The Nylon Curtain
Encyclopedia
The Nylon Curtain is the eighth studio album
by Billy Joel
. It was released by Columbia Records
on September 23, 1982
and produced
by Phil Ramone
.
The Nylon Curtain peaked at number seven in the Billboard album charts, with two million sales in the United States alone. It was one of the first albums to be digitally recorded, mixed and mastered.
The album is perhaps best known for bringing global attention to the plight of Allentown, Pennsylvania
. In the song "Allentown
", the lead track, Joel sings of the city's resoluteness amidst the demise of industry in this eastern Pennsylvania city. In early 1983, "Allentown" spent an unprecedented six weeks at #17 on the Billboard Hot 100
. It was one of the most played radio songs of the early 1980s, along with another Top 20 hit "Pressure
".
The album is among the most ambitious of Joel's albums. It is unusual for Joel's work in its direct homage to and influence of the music of The Beatles
and John Lennon
(in particular "Laura," "Surprises," "Scandinavian Skies," and "Where's the Orchestra?"). "Where's the Orchestra?" ends with a simple instrumental rendition of "Allentown", creating an album bookend
.
Pop-culture journalist Chuck Klosterman
praised the album, particularly "Laura" and "Where's the Orchestra?," quite heavily in his book Sex, Drugs, and Cocoa Puffs
.
| width="35" align="center"|1983 || The Nylon Curtain || Album of the Year ||
|-
Studio album
A studio album is an album made up of tracks recorded in the controlled environment of a recording studio. A studio album contains newly written and recorded or previously unreleased or remixed material, distinguishing itself from a compilation or reissue album of previously recorded material, or...
by Billy Joel
Billy Joel
William Martin "Billy" Joel is an American musician and pianist, singer-songwriter, and classical composer. Since releasing his first hit song, "Piano Man", in 1973, Joel has become the sixth best-selling recording artist and the third best-selling solo artist in the United States, according to...
. It was released by Columbia Records
Columbia Records
Columbia Records is an American record label, owned by Japan's Sony Music Entertainment, operating under the Columbia Music Group with Aware Records. It was founded in 1888, evolving from an earlier enterprise, the American Graphophone Company — successor to the Volta Graphophone Company...
on September 23, 1982
1982 in music
This is a list of notable events in music from 1982. 1982 was a big year in music with Madonna making her debut as well as the year that Michael Jackson released Thriller which became the world's best selling album and it still holds that title today....
and produced
Record producer
A record producer is an individual working within the music industry, whose job is to oversee and manage the recording of an artist's music...
by Phil Ramone
Phil Ramone
Phil Ramone is a South-African violinist, composer, recording engineer, and record producer.-Biography:As a young child in South Africa, Ramone was a musical prodigy, beginning to play the violin at age three and performing for Queen Elizabeth II at age ten...
.
The Nylon Curtain peaked at number seven in the Billboard album charts, with two million sales in the United States alone. It was one of the first albums to be digitally recorded, mixed and mastered.
The album is perhaps best known for bringing global attention to the plight of Allentown, Pennsylvania
Allentown, Pennsylvania
Allentown is a city located in Lehigh County, Pennsylvania, in the United States. It is Pennsylvania's third most populous city, after Philadelphia and Pittsburgh, and the 215th largest city in the United States. As of the 2010 census, the city had a total population of 118,032 and is currently...
. In the song "Allentown
Allentown (song)
"Allentown" is a song by American singer Billy Joel, which first appeared on Joel's The Nylon Curtain album, accompanied by a conceptual music video. It later appeared on Joel's Greatest Hits: Volume II , 2000 Years: The Millennium Concert , The Essential Billy Joel , and "12 Gardens Live" albums...
", the lead track, Joel sings of the city's resoluteness amidst the demise of industry in this eastern Pennsylvania city. In early 1983, "Allentown" spent an unprecedented six weeks at #17 on the Billboard Hot 100
Billboard Hot 100
The Billboard Hot 100 is the United States music industry standard singles popularity chart issued weekly by Billboard magazine. Chart rankings are based on radio play and sales; the tracking-week for sales begins on Monday and ends on Sunday, while the radio play tracking-week runs from Wednesday...
