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Glass Houses - A Billy Joel Podcast

Glass Houses - A Billy Joel Podcast

Michael Grosvenor & Jack Firneno

Join lifelong Billy Joel fans, Michael and Jack, as they take deep dives in to Billy’s history, songs, albums, tours, band members, and more. Part of Pantheon Podcasts,
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Top 10 Glass Houses - A Billy Joel Podcast Episodes

Goodpods has curated a list of the 10 best Glass Houses - A Billy Joel Podcast episodes, ranked by the number of listens and likes each episode have garnered from our listeners. If you are listening to Glass Houses - A Billy Joel Podcast for the first time, there's no better place to start than with one of these standout episodes. If you are a fan of the show, vote for your favorite Glass Houses - A Billy Joel Podcast episode by adding your comments to the episode page.

Glass Houses - A Billy Joel Podcast - EP 052 - In Conversation with Billy Joel Art Director Edward O’Dowd
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02/01/22 • 58 min

If you’ve gone to one of Billy Joel’s Madison Square Garden residency shows, saw one of his concerts near your hometown, or picked up any of his reissues or box sets over the past decade plus, then you’re familiar with the work of Edward O’Dowd.

Since 2008, the graphic designer and art director has created the iconic logos Billy uses for tour dates, show announcements, and album covers. He’s responsible for the “live” logo where photos of Billy are in the letters of his name as well as tour books and the Billy Joel at Madison Square Garden logo.

On record, he was instrumental in creating the Bridge to Russia cover and design as well as the Stranger and Piano Man box set concepts and designs. Most recently, he designed the booklet that accompanies the Vinyl Collection Volume One and carefully recreated each album’s original artwork and liner notes.

For this episode, we spoke with Edward O’Dowd about how he came to work with Billy. And the stories behind both creating new imagery for Joel’s work and recreating the classics.

O’Dowd tells us about the craft behind his work, the inspiration for the designs, and the state of the music industry in general. The conversation also celebrates the life of the late Jeff Schock, an important figure in Billy’s camp and with whom O’Dowd was close on both personal and professional levels.

Join us, as we dive deep into the man behind Billy Joel’s newest t-shirts, album covers, tour books, and more.

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Email us: [email protected]

Glass Houses - A Billy Joel Podcast on the web / social media:

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Produced by Michael Grosvenor & Jack Firneno for Groove Music Marketing

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

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Glass Houses - A Billy Joel Podcast - EP 051 - Billy Joel Album Covers Ranked

EP 051 - Billy Joel Album Covers Ranked

Glass Houses - A Billy Joel Podcast

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01/18/22 • 73 min

Whoever said, “You can’t judge a book by its cover” never had to design the front of a rock and roll album. Before the internet put all the music in the world at everyone’s fingertips, that front cover first served as a siren call to anyone browsing in a record store.

Then, when you sat down and listened to the songs while checking out the artwork and liner notes, that image had to complement and enhance what you were hearing.

The best album covers worked hand-in-hand with the music to bring each fan a full, exuberant, multi-sensory experience. The worst, well, the songs better be great.

Billy Joel was no exception to this rule. And, like the songs underneath them, each album cover was distinctly different from the ones before and after it.

For this episode, we’re diving only skin-deep into 15 of Billy’s albums. This time around, the subject is only their covers: Which ones were great, which ones were so-so, and which were flops.

Join us as we rank the artwork of Billy Joel’s most significant records.

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Email us: [email protected]

Glass Houses - A Billy Joel Podcast on the web / social media:

Support the podcast:

Produced by Michael Grosvenor & Jack Firneno for Groove Music Marketing

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

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Glass Houses - A Billy Joel Podcast - EP 078 - Year In Review: 1989

EP 078 - Year In Review: 1989

Glass Houses - A Billy Joel Podcast

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01/31/23 • 75 min

1989 was a high water mark for Billy Joel’s career. He released another chart-topping album, Storm Front, and its number-one hit “We Didn’t Start the Fire.”

That single also found a home in history classrooms around the United States - a feat fitting for someone who once aspired to be a teacher.

But the events that preceded its fall release foreshadowed the chorus of the title track from Billy’s 11th studio album. Specifically, the line, “There’s a Storm Front coming.”

The year started quietly, with Billy slowly returning to the limelight in broadcast news features, master classes, and guest spots aimed toward children around his daughter’s age.

But before Storm Front’s release, Billy would discover a betrayal that would shake up his inner circle and could potentially leave him bankrupt.

Join us as we dig deep into the high tides and murky waters of Billy Joel in 1989.

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Email us: [email protected]

Glass Houses - A Billy Joel Podcast on the web / social media:

Support the podcast:

Produced by Michael Grosvenor & Jack Firneno for Groove Music Marketing

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

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Glass Houses - A Billy Joel Podcast - EP 079 - Content Creator Roundtable #1

EP 079 - Content Creator Roundtable #1

Glass Houses - A Billy Joel Podcast

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02/14/23 • 67 min

Here at Glass Houses - A Billy Joel Podcast, we’re not just Billy Joel fans. We’re also fans of other podcasts.

