Readers' Poll: The Best Billy Joel Songs of All Time

The 1950s are often considered a period of peace, tranquility and blandness. Billy Joel, who grew up in the 1950s, wanted to disprove that notion with a song that went methodically through the era, highlighting all of the crazy things that went on. The song was a surprise hit, and tons of kids who knew nothing about Liberace, Nasser and Roy Cohn memorized every single word. It made history class much more interesting, too: "Oh, THAT'S the 'trouble in the Suez!'" and "'Edsel is a no-go' is about a car!" However, Billy Joel has said that he doesn't love the song due to its lack of a strong melody.