Maps of Music

The Nylon Curtain (1982)

Where the lyrics of The Nylon Curtain take you, and where it was really made.

Joel made the album mostly with his core band and no regular saxophonist, the first of his albums since Streetlife Serenade to go without one.

Key places

Recorded at A&R Recording (1982)

Recording site A&R Recording Studio — The release notes list A&R Recording in New York as one of the studios where the album was recorded. Google Maps · Apple Maps

How to get there: See the map for directions.

Recorded at Mediasound Studios (1982)

Recording site Mediasound Studios — The release notes also list Media Sound Studios in New York as a recording location for the album, separate from A&R Recording. Google Maps · Apple Maps

How to get there: See the map for directions.

Album story

Overview

• The Nylon Curtain: eighth studio album by Billy Joel
• Released 23 September 1982 on CBS; produced by Phil Ramone
• Peaked at No. 7 on the Billboard albums chart
• Two million sales in the United States
• Among Joel's most ambitious efforts

Background

• Joel called it the recording he is most proud of
• He aimed to create a sonic masterpiece
• He spent more time in the studio shaping the sound than on any previous album
• Critics read the album partly as an homage to the Beatles and the recently deceased John Lennon
• Saxophonist Richie Cannata left the band before recording
• Joel, Doug Stegmeyer, Liberty DeVitto, David Brown and Russell Javors recorded it mostly by themselves
• Eddie Daniels played clarinet on the closing track
• Mark Rivera, formerly of Tycoon, joined the band on The Nylon Curtain Tour
• Joel tied the themes to the Reagan years and shrinking American horizons
• He said the theme was an American dilemma facing people born after World War II

Recording

• Recorded at A&R Recording and Media Sound Studios, New York
• Engineered by Jim Boyer; remixed by Jim Boyer at A&R Recording, New York
• Mastered by Ted Jensen at Sterling Sound, New York
• Production schedule was slightly disrupted near the end because Joel had a motorcycle accident

Cover

• Front cover design by Chris Austopchuk
• Album art coordination by Paula Scher
• Back cover photo by Benno Friedman
• Inner sleeve design by John Berg

Sources: en.wikipedia.org · www.discogs.com

Artist

Early life

• Born May 9, 1949 in the Bronx, New York City; raised in Hicksville on Long Island.
• Began piano lessons at age four at his mother's insistence.
• Saw the Beatles on The Ed Sullivan Show and decided to pursue a music career.
• Played in the Echoes, the Hassles, and Attila before going solo.

Career

• Debut solo album Cold Spring Harbor (1971); signed with Columbia Records in 1972 after a Philadelphia radio broadcast of "Captain Jack".
• Breakthrough with The Stranger (1977), Columbia's best-selling release at that time.
• 52nd Street (1978) won the Grammy for Album of the Year.
• Released 12 self-written studio albums from 1971 to 1993; over 160 million records sold worldwide.
• Performed a long Madison Square Garden residency from 2014 to 2024.
• Inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1999.

Sources: en.wikipedia.org

Reception

Reappraisal

• Chuck Klosterman, pop-culture journalist, praised "Laura" and "Where's the Orchestra?" in his book Sex, Drugs, and Cocoa Puffs
• Joel has called the album the recording he is most proud of
• Joel has said he does not give solutions to the dilemma he describes, but hoped the record speaks to people of that age group

Records

• Billboard albums chart: No. 7
• Two million sales in the United States
• The single "Allentown" spent about six weeks at No. 17 on the Billboard Hot 100 in early 1983

Sources: en.wikipedia.org · es.wikipedia.org

Trivia

• "Allentown" was written in an unusual way: Joel wrote its melody eight years before completing the lyrics for this album.
• "Pressure" was recorded with eight overdubbed synthesizer tracks and a segment with four people playing mandolin.
• "Goodnight Saigon" opens and closes with the sound of rotors from a Bell UH-1 Iroquois helicopter, widely used in the Vietnam War.
• "Where's the Orchestra?" closes by reprising the melody of "Allentown", bringing the album full circle.
• A motorcycle accident that hospitalized Joel stopped the production of the album until he recovered.

Sources: en.wikipedia.org · pt.wikipedia.org

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