Largely, though, Joel and the band presented his catalog as memory had preserved them - right down to those terribly dated keyboards on "The Entertainer" and the factory-work sound effects for "Allentown." He shook his hips and twirled his mic stand like a baton for "It's Still Rock and Roll to Me," and there was a cute dig at old tourmate Elton John's "don't have much money" line from "Your Song."īut a sweet "New York State of Mind" - with sublime piano work by Joel and radiant sax work by Mark Rivera - was soured by a flyswatter bit and Joel practically belching out a low note at the end for chuckles. By the end, Chainsaw was blasting the stage with a fire extinguisher.Ĭhainsaw was quite a character, but Joel, too, was happy to supply his own comic relief - with mixed results. It would have seemed more out of the blue were it not for the random but welcome covers that slipped into the two-hour show, from a fitting "Take Me Out to the Ball Game" instrumental to a swinging "Sledgehammer," by Peter Gabriel.Īnd there was some opera, if you could believe it, Giacomo Puccini's immortal aria "Nessun Dorma," with backing vocalist and guitarist Mike DelGuidice gorgeously singing over Joel's elegant piano work, leading into the sprawling "Scenes From an Italian Restaurant."Įven more shocking: a blistering "Highway to Hell," which managed to get Joel out from behind the stool at the piano to play guitar hero, while letting a guy from the road crew named Chainsaw stomp around, unleashing a fiery snarl that could have made Bon Scott blush. 1.The soulful rhythms of "The River of Dreams" - a rendition more organic and engrossing than the over-produced '93 recording - flowed into the breezy charms of the Eagles' "Take It Easy." And the rousing finish on "You May Be Right" ripped into overdrive with a Led Zeppelin "Rock and Roll" chaser.
For now though, kick back, relax, and enjoy. It's tough to decide which one version is best, almost as tough as figuring out which supermodel the song was written about, so I'll leave that part up to you.
So bust out some cotton swabs and clean out your ears because you're going to want to hear every note of these angelic renditions as I bestow upon you the best instances of "Uptown Girl" appearing in pop culture over the years. The song is a pop culture staple (and deservedly so, as it's like money and chocolate delivered straight to your soul), and has maintained its popularity by showing up all over screens across the decades.
But this is hardly the first time "Uptown Girl" has been featured in a TV show or movie. As I'm sure you're aware, "Uptown Girl" is a 1983 hit recorded by living-God Billy Joel, and is widely considered to be one of the greatest songs of all time (by me and Christie Brinkley, anyway).
One of the greatest things about Amy Schumer's new movie Trainwreck, besides its use of the surprising comedic talents of Lebron James and the simple fact that it allows everyone to see Schumer for two hours outside of her TV show, is that Trainwreck features the song "Uptown Girl" prominently throughout the film.