| "Uptown Girl" | ||||
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| Single by Billy Joel | ||||
| from the album An Innocent Man | ||||
| Released | September 1983 | |||
| Format | Vinyl 7" [1] | |||
| Recorded | 1983 | |||
| Genre | Pop rock | |||
| Length | 3:12 [1] | |||
| Label | Columbia | |||
| Writer(s) | Billy Joel | |||
| Producer | Phil Ramone [1] | |||
| Certification | Gold (RIAA) | |||
| Billy Joel singles chronology | ||||
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"Uptown Girl" is a song written and performed by musician Billy Joel, first released in 1983 on his album An Innocent Man. The lyrics describe a working-class "downtown man" attempting to woo a wealthy "uptown girl." The single peaked at #3 on the Billboard charts in the US,[2] and #1 in the UK, staying at that position for 5 weeks; it was the second biggest selling single of 1983 in the United Kingdom behind only Culture Club's Karma Chameleon, which Joel had knocked off the number one position on November 1st, 1983; in 1988, Rolling Stone ranked "Uptown Girl" #99 on their list of the 100 most important singles of the period 1963-1988. The song was the 19th biggest selling single of the 1980s in the United Kingdom.
The style of music, including the doo-wop beat, the close harmonies and Joel's use of falsetto singing, is reminiscent of Frankie Valli and the Four Seasons. The song also has the uncommon feature of changing key from the original two times before giving back, for a total of three keys.
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Inspiration
According to Joel in a Channel Five interview, the song was written about his relationship with his girlfriend, supermodel Elle Macpherson, but ended up becoming about his soon-wife Christie Brinkley.[3] Joel also has said that the song was inspired by the Motown sound of the early 60s.[4]
Music video
The title character in the music video was played by Christie Brinkley. Joel and Brinkley married in 1985 and divorced in 1994. Subsequently, the song was missing from the setlist during Joel's 1994 "River of Dreams" tour.
Different versions of the music video opening were produced, in which an auto mechanic is watching the end of Joel's previous hit "Tell Her About It" on a small TV. Then, depending on the version, the next image on the TV is either a blank screen or the logo of the network or TV show the video was on. The only logos known to be used are MTV and Friday Night Videos. A fourth version skipped the segment which aired on Night Tracks, America's Top 10 and other music video shows.
Chart positions
| Chart (1983) | Peak position |
|---|---|
| Australian Kent Music Report | 1 |
| Austrian Singles Chart | 18 |
| Dutch Top 40 | 8[5] |
| German Media Control Charts | 18 |
| Japan Oricon Singles Chart | 64 |
| Norway Singles Chart | 3 |
| UK Singles Chart | 1 |
| U.S. Billboard Hot 100 | 3 |
| U.S. Billboard Hot Adult Contemporary Tracks | 2 |
| U.S. Billboard Mainstream Rock Tracks | 22 |
Westlife version
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| Single by Westlife | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| from the album Coast to Coast | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Released | March 5, 2001 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Format | CD single | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Genre | Pop | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Length | 3:06 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Certification | Platinum (UK) Gold (SWE) |
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"Uptown Girl" was covered and then released as a single by Irish boyband Westlife from second album Coast to Coast. The single was then also released as a special Comic Relief charity single. The song was the group's 8th UK number 1 single for one week. In comparison, Joel's version spent five weeks at the top of the charts.
The song is the #14th best selling single of the 21st century in the UK, with sales of 756,215. It is their biggest selling single in the UK and also achieved the highest first week sale (292,318) of any of their singles.
The song was the 6th best selling single of 2001 in the UK.
The song has received a Platinum sales certification in the UK for over 600,000 copies sold.
Track listing
UK CD1
- "Uptown Girl" (Radio Edit) - 3:06
- "Angels Wings" (2001 Remix) - 4:14
- "Enhanced CD-Rom" (With "Uptown Girl" Video)
CD2
- "Uptown Girl" (Radio Edit) - 3:06
- "Uptown Girl" (Extended Version) - 5:02
- "Enhanced CD-Rom"
European CD
- "Uptown Girl" (Radio Edit) - 3:06
- "Uptown Girl" (Extended Version) - 5:02
- "Angels Wings" - 4:02
- "Close Your Eyes" - 4:32
- "Enhanced CD-Rom" (With "Uptown Girl" Video)
Music video
The video for this song was shot in a Cafe setting with Claudia Schiffer as the title character while Robert Bathurst, James Wilby, Ioan Gruffudd, Crispin Bonham-Carter and Tim McInnerny were featured as high class customers.
Chart performance
| Chart (2001) | Peak position |
|---|---|
| Australian ARIA Singles Chart | 6 |
| Austrian Singles Chart | 12 |
| Belgian Singles Chart | 5 |
| Denmark Singles Chart | 2 |
| French Singles Chart | 8 |
| German Media Control Charts | 8 |
| Irish Singles Chart | 1 |
| Italian Singles Chart | 10 |
| Japanese Oricon Singles Chart | 64 |
| Netherlands Singles Chart | 2 |
| New Zealand RIANZ Singles Chart | 4 |
| Norway Singles Chart | 3 |
| Swedish Singles Chart | 2 |
| Swiss Singles Chart | 13 |
| UK Singles Chart | 1 |
| UK Radio Airplay Chart | 9 |
Video album
| Uptown Girl | ||||
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| Video by Westlife | ||||
| Released | March 12, 2001 | |||
| Genre | Pop | |||
| Label | Sony BMG | |||
| Westlife video chronology | ||||
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A video album for this single was released on March 12, 2001 and went straight to #1.
Other cover versions
- The song was covered by Alvin and the Chipmunks in their 1980s animated TV series.
- A cover of the song was recorded by Aaron Carter as a child and his older brother Nick Carter of Backstreet Boys fame.
- Me First and the Gimme Gimmes covered the song for their 1997 album Have a Ball. Their version is often mistakenly accredited to Weezer due to incorrectly named files available on the Internet.
- German singer/band leader Max Raabe and Palast Orchester covered in cabaret/big band style for his 2002 album Super Hits 2.[6]
- Tinchy Stryder did a rap version on his mixtape Back U Know, the track featured Wiley.
References
- ^ a b c "Billy Joel - Uptown Girl". http://www.discogs.com/Billy-Joel-Uptown-Girl/release/860596.
- ^ Dean, Maury (2003). Rock N' Roll Gold Rush. Algora. pp. 137–138. ISBN 0-87586-207-1.
- ^ Channel Five Interview. "[1]".
- ^ Channel Five Interview. "[2]".
- ^ Dutch Top 40 1983. Retrieved 2009-01-08.
- ^ http://www.palastorchester.de/index.php?id=13
| Preceded by "Reckless (Don't Be So)" by Australian Crawl |
Australian Kent Music Report number one single (Billy Joel version) December 5, 1983 |
Succeeded by "Islands in the Stream" by Kenny Rogers and Dolly Parton |
| Preceded by "Karma Chameleon" by Culture Club |
UK number one single (Billy Joel version) October 30, 1983 for 5 weeks |
Succeeded by "Only You" by The Flying Pickets |
| Preceded by "It Wasn't Me" by Shaggy featuring Rikrok |
UK number one single (Westlife version) March 11, 2001 for 1 week |
Succeeded by "Pure and Simple" by Hear'Say |
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