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Joey (Concrete Blonde song)

{{Short description|1990 single by Concrete Blonde}}

{{Use mdy dates|date=January 2022}}

{{Infobox song

| name = Joey

| cover = Joeycover1990.jpg

| alt =

| type = single

| artist = Concrete Blonde

| album = Bloodletting

| B-side = I Want You

| released = May 21, 1990

| recorded =

| studio =

| venue =

| genre =

| length = 4:07

| label = I.R.S.

| writer = Johnette Napolitano

| producer =

| prev_title = Bloodletting (The Vampire Song)

| prev_year = 1990

| next_title = Everybody Knows

| next_year = 1990

| misc =

}}

"Joey" is the ninth track from American alternative rock band Concrete Blonde's third studio album, Bloodletting (1990). The song was released in 1990 and was written and sung by the band's frontwoman, Johnette Napolitano. The song was written in a cab on the way to a photo studio in Philadelphia; it was the last vocal recorded on the album due to Napolitano's reluctance to record the lyrics, which were hard for her to deal with.{{cite web |last=MacIntosh |first=Dan |date=February 8, 2013 |title=Johnette Napolitano of Concrete Blonde : Songwriter Interviews |url=https://www.songfacts.com/blog/interviews/johnette-napolitano-of-concrete-blonde |access-date=February 1, 2025 |website=songfacts.com}}

The song became the group's biggest hit, spending four weeks atop the US Billboard Modern Rock Tracks chart and crossing over to pop radio, reaching number 19 on the Billboard Hot 100; it remains their only charting song on the latter listing. Worldwide, "Joey" reached number two in Australia, ending 1990 as the country's 16th-best-selling single, and peaked at number four on Canada's RPM 100 Hit Tracks chart, ranking in at number 53 on the magazine's year-end listing for 1990.

Lyrics

The song is sung from the perspective of a woman who is in love with an alcoholic.{{cite book |title=The Rough Guide Rock: The Definitive Guide to More than 1200 Artists and Bands |publisher=Rough Guides |year=2003 |isbn=978-1-84353-105-0 |editor-last=Buckley |editor-first=Peter |edition=Third |pages=222}} Napolitano mentioned in her book Rough Mix that the song was written about her relationship with Marc Moreland of the band Wall of Voodoo.

In a 2013 interview with SongFacts' Dan MacIntosh, Napolitano described the process for writing "Joey" as starting with a wordless melody, to which lyrics were eventually added. According to Napolitano, she avoided writing the lyrics to "Joey" until the last possible moment due to the difficult nature of the subject matter. In her words,

"I knew what I wanted to say, but I wasn't looking forward to saying it. So it was the last vocal that I recorded.

And I remember Chris every day, "Do we have vocals to 'Joey' yet? Do we have words to 'Joey' yet?" And I'm like, "Not yet." So I literally wrote them in a cab. I knew what I was going to say, it's just a matter of like a cloud's forming and then it rains. The lines are forming in my head and they're all in my head, and I know the chorus, and I know what I'm going to say. It's just a matter of fine-tuning the details and how I'm going to lug it out. And then it rains. The clouds all formed and it rained. And then it happened. And that was it. And it was just there."

Music video

The music video for "Joey" was directed by Jane Simpson.{{cite news |url=https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-1990-10-13-ca-1836-story.html |last=Willman |first=Chris |date=October 13, 1990 |title=Brat Pack makes strong showing in video clips |newspaper=Los Angeles Times |access-date=January 11, 2022}} The Recording Academy has described the video as "[illustrating] this love triangle in the truest sense, spotlighting frontwoman Johnette Napolitano performing for an audience of one in a dark, dungeonesque bar. The lone member of the crowd could only be Napolitano's lovesick lover... who's only sick for the bottle of alcohol from which he can't avert his eyes."{{Cite web |date=May 15, 2017 |title=The inside story of Concrete Blonde's "Joey" |url=https://www.grammy.com/grammys/news/inside-story-concrete-blondes-joey |access-date=May 29, 2020 |website=grammy.com |language=en}} The video for "Joey" achieved Buzz Bin status on MTV in 1990.{{cite magazine |url=https://worldradiohistory.com/Archive-All-Music/Billboard/90s/1990/BB-1990-08-18.pdf |title=The Clip List |magazine=Billboard |volume=102 |issue=33 |page=64 |date=August 18, 1990 |via=World Radio History |access-date=January 11, 2022}} A digitally remastered version of the video was uploaded to YouTube on March 12, 2009.{{Citation |title=Concrete Blonde - Joey (Official Video) |date=March 12, 2009 |url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OdpTcvSn8HQ |access-date=May 29, 2020 |archive-url=https://ghostarchive.org/varchive/youtube/20211215/OdpTcvSn8HQ |archive-date=December 15, 2021 |url-status=live}}{{cbignore}}

Track listings

{{col-begin}}

{{col-2}}

7-inch and cassette single{{cite AV media notes|title=Joey|others=Concrete Blonde|year=1990|type=Australian 7-inch single sleeve|publisher=I.R.S. Records|id=K10116}}{{cite AV media notes|title=Joey|others=Concrete Blonde|year=1990|type=US cassette single sleeve|publisher=I.R.S. Records|id=4 JM 13803}}

  1. "Joey" – 4:07
  2. "I Want You" – 3:28

UK 12-inch and CD single{{cite AV media notes|title=Joey|others=Concrete Blonde|year=1990|type=UK 12-inch single vinyl disc|publisher=I.R.S. Records|id=EIRST 143}}{{cite AV media notes|title=Joey|others=Concrete Blonde|year=1990|type=UK CD single disc notes|publisher=I.R.S. Records|id=EIRSCD 143}}

