Eighteen years later in 2001 the UK group Westlife did a cover version of the song that went to #1 in the UK. The music video was one of the most popular videos of the time as that genre was exploding onto the scene, and no doubt helped propel the song to #3 on the US charts and #1 on the UK charts. She'll understand what kind of guy I've been You know I can't afford to buy her pearls She's getting tired of her high class toysĪnd all her presents from her uptown boys You know I've seen her in her uptown world She's been living in her white bread world In fact, Frankie Valli and the Four Seasons sang the songat the Grammy Legend Award ceremony honoring Billy and others in 1991. People who don't like "Uptown Girl" don't like Frankie Valli, but "Uptown Girl" is more like Frankie Valli than anything else that Billy wrote. Billy accounts himself well in the song. In contrast to "Rag Doll," in "Uptown Girl" it is the guy who is on the wrong side of the tracks, he is a "downtown man" trying to a woo an "uptown girl." It was a deliberate attempt to mimic Frankie Valli's falsetto, and a clever counterpoint to Valli's " Rag Doll." It works both musically and lyrically. As it is, however, the song became a huge hit and is often derided by Billy's critics as somehow being symbolic of what is "wrong" with Billy Joel, or his fans. If it didn't become so popular, "Uptown Girl," might have been known simply as a novelty song, an homage to Frankie Valli and the Four Seasons, and loving tribute to Christie Brinkley.
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