Jump to content

The Like a Virgin Era


groovyguy
 Share

Recommended Posts

·         The Pre- Madonna Era http://www.madonna-infinity.net/forums/index.php?/topic/11688-the-pre-madonna-era/?p=542015

·         The First Album Era http://www.madonna-infinity.net/forums/index.php?/topic/11796-the-madonna-first-album-era/?p=547412

·         The Like a Virgin Era http://www.madonna-infinity.net/forums/index.php?/topic/12035-the-like-a-virgin-era/?p=557045

·         The True Blue Era http://www.madonna-infinity.net/forums/index.php?/topic/12055-the-true-blue-era/?p=557777

·         The Who’s That Girl/You Can Dance Era http://www.madonna-infinity.net/forums/index.php?/topic/12085-the-whos-that-girlyou-can-dance-era/?p=558619

·         The Like a Prayer Era http://www.madonna-infinity.net/forums/index.php?/topic/12134-the-like-a-prayer-era/?p=560321

·         The Immaculate Breathless Blond Ambition Era http://www.madonna-infinity.net/forums/index.php?/topic/12230-the-immaculate-breathless-blond-ambition-era/?p=562946

·         The Erotic Body of Girlie Sex Show Era http://www.madonna-infinity.net/forums/index.php?/topic/12452-the-erotic-body-of-girlie-sex-show-era/?p=570519

 

 

Artwork: http://www.madonna-infinity.net/forums/index.php?/topic/12035-the-like-a-virgin-era/?p=557047

 

Legacy: http://www.madonna-infinity.net/forums/index.php?/topic/12035-the-like-a-virgin-era/?p=557048

 

Sources & Background: http://www.madonna-infinity.net/forums/index.php?/topic/12035-the-like-a-virgin-era/?p=557049

 

Timeline:

·         1983 http://www.madonna-infinity.net/forums/index.php?/topic/12035-the-like-a-virgin-era/?p=557050

·         1984 http://www.madonna-infinity.net/forums/index.php?/topic/12035-the-like-a-virgin-era/?p=557051

·         1984

  1.  
http://www.madonna-infinity.net/forums/index.php?/topic/12035-the-like-a-virgin-era/?p=557052

·         1985 http://www.madonna-infinity.net/forums/index.php?/topic/12035-the-like-a-virgin-era/?p=557053

·         1986 http://www.madonna-infinity.net/forums/index.php?/topic/12035-the-like-a-virgin-era/?p=557055

 

Press: http://madonnaunderground.com/madonna-live/album-promo/like-a-virgin-promo-tour/

 

Memorabilia: http://madonnaunderground.com/madonna-live/album-promo/like-a-virgin-promo-tour/#tab-1432754748649-2-3

 

Pictures: http://madonnaunderground.com/madonna-live/album-promo/like-a-virgin-promo-tour/#tab-1432754765577-3-10

 

Videos: http://www.madonna-infinity.net/forums/index.php?/topic/12035-the-like-a-virgin-era/?p=557057

 

Awards: http://www.madonna-infinity.net/forums/index.php?/topic/12035-the-like-a-virgin-era/?p=559529

 

Articles:

Overview

 

·         The release of Like a Virgin was postponed as Madonna’s first album and the singles were still such a success.

·         Like a Virgin  was recorded at Power Station Studio in Manhattan, New.

·         Like a Virgin is the second studio album by American singer and songwriter Madonna, released on November 12, 1984, by Sire Records.

·         Like a Virgin was produced by Nile Rodgers, Madonna and Stephen Bray.

·         Nile Rodgers wanted Material Girl to be the lead single, Madonna didn’t agree and Like a Virgin was released as the lead single.

·         Madonna premiered Like a Virgin at the MTV Video Music Awards on September 14, 1984. It was one of those defining moments in the history of MTV. They had requested for her to perform Lucky Star, M refused and performed Like a Virgin instead.

·         The album was re-released in 1985 with the inclusion of ‘Into The Groove’.

·         A remastered edition with two bonustracks was released in 2001.

·         The album has sold around 21 million copies worldwide, making it one of the most succesful albums of all time.

·         By July 1985, Like a Virgin became the first album by a female artist to be certified for sales of five million units in the United States

·         Over & Over was released as a commercial single only in Italy, creating very valuable 7″ and 12″ records with picture sleeve!

·         Love Don’t Live Here Anymore was only released as a commercial single in Japan

·         The VHS ‘Madonna’ - including 4 videos -  was released to promote the two studio albums. It won the award for the “Best Selling Video Cassette Merchandised as Music Videoâ€, from the National Association of Recording Merchandisers.

·         A Russian CD re-issue of the album featured the original artwork of the back cover, on the front

·         In Bulgaria the LP was released with completely unique artwork

·         Madonna promoted Like a Virgin heavily in Japan and embarked on an extensive promotional tour, performing the track on several TV shows and various interviews

·         In the UK she performed the track on Top Of The Pops while wearing a pink wig, she was advised to not wear it as she looked amazing without it, she refused

·         Like a Virgin was also performed on Solid Gold in the USA with the same pink wig

·         It was on the set of the Material Girl video that Madonna met her husband-to-be Sean Penn

·         In 1985 she embarked on her first ever tour; The Virgin Tour, unfortunately she did not visit Europe and performed only in the US and Canada. The tour was a complete success with every single show selling out

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Artwork

While learning the technical art of sound production in the studio, Madonna needed no instruction on the art of imagery and it was the striking and provocative imagery portrayed on the cover of ‘Like A Virgin’ that was as instrumental as the music itself in propelling Madonna into the super league.  

 

Steven Meisel, who would become a regular collaborator, shot the cover sleeve and images. Madonna wanted the album title to make a provocative link between her own religious name—Madonna as the Roman Catholic title for Jesus' mother Mary—and the Christian concept of the virgin birth. At the same time, she deliberately set out to portray mixed messages – the sexualised image of the bride was not one of virtue, but of desire.

 

To ensure the point was not missed, a belt was added with the deceptively submissive wording "Boy Toy".  It was guaranteed to cause condemnation and outrage.  Exactly what Madonna intended.  This was to be the first of many forays into what would become a Madonna mainstay – the art of controversy. 

 

Madonna herself declared: 

"I have always loved to play cat and mouse with the conventional stereotypes. My ‘Like a Virgin’ album cover is a classic example. People were thinking who was I pretending to be—the Virgin Mary or the whore? These were the two extreme images of women I had known vividly, and remembered from childhood, and I wanted to play with them. I wanted to see if I can merge them together, Virgin Mary and the whore as one and all. The photo was a statement of independence, if you wanna be a virgin, you are welcome. But if you wanna be a whore, it's your fucking right to be so."

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Legacy

Like a Virgin has attained significance as a cultural artefact of the 80s. Madonna proved that she was not a one-hit wonder and was able to provide herself with a permanent footing in the music world. Her songs became a lightning rod for both criticism by conservatives and imitation by the younger female population, especially ‘Material Girl’ and ‘Like a Virgin’.  

 

As Caroline Sullivan from The Guardian noted:

"A woman in control of her sex life and career was such a new idea that Madonna became the biggest thing to hit pop, and popular culture, in years. And she's stayed that way: her influence on the way women came to view sex, love and themselves was so great that some universities offered courses in Madonna studies. And she's also continued to make some of pop's most enduring singles."

 

At this time, a new word called 'Madonna wannabe' was introduced to describe the thousands of girls who tried to emulate Madonna's style. At one point, Macy's allotted an entire floor area for the sale of clothes styled according to Madonna's fashion. University professors, gender-studies experts and feminists earnestly started discussing her role as a post-modernist style and cultural icon. 

 

According to author J. Randy Taraborrelli, "Every important artist has at least one album in his or her career whose critical and commercial success becomes the artist's magic moment; for Madonna, ‘Like a Virgin’ was just such a defining moment".

And just in case anyone was left in any doubt as to Madonna’s sense of humour she dedicated the album to ‘the virgins of the world’.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Sources:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Like_a_Virgin_(album)

Taraborrelli, Randy J. (2002), Madonna: An Intimate Biography, Simon & Schuster, ISBN 0-7432-2709-3

Rosen, Craig (1996), The Billboard Book of Number One Albums, Billboard books, ISBN 978-0-8230-7586-7

http://www.songwriteruniverse.com/virgin.htm

http://www.disco-disco.com/tributes/peter.shtml

 Smith, Ubarly (1986-09-01). "Rodgers: Is He Back in 'Chic'?". Time. Manhattan. 71 (12). ISSN 0040-781X

http://www.madonna-decade.co.uk/like-a-virgin1.html

http://s3.invisionfree.com/Madonna_Dot_Refugees/ar/t144.htm

http://self.gutenberg.org/articles/eng/List_of_unreleased_Madonna_songs

Rooksby, Rikky (2004), The Complete Guide to the Music of Madonna, Omnibus Press, ISBN 0-7119-9883-3

http://madonna-mdolla.blogspot.com/2008/08/madonna-1984-jan-14-madonna-performs.html

 

Background

When she started work on her second album, Madonna felt that her first album had succeeded in introducing her "street-smart dance queen" persona, and she wanted to solidify and build upon that concept. According to her:

"My work, my dedication—the stubbornness for getting ‘Madonna’ released—had paid off. Now it was time to solidify my future."