. It was one of the most played radio songs of the early 1980s, along with another Top 20 hit "Pressure
Pressure (Billy Joel song)
"Pressure" is a synthesizer-driven song from 1982 by Billy Joel about difficulty dealing with the stress of daily living. The song was a single from the album The Nylon Curtain.-Themes:...
".
The album is among the most ambitious of Joel's albums. It is unusual for Joel's work in its direct homage to and influence of the music of The Beatles
The Beatles
The Beatles were an English rock band, active throughout the 1960s and one of the most commercially successful and critically acclaimed acts in the history of popular music. Formed in Liverpool, by 1962 the group consisted of John Lennon , Paul McCartney , George Harrison and Ringo Starr...
and John Lennon
John Lennon
John Winston Lennon, MBE was an English musician and singer-songwriter who rose to worldwide fame as one of the founding members of The Beatles, one of the most commercially successful and critically acclaimed acts in the history of popular music...
(in particular "Laura," "Surprises," "Scandinavian Skies," and "Where's the Orchestra?"). "Where's the Orchestra?" ends with a simple instrumental rendition of "Allentown", creating an album bookend
Framing device
The term framing device refers to the usage of the same single action, scene, event, setting, or any element of significance at both the beginning and end of an artistic, musical, or literary work. The repeated element thus creates a ‘frame’ within which the main body of work can develop.The...
.
Pop-culture journalist Chuck Klosterman
Chuck Klosterman
Charles John "Chuck" Klosterman is an American author and essayist who has written for The New York Times Magazine, The Believer, and The Washington Post, and has written books focusing on American popular culture....
praised the album, particularly "Laura" and "Where's the Orchestra?," quite heavily in his book Sex, Drugs, and Cocoa Puffs
Sex, Drugs, and Cocoa Puffs: A Low Culture Manifesto
Sex, Drugs, and Cocoa Puffs: A Low Culture Manifesto is a book written by Chuck Klosterman, first published by Scribner in 2003. It is a collection of eighteen comedic essays on popular culture.-Overview:...
.
Side one
- "AllentownAllentown (song)"Allentown" is a song by American singer Billy Joel, which first appeared on Joel's The Nylon Curtain album, accompanied by a conceptual music video. It later appeared on Joel's Greatest Hits: Volume II , 2000 Years: The Millennium Concert , The Essential Billy Joel , and "12 Gardens Live" albums...
" – 3:52 - "Laura" – 5:05
- "PressurePressure (Billy Joel song)"Pressure" is a synthesizer-driven song from 1982 by Billy Joel about difficulty dealing with the stress of daily living. The song was a single from the album The Nylon Curtain.-Themes:...
" – 4:40 - "Goodnight SaigonGoodnight Saigon"Goodnight Saigon" is a song written by Billy Joel, originally appearing on his 1982 album The Nylon Curtain, about the Vietnam War. It depicts the situation and attitude of United States Marines beginning with their military training on Parris Island and then into different aspects of Vietnam...
" – 6:30
Side two
- "She's Right on Time" – 4:14
- "A Room of Our Own" – 4:04
- "Surprises" – 3:26
- "Scandinavian Skies" – 6:00
- "Where's the Orchestra?" – 3:15
Personnel
- Billy Joel – VocalsSingingSinging is the act of producing musical sounds with the voice, and augments regular speech by the use of both tonality and rhythm. One who sings is called a singer or vocalist. Singers perform music known as songs that can be sung either with or without accompaniment by musical instruments...
, pianoPianoThe piano is a musical instrument played by means of a keyboard. It is one of the most popular instruments in the world. Widely used in classical and jazz music for solo performances, ensemble use, chamber music and accompaniment, the piano is also very popular as an aid to composing and rehearsal...
, synthesizerSynthesizerA synthesizer is an electronic instrument capable of producing sounds by generating electrical signals of different frequencies. These electrical signals are played through a loudspeaker or set of headphones...
