"Tell Her About It" | ||||||||
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Single by Billy Joel | ||||||||
from the album An Innocent Man | ||||||||
Released | July 28, 1983 | |||||||
Format | 7" vinyl | |||||||
Genre | Pop rock | |||||||
Length | 3:52 | |||||||
Label | Columbia | |||||||
Writer(s) | Billy Joel | |||||||
Producer | Phil Ramone | |||||||
Certification | Gold (RIAA) | |||||||
Billy Joel singles chronology | ||||||||
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"Tell Her About It" is a hit 1983 song performed by Billy Joel, from the hit 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 sales in the US. In interviews, Joel has indicated that the song, heard out of context of the "Innocent Man" album, sounds more like a Tony Orlando and Dawn record than the Motown sound he intended.
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.
The video for the song shows Joel singing the song as if he was on The Ed Sullivan Show of the 1960s. 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 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" thanking Joel for warming up the crowd.
Contents |
Chart (1983) | Peak position |
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Australian Singles Chart | 9 |
Canadian Singles Chart[1] | 5 |
Dutch Top 40[2] | 39 |
Irish Singles Chart | 2 |
Japan Oricon Singles Chart | 58 |
New Zealand Singles Chart | 12 |
UK Singles Chart | 4 |
US Billboard Hot 100 | 1 |
US Billboard Hot Adult Contemporary Tracks | 1 |
US Billboard Top Rock Tracks | 17 |
Country | Certification | Date | Sales certified |
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UK[3] | Silver | 1 January 1984 | 200,000 |
Preceded by "Maniac" by Michael Sembello |
Billboard Hot 100 number-one single 24 September 1983 |
Succeeded by "Total Eclipse of the Heart" by Bonnie Tyler |