My favorite Billy Joel album, 52nd Street, was released 30 years ago this month. The following year, it became one of the first albums in my collection, setting me along the path to rabid Billy Joel fandom. Containing the hits "My Life", "Big Shot", and "Honesty", and a handful of interesting jazz-pop tracks, 52nd Street is the only Billy Joel release to win Grammy's Album of the Year. Interestingly, it was also the first album to be released in the CD format, in 1982.

It is also the album I bought in more configurations than any other over the past three decades. First came the 8-track, then an LP, then a cassette, then a better copy of an LP, then a regular CD, then a gold edition celebrating the 10th anniversary of the CD format, and then finally the remastered version in 1998. If they were to come out with a special 30th anniversary box set like they did with The Stranger, no doubt I will buy it once again.

But a few minutes ago, I just realized that I sold that first 8-track release in our neighborhood yard sale. That lowly cartridge moved around with me a couple dozen times over the past 29 years! But at least I sold it in a lot with the other Billy Joel 8-tracks, so it won't miss me so much.