Billy Joel born William Martin Joel On May 9 1949 In Bronx New York USA Is An American Pianist Singer-Songwriter And Composer. Since Releasing His First Hit Song "Piano Man " In 1973 Joel Has Become A Multi-Million-Selling Recording Artist. Joel Recorded Many Popular Hit Songs And Albums From 1971 Until He Stopped Recording Pop/rock Music In 1993. He Is One Of The Very Few Rock or Even Pop Artists To Have Top 10 Hits In The '70s '80s And '90s. Read More On Last.Fm
"Uptown Girl" Is A Song Performed By Musician Billy Joel Whose Lyrics Deal With A Working-Class "downtown Man" Attempting To Woo A Wealthy "uptown Girl". According To The Uptown Girl Songfacts Joel Explained To Howard Stern That He Was On Vacation In The Caribbean When He Was Playing The Piano Looked Up And Saw Elle McPherson Christie Brinkley And Whitney Houston Who Was More A Model Than A Musician At That Point Standing Over His Piano In Wonderment Watching Him Play. Joel Thanked His Creator For His Good Fortune And Began Dating Elle. His First Attempt At The Song Had The Lyrics "Uptown Girls I've Been Around The World." The Music Was More Of A Classical Piece When It Started. The Song Was First Released In 1983 On His Album An Innocent Man. It Peaked At #3 On The Billboard Charts In The US And #1 In The UK In 1988 Rolling Stone Ranked "Uptown Girl" #99 On Their List Of The 100 Most Important Singles Of The Period 1963-1988. The Style Of Music Including The Doo-Wop Beat The Close Harmonies And Joel's Frequent 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. Covers Of This Song Have Been Performed By Alvin And The Chipmunks Me First And The Gimme Gimmes Aaron Carter Weezer And Most Notably In 2001 By Irish Boy Band Westlife Again Reaching #1 In The UK Though This Time For Only One Week Whereas Joel's Version Spent Five Weeks At The Top Of The Charts. 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.