This week in 1983
1 Uptown Girl Billy Joel 2 Say Say Say Paul McCartney and Michael Jackson 3 Cry Just A Little Bit Shakin’ Stevens 4 Never Never The Assembley 5 Love of the Common People Paul Young 6 All Night Long (All Night) Lionel Richie 7 The Sun and The Rain Madness 8 The Love Cats The Cure 9 Calling Your Name Marilyn 10 Thriller Michael Jackson
‘Uptown Girl’ is Billy Joel’s only number one in the UK, and in Ireland. It knocked Culture Club’s ‘Karma Chameleon’ off the top of the charts in 1983 and remained at No. 1 for five weeks, making it the second biggest seller of the year (behind ‘Karma Chameleon’). Joel’s inspiration for the song came from two supermodels, Elle Macpherson, who was his girlfriend at the time, and Christie Brinkley, who he would soon marry. Brinkley played the title character in the video. ‘Uptown Girl’ was back at number one in Ireland and the UK in 2001, this time courtesy of Westlife who released it as that year’s Comedy Relief charity single. The Westlife version has sold around 800,000 copies to date, and is the group’s biggest selling single in the UK. As of 2013, Billy Joel’s original had sold just over a million.