Tell Her About It

"Tell Her About It" is a 1983 hit song written and performed by Billy Joel, from the album An Innocent Man. An apparent homage to the Motown Sound, the song was #1 on the Billboard Hot 100 charts for one week on September 24, 1983, replacing the Phil Ramone-produced song, "Maniac" by Michael Sembello. The single was certified Gold by the RIAA for US sales of over 500,000 copies. In interviews, Joel has indicated that the song, heard out of context of the An Innocent Man album, sounds more like a Tony Orlando and Dawn record than the Motown sound he intended.

"Tell Her About It"
Single by Billy Joel
from the album An Innocent Man
ReleasedJuly 28, 1983
GenreDoo-wop, pop rock
Length3:52
LabelColumbia
Songwriter(s)Billy Joel
Producer(s)Phil Ramone
Billy Joel singles chronology
"Goodnight Saigon"
(1983)		 "Tell Her About It"
(1983)		 "Uptown Girl"
(1983)
Alternative cover
UK single

Single

A 'special version' mixed by John "Jellybean" Benitez was also released as a 12" maxi single. The cover art varied depending on the country of release. The remixed version was a different mix from the album and was longer: it was approximately 5 min 35 in duration. On the B-side, featured Billy Joel's song "Easy Money" (also from An Innocent Man) and a live recording of the cover "You Got Me Hummin'" (written by Isaac Hayes & David Porter).[1]

In the lyrics of the song, the singer exhorts a young man to tell the woman he loves how he feels about her before he misses his chance.

Music video

The video for the song shows Joel singing the song as if he were on The Ed Sullivan Show in 1963. The cover shot for the UK release of the song was taken from the video, as seen below. An Ed Sullivan imitator (Will Jordan) introduces Joel (as "B.J. and the Affordables") after Topo Gigio, the talking mouse, finishes his skit. During the song there are different scenes of teenagers watching Joel on TV at home, crowding around appliance store windows watching him, dancing to his song. There is even a brief scene of a Soviet cosmonaut in space listening to the song, with the lyrics displayed at the bottom in the Russian language and in Cyrillic script. At the end of the song, comedian Rodney Dangerfield is there preparing to go on stage under the false impression that he is next, thanks Joel for warming up the crowd. "Patriska the Dancing Bear" is instead called to the stage, much to Dangerfield's disbelief.

Track listing

12" promotional EP

Side A
  1. "Tell Her About It" - 3:35

Side B
  1. "Easy Money" - 4:02
  2. "Keeping the Faith" - 4:40

Chart history
Chart (1983-84) Peak
position
Australian Singles Chart[2] 9
Belgian Singles Chart (Flanders)[3] 19
Canadian Singles Chart[4] 5
Dutch Top 40[5] 27
Irish Singles Chart 2
Japan Oricon Singles Chart 58
New Zealand Singles Chart 12
South African Singles Chart[6] 3
UK Singles Chart 4
US Billboard Hot 100 1
US Billboard Hot Adult Contemporary Tracks 1
US Billboard Top Rock Tracks 17
Year-end chart (1983)Rank
US Top Pop Singles (Billboard)[7] 45

Certifications
Country Certification Sales certified
United Kingdom[8] Silver 200,000
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See also
  • List of Hot 100 number-one singles of 1983 (U.S.)
  • List of number-one adult contemporary singles of 1983 (U.S.)

References
  1. Billy Joel – Tell Her About It (Extended Remix). YouTube. 15 March 2012.
  2. Kent, David (1993). Australian Chart Book 1970–1992. St Ives, NSW: Australian Chart Book. ISBN 0-646-11917-6.
  3. http://www.ultratop.be/nl/showitem.asp?interpret=Billy+Joel&titel=Tell+Her+About+It&cat=s (Retrieved September 17, 2012)
  4. "Item Display – RPM – Library and Archives Canada". collectionscanada.gc.ca.
  5. Stichting Nederlandse Top 40. "Billy Joel – Tell Her About It". Top40.nl.
  6. ""Tell Her About It" on the South African Singles Chart". Springbok Radio. October 7, 1983. Retrieved September 25, 2010.
  7. "Talent Almanac 1984: Top Pop Singles". Billboard. Vol. 95 no. 52. December 24, 1983. p. TA-18.
  8. UK certifications Bpi.co.uk (Retrieved 2 September 2008)
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