Since setting up shop in early 2020, we’ve connected with other podcasters with shows about music. Some of them have had us on as guests, and now we’re happy to return the favor.

For our second roundtable episode, we’re speaking with three podcasters who are also Billy Joel fans. They’re Stephanie Myers from Stephanie & Stephanie Talk Tunes, Bob Nebel of Tales From the Corners, and Brian Colburn of Playlist Wars, and who recently launched his new podcast, My Weekly Mixtape.

Join us as we dig deep not only into the music and our memories of Billy Joel, but also the craft of podcasting.

CLICK HERE TO LISTEN TO THE EXTENDED ROUNDTABLE CONVERSATION

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Email us: [email protected]

Glass Houses - A Billy Joel Podcast on the web / social media:

Support the podcast:

Produced by Michael Grosvenor & Jack Firneno for Groove Music Marketing

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

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Glass Houses - A Billy Joel Podcast - EP 110 - Tour Retrospective: Storm Front Tour 1989-1991
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04/23/24 • 66 min

Billy Joel’s world tour supporting the Storm Front album was a huge success by all metrics. But behind it was a story almost as tumultuous as the album title and front cover portrayed.

The tour was a necessity to earn back millions of dollars that Billy’s former manager, Frank Weber, had stolen from him over the previous few years. It also featured a revamped lineup that saw both bassist Doug Stegmeyer and guitarist Russell Javors out of the lineup for the first time since 1976.

Starting in December of 1989, Billy and the band hit the road for more than 170 shows over 16 months in 15 countries. The tour capped off Billy’s 80s run by introducing two new players who would become long-standing band members.

It also featured his landmark Yankee Stadium performances, which were commemorated in a Disney Channel & Home Video release in 1990 and a re-release on Blu-ray, CD and vinyl in 2022.

Join us as we dig deep into the Storm Front Tour.

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Email us: [email protected]

Glass Houses - A Billy Joel Podcast on the web / social media:

Support the podcast:

Produced by Michael Grosvenor & Jack Firneno for Glass Houses Media, LLC

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

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Glass Houses - A Billy Joel Podcast - EP 106 - Album Retrospective: The Hassles First Album
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02/27/24 • 83 min

Before Billy Joel was a household name, and before he was even a solo recording artist or known as a piano player, he released his first album on United Artists Records in 1967.

That album was The Hassles, by the band of the same name. Billy, still a teenager, wasn’t in the spotlight. Rather, he was the organ player who contributed a few original songs and vocals.

For this album episode, we’re reviewing the deluxe re-release from 1992. It contains the entire first album, plus 8 additional bonus tracks of b-sides, demos and alternate takes.

This generous serving of blue-eyed-soul and Long Island rock and roll provides Billy’s first step into the music industry at large. And, it reveals a few germs of the melodic instincts, arrangement styles, and vocal prowess that Billy would cultivate into his signature sound just a few years later.

Join us as we dig deep into The Hassles’ self-titled debut album.

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Email us: [email protected]

Glass Houses - A Billy Joel Podcast on the web / social media:

Support the podcast:

Produced by Michael Grosvenor & Jack Firneno for Groove Music Marketing

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Glass Houses - A Billy Joel Podcast - Coming Soon: Glass Houses - A Billy Joel Podcast

Coming Soon: Glass Houses - A Billy Joel Podcast

Glass Houses - A Billy Joel Podcast

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02/04/20 • 0 min

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Billy Joel released his first solo album, Cold Spring Harbor, in November 1971. Almost 50 years to the day, his fans are celebrating a string of exciting new announcements.

In our most timely episode yet, we’ll cover the latest developments in the Billy Joel world.

On Friday, November 5, Billy brought his record-breaking residency back to Madison Square Garden after a nearly two-year hiatus due to the pandemic.

Also on November 5, Billy released the Vinyl Collection, Vol. 1. It’s a boxed set containing new masters of his first six studio albums, Songs in the Attic, and an unreleased concert from 1975.

In the lead up to the box set, Billy also released a new animated video for Scenes From An Italian Restaurant.

And, in an announcement that seemed tailor-made for our co host Michael, we learned that Billy and Metallica will soon play at the same venue on the same weekend in Las Vegas.

It’s a lot at once, and we’re here to share in the excitement. Join us, as we dig deep, into the latest and greatest Billy Joel news.

