Uptown Girl

Inspiration

According to an interview with Howard Stern, Joel had originally titled the song "Uptown Girls" and it was conceived on an occasion when he was surrounded by Christie Brinkley, Whitney Houston and his then-girlfriend Elle Macpherson. According to numerous interviews with Joel, the song was initially written about his relationship with Macpherson, but it ended up also becoming about his soon-to-be wife, Brinkley (both women being two of the most famous supermodels of the 1980s). Joel also has said that the song was inspired by the music of Frankie Valli and the Four Seasons.

Success

Although "Uptown Girl" was not as successful in the U.S. as previous single "Tell Her About It", it was still a big hit. It peaked at number three on the Billboard Hot 100, and number one in the United Kingdom, staying at that position for five weeks as his only number one hit in the country; 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 1, 1983. The song was the 19th biggest-selling single of the 1980s in the United Kingdom, selling 975,000 copies. It has sold 1.02 million copies as of 2013.

Music video

The title character in the music video was played by Christie Brinkley.

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.

Westlife version

"Uptown Girl" was recorded by Irish boy band Westlife for their third studio album, World of Our Own (2001). It was released on March 5, 2001 as the 1st single from the album. It was also the 2001 Comic Relief charity single. The song was also included on the European Special Edition and Asian Deluxe Edition Bonus Disc of the group's second album, Coast to Coast (2000). The Westlife version is slightly shorter than the Billy Joel version because the one of the verses was repeated in the Billy Joel version which wasn't repeated in the Westlife version.

"Uptown Girl" reached number one in Ireland and the United Kingdom. It became the biggest selling single of 2001 in Ireland, as well as the sixth best-selling single of 2001 and the 24th best-selling single of the decade in the UK, with sales of 756,215 copies. It became the band's biggest-selling single in the UK, and also achieved the highest first-week sales (292,318 copies) of any of their singles. It has since been certified Platinum by the British Phonographic Industry for shipments of 600,000 copies. As of March 2017, the song has sold almost 800,000 copies in the UK.

Music video

The video for this song was shot in a Cafe setting with the band working there. Claudia Schiffer starred as the title character, while Robert Bathurst, James Wilby, Ioan Gruffudd, Crispin Bonham-Carter and Tim McInnerny were featured as high class customers. The video starts with Shane Filan taking the orders of the five customers while Mark Fehily passes by. One of the customers starts the Jukebox and the song starts. The video ends with Claudia Schiffer leaving the Cafe to which the five members and several other customers followed her while the Cafe closes leaving the five customers at the cafe.

Track listing

1. "Uptown Girl" (Radio Edit) – 3:06
2. "Angel's Wings" (2001 Remix) – 4:14
3. "Uptown Girl" (Video) – 3:14

1. "Uptown Girl" (Radio Edit) – 3:06
2. "Uptown Girl" (Extended Version) – 5:02
3. "Behind The Scenes Footage & Band Messages"

1. "Uptown Girl" (Video) – 3:14
2. "Behind The Scenes Footage & Band Messages"

1. "Uptown Girl" (Radio Edit) – 3:06
2. "Uptown Girl" (Extended Version) – 5:02
3. "Angel's Wings" (Original Version) – 4:02
4. "Close Your Eyes" – 4:32
5. "Uptown Girl" (Video) – 3:14
6. "Behind The Scenes Footage & Band Messages"

In popular culture

"Uptown Girl" has appeared on the television series The Simpsons, Glee, Ashes to Ashes (which involved a dream sequence parodying the music video), and 30 Rock, and was featured in the film Trainwreck. It was featured on the video game Karaoke Revolution Party.