Billy Joel - My Life

What this video is

Released in the fall of 1978 as a single from the album 52nd Street, 'My Life' arrived at a transitional moment in rock music promotion — after the decline of traditional variety-show television appearances but two to three years before MTV's 1981 launch standardized the music video format. Promo clips of this era were produced primarily for television syndication programs and in-store promotional use, not yet…

Why it matters

Represents a canonical example of late-1970s AOR promo clip production — the pre-MTV artifact form. The performance-only format, static camera language, and film-stock warmth are defining markers of how mainstream rock acts presented themselves visually before the grammar of the music video was…

The director

Steve Cohen (born 1954) is a long-term creative collaborator of Billy Joel, first hired by Joel in 1974 as a lighting designer. His role evolved into producer, designer, and creative director for Joel's stage productions. He directed multiple Billy Joel…