Check out our video unboxing of Billy Joel - The Vinyl Collection, Vol. 1 here: https://youtu.be/5oeIBm0kajo

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Email us: [email protected]

Glass Houses - A Billy Joel Podcast on the web / social media:

Support the podcast:

Produced by Michael Grosvenor & Jack Firneno for Groove Music Marketing

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

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Glass Houses - A Billy Joel Podcast - EP 136 - Album Retrospective: Glass Houses (Part 3)

EP 136 - Album Retrospective: Glass Houses (Part 3)

Glass Houses - A Billy Joel Podcast

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04/22/25 • 67 min

Today, we know Glass Houses as one of Billy Joel’s biggest albums. The 1980 release became his third-consecutive album to quickly go platinum. It kept the band playing some of the biggest venues in the world, and features a handful of songs that are still live staples.

At the time, however, it was a drastic departure from Billy’s previous hit records. He’d shed much of the classical and jazz influences that marked The Stranger and 52nd Street. The scaled-back arrangements reflected then-modern New Wave and Power Pop with a more stripped-down and guitar-driven approach.

It was the first time in arguably a decade that Billy made a conscious effort to create an album based on the popular music of the time. As a result, more critics were lukewarm, and even hostile, to the songs.

Over time, the record cemented its status as a seminal release. After all, it’s the one we named this podcast after. Now, we’re finally giving it an official listen-through.

Join us as we drop the needle on Billy Joel’s 1980 album Glass Houses.

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Email us: [email protected]

Glass Houses - A Billy Joel Podcast on the web / social media:

Support the podcast:

Produced by Michael Grosvenor & Jack Firneno for Glass Houses Media, LLC

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

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Glass Houses - A Billy Joel Podcast - EP 036 - Concert Classics: Live in Houston, 1979

EP 036 - Concert Classics: Live in Houston, 1979

Glass Houses - A Billy Joel Podcast

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06/22/21 • 58 min

By the end of the seventies, Billy Joel had found success with a formula that blended elements of pop, rock, and jazz around a singer-songwriter frame. And, he was about to turn all that on its side. The Live In Houston 1979 bootleg is proof of it.

The video features Billy and the Lords of 52nd Street at the Summit in Houston, TX on November 25th. Their sound has been streamlined since the frenetic free-for-all on 1977’s CW Post radio broadcast. But, they’re not quite as settled into the arena stage show they’ll have perfected by 1982’s Live From Long Island.

Instead, this concert presents a top-tier rock and roll band at the top of their game, with an audience of thousands cheering them on. But, for as revelatory as this concert is, it’s shrouded in a bit of mystery.

The show took place well after the 52nd Street tour ended. It was professionally shot and edited, but never officially released. As a result, the only video footage available is grainy and suffering from generation loss. Finally, the show features three songs from the forthcoming Glass Houses. That album would mark a stylistic shift, and Billy even mentions that producer Phil Ramone is in the audience.

But it’s easy enough to put those lingering questions about the how and why to the side and just enjoy the show. And, that’s what we’re doing with this episode. Join us, as we dig deep into Billy Joel: Houston 1979.

Date: November 25, 1979
City/State: Houston, TX
Venue: The Summit

The band:

  • Billy Joel - Vocals, Piano, Keyboards
  • Liberty DeVitto - Drums
  • Doug Stegmeyer - Bass, Vocals
  • Russell Javors - Rhythm Guitar, Vocals
  • David Brown - Lead Guitar, Vocals
  • Richie Cannata - Saxophone, Flute, Keyboards, Accordion, Vocals

The Setlist:

  1. Only The Good Die Young
  2. Movin' Out (Anthony's Song)
  3. Honesty
  4. My Life
  5. Piano Man
  6. All For Leyna
  7. Prelude / Angry Young Man
  8. New York State of Mind
  9. The Stranger
  10. Sometimes A Fantasy
  11. Root Beer Rag
  12. She's Always A Woman
  13. Stiletto
  14. Zanzibar
  15. You May Be Right
  16. Just The Way You Are
  17. Big Shot
  18. Scenes From An Italian Restaurant
  19. Get It Right The First Time

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Email us: [email protected]

Glass Houses - A Billy Joel Podcast on the web / social media:

Support the podcast:

Produced by Michael Grosvenor & Jack Firneno for Groove Music Marketing

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

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FAQ

How many episodes does Glass Houses - A Billy Joel Podcast have?

Glass Houses - A Billy Joel Podcast currently has 141 episodes available.

What topics does Glass Houses - A Billy Joel Podcast cover?

The podcast is about Music, Music History, Podcasts and Music Commentary.

What is the most popular episode on Glass Houses - A Billy Joel Podcast?

The episode title 'EP 052 - In Conversation with Billy Joel Art Director Edward O’Dowd' is the most popular.

What is the average episode length on Glass Houses - A Billy Joel Podcast?

The average episode length on Glass Houses - A Billy Joel Podcast is 69 minutes.

How often are episodes of Glass Houses - A Billy Joel Podcast released?

Episodes of Glass Houses - A Billy Joel Podcast are typically released every 14 days.

When was the first episode of Glass Houses - A Billy Joel Podcast?

The first episode of Glass Houses - A Billy Joel Podcast was released on Feb 4, 2020.

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