Just the Way You Are
Billy Joel
1978
Annual listening-list association retained: 1978. The source-checked recording release year is 1977; these are separate date fields. No new regional or single-release date is inferred from this list year.
Release: 1977
Release: 1977Source checked | Recent carryover
The original The Stranger album catalog documents this recording in 1977. Only the year is established here; any later single, video, regional issue or compilation is a separate event.
The large badge identifies this listening list, not a newly issued recording. Later reissues and renewed chart popularity do not replace an original release date. How years are assigned.
Billy Joel: The Stranger (official album catalog)
Original album year and matching track, not a later compilation or re-recording. Year precision only; this source does not by itself establish a day-specific first single date.
Inspiration and background
Supplied note - not independently verified
This note came with the supplied collection and has not been independently verified.
Joel wrote this song as a birthday gift for his first wife, Elizabeth.
Evidence scope: Source-provided note, not an established account of the songwriter's intent
Sources for this information
Owner-supplied 1978.html, song-list position 14
Supplied annotation reproduced with attribution; underlying historical claims have NOT been independently verified.
Other appearances and versions
catalog version unspecified
Original release date and exact pressing/version are not independently established.
An annual chart year and an original release date are different. Similar titles may be covers or different masters; no audio fingerprint has been performed.
Sources and scope
Source-backed annual association (secondary source; not a complete discographic review)
Editorial artist-repertoire classification
Billboard year-end 1978 table (Wikipedia transcription)
Secondary transcription reviewed 2026-10-11: title, artist and annual chart association; not original release date or complete recording metadata.
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