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Joey (Concrete Blonde song)

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"Joey"
Image
Single by Concrete Blonde
from the album Bloodletting
B-side"I Want You"
ReleasedMay 21, 1990
Recorded1989
Genre
Length4:07
LabelI.R.S.
SongwriterJohnette Napolitano
Producers
Concrete Blonde singles chronology
"Bloodletting (The Vampire Song)"
(1990)		 "Joey"
(1990)		 "Everybody Knows"
(1990)

"Joey" is the ninth track from American 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.[4]

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

[edit]

The song is sung from the perspective of a woman who is in love with an alcoholic.[5] 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 2014 interview with SongFacts' Dan MacIntosh, Napolitano described the process for writing "Joey" as starting with a wordless melody, to which lyrics were eventually added.[4] 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."[4]

Music video

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The music video for "Joey" was directed by Jane Simpson.[6] 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."[7] The video for "Joey" achieved Buzz Bin status on MTV in 1990.[8] A digitally remastered version of the video was uploaded to YouTube on March 12, 2009.[9]

Track listings

[edit]

7-inch and cassette single[10][11]

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

UK 12-inch and CD single[12][13]

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

European 12-inch and maxi-CD single[14][15]

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

Charts

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Certifications

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Region CertificationCertified units/sales
Australia (ARIA)[26] Platinum 70,000^
New Zealand (RMNZ)[29] Gold 15,000‡

^ Shipments figures based on certification alone.
‡ Sales+streaming figures based on certification alone.

Release history

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Region Date Format(s) Label(s) Ref.
United States 1990 Cassette I.R.S.
Australia May 21, 1990
  • 7-inch vinyl
  • cassette
 [30]
United Kingdom October 15, 1990
  • 7-inch vinyl
  • 12-inch vinyl
  • CD
 [31]

See also

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References

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  1. ↑ Smyers, Darryl. "Johnette Napolitano: "I Don't Believe in Putting Up Walls Around Creativity."". Dallas Observer. Retrieved June 24, 2025.
  2. ↑ Sandow, Greg (May 18, 1990). "Bloodletting". Entertainment Weekly. Retrieved June 22, 2025.
  3. ↑ Evans, Walker (June 20, 2010). "Concert Review: Concrete Blonde at The Newport". Columbus Underground. Retrieved June 24, 2025.
  4. 1 2 3 MacIntosh, Dan (February 8, 2013). "Johnette Napolitano of Concrete Blonde : Songwriter Interviews". songfacts.com. Retrieved February 1, 2025.
  5. ↑ Buckley, Peter, ed. (2003). The Rough Guide Rock: The Definitive Guide to More than 1200 Artists and Bands (Third ed.). Rough Guides. p. 222. ISBN 978-1-84353-105-0.
  6. ↑ Willman, Chris (October 13, 1990). "Brat Pack makes strong showing in video clips". Los Angeles Times. Retrieved January 11, 2022.
  7. ↑ "The inside story of Concrete Blonde's "Joey"". grammy.com. May 15, 2017. Archived from the original on November 11, 2020. Retrieved May 29, 2020.
  8. ↑ "The Clip List" (PDF). Billboard. Vol. 102, no. 33. August 18, 1990. p. 64. Retrieved January 11, 2022 – via World Radio History.
  9. ↑ Concrete Blonde - Joey (Official Video), March 12, 2009, archived from the original on December 15, 2021, retrieved May 29, 2020
  10. ↑ Joey (Australian 7-inch single sleeve). I.R.S. Records. 1990. K10116.
  11. ↑ Joey (US cassette single sleeve). I.R.S. Records. 1990. 4 JM 13803.
  12. ↑ Joey (UK 12-inch single vinyl disc). I.R.S. Records. 1990. EIRST 143.
  13. ↑ Joey (UK CD single disc notes). I.R.S. Records. 1990. EIRSCD 143.
  14. ↑ Joey (European 12-inch single vinyl disc). I.R.S. Records. 1990. 24 1064 6.
  15. ↑ Joey (European maxi-CD single disc notes). I.R.S. Records. 1990. 24 1064 2.
  16. ↑ "Concrete Blonde – Joey". ARIA Top 50 Singles. Retrieved February 14, 2018.
  17. ↑ "Concrete Blonde – Joey" (in Dutch). Ultratop 50. Retrieved February 14, 2018.
  18. ↑ "Top Singles. Volume 52, Issue 16 (1990-09-01)". RPM. Library and Archives Canada. Retrieved February 14, 2018.
  19. ↑ "Nederlandse Top 40 – week 47, 1990" (in Dutch). Dutch Top 40. Retrieved June 11, 2018.
  20. ↑ "Concrete Blonde – Joey" (in Dutch). Single Top 100. Retrieved February 14, 2018.
  21. ↑ "Billboard Hot 100". Billboard. November 10, 1990. Retrieved June 25, 2023.
  22. ↑ "Adult Contemporary". Billboard. November 17, 1990. Retrieved May 28, 2026.
  23. ↑ "Mainstream Rock Airplay". Billboard. August 4, 1990. Retrieved June 25, 2023.
  24. ↑ "Alternative Airplay". Billboard. July 14, 1990. Retrieved June 25, 2023.
  25. ↑ Downey, Pat; Albert, George; Hoffman, Frank (1994). Cash Box Pop Singles Charts, 1950-1993. Englewood, Colorado: Libraries Unlimited, Inc. p. 73. ISBN 1563083167. Retrieved January 2, 2022.
  26. 1 2 "ARIA Top 50 Singles for 1990". ARIA. Retrieved June 12, 2020.
  27. ↑ "Top 100 Hit Tracks of 1990". RPM. Retrieved February 14, 2018 – via Library and Archives Canada.
  28. ↑ "The Year in Music 1990: Top Modern Rock Tracks". Billboard. Vol. 102, no. 51. December 22, 1990. p. YE-47.
  29. ↑ "New Zealand single certifications – Concrete Blonde – Joey". Radioscope. Retrieved May 5, 2026. Type Joey in the "Search:" field and press Enter.
  30. ↑ "Platterlog: Singles – New Releases – 21 May 1990". Platterlog. May 21, 1990.
  31. ↑ "New Singles". Music Week. October 13, 1990. p. 39.
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