Musical Monday - Its Still Rock and Roll to Me by Billy Joel

#1 on the Billboard Hot 100: July 19, 1980 through July 26, 1980.

#1 on the Cash Box Top 100: July 12, 1980 through July 26, 1980.
#1 on the U.K. Chart: Never.

In 1980, disco was in its death throes. One reaction to disco was the punk movement. Another was the related "New Wave". Billy Joel's stripped down back to basics rock from his 19080 album Glass Houses was yet another.

Its Still Rock and Roll to Me is phrased as a conversation between an aging rocker and his agent who wants his client to update his image to remain popular. The repeated refrain "its still rock and roll to me", in the context of the era in which the song was released, is an almost defiant rant against the then recent trends in music and an insistence on a return to the roots of rock. Given his later success with the 1950s doo wop inspired album An Innocent Man, this seems almost prescient.

Previous Musical Monday: The Rose by Bette Midler

Subsequent Musical Monday: Xanadu by Olivia Newton-John and the Electric Light Orchestra

Previous #1 on the Billboard Hot 100: Coming Up by Paul McCartney

Subsequent #1 on the Billboard Hot 100: Magic by Olivia Newton-John

Previous #1 on the Cash Box Top 100: The Rose by Bette Midler

Subsequent #1 on the Cash Box Top 100: Magic by Olivia Newton-John

List of #1 Singles from the Billboard Hot 100 for 1980-1989
List of #1 Singles from the Cash Box Top 100 for 1980-1989
List of #1 Singles on the U.K. Chart for 1980-1989

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