"The Longest Time" is a

doo-wop Doo-wop (also spelled doowop and doo wop) is a subgenre of rhythm and blues music that originated in African-American communities during the 1940s, mainly in the large cities of the United States, including New York, Philadelphia, Pittsburgh, ...

song by

Billy Joel William Martin Joel (born May 9, 1949) is an American singer, songwriter, and pianist. Nicknamed the "Honorific nicknames in popular music, Piano Man" after his Signature song, signature 1973 song Piano Man (song), of the same name, Joel has ha ...

, released in 1984 as the fourth single from the 1983 album '' An Innocent Man''. Following the theme of the album in paying tribute to Joel's musical influences, the song is presented in the style of Frankie Lymon and the Teenagers. It reached number 14 on the ''Billboard'' Hot 100 and number 1 on ''Billboard''s

Adult Contemporary Adult contemporary music (AC) is a form of radio-played popular music, ranging from 1960s vocal and 1970s soft rock music to predominantly ballad-heavy music of the 1980s to the present day, with varying degrees of easy listening, pop, soul ...

chart. In the United Kingdom the song reached number 25 on the UK Singles Chart. The song features Joel on lead vocals, all backing vocals, and percussive sounds such as finger snaps and hand claps. When the song is covered by vocal groups, the bass part is typically sung. Phil Ramone and Joel had intended to feature a vocal group but Joel recorded each of the parts himself.

Music video

The music video starts with a man (played by Joel) in a gym after his 25th high school reunion party. Looking around at posters of several class awards, he breaks into song as his band, apparently portrayed as his high school friends, enters the gym. As they sing, they alternate between their high school and current selves, ending with their high school selves walking out of the restroom and interacting with a puzzled janitor ( Nick Stewart). The video was entirely filmed at

Pratt Institute Pratt Institute is a private university with its main campus in Brooklyn, New York. It has an additional campus in Manhattan and an extension campus in Utica, New York at the Munson-Williams-Proctor Arts Institute. The institute was founded in 18 ...

Brooklyn Brooklyn is a Boroughs of New York City, borough of New York City located at the westernmost end of Long Island in the New York (state), State of New York. Formerly an independent city, the borough is coextensive with Kings County, one of twelv ...

and was directed by Jay Dubin.

Personnel

– lead and backing vocals, finger snaps, hand claps * Doug Stegmeyer – bass guitar Additional personnel * Tom Bahler – vocal arranger

Chart performance

Certifications

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Longest Time 1983 songs 1984 singles Billy Joel songs Columbia Records singles Doo-wop songs Song recordings produced by Phil Ramone Songs written by Billy Joel