, hammond organHammond organThe Hammond organ is an electric organ invented by Laurens Hammond in 1934 and manufactured by the Hammond Organ Company. While the Hammond organ was originally sold to churches as a lower-cost alternative to the wind-driven pipe organ, in the 1960s and 1970s it became a standard keyboard...
, melodicaMelodicaThe melodica, also known as the "blow-organ" or "key-flute", is a free-reed instrument similar to the melodeon and harmonica. It has a musical keyboard on top, and is played by blowing air through a mouthpiece that fits into a hole in the side of the instrument. Pressing a key opens a hole,... - David Brown – electric guitar (leadLead guitarLead guitar is a guitar part which plays melody lines, instrumental fill passages, guitar solos, and occasionally, some riffs within a song structure...
), acoustic guitar (lead) - Dominic Cortese – accordionAccordionThe accordion is a box-shaped musical instrument of the bellows-driven free-reed aerophone family, sometimes referred to as a squeezebox. A person who plays the accordion is called an accordionist....
on "Where's the Orchestra?" - Liberty DeVittoLiberty DeVittoLiberty DeVitto is an American rock drummer. He is best known as the drummer for Billy Joel, but has also played with the NYC Hit Squad and has been a session drummer on recordings of other artists.-Career:...
– drumsDrum kitA drum kit is a collection of drums, cymbals and often other percussion instruments, such as cowbells, wood blocks, triangles, chimes, or tambourines, arranged for convenient playing by a single person ....
, percussionPercussion instrumentA percussion instrument is any object which produces a sound when hit with an implement or when it is shaken, rubbed, scraped, or otherwise acted upon in a way that sets the object into vibration... - Eddie Daniels – saxophoneSaxophoneThe saxophone is a conical-bore transposing musical instrument that is a member of the woodwind family. Saxophones are usually made of brass and played with a single-reed mouthpiece similar to that of the clarinet. The saxophone was invented by the Belgian instrument maker Adolphe Sax in 1846...
and clarinetClarinetThe clarinet is a musical instrument of woodwind type. The name derives from adding the suffix -et to the Italian word clarino , as the first clarinets had a strident tone similar to that of a trumpet. The instrument has an approximately cylindrical bore, and uses a single reed...
on "Where's the Orchestra?" - Russell JavorsRussell JavorsRussell Javors is an American rock guitarist. He is best known as a primary guitarist for Billy Joel from 1976 to 1989.-Career:...
– electric guitarElectric guitarAn electric guitar is a guitar that uses the principle of direct electromagnetic induction to convert vibrations of its metal strings into electric audio signals. The signal generated by an electric guitar is too weak to drive a loudspeaker, so it is amplified before sending it to a loudspeaker...
(rhythmRhythm guitarRhythm guitar is a technique and rôle that performs a combination of two functions: to provide all or part of the rhythmic pulse in conjunction with singers or other instruments; and to provide all or part of the harmony, ie. the chords, where a chord is a group of notes played together...
), acoustic guitar (rhythm) - Dave GrusinDave GrusinDavid Grusin is an American composer, arranger and pianist. Grusin has composed many scores for feature films and television, and has won numerous awards for his soundtrack and record work, including an Academy award and 12 Grammys...
– string and horn arrangementArrangementThe American Federation of Musicians defines arranging as "the art of preparing and adapting an already written composition for presentation in other than its original form. An arrangement may include reharmonization, paraphrasing, and/or development of a composition, so that it fully represents... - Charles McCracken – celloCelloThe cello is a bowed string instrument with four strings tuned in perfect fifths. It is a member of the violin family of musical instruments, which also includes the violin, viola, and double bass. Old forms of the instrument in the Baroque era are baryton and viol .A person who plays a cello is...
on "Where's the Orchestra?" - Rob MounseyRob MounseyRob Mounsey is an award-winning composer, music producer, and musician. He was born in Berea, Ohio and grew up in Seattle, Washington and several Ohio towns. At the age of 17, he was awarded a BMI Student Composer's Award in New York. He attended Berklee College of Music in Boston from 1971 to 1975...