 

Madonna attempted to become one of the primary record producers as she felt the need to control the various aspects of her music. She believed that depending on a particular producer for her album was not something that suited her. 

 

Madonna observed "I learnt my lesson while creating my debut album, and the way Lucas left me in the water with the project, you can't trust men"—referring to the incident, when due to certain difference of opinion between producer Reggie Lucas and Madonna, Lucas had left the project half-way.

 

However, Warner Bros. Records was not ready to give her the artistic freedom that she wanted.

 

In J. Randy Taraborrelli's biography of Madonna, she commented,

"Warner Bros. Records is a hierarchy of old men and it's a chauvinist environment to be working in because I'm treated like this sexy little girl. I had to prove them wrong, which meant not only proving myself to my fans but to my record company as well. That is something that happens when you're a girl. It wouldn't happen to Prince or Michael Jackson. I had to do everything on my own and it was hard trying to convince people that I was worth a record deal. After that, I had the same problem trying to convince the record company that I had more to offer than a one-shot singer. I had to win this fight."

 

Ultimately,  Madonna chose Nile Rodgers as the producer of the album, with the approval of the Warner Brothers executives. Madonna chose Rodgers mostly because of his work as a member of the seventies band Chic, and his most recent production work with David Bowie on his 1983 album Let's Dance. She commented, "When I was making the record, I was just so thrilled and happy to be working with Nile Rodgers. I idolized Nile because of the whole Chic thing. I couldn't believe that the record company gave me the money so that I could work with him."

 

For his part, Rodgers recalled that he had first seen Madonna perform at a small club in New York in 1983. In an interview with Time magazine, Rodgers explained: 

"I went to the club to see another woman sing, but when I got there Madonna was onstage. I loved her stage presence and then we met right after that. I kept thinking to myself, 'Damn, is she a star', but she wasn't at that time. I always wanted to work with her and Like a Virgin seemed like a perfect opportunity."

Rodgers recalled that Madonna was a real hard worker and incredibly tenacious. He commented: 

"I am always amazed by Madonna's incredible judgement when it comes to making pop records. I've never seen anyone do it better, and that's the truth. When we did that album, it was the perfect union, and I knew it from the first day in the studio. The thing between us, man, it was sexual, it was passionate, it was creativity... it was pop."

The album was recorded at Power Station Studio in New York at a quick pace. Rodgers enlisted the help of his former Chic band mates Edwards, who was the bassist, and Tony Thompson, who played drums.  Jason Corsaro, the record's audio engineer, persuaded Rodgers to use digital recording, a new technique at the time which Corsaro believed was going to be the future of recording.  Madonna, although not required, was present every minute of the recording sessions and the mixing process, Corsaro commented: 

"Nile was there most of the time, but she was there all of the time. She never left".

Link to comment
Share on other sites

1983:

Classic Songwriter Story: How Billy Steinberg & Tom Kelly wrote and placed "Like A Virgin"
By Dale Kawashima

http://www.songwriteruniverse.com/virgin.htm

Billy Steinberg & Tom Kelly have written many memorable songs over the past two decades, including five, #1 Billboard pop hits. One of their compositions, "True Colors," has been a major hit for both Cyndi Lauper and Phil Collins. However, it is their song "Like A Virgin" which has undoubtedly had the greatest impact. Still Madonna's biggest hit, "Like A Virgin" was named by Rolling Stone & MTV as the #4 song on their list of the "100 Greatest Pop Songs." Most recently, the song was prominently featured in the movie musical, Moulin Rouge.

In a recent interview, Steinberg & Kelly recalled how "Like A Virgin" was originally conceived and written, how the demo was recorded, and how the song was placed with Madonna.

 

"It was in 1983 that Tom and I wrote 'Like A Virgin'," explained Steinberg. "It started with the lyric first. I was driving around in my pickup truck and I got the idea for the song. The idea came out of a personal experience. I was in a devastating relationship, and when it finally ended and I met someone new, I came up with the line, 'I made it through the wilderness...I was beat, incomplete, I'd been had.' All of the lyrics just poured out."

 

When Steinberg had completed the first draft of the lyric, he showed it to Kelly. "I especially related to the lyric at the time, since I was going through a tough divorce," said Kelly. "Initially, I tried to compose a ballad or midtempo song to accompany the lyric, but it wasn't working. Out of frustration, I started to clown around, performing the song in an uptempo, Smokey Robinson-style, with falsetto vocals. Lo and behold, it worked."

 

When the song was written, Kelly & Steinberg recorded a simple, keyboard-based, eight-track demo at Kelly's home studio. "I had just purchased a Roland Jupiter 8 keyboard," recalled Kelly. "We used the Jupiter 8 to create the main keyboard and bass tracks. For the drum track, we used an old Linn drum computer. We demoed the song quickly, and kept it simple. I sang the falsetto in a Smokey-style voice, then we added some background vocal parts."

 

Steinberg & Kelly were both very happy with the completed song and demo. They felt that "Like A Virgin" was a very original song, and that it could be a hit if the right artist recorded it. However, the song was passed on by many labels, producers and artists over the next year.

 

"We tried to place 'Like A Virgin,' but everyone looked at us like we were nuts," said Steinberg. "Some people even asked us to change the title. I knew that compared to most mainstream pop lyrics, the title and theme might seem a bit jolting and risque. But I liked the idea of writing a lyric concept which hadn't quite been done before."

 

It was in 1984 that the duo had a momentous meeting with A&R exec Michael Ostin, who was then Senior Vice President at Warner Bros. Records. Steinberg & Kelly played Ostin many songs that were more in a rock vein, which presented the duo as potential artists. It was only at the end of the meeting that they played "Like A Virgin."

 

"We were nervous about playing 'Virgin' for Ostin, but at the end of the meeting we finally played it," explained Kelly. "When he heard it, he flipped over the song. He said it would be great for his artist Madonna to record. Madonna at that time wasn't a major artist yet [it was before "Borderline" and "Lucky Star" became hits], but it was clear that she would be a perfect artist to sing this song."

 

It was shortly thereafter that Ostin played the song for Madonna, and it subsequently became the title track and first single from Madonna's second album. "Like A Virgin" went on to become a #1 worldwide hit, and spent six weeks atop the Billboard "Hot 100" singles chart. The spectacular success of the single resulted in "Like A Virgin" becoming a milestone achievement for Steinberg & Kelly, as well as for Madonna.

 

"It was one of those moments in time and space when everything came together," explained Kelly. Steinberg added, "When you're songwriters [rather than self-contained artists], and you write a song like 'Virgin,' then you have to find the right singer to place the song with. We were lucky that Madonna came along, because I don't think anyone else could have put the song across quite like she did."

 

November: Crazy for You  was recorded.

 

December: Material Girl was written by Peter Brown and Robert Rans, while Nile Rodgers produced the track. Madonna explained that the concept of the song was indicative of her life at that time. She felt that "Material Girl" was provocative in its content and was attracted to it. Peter Brown said that he came up with this song’s music and theme around the holiday season of this year.

 

Disco-disco.com interviewed him later (2007) and he said this:

http://www.disco-disco.com/tributes/peter.shtml

http://www.madonnatribe.com/decade/2007/living-in-a-material-world-3/

Q: Any special memories you can tell about in each of your different roles (as above)? Any special Writer memories like something special you remember from writing or recording some special song...

PB: The one memory as a song writer that stands out for me is the song 'Material Girl'. Most songs are a combination of inspiration and hard work. It often takes a long time to get a song just right. At times it can be quite excruciating. 'Material Girl', however, came to me in a flash while I was driving my car. I heard the whole thing in my head like a finished record, complete with music and even some lyrics. I started singing it as I drove and realized very quickly that I had something special. I forced myself to keep singing it and not become distracted and forget it completely, which has happened to me before. When I arrived home I ran into my studio and quickly recorded it into a small recorder to capture it forever. As a recording artist I suppose my best memories are of the people I was able to work with. Writing a hit for and spending time with Madonna, stands out of course.

Q: Let's get back to Madonna and "Material Girl". Was this song specially written for her? I think "Material Girl" was one of the songs that really made Madonna become a top artist - so how did it feel to have helped launched her career, when looking on how influential she is in the music business today?

PB: Although Material Girl came to me like a bolt from the blue, it was, in fact, written for Madonna. I had been trying to come up with songs for her for a week, with little success. Then, as I mentioned before, I started singing this song while I was driving in my car. It simply fell into my brain and I began singing it mentally. I heard the whole thing. All I had to do then was to remember it until I got back home. Then I made a demo of it, finished the lyrics with Robert Rans and had Pat Hurly sing the vocals. Naturally, it felt great for her to decide to do the song and have it appear on the album that really skyrocketed her to national fame. I remember it was the holiday season and I sent it to her on a cassette wrapped like a Christmas present. It still amazes me that to this day, almost twenty years later, the press will still refer to her as the 'Material Girl'. And since I wrote that song, regardless of anything else I've done in the music business, I am inevitably recognized, recalled or introduced as the guy who wrote 'Material Girl'.

Q: DJ and Remixer Jellybean remixed your songs "They only come out at night" and "(Love is just) the Game" off the SNAP album. Have you got any memories or comments on him or the remixes?

