenneth Tiong
Jo Sutherland
Michael Casner
Michael York
Barb Courtney
Derek Bender
Jen Small
Don Hutchison
Lowell Meyer
Etele Illes
Stephen Tsoneff
Lorenz Schwarz
Becca Sample
Wen
Jack Sjogren
Benedict Pennington
Geoff Golden
Robyn Fraser
Alexander Geddes
Pascal Rueger
Randy Souza
JC
Brendan Jubb
Clare Holberton
Diane Turner
Tom Coleman
Mark Perry
Dhu Wik
Mel
Eric Helm
Jake Roberts
Briony Leo
Bill Fuller
Jonathan Daniels
Michael Flaherty
Jarrod Schindler
Zoe Little
Caro Field
michael bochner
Duncan
David Cushman
Alexander
Jeremy Dawson
Chris K
Gavin Doig
Sam Fenn
Tanner Morton
AJ Schuster
Jennifer Bush
David Stroud
Amanda Furlotti
Andrew Baker
Juan Carlos Montemayor Elosua
Matt Gaskell
Jules Bailey
Eero Wahlstedt
Bill Thornton
Brian Amoebas
Brett Douville
Jeffrey Olson
Matt Betzel
Mueller
Nate from Kalamazoo
Melanie Stivers
Richard Toller
Alexander Polson
Earl Lozada
Jon O’Keefe
Justin McElroy
Arjun Sharma
James Johnson
Andrew Lee
Kevin Morrell
Kevin Pennyfeather
Nicholas Schechter
Emily Williams