– synthesizer on "Scandinavian Skies" - David Nadien – concertmasterConcertmasterThe concertmaster/mistress is the spalla or leader, of the first violin section of an orchestra. In the UK, the term commonly used is leader...
on all except "Laura" and "Scandinavian Skies" - Doug StegmeyerDoug StegmeyerDoug Stegmeyer was a musician best known as the bassist for Billy Joel.-Career:Doug Stegmeyer met Russell Javors in high school. At age 15, Javors was performing songs with childhood friend Liberty DeVitto. From then, the boys, along with Howard Emerson, formed the band Topper.Together they...
– bassBass guitarThe bass guitar is a stringed instrument played primarily with the fingers or thumb , or by using a pick.... - "String Fever" – stringsString instrumentA string instrument is a musical instrument that produces sound by means of vibrating strings. In the Hornbostel-Sachs scheme of musical instrument classification, used in organology, they are called chordophones...
on "Laura" and "Scandinavian Skies" - Bill Zampino – field snareSnare drumThe snare drum or side drum is a melodic percussion instrument with strands of snares made of curled metal wire, metal cable, plastic cable, or gut cords stretched across the drumhead, typically the bottom. Pipe and tabor and some military snare drums often have a second set of snares on the bottom...
on "Goodnight Saigon"
Grammy Awards
|-| width="35" align="center"|1983 || The Nylon Curtain || Album of the Year ||
|-
Peak positions
| Chart(s) | Position |
|---|---|
| Dutch MegaAlbums Chart MegaCharts MegaCharts is responsible for the composition and exploitation of a broad collection of official charts in the Netherlands, of which the Mega Top 50 and the Mega Album Top 100 are the most known ones. Mega Charts also provides information to the Stichting Nederlandse Top 40, of which the Dutch Top... |
1 |
| Japanese Oricon LP Chart Oricon , established in 1999, is the holding company at the head of a Japanese corporate group that supplies statistics and information on music and the music industry in Japan. It started as , which was founded by Sōkō Koike in November 1967 and became known for its music charts. Oricon Inc... |
2 |
| Australian Kent Music Report Albums Chart Kent Music Report The Kent Music Report was a weekly record chart of Australian music singles and albums which was compiled by music enthusiast David Kent from May 1974 through to 1998... |
4 |
| United States United States The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district... Billboard 200 Billboard 200 The Billboard 200 is a ranking of the 200 highest-selling music albums and EPs in the United States, published weekly by Billboard magazine. It is frequently used to convey the popularity of an artist or groups of artists... |
7 |
| Norwegian VG-lista Albums Chart VG-lista VG-listen is a Norwegian record chart. It is weekly presented in the newspaper VG and the Norwegian Broadcasting Corporation program Topp 20. It is considered the primary Norwegian record chart, charting albums and singles from countries and continent around the world. The data is collected by... |
9 |
| New Zealand Albums Chart | 10 |
| Austrian Albums Chart Ö3 Austria Top 40 Ö3 Austria Top 40 is the name of the official Austrian singles chart, as well as the radio show which presents it, aired Fridays on Hitradio Ö3. The show presents the Austrian singles, ringtones and downloads chart. It premiered on 26 November 1968 as Disc Parade and was presented by Ernst Grissemann... |
20 |
| UK Albums Chart UK Albums Chart The UK Albums Chart is a list of albums ranked by physical and digital sales in the United Kingdom. It is compiled every week by The Official Charts Company and broadcast on a Sunday on BBC Radio 1 , and published in Music Week magazine and on the OCC website .To qualify for the UK albums chart... |
27 |
| Swedish Albums Chart Sverigetopplistan Sverigetopplistan, earlier known as Topplistan and Hitlistan and other names, is since October 2007 the Swedish national record chart, based on sales data from Swedish Recording Industry Association .... |
31 |
| German Media Control Albums Chart | 34 |
Year-end charts
| Chart (1982) | Position |
|---|---|
| Japanese Albums Chart | 48 |
| Australian Albums Chart | 49 |
| Chart (1983) | Position |
| U.S. Billboard Year-end | 33 |
| Japanese Albums Chart | 58 |