PB: I didn’t know John "Jellybean" Benitez very well. The only time I spent with him was when he did the remix of 'They Only Come Out At Night' in New York. He was, of course, considered one of the best remix guys around and I let him do whatever he wanted with the song. As I recall, he didn’t make any very big changes to the original tracks. But the song did make it to # 1 on the dance charts. After the remix session John, Madonna, Freddy DeMann, Madonna's and my manager at the time, and I went out to dinner together and then went to a Michael Jackson concert. The evening ended at Michael's post concert party in his hotel suite at the Helmsley Palace. As you can imagine it was quite an evening. I flew back home to Chicago the next day and that was about the extent of my time with 'Jellybean'.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

1984:

Madonna's 1984 hand-written letter to Seymour Stein CEO of Sire records:

https://squaremadonna.files.wordpress.com/2013/12/letter.jpg

A letter to Seymour Stein is uncovered (in 2013) where she discusses the possible producers for her next record:

 

 

"Seymore, Hi remember me? Im the girl that drives your limo’s around indiscriminantly. If you don’t give me one of those sweat shirts I’m signing with another label but if you consent to my wishes then I would like to consult with you on another matter; the Producer predicament.

Trevor Horn 1 or 2 songs

Jellybean 1 or 2 songs

The rest is between Nile Rodgers or Narada Michael Walden now I’m beginning to wonder if either is right. Shirly suggested Laurie Latham who produced Paul Young.

What do you think?? Here I am forced to choose a man once again. Help me!!!

Furious Love,

Madonnaâ€

Madonna First Interview 1984

https://youtu.be/96COd7c4kwg

 

January 14: Madonna performs “Holiday†on ABC-TV’s American Bandstand (hosted by Dick Clark)

 

January 26: Madonna performs “Holiday†on BBC1-TV’s Top of The Pops in London, England during a promo visit in UK and was also interviewed by Number One, The Face and Record Mirror magazines.

 

January 28:“Holiday†hit US#16.

 

February: Madonna Performed on Channel 4 TV’s The Tube in London, England. “Borderline†video premiered on MTV.

 

February 12: Madonna on ET

Madonna interviewed by Jeanne Wolf on the set of "Borderline" video for Entertainment Tonight

 

February 13: Madonna on The Dance Show

 

February 15: “Borderline†single was released.

 

February 13-17: In a phone interview with a British journalist, Rick Sky, Madonna said she’d be back in the studio on March 5 to record a new album. She also said she’d been working on a soundtrack for the upcoming film “Vision Questâ€. She said she was singing 3 songs on the soundtrack and that she had a cameo as a club singer in the film. The movie was directed by Harold Becker and produced by the people who did Flashdance. She said it would be out “hopefully in August.†She hoped to be singing the theme song plus two other songs.

 

February 21: Copyright registration for “Warning Signsâ€, the third Madonna song she wrote for the Vision Quest soundtrack. The song was never used. A collaboration with Stephen Bray from 1984, US copyright registration# PAu-590-962. Bray describes it as a cool synth track. The lyric sheet reveals the opening intro as "I see danger up ahead", "Warning (echo), Warning (echo)". Chorus is "Warning I see danger up ahead. I can see it in your eyes, and it's really no surprise. Because, I can see your warning signs". Supposed complete lyrics for the song have surfaced online on various lyric websites.

It was written during the same session with Stephen Bray who co-produced “Gambler†and “Shoo Bee Do.†Bray says he has this collaboration preserved but does not know why it was never included on the soundtrack.

 

 

1984 WARNING SIGNS (Song never used for Vision Quest Soundtrack, Madonna demo written & produced with Stephen Bray). Listed at Library Of Congress as Pau-590-962. Bruce Baron notes that this song was registered on Feb 21st 1984, and is clearly marked on Warner Bros Pub sheet music as being for the "Vision Quest" soundtrack. The original sheet music was discarded, and a copy has been retained on microfilm at the copyright office. The song starts with a Madonna spoken intro: "I see danger up ahead." The song continues with music: "Warning (echo), Warning (echo)" The chorus: "Warning I see danger up ahead. I can see it in your eyes, and it's really no surprise. Because - I can see your warning signs". Unfortunately, no recording was available to listen to. This was probably the biggest disappointment during my visit. I do know that Stephen Bray has preserved a copy of this collaboration, but he doesn't know why it was dropped from the film soundtrack. It was written during the same recording session as "Gambler" and "Shoo-Be-Do". I recall back in the day when this missing "Vision Quest" soundtrack cut was the ONLY known unreleased Madonna song to exist. I have researched it since the early days for MLC, The Madonna Fanzine. The bootleg market tried to pass off I-Levels "Lies In Your Eyes" as this missing track on some of her first bootleg vinyl issues. We now know this to be fake. This was long before MP3's, Napster, CD-R's and white label remixes.

March: New York Hot Tracks

Madonna recorded a promo for New York Hot Tracks TV show

March 1984

 

March 5: Madonna started work with Nile Rodgers on her sophomore LP. She chose him to produce because she loved his work on David Bowie’s phenomenally successful Let’s Dance (Virgin) album, as well as his work with Sister Sledge.

 

April: Madonna interviewed on Ear Say TV Show

 

April 29: In an interview with Australian countdown show host Molly, Madonna said she was working on her new album. She said:

 

Madonna on Countdown

Madonna by Molly Meldrum for his Countdown TV Show

rec: April 29 1984

 

 

“I have another album coming out in America. I’m working on that right now, so more great music and more great videos. Six songs of mine – we’re doing nine – and three from outside writers. I’m doing it right now, this very moment.â€

April: Madonna began recording sessions for her new album Like a Virgin LP.

 

The song, Angel, first began as a demo and was recorded as early as April 1984 for her second studio album, Like a Virgin. But the whole project was held off, much to Madonna's frustration, by the continuing sales of her self-titled debut album, which had by then sold over a million copies in United States.

 

April-May: Material Girl was recorded.

"Material Girl" was written by Peter Brown and Robert Rans, while Nile Rodgers produced the track. In 1986, Madonna told Company magazine, that although she did not write or create the song, the lyrical meaning and concept did apply to her situation at that point of time. She elaborated, "I'm very career-oriented. You are attracted to people who are ambitious that way, too, like in the song 'Material Girl'. You are attracted to men who have material things because that's what pays the rents and buys you furs. That's the security. That lasts longer than emotions." During a 2009 interview with Rolling Stone, Madonna was asked by interviewer Austin Scaggs, regarding her first feelings, after listening to the demos of "Like a Virgin" and "Material Girl". Madonna responded by saying, "I liked them both because they were ironic and provocative at the same time but also unlike me. I am not a materialistic person, and I certainly wasn't a virgin, and, by the way, how can you be like a virgin? I liked the play on words, I thought they were clever. They're so geeky, they're cool."

The lyrics explain that what Madonna wants is money, good clothes, the perfect life and men who are able to supply those materialistic things. A cross-reference to the 1960 song "Shop Around" by The Miracles is also present. The lyrics also portray relationships in terms of capitalism as commodities, and romance becomes synonymous to trading stocks and shares. The title was a polysemy like the lyrics. It deduced Madonna as the desired and most respected woman.

 

May: In a quick backstage interview with MTV’s Alan Hunter at Limelight, NYC, Madonna talked about her new album:

 

 

What are the next video plans for you then?

I’m working on an album right now with Nile Rodgers and I hope to release the first single from it the first week of June. And I’ll do a video for that.

And how long have you been working on the album?

For the last, almost, two months. It’s almost finished.

What’s it been like working with Nile?

Really great. He’s a genius, I have to say.

Did you contact him?

Yeah, actually, well my record company did. But as soon as we met, we hit it off really well.

How has he helped you out over other people who’ve produced you in the past?

We just have a really good chemistry and he understands my musicality. He’s a trained musician and I’m not really. I don’t know musical terminology, he just reads my mind.

In her first sit-down interview with MTV with VJ Mark Goodman at MTV Studios, NYC, Madonna said to anticipate the first single of her new album in June “after ‘Borderline’ fizzles outâ€. She told him that “BOY TOY†was her “tag name†and that was what she graffitied on walls. She said the album, titled Like a Virgin, was finished that month (May). Like A Virgin would also be the name of the first single and she’d be doing a video for.

May: Madonna's Promo for MTV

May 1984 - Diner Interview by Mark Goodman

 

"Like a Virgin" was written by Billy Steinberg and Tom Kelly. The idea for the song originated when Steinberg was living at his father's vineyards in the Coachella Valley, and driving a red pickup truck one day. In an interview with the Los Angeles Times, Steinberg explained that the song was not written for Madonna or any female singer but was inspired by his personal experiences. At that time Steinberg had just come out of an emotionally challenging relationship, and he had met someone new. That inspired the lyrics for "Like a Virgin" about how he coped with the difficult situation. When he took the song to Kelly, they decided that it would be a sensitive ballad, however they could not decide how the word "virgin" would fit in it. Steinberg elaborated: "I wasn't just trying to get that racy word virgin in a lyric. I was saying ... that I may not really be a virgin — I've been battered romantically and emotionally like many people — but I'm starting a new relationship and it just feels so good, it's healing all the wounds and making me feel like I've never done this before, because it's so much deeper and more profound than anything I've ever felt."

