The 1979 Billy Joel song that wouldn’t exist without Chinese food
‘Honesty’ by Billy Joel has always had a deep-rooted softness, a tenderness, a succulence. You could say that sounds a lot like a chicken chow mein.
Sure, it’s an odd comparison, but it’s one that Joel himself would be more than happy to indulge in, alongside his free bag of prawn crackers. As it turned out, Chinese food was the way to his heart in 1979 and unlocked the key to one of his most delicate opuses. Once producer Phil Ramone cracked that code, he never looked back.
Ultimately, it is frustrating business to record a song. Think of all the copious rounds of vocals, layers of instrumentation, and attempts at mastering, all for it to sometimes still sound not quite right. Tensions can fray, and tempers flare, so much so that a bit of a breather is needed. In Joel’s world, those meal breaks were more important than most.
Ramone, of course, had been behind many massive records in his time, and by that virtue also dealt with more than his fair share of artist strops while in the process of doing it. In the case of Joel and his band, he must have racked up a hefty bill at the local Chinese restaurant after he discovered that that was the secret ingredient to their success.
“The hands-down favourite among band members was Chinese food, and our debates over which sounded best, the pre-or post-Chinese food take, are legendary,” he recalled in his 2007 memoir, but not without also disclosing his tactics as to how he would use the allure of black bean sauce and five spice to his greatest advantage.
First, he would get the delivery to the studio. Then, while Joel and the band were still working, he would crack the door ever so slightly, allowing the aromatic smell to waft through the air. They would become ravenous, but the second the food was done, they would be sent straight back to the grind.
“Everyone would grumble, but they’d go out and pick up where they’d left off,” Ramone explained with a smugness at his plan having gone off like clockwork, “Many songs, ‘Honesty’, for instance, sounded better after everyone had eaten. The food slowed their metabolism and curbed their aggression, which is exactly what the tempo of certain songs needed.”
It does give you food for thought, though, if you pardon the pun. Taking ‘Honesty’ as the prime example, whenever you hear a song that’s perhaps more gentle than the rest, handled with a greater sense of care and a tender fragility, was that all because the artist in question had been pacified with their favourite takeaway beforehand? For Joel, the answer was definitely yes.
It’s probably not the best news for the catering budget or the personal trainers tasked with getting stars into shape before they hit the road, but nourishment is ultimately the key to making the brain fire. There would be no tour without new songs, and there would be no songs without a Chinese takeaway. In the eyes of Joel and the rest of his band, the path to ‘Honesty’ was simple.