  1. "Joey" – 4:07
  2. "I Want You" – 3:28
  3. "I Don't Need a Hero" – 4:25

{{col-2}}

European 12-inch and maxi-CD single{{cite AV media notes|title=Joey|others=Concrete Blonde|year=1990|type=European 12-inch single vinyl disc|publisher=I.R.S. Records|id=24 1064 6}}{{cite AV media notes|title=Joey|others=Concrete Blonde|year=1990|type=European maxi-CD single disc notes|publisher=I.R.S. Records|id=24 1064 2}}

  1. "Joey" – 4:07
  2. "I Want You" – 3:28
  3. "The Beast" – 3:52

{{col-end}}

Charts

{{col-begin}}

{{col-2}}

=Weekly charts=

class="wikitable sortable plainrowheaders" style="text-align:center"

!scope="col"|Chart (1990)

!scope="col"|Peak
position

{{single chart|Australia|2|song=Joey|artist=Concrete Blonde|rowheader=true|access-date=February 14, 2018}}
{{single chart|Flanders|35|song=Joey|artist=Concrete Blonde|rowheader=true|access-date=February 14, 2018}}
{{single chart|Canadatopsingles|4|chartid=1327|rowheader=true|access-date=February 14, 2018}}
{{single chart|Dutch40|14|year=1990|week=47|rowheader=true|access-date=June 11, 2018}}
{{single chart|Dutch100|17|song=Joey|artist=Concrete Blonde|rowheader=true|access-date=February 14, 2018}}
scope="row"|US Billboard Hot 100{{cite magazine|url=https://www.billboard.com/charts/hot-100/1990-11-10/|title=Billboard Hot 100|magazine=Billboard|date=November 10, 1990|access-date=June 25, 2023}}

|19

scope="row"|US Adult Contemporary (Billboard){{cite magazine|title=Hot Adult Contemporary|magazine=Billboard|volume=102|issue=46|page=81|date=November 17, 1990}}

|42

scope="row"|US Album Rock Tracks (Billboard){{cite magazine|url=https://www.billboard.com/charts/hot-mainstream-rock-tracks/1990-08-04/|title=Mainstream Rock Airplay|magazine=Billboard|date=August 4, 1990|url-access=subscription|access-date=June 25, 2023}}

|20

scope="row"|US Modern Rock Tracks (Billboard){{cite magazine|url=https://www.billboard.com/charts/alternative-airplay/1990-07-14/|title=Alternative Airplay|magazine=Billboard|date=July 14, 1990|access-date=June 25, 2023}}

|1

scope="row"|US Cash Box Top 100 Singles{{cite book |last1=Downey |first1=Pat |last2=Albert |first2=George |last3=Hoffman |first3=Frank |title=Cash Box Pop Singles Charts, 1950-1993 |date=1994 |publisher=Libraries Unlimited, Inc. |location=Englewood, Colorado |isbn=1563083167 |page=[https://archive.org/details/cashboxpopsingle00down/page/73 73] |url=https://archive.org/details/cashboxpopsingle00down |url-access=registration |access-date=January 2, 2022}}

|20

{{col-2}}

=Year-end charts=

class="wikitable sortable plainrowheaders" style="text-align:center"

!scope="col"|Chart (1990)

!scope="col"|Position

scope="row"|Australia (ARIA){{cite web|url=https://www.aria.com.au/charts/1990/singles-chart|title=ARIA Top 50 Singles for 1990|publisher=ARIA|access-date=June 12, 2020}}

|16

scope="row"|Canada Top Singles (RPM){{cite magazine|url=http://www.bac-lac.gc.ca/eng/discover/films-videos-sound-recordings/rpm/Pages/image.aspx?Image=nlc008388.9139&URLjpg=http%3a%2f%2fwww.collectionscanada.gc.ca%2fobj%2f028020%2ff4%2fnlc008388.9139.gif&Ecopy=nlc008388.9139|title=Top 100 Hit Tracks of 1990|magazine=RPM|via=Library and Archives Canada|access-date=February 14, 2018}}

|53

scope="row"|US Modern Rock Tracks (Billboard){{cite magazine|title=The Year in Music 1990: Top Modern Rock Tracks|magazine=Billboard|volume=102|issue=51|page=YE-47|date=December 22, 1990}}

|11

{{col-end}}

Certifications

{{Certification Table Top}}

{{Certification Table Entry|region=Australia|type=single|award=Platinum|relyear=1990|certyear=1990|certref=|access-date=June 12, 2020}}

{{Certification Table Bottom|nosales=true}}

Release history

class="wikitable plainrowheaders"

!scope="col"|Region

!scope="col"|Date

!scope="col"|Format(s)

!scope="col"|Label(s)

!scope="col"|{{abbr|Ref.|Reference}}

scope="row"|United States

|1990

|Cassette

|rowspan="3"|I.R.S.

|

scope="row"|Australia

|May 21, 1990

|{{hlist|7-inch vinyl|cassette}}

|{{cite magazine|title=Platterlog: Singles – New Releases – 21 May 1990|magazine=Platterlog|date=May 21, 1990}}

scope="row"|United Kingdom

|October 15, 1990

|{{hlist|7-inch vinyl|12-inch vinyl|CD}}

|{{cite magazine|title=New Singles|magazine=Music Week|page=39|date=October 13, 1990}}

See also

References

{{Reflist}}

{{Concrete Blonde}}

{{Authority control}}

Category:1990 singles

Category:1990 songs

Category:Concrete Blonde songs

Category:I.R.S. Records singles

Category:Songs about alcohol

Category:Songs written by Johnette Napolitano