Kelly recorded the demo, and invited Michael Ostin of Warner Bros. Records' A&R department to his house to listen to it. Steinberg and Kelly played four or five tunes for Ostin, and further discussed "Like a Virgin" – they were not sure for which artist the song would be suitable. Due to meet with Madonna the next day to discuss her second album, Ostin intended on playing the demo to her, believing the lyrics and the groove of the song were perfect for Madonna. "When I played it for Madonna she went crazy, and knew instantly it was a song for her and that she could make a great record out of it," Ostin recalled. In 2009, Rolling Stone interviewer Austin Scaggs asked Madonna what her first impressions were after listening to the demos of "Like a Virgin" and "Material Girl".

Madonna replied:

I liked them both because they were ironic and provocative at the same time but also unlike me. I am not a materialistic person, and I certainly wasn't a virgin, and, by the way, how can you be like a virgin? I liked the play on words; I thought they were clever. They're so geeky, they're cool. I never realized they would become my signature songs, especially the second one.

 

May 16: Madonna performed “Dress You Up†& “Like A Virgin†at Keith Haring’s birthday party – The Party of Life – at the Paradise Garage in NYC.

https://todayinmadonnahistory.com/2016/05/16/today-in-madonna-history-may-16-1984/

 

May 31: Madonna album was certified GOLD (500,000 units)

 

June 16: “Borderline†hit US #10.

 

July: Madonna on All Night Tokyo

Madonna interviewed on Japan's Fuji TV All Night Tokyo TV Show

rec: July 1984

 

July: The “Like A Virgin†video was shot in Venice, Italy. The song's music video portrayed Madonna sailing down the canals of Venice in a gondola, as well as roaming around a palace wearing a white wedding dress. With the video, scholars noted Madonna's portrayal of a sexually independent woman, similarity of a man wearing lion's mask to that of Saint Mark, and the link between the eroticism in the video and the vitality of Venice.

 

 

LATER: Stan Cornyn said the video was initially budgeted at $10,000. The video producer wanted to shoot it in Italy so they found the money to up the budget to $25,000. Eventually, it ended up costing $100,000 and WB was freaking out about the cost. Mary Lambert told MTV she thought they spent $175,000.

LATER: In an interview with a Japanese television show, Madonna said the idea for the “Like A Virgin†video was to base it on the story of Beauty & the Beast. After they decided that, Mary Lambert suggested shooting it in Venice, Italy because the lion was the symbol of Venice. She also said that working with Nile Rodgers was her AND her manager’s idea.

July: The Like a Virgin music video, directed by Mary Lambert, who worked with Madonna in her video for "Borderline", was shot in Venice, Italy and partly in New York City in July 1984. Madonna was portrayed as a knowing virgin, a figment of the pornographic mind, as she walked through marble rooms, wearing a wedding gown. It alternated with scenes of a provocative-looking Madonna on board a gondola. She commented, "[Mary] wanted me to be the modern-day, worldly-wise girl that I am. But then we wanted to go back in time and use myself as an actual virgin." The video starts with Madonna boarding on a boat from the Brooklyn Bridge and travels to Venice. As she steps down into the city, she moves like a stripper and undulated sinuously. She wears a black dress and blue pants with a number of Christian symbol embedded jewelry around her neck. She sings the song at full volume as she watches a lion walking between the columns of the Piazza San Marco of Venice and along the statute of Saint Mark.

A number of game-playing involving carnival masks, men, lions, werelions are portrayed with allusions to eighteenth-century practices and Saint Mark. Sheila Whiteley, author of Women and popular music: sexuality, identity, and subjectivity, felt that Madonna's image signified a denial of sexual knowledge, but also portrayed her in simulated writhing on a gondola, thus underpinning the simulation of deceit. The intrusion of a male lion, confirmed the underlying bestial discourse of both mythological fairy tale and pornographic sex. Whiteley observed that in the video, Madonna's lover wears the lion's mask and while cavorting with him, Madonna sheds the veneer of innocence and shows her propensity for wild animal passions. Having instilled desire, metaphorically she turns her lover into a Beast.

Madonna commented about shooting with the lion:

"The lion didn't do anything he was supposed to do, and I ended up leaning against this pillar with his head in my crotch... I thought he was going to take a bite out of me so I lifted the veil I was wearing and had a stare-down with him and he opened his mouth and let out this huge roar. I got so frightened my heart fell in my shoe. When he finally walked away, the director yelled 'Cut' and I had to take a long breather. But I could really relate to the lion. I feel like in a past life I was a lion or a cat or something."

 

August: “Lucky Star†single & video were released.

 

August: At the New Music Seminar in NYC, Madonna said she hoped to put out her new album in October. She shot the video for her first single “Like a Virgin†in Venice a few weeks ago. The video was directed by Mary Lambert again because Madonna thought she was great. She said she was also putting together a tour in major American cities around the time of release for the new album. She was then still auditioning musicians but would use people from her previous band. She also planned to do another video for the second single from her sophomore album.

 

August 14: Madonna album was certified 1x PLATINUM (1 Million units).

 

September: In an interview from WB’s offices in NYC, Madonna told MTV about her new album:

https://www.ptt.cc/man/Madonna/DB5F/DC36/DD6C/D25F/M.938937580.A.html

 

Interview at WB Office in NY

 

Well the new album is a lot more grown up than the first album. It's a lot more well rounded style wise. I have two ballads on it. I have never recorded a ballad before, and it's not...my first album was termed a dance record, everything was up temp or dance music. But this one is a lot of different sounds, there's some old stuff that sounds like old Motown. There is some really high energy stuff that maybe sounds more English, more techno. There is a lot of synthesizers. So I think it shows my growth as a singer and as a song writer.

 

I chose to work with Nile Rodgers because I think that he's a genius and I wanted to work with a genius on my record. And I think that he embodies a lot of different styles that I think my music embodies. He's very close to the black sound, funk, I mean the stuff he did with Chic and Sister Sledge and Diana Ross is phenomenal. But he's also made a lot of great pop records with David Bowie and Duran Duran and INXS. So, I thought he'd be a great person for me to work with and he's a great musician and arranger.

September 14: Madonna performed “Like A Virgin†at the 1st Annual MTV Video Music Awards at Radio City Music Hall in NYC where she appeared on stage atop a giant wedding cake dressed in a wedding dress, adorned with the infamous "Boy Toy" belt buckle, and veil. The climax of her risqué performance found her "humping" and rolling around on the stage. To this day, the performance is noted as one of the most iconic and biggest performances in MTV's history.

She was nominated for Best New Artist for the “Borderline†video but did not win. She hung out with Cher in her dressing room before the show.

 

September: Madonna on Mark Goodman video countdown aired weekend of Sept 28-29

 

September: Like a Virgin was recorded and finished by September 1984, but the release of the album was held up, much to Madonna's frustration, by the continuing sales of her debut album, which was approaching two million sales in United States.

 

September: Madonna began filming Desperately Seeking Susan.

 

October 20: Madonna album hits US#8 and “Lucky Star†hits US #4.

 

October 31: The first single Like a Virgin was released.

Regarding the lyrics, Madonna had commented: "I like innuendo, I like irony, I like the way things can be taken on different levels." This statement highlighted the ambiguity of the lyrics of the song, which is hung on the word 'like'. Rooksby interpreted the meaning of the song in different ways to different people. He said that for women who were really virgins, the song encouraged them to hold their compose before they engaged in their very first sexual act. For sexually experienced girls, the song meant that they would be able to re-live the feelings of their first sexual encounter all over again. For the boys, the song presented a narcissistic image of them making the girl forget her past encounters and enjoy the sexual act as if for the first time.

In mid-1984, Madonna met producer Nile Rodgers at the Power Station studios (now Avatar Studios) in New York. Rodgers initially did not want Madonna to record "Like a Virgin", as he felt that the lyric 'like a virgin' was not a terrific hook; according to him it was not an all-time catch phrase. Rogers dismissed the song after hearing the demo, which he thought sounded "really stupid and retarded". Later, Rodgers had second thoughts: "It's weird because I couldn't get it out of my head after I played it, even though I didn't really like it. It sounded really bubble-gummy to me, but it grew on me. I really started to like it. [...] But, my first reaction to it was, 'This is really queer.' Rodgers credits Madonna with recognizing the song's potential. He later said: "I handed my apology to Madonna and said, 'you know... if it's so catchy that it stayed in my head for four days, it must be something. So let's do it.'" Hence the song was finally recorded. Steinberg reflected on the recording process and commented that:

When Madonna recorded it, even as our demo faded out, on the fade you could hear Tom saying, "When your heart beats, and you hold me, and you love me..." That was the last thing you heard as our demo faded. Madonna must have listened to it very, very carefully because her record ends with the exact same little ad-libs that our demo did. That rarely happens that someone studies your demo so carefully that they use all that stuff. We were sort of flattered how carefully she followed our demo on that.

