The song, “Uptown Girl”, was originally recorded by Billy Joel in 1983
Billy Joel (b.1949) wrote and performed the song “Uptown Girl” for his ninth studio album, “An Innocent Man”, in 1983. The track was produced by Phil Ramone (1934-2013) to give it a 60’s feel and was released as the second single in September that year. It topped the UK singles chart and reached No.3 in America, where it outsold the preceeding single, “Tell Her About It”, which got to number one!
“Uptown Girl” was covered by Irish boy band Westlife in 2001 as the official song for that year’s Comic Relief and would later feature on their album, “World Of Our Own”. Their version also topped the UK singles chart and sold over a million copies, roughly the same as Joel’s original had. Westlife’s version was also a top ten success across Europe and in Australia and also Mexico, where the original had never charted.
But which version is the best? BILLY’s original or WESTLIFE’s cover?
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