Madonna, although not required, was present every minute of the recording sessions and the mixing process, Corsaro commented: "Nile was there most of the time, but she was there all of the time. She never left"

 

November 7: Madonna was the guest of honor at a release party for her new album at Private Eyes (a club in NYC). The sophomore album by Madonna features a cover of the 1978 hit, “Love Don’t Live Here Anymore†by R&B/disco group extraordinaire, Rose Royce. Madonna’s “Bride of Satan†look was co-developed with stylist Maripol.

 

November 10: In Canada, the LAV album debuted at number 78 on the RPM Albums Chart, on November 10, 1984.

 

November 12: LIKE A VIRGIN was released.

 

November 13: The video for "Like A Virgin" premiered on MTV.

 

 

The “Like A Virgin†maxi-single sold 50,000 copies. A small amount of the (over) 2 million total in the U.S. – but still one of the best showings for the new fledgling format.

November 17: "Like a Virgin" became Madonna's first of 12 number-one hits on the Billboard Hot 100, where it debuted at number 48 on the issue dated November 17, 1984.

The song debuted on the UK Singles Chart on November 17, 1984 at number 51, and peaked at number three on January 12, 1985; it spent a total of 18 weeks in the chart, and was certified gold by the British Phonographic Industry (BPI) for shipment of 500,000 copies across United Kingdom. [According to Official Charts Company, the song has sold 832,200 copies there as of August 2016.]. Across Europe, the song peaked within the top-ten of the charts of Austria, Belgium, France, Germany, Ireland, Italy, Netherlands, Norway and Switzerland. "Like a Virgin" became Madonna's first number-one song on the Australian Kent Music Report chart and on the Japanese International Singles Chart. It peaked at number-two on the New Zealand Singles Chart, number 15 on the Swedish charts and peaked the Eurochart Hot 100 Singles.

 

November 24: In Canada, the song debuted on the RPM Singles Chart at number 71 on the RPM issue dated November 24, 1984,

 

December 1: Like a Virgin debuted at number 70 on the Billboard 200 issued for December 1, 1984.

 

December 3: Madonna" (a 4-videoclip collection: "Burning Up", "Borderline", "Lucky Star", "Like A Virgin") was released on home video.

 

December 5: Madonna album was certified 2x platinum (2 million units).

 

December 8: Like a Virgin reached the top ten of the Billboard 200 on December 8, 1984.

 

December 13: Madonna performed "Like A Virgin" on BBC1-TV's Top Of The Pops in London, England during a promotional visit in UK.

 

December 22: "Like a Virgin" reached number one on the Billboard Hot 100 chart the week of December 22, 1984 - her first US No. 1 hit single - and remained there for six weeks.

In Australia, the album debuted and peaked at two on the Kent Music Report albums chart, and was certified seven times platinum by the Australian Recording Industry Association (ARIA) for shipment of 490,000 copies of the album. It reached the top of the New Zealand Albums Chart and was certified five times platinum by the Recording Industry Association of New Zealand (RIANZ) for shipment of 75,000 copies. Elsewhere, Like a Virgin reached number one in Germany, Italy, Netherlands and Spain, while peaking within the top five in many other countries, including Austria, Japan, Sweden and Switzerland. Like a Virgin has sold more than 21 million copies worldwide as of August 2008 and became one of the best-selling albums of all time

 

1984 Several Interviews & Clips compiled

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Notes on Unreleased Madonna Songs [1984]

Reference Guide: http://s3.invisionfree.com/Madonna_Dot_Refugees/ar/t144.htm

1984 ANGEL Confirmed original Madonna demo produced with Stephen Bray. Released version was produced by Nile Rodgers on the "Like A Virgin" album. 

1984 CRAZY FOR YOU Unreleased version produced by Jellybean prior to arrival of the arranger. The arranger of the song (Rob Mounsey) recently spoke with Bruce Baron, and adds these interesting notes about "Crazy for You": "I know that there was a previous version produced by Phil Ramone, who somehow got maneuvered out of the gig by Jellybean. I've worked a great deal with Phil since then, and he seems very resentful about it, but I don't really understand what happened. Jellybean was persuaded by Michael Ostin of Warners that, since the song was a ballad, he needed an arranger. So Michael brought me in, since he was familiar with me from my production/arranging work with Michael Franks. Basically, the track was created by drummer Stephen Bray and myself. I wrote out an orchestral arrangement as if a real orchestra were going to perform it, and then over dubbed it myself line by line, mainly on my old Roland Jupiter-8 with a custom analog CV breath controller. I also used two Yamaha DX-7s MIDI'd together and each distorted with its own little green Ibanez Tube Screamer stomp box (the distant sliding thirds in the intro and midway in the verses). Jellybean wasn't around for much of this, which all happened at Sigma Sound in NYC. Jellybean's main contribution seems to have been the "Bong bong bong" carillon background vocals. He was Madonna's boyfriend at the time, and she had just broken with "Like a Virgin". The oboe solos were Madonna's idea, and a good idea too. They were performed by the late George Marge, the greatest studio double-reed player of his time, whose untimely death shortly afterward saddened us all. Madonna, as I understand it, never liked the song and didn't want to record it." 
------------------------------------------------------------------------------ --

1984 DESPERATELY SEEKING SUSAN Never released title track from the film written by Michael Bramon & produced with Stephen Bray. Different than "Into The Grove". Existence confirmed by Bray. The actual writer of this song (Michael Bramon) has recently (late August, 2001) emailed me, and give me a lot of into about this track, since he wrote it! He writes: 


It was written in 1984, not 1985. Stephen Bray did not write it. My sister, Risa Bramon (see her Filmography at http://www.imdb.com, as well as mine), cast Madonna into Desperately Seeking Susan back in the day. In fact, the really interesting thing about that was that Susan Seidelman and Risa got stuck casting that role originally and Risa called me one day and said "Hey Michael- you know I'm casting Desperately Seeking Susan, my first movie, u know, with Rosanna Arquette, and we're looking for a cool weird East Village kind of girl that could play a small role in the movie. And since you know all those kind of people- maybe you can recommend someone- u know someone funky, maybe a singer like Lene Lovich or Annie Golden from The Slits. We tried our Annie but she isn't right for it. She's too old." Well, the first thing out of my mouth was- "How about that new singer Madonna- the chick who used to hang around Danceteria and shit. You know the one on MTV now." Risa replied, "Madonna, yeah! She sings. This is great. I gotta get hold of her manager. Thanks Michael (to which she promptly hung up the phone on me). Any ways, when Madonna was cast into the role and they were all looking for music for the film (in fact Seidelman asked Madonna for a song- not the other way around), Madonna and Stephen Bray put together at the last second, "Get Into The Groove," and I submitted "Desperately Seeking Susan" (formerly called "Tragic Camera") with local NYC singer Juliette Hanlon singing. Madonna heard it and recorded a rough vocal. 

By the way, I played a band member in the movie (see credits). After Desperately Seeking Susan became a hit, Risa got a call to do her third film, "At Close Range" with Sean Penn and Chris Walken attached to the movie. Madonna called me to ask me if I'd heard that Risa was doing a new movie with Sean Penn. I hadn't even heard yet, and here was Madonna already aware! Amazing. I said I would check into it. I called Risa and she said yes it was going to happen. I told her that Madonna called me and had asked me to ask you to arrange for her to meet Sean "on the set." Risa laughed and said she's called Madonna herself. And that's how that all really went down- because I think Madonna was shooting the video for " Material Girl" at the time and Madonna actually excused herself from her set to go over to the At Close Range set to meet Risa and "arrange to meet Sean." Which she did and the rest is history. Bizarre. 

Yet, another, anecdote related to this- at the press screening for At Close Range, which I was at here in NYC, one of the actresses who Risa had put into the movie came over after the movie to our row of seats in the theater and asked Risa what she thought of the movie. Risa replied (and I was standing right there) "I was very disappointed, I thought it was nothing more than Sean Penn *******ating himself." The actress walked down the theater to where Madonna and Sean were standing getting ready to leave the theater. She whispered something to Sean, and I remember Sean whipping around and glaring at Risa and me and then marching out of the theater. The next day, Risa called me from Paramount (where she was casting the Whoopie Boys) her voice shaking and told me that Sean had just called her and threatened to break her legs if he'd heard her say any more crap to anyone about the movie! I offered to beat him up (for real- I was ****ing livid). She told me that wasn't necessary, but did say that Sean told her that her and Madonna were in love and that it seemed that because it seemed to him that Madonna had a strange respect and fascination with Risa- that he didn't want Risa talking or communicating with her again! And this is exactly what came to be, because Madonna and Risa wouldn't talk to each other again for years until Madonna suddenly called Risa out of the blue during the pre-casting of EVITA to beg Risa to introduce her to Alan Parker (for whom Risa has done a few movies, like Angel Heart). This whole thing really hurt Risa because Risa had been a big influence on Madonna during the Desperately Seeking Susan phase and Risa and Madonna knew it- In fact there was Madonna pre-Risa and Madonna post-Risa. 2 different people. I remember Madonna always asking Risa tons of questions- like to a big sister. I remember Risa screaming at Madonna (Risa's a screamer), in public places and at the Furco offices where I would go during pre-production (as I was involved with the movie too to a small extent). On several occasions Risa chided Madonna about "needing to grow up" and I remember Madonna always telling me that Risa was an amazing person, one of the few people she had ever had respect for. 


Anyways- after Sean had forbade Madonna from talking to Risa- Madonna ended up running nearly everyday around the NYC reservoir in Central Park with Risa's casting partner and best friend, Billy Hopkins. 
------------------------------------------------------------------------------ --
1984 GAMBLER Confirmed original demo produced with Stephen Bray not Jellybean. 
1984 LIKE A VIRGIN (REMIX) Remix by Nile Rodgers shelved in favor of remix by Jellybean Benitez as reported in Rodgers interview late '80s. 
1984 OVER AND OVER Confirmed original Madonna demo produced with Stephen Bray, released version was produced by Nile Rodgers on "Like A Virgin" album. 
1984 SHOO BE DOO Confirmed original Madonna demo produced with Stephen Bray. The released version was produced with Nile Rodgers. 
1984 UNCONFIRMED TITLE Recorded at the same session as demos for "Gambler", "Warning Signs", "Shoo-Bee-Doo" says Stephen Bray. Title of song not recalled by Bray. 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

1985:

January 10: "Like a Virgin" was certified gold by the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) on January 10, 1985, for shipping a million copies across United States—the requirement for a gold single prior to 1989.The song also reached number-one on the Hot Dance Music/Club Play chart, and was her first top-ten entry on the Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs chart at position nine. [It placed at two on the year-end chart for 1985, with Madonna becoming the top pop artist for the year.]

 

January 10-11: Madonna began filming the video for “Material Girl†at Ren-Mar Studios in Hollywood, California, with Mary Lambert. It was produced by Simon Fields with principal photography by Peter Sinclair, editing by Glenn Morgan and choreography by Kenny Ortega. Actor Robert Wuhl appeared in the video's opening. Much of the jewelry is sourced from the collection of Connie Parente, a popular Hollywood jewelry collector. The music video was at the same time an exegesis and a critique of the lyrics and Madonna herself. It was on the set of the video that Madonna met her first husband, actor Sean Penn.

The music video was inspired by Madonna's admiration of Marilyn Monroe and mimicked the latter's performance of the song "Diamonds Are a Girl's Best Friend" from the 1953 film Gentlemen Prefer Blondes. It also featured actor Keith Carradine, who played Madonna's love interest. The video was the first to showcase Madonna's acting ability, as it combined the dance routines of "Diamonds Are a Girl's Best Friend" with the storyline of a man who impresses Madonna with daisies, rather than diamonds. In a 1987 interview with New York Daily News, Madonna said:

Well, my favorite scene in all of Monroe's movies is when she does that dance sequence for 'Diamonds Are a Girl's Best Friend'. And when it came time to do the video for the song [Material Girl], I said, I can just redo that whole scene and it will be perfect. [...] Marilyn was made into something not human in a way, and I can relate to that. Her sexuality was something everyone was obsessed with and that I can relate to. And there were certain things about her vulnerability that I'm curious about and attracted to.

The video opens with two men watching a rush in the screening rooms of a Hollywood studio. On the screen, an actress played by Madonna sings and dances to "Material Girl", dressed like Monroe from "Diamonds Are a Girl's Best Friend". One of the men, played by Carradine, is a director or a producer and is immensely rich. He falls in love with the actress and wants to express his passion for her. He tells his employee, played by Wuhl: "She's [Madonna] fantastic. She could become a star." The employee answered: "She could be. She could be great. She could be a major star." The former then concludes by saying: "She is a star, George. Madonna is in a pink strapless gown and has her hair in blond locks ala Monroe. The background is a reconstruction of the Monroe video, complete with staircase, chandeliers and a number of tuxedo clad chorus boys. Madonna dances and sings the song, while she is showered with cash, expensive jewellery, furs and is carried by the men over the stairs. At one time, she alludes herself from the men, by dismissing them with her fan. As the producer tries to impress Madonna, he comes to know that she does not like material things, but rather prefers simple romance. He pretends to be penniless, and brings her hand-cut flowers while paying a poor man a large amount to borrow (or possibly buy) his dirty truck to take her on a date. His plan seems to work, because the final scene shows him and Madonna kissing in the truck in an intimate position.

Material Girl" was nominated for best female video at the 1985 MTV Video Music Awards but lost to Tina Turner's "What's Love Got to Do with It". The video was ranked at position 54 on VH1's 100 Greatest Videos.

 

January 12: In the United Kingdom, Like a Virgin debuted at number 74 on the UK Albums Chart, on January 12, 1985. However, the album fluctuated on the chart for the next eight months and it was only in September that it finally reached the top of the chart. It remained at the top for two weeks, and a total of 152 weeks on the chart. The album was certified three times platinum by the British Phonographic Industry (BPI) for shipment of 900,000 copies of the album.

 

January 19: In Canada, the song "Like a Virgin" reached the top of the chart on January 19, 1985. It was present on the chart for a total of 23 weeks and ranked thirty-five on the RPM Year-end chart for 1985.

 

January 23: Like A Virgin is certified 2x platinum (2 million units).

 

January 28: Madonna presented an award to Prince & The Revolution and was nominated for Favorite Pop/Rock Female Artist at the 12th annual American Music Awards at the Shrine Auditorium, Los Angeles, CA.

 

January 23: Material Girl was released.

 

February 5: Like A Virgin was certified 3x platinum (3 million units).

 

February 9: Material Girl debuted on the Billboard Hot 100 during the week of February 9, 1985, at position 43, when "Like a Virgin" was descending out of the top ten. The single climbed the Hot 100 quickly, jumping 13 spots to number five the week of March 9, 1985, and eventually spent two weeks at number two. The week when the song slipped to position three, her upcoming single "Crazy for You" reached number four, giving Madonna two simultaneous top-five hits. "Material Girl" reached the top of the Hot Dance Club Songs but was less successful on the Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs chart, failing to enter the top 40 and peaking at number 49. It was placed at number 58 on the year-end chart for 1985, with Madonna becoming the top pop artist for the year.

 

February 9: Like a Virgin reached the top of the chart on February 9, 1985, where it stayed for three weeks. It also reached a peak of ten on the Top R&B/Hip-Hop Albums chart. After 14 weeks, the album sold 3.5 million copies.

 

February 13: Madonna and Sean Penn have their first date at the club Private Eyes, New York, NY.

 

February 15: The film Vision Quest opened at the U.S. box office today - featuring Madonna in her first big screen role. The soundtrack was also released on Geffen Records and featured two cuts by Madonna – “Crazy for You†and “Gambler.†"Crazy For You" and "Gambler" videos (clips from Vision Quest) premiered on MTV. The film did moderate business, grossing $13 million in the U.S.

 

February 16: In Canada, Material Girl debuted on the RPM Singles Chart at number 76, on the issue dated February 16, 1985. After five weeks, it reached a peak position of four on the chart and was present on the chart for a total of 21 weeks. It was ranked at number 46 on the RPM Year-End chart for 1985.

 

February 16: In Canada, the LAV album reached a peak of number three, on February 16, 1985. The album was present for a total of 74 weeks on the chart, and was certified diamond by the Canadian Recording Industry Association (CRIA), for shipment of one million copies of the album. Like a Virgin ranked sixth on the RPM Top 100 Albums for 1985.

 

March 2: In the United Kingdom, "Material Girl" debuted on the UK Singles Chart at number 24 on March 2, 1985 and reached a peak position of number three. It was present for a total of ten weeks on the chart. The song was certified silver by the British Phonographic Industry, for shipment of 250,000 copies of the song. According to the Official Charts Company, the song has sold 385,000 copies there.

Across Europe, the song reached the top-ten in Austria, Belgium, Ireland, Netherlands, Spain and the Eurochart Hot 100 Singles, while reaching the top 40 of Germany, Italy and Switzerland. In Australia, the song reached the top five and peaked at number four. In New Zealand and Japan, the song reached the top-five.

 

March 2: Crazy for You was released on March 2, 1985.

"Crazy for You" was written by John Bettis and Jon Lind. The ballad was released as the first single from the soundtrack of the 1985 film Vision Quest. Producers Jon Peters and Peter Guber and music director Phil Ramone were aware of the then unknown Madonna, who was just signed to Sire Records. Ramone took her for dinner at his house in Carolwood Records, where she played some of her music videos. Ramone and the other Warner executives present there, were impressed by Madonna's self-possession and fishnet-crucifix style, and they decided to test her voice in a New York studio. Peters assigned Joel Sill, an executive in charge of music at Warner Bros. Pictures, to handle the recording of the two songs for the film. Sill sent the script of the film to Bettis and Lind. After reading through the script, Bettis wanted to write a song about the situation where the main characters – a young boy and a girl boarding at a house – dance together at a nightclub. He elaborated:

"We were noodling around and 'Crazy for You' was something that Jon was singing over that section of the song. It was really descriptive of the scene in the film. [...] After that, I was out on vacation out in the desert and [sill] called and said Phil Ramone was in love with the song and wanted to cut it on Madonna. [Laughing] 'Borderline' was out at that time and I said, 'Excuse me? This is for Madonna? Really? Can she sing a song like this?' Jon and I were surprised at the choice of artist at the time, if you want to know the truth."

 

March: Madonna began rehearsals for "The Virgin Tour" in Los Angeles, CA.

 

March 23: "Material Girl" hit US #2.

 

March 29: Desperately Seeking Susan was released. "Into The Groove" video (from Desperately Seeking Susan) premiered on MTV.

 

April 10: Angel was recorded in 1984 and released worldwide on April 10, 1985.

Angel" was written by Madonna and Steve Bray. She had decided to release "Angel" as the initial single from the album, but changed her mind, after the recording of the title track "Like a Virgin" was complete. "Angel" was an ode to "a heavenly love" and inspired from Madonna's Catholic upbringing with the singer saying, "I think it's important to call angels to you to protect you... That's part of the ritualistic moment. The calling of angels." The track was ultimately released as the third single, and included the song "Into the Groove", from Madonna's 1985 film Desperately Seeking Susan, on the B-side of the 12-inch maxi-single.

Angel/Into The Groove" was released as a 12-inch single. The “Angelâ€/â€Into the Groove†maxi-single sold over 650,000 copies in the 12†vinyl format alone.

The album was re-issued in Europe to include “Into the Groove†as track #6.

 

April 10, 12, 13: Madonna kicked off her Virgin Tour with 3 sold-out concerts at the Paramount Theatre, Seattle, WA.

April 15,16: Madonna performed at the Arlene Schnitzer Concert Hall, Portland, OR.

April 19,20: Madonna performed at the Open Air Theatre, San Diego, CA.

April 21: Madonna performed at the Pacific Amphitheatre, Costa Mesa, CA.

April 23: Madonna performed at the Civic Auditorium, San Francisco, CA. Like A Virgin is certified 4x platinum (4 million units).

April 26,27,28: Madonna performed 3 sold-out concerts at the Universal Amphitheatre, Los Angeles, CA.

April 30: Madonna performs at ASU Activity Centre, Tempe, AZ.

May 3: Madonna performed at the Convention Centre, Dallas, TX.

May 4: Madonna performed at The Summit, Houston, TX.

May 5: Madonna performed at the Frank Erwin Centre, Austin, TX.

May 7: Madonna performed at UNO Lakefront Arena, New Orleans, LA.

May 9: Madonna performed at the Sun Dome, Tampa, FL.

May 10: Madonna performed at the Orange County Civic Centre, Orlando, FL.

May 11: Madonna performed at the Hollywood Sportatorium, Miami, FL. "Crazy For You" hits US #1.

May 14: Madonna performed at The Omni, Atlanta, GA.

May 16: Madonna performed at Public Hall, Cleveland, OH.

May 17: Madonna performed at the Cincinnati Gardens, Cincinnati, OH.

May 18,20: Madonna performed 2 sold-out concerts at the UIC Pavilion, Chicago, IL.

May 21: Madonna performed at St. Paul Civic Centre, St. Paul, MN.

May 23: Madonna performed at Maple Leaf Gardens, Toronto, ON, Canada.

May 25,26: Madonna performed at Cobo Hall, Detroit, MI.

 

May 25: "Madonna" hit US #1 on Top Music Videos chart.

 

May 27: This TIME May cover story on Madonna said the LP had sold 4.5 million copies in the U.S. (+ 2.5 million more overseas) and the “Like A Virgin†single sold 1.9 million copies domestically.

 

May 28: Madonna performed at the Civic Arena, Pittsburgh, PA.

May 29: Madonna performed at The Spectrum, Philadelphia, PA.

May 30: Madonna performed at the Hampton Coliseum, Hampton, VA.

May 31: "Madonna" video was certified 1x platinum (50,000 units).

 

June: I Want My MTV

Madonna's Promo for MTV June 1985

 

June 1: Madonna performed at the Merriweather Post Pavilion, Columbia, MD.

June 2: Madonna performed at The Centrum, Worcester, MA.

June 3: Madonna performed at New Haven Coliseum, New Haven, CT.

June 6,7,8: Madonna performed 3 sold-out concerts at Radio City Music Hall, New York, NY.

 

June 10-11: The Virgin Tour ended with two sold-out shows at Madison Square Garden in NYC.

 

July 23: Into the Groove was recorded in 1985 and released on July 23, 1985.

Madonna was supposed to give "Into the Groove" to Cheyne to record to be produced by Mark Kamins. Kamins had paid Madonna for his protégé, Cheyne, to record. However, Madonna believed that the song would be more suitable for her film Desperately Seeking Susan and recorded it with Bray for the film's soundtrack. Erica Bell was in the Sigma Sounds Studio when Bray and Madonna recorded it, and she said Bray was having trouble with the bridge and Madonna magically came up with “Live out your fantasy here with me…â€

 

Madonna did not tell Kamins. He was very upset. The singer retorted: "I'm tough, I'm ambitious and I know exactly what I want. If that makes me a bitch, that's okay.â€

"Into the Groove" ultimately did not appear on the soundtrack album of the film, but was released on the 1985 worldwide re-issue of Madonna's second studio album, Like a Virgin. During an interview with Time, Madonna said that she wrote the song while watching a Latin boy across her balcony.

Describing the song as "dorky", Madonna further explained:

"When I was writing it, I was sitting in a fourth-floor walk-up on Avenue-B, and there was this gorgeous Puerto Rican boy sitting across me that I wanted to go out on a date with, and I just wanted to get the song over with. I ultimately did go out with him and the song was finished just before my last date with him, which I'm kinda happy that it did not continue... The dance floor was quite a magical place for me. I started off wanting to be a dancer, so that had a lot to do with the song. The freedom that I always feel when I'm dancing, that feeling of inhabiting your body, letting yourself go, expressing yourself through music. I always thought of it as a magical place – even if you're not taking ecstasy. Hence that came to me as the primary inspiration for 'Into the Groove'."

June 24: Madonna and Sean Penn announce they will marry on Aug 16, 1985.

 

June 29: "Angel/Into The Groove" hits US #5.

 

July: "Into The Groove" (from Desperately Seeking Susan) was released as a UK single. "Holiday" is re-released as a UK single.

 

July 7: Penthouse magazine announced it would publish nude photographs of Madonna taken in 1979 during her early years.

 

July 8: Playboy magazine also announced it would also publish nude photographs of Madonna.

 

July 10: The Playboy magazine issue of nude Madonna photos was released.

 

July 13: Madonna performed "Into The Groove", "Holiday", "Love Makes The World Go Round" and joins The Thompson Twins for a rendition of The Beatles' "Revolution" at the Live Aid benefit concert at JFK Stadium, Philadelphia, PA.

 

July 16: "Crazy For You" single was certified gold (1 million units). The Penthouse magazine issue of nude Madonna photos was released.

 

July 22: Like A Virgin was certified 5x platinum - the first solo album by a female artist to be certified for sales of 5 million copies.

 

July 30: "Angel/Into The Groove" 12-inch single was certified gold (500,000 units).

 

July 31: Dress You Up was recorded in 1984 and released on July 31, 1985.

"Dress You Up†was released as the album's final single, by Sire Records. The song was the last track to be added to the album as it was submitted late by songwriters Andrea LaRusso and Peggy Stanziale. Madonna pushed for the song's inclusion on Like a Virgin as she particularly liked its lyrics. Musically, the song is a drum beat driven dance track featuring instrumentation from guitars and vocals from a choir and a guitar solo played by Nile Rodgers, who also produced the song. The lyrics are an extended metaphor for fashion and sex, comparing dressing up with passion. A live performance from Madonna's first tour was used as the music video.

Critics reacted positively to the dance-pop nature of the track. "Dress You Up" became Madonna's sixth consecutive top-five single in the United States. It also reached the top-ten in Australia, Belgium, Canada, Ireland, New Zealand and the United Kingdom.

"Dress You Up" was added to the "Filthy Fifteen" list of the Parents Music Resource Center, due to the sexual nature of its lyrics. The song has been covered in different forms by a number of artists.

The lyrics of the song are a metaphor for fashion and sex. Madonna sings about clothes she would like to drape over her man, so that she can caress his body with her hands, and cover him with "Velvet Kisses". According to Rikky Rooksby, author of Madonna: The Complete Guide To Her Music, the line "I'll create a look that's made for you", later became synonymous with Madonna's re-invention of her image throughout her career.

 

July: By July 1985, Like a Virgin became the first album by a female artist to be certified for sales of five million units in the United States. It was eventually certified ten times platinum (diamond) by the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA), for shipment of ten million copies of the album. It placed at three on the year-end chart for 1985, with Madonna becoming the top pop artist for the year. After the advent of the Nielsen SoundScan era in 1991, the album sold a further 574,000 copies.

 

August: "Dress You Up" single and video were released.

 

August 2: Madonna lost a court battle against director Stephen Jon Lewicki over the video release of A Certain Sacrifice, a soft-porn movie Madonna filmed between 1979-81 during her early years.

 

August 3: "Into The Groove" hit UK #1 and "Holiday" hit UK #2 - Madonna was the only female artist ever to occupy the top 2 positions simultaneously on the UK charts.

 

August 16: Madonna and Sean Penn were married on her 27th birthday on a clifftop in Malibu, CA with Cher, Martin Sheen, Rob Lowe, Carrie Fisher, Diane Keaton, David Letterman, Rosanna Arquette, Christopher Walken, Steve Rubell and others in attendance, and will honeymoon at the Highlands Inn, Carmel, CA; after the honeymoon, Madonna begins work on a new album.

 

September: Gambler was recorded in 1984 and released in September 1985.

"Gambler" is a song from the soundtrack album to the 1985 film Vision Quest. The song was written solely by Madonna, while the production was handled by John "Jellybean" Benitez at her request. It was released as the second single from the film's soundtrack album in September 1985, by Geffen Records. "Gambler" was never released in the United States, at the request of Madonna's own Sire Records. The music video of the song is an excerpt from the film.

The lyrics talk about Madonna asserting her self-independence. Critics gave a mixed review of the song, but it was commercially successful, reaching the top-ten in the charts of Australia, Belgium, Ireland, Italy, Netherlands, Norway and the United Kingdom. Madonna has performed the song only once, on her 1985 The Virgin Tour, which was documented on the live video release Madonna Live: The Virgin Tour.

 

September 2: In this week’s People Weekly (cover story on her marriage to Sean Penn) stated that the Like a Virgin LP had sold 8.5 million copies worldwide so far.

 

October 6: In France, the album debuted at number five on the French Albums Chart on October 6, 1985, staying there for eight weeks, then descending down the chart. It was certified two times platinum by the Syndicat National de l'Édition Phonographique (SNEP) for shipment of 600,000 copies.

 

October: "Gambler" (from Vision Quest) is released as a UK single and hits #4.

 

October 1: A Certain Sacrifice is released on home video, priced at $59.95.

 

October 5: "Dress You Up" hit US #5.

 

October 6: Madonna and Rosanna Arquette participate in an all-star Pro-Peace Rally in Van Nuys, CA.

Madonna and Rosanna Arquette filmed together a commercial for the Great Peace March for global nuclear disarmament

 

October 15: Madonna is certified 3x platinum (3 million units).

 

November 6: Like A Virgin is certified 6x platinum (6 million units).

 

November 9: Madonna hosts the 1985-86 season premiere of NBC-TV's Saturday Night Live.

November: Saturday Night Live Promo 3 versions

Madonna's Promo for Saturday Night Live Episode

 

November 11: "Madonna Live: The Virgin Tour" is released on home video.

 

November 23: Like a Virgin album became Madonna's first number-one album on the European Top 100 Albums, reaching the summit on November 23, 1985, for two weeks.

 

December 3: "Madonna Live: The Virgin Tour" video is certified 1x platinum (100,000 units).

 

December 14: "Dress You Up" hits UK #5 - it is her eighth UK Top 10 hit of 1985 and becomes the only female artist in 30 years to have 3 records in the UK Top 15 charts.

 

December 21: Madonna wins 7 Billboard Music Awards: Top Pop Artist, Top Pop Album Artist - Female, Top Pop Singles Artist, Top Pop Singles Artist - Female, Top Dance Club Play Artist, Top Dance Sales Artist and Top Music Video ("Madonna").

Link to comment
Share on other sites

1986:

January: "Borderline" was re-released as a UK single. Madonna and Sean began filming Shanghai Surprise in Macau, China, directed by Jim Goddard and produced by ex-Beatle George Harrison's Handmade Films company.
 

January 1: Germany 1985 Year-End Charts: Best Selling Albums: #4 Like a Virgin

U.K. 1985 Year-End Charts: Best Selling Albums #3 Like a Virgin

Madonna was nominated for 1 Grammy Award: Best Female Pop Vocal Performance "Crazy for You"

 

January 18: "Madonna Live: The Virgin Tour" hits US #1 on Top Music Videos chart.

 

February 15: "Borderline" hit UK #2.
 

February 20: Madonna and Sean attended the premiere of his film At Close Range at the Berlin Film Festival, Berlin, Germany.
 

February 21: Madonna and Sean arrived in London, England to complete filming on Shanghai Surprise; upon their arrival at Heathrow Airport, a photographer was knocked down by their limousine and they were later nicknamed "The Poison Penns" by the British press.
 

February 27: Madonna won Worst-Dressed Female Artist in Rolling Stone magazine's 10th annual Readers Poll.

 

March 29: While on location shooting Shanghai Surprise in Hong Kong, Madonna was presented a 2x platinum award for Like a Virgin in Hong Kong.

 

June 28: BILLBOARD reported there was a Warner meeting in early June which showcased True Blue to various WEA label heads and managers. They also mentioned that Like A Virgin had sold more than 750,000 copies in Latin America. Outside the U.S., Mo Ostin said Madonna had sold 7.5 million copies total so far, had 4 #1 singles and had a #1 album in 9 territories.

 

June 29: An interview with the NY Times stated that the album had sold 6.5 million copies to date (in the US)

 

December 1: According to Japanese music magazine ADLIB issue December 1986: The sales of the Like a Virgin album in Japan to date: 850,000.

In 1986, Madonna told Company magazine, that although she did not write or create the song, the lyrical meaning and concept did apply to her situation at that point of time. She elaborated, "I'm very career-oriented. You are attracted to people who are ambitious that way, too, like in the song 'Material Girl'. You are attracted to men who have material things because that's what pays the rents and buys you furs. That's the security. That lasts longer than emotions." During a 2009 interview with Rolling Stone, Madonna was asked by interviewer Austin Scaggs, regarding her first feelings, after listening to the demos of "Like a Virgin" and "Material Girl". Madonna responded by saying, "I liked them both because they were ironic and provocative at the same time but also unlike me. I am not a materialistic person, and I certainly wasn't a virgin, and, by the way, how can you be like a virgin? I liked the play on words, I thought they were clever. They're so geeky, they're cool."

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Madonna: The 1985 ‘Like a Virgin’ Cover Story
https://www.google.com/amp/www.spin.com/2014/11/madonna-like-a-virgin-1985-cover-story%3Famp%3D1

[This bulleted interview was originally published in the May 1985 issue of SPIN, which hit newsstands on March 19, 1985.]

Trash
I like to look the way Ronnie Spector sounded: sexy, hungry, totally trashy. I admire her tonal quality. I don’t have a deep, throaty voice or a womanish voice when I sing. I think my voice sounds innocent and sexual at the same time. That’s what I try to tell people, anyway; but they always misconstrue what I mean when I say “sexual innocence.†They look at me and go, “innocent, huh?†They think I’m trash.

Sexcess


I couldn’t be a success without also being a sex symbol. I’m sexy. How can I avoid it? That’s the essence of me. I would have to have a bag over my head and over my body; but then my voice would come across, and it’s sexy.

Idols
My first pop idol was Nancy Sinatra. Go-go boots, miniskirt, blond hair, fake eyelashes — she was cool. My first movie idol was Marilyn Monroe. The movie character I identified most with, though, was Holly Golightly; because when I first came to New York, I was lonely, lived by myself, was going to parties and not fitting in. I loved Brigitte Bardot, especially in Contempt. She kept saying, “Do you love me? Tell me what is beautiful about me.†I can relate to that totally because I really care abut the way I look. I wanted to look like Brigitte Bardot. I wanted to make my hair blonder and wear pointy bras and go out with Roger Vadim. I also wanted to look like Jean Seberg in Joan of Arc. I was religious, in a passionate, adolescent way. Jesus Christ was like a movie star, my favorite idol of all.

Look-Alikes
If I were a girl and knew me, I’d want to dress like me. If I were a guy, I’d dress either like Gregory Peck, when he was really young, or James Dean. I’d either wear ripped jeans and a T-shirt or a suit and tie.

Eating Out


At one point I was living in New York and eating out of garbage cans. Actually, it was not a garbage can on the street; it was the garbage can in the Music Building on Eighth Avenue where I lived with Steve Bray, the guy I write songs with. (He’s Useful Male #2 or #3, depending upon which article you read.)

I had been squatting in a loft, living there illegally, but it burned down. There was no heat or hot water, so I had all these electric space heaters around this little piece of carpeting I slept on. I woke up in the middle of the night surrounded by a ring of fire. One of the heaters had set fire to the rug and it was spreading. I jumped up and dumped water on the fire, which made it spread more. Then my nightgown caught fire. So I took it off, got dressed, grabbed a few things, like underpants and stuff — all my important things like tapes and instruments were already over at the Music Building three blocks away — and I went over to the Music Building and started sleeping there.

I had a band at the time and was playing places like Max’s and C.B.G.B.’s. All the money we made paid for the van that transported our equipment. We shared our rehearsal loft with another band, so they practically paid the rent for us, and all our equipment was in that one room. Steve and I slept between amplifiers. We budgeted what little money we had to about $1 a day. We had credit in all the Korean delis within a five-block radius of the Music Building and with our dollar we’d get some yogurt and peanuts.

Then Steve and I would fight over whether we should mix the peanuts with the yogurt. He liked to eat them together and I liked to eat them separately. When we’d run out of money, I’d pass by the garbage can in the lobby of the Music Building, and if it smelled really good — like if there was a Burger King bag sitting on top that someone had just deposited — I’d open it up, and if I was lucky, there would be french fries that hadn’t been eaten. I’m a vegetarian, which is why I didn’t eat the burger.

Money


The first real money I ever got was $5,000 from Sire Records, and the first expensive thing I bought was a Roland synthesizer. The next big money I got was publishing money for writing songs. I would get $1,000 for every song I wrote. I wrote most of the songs on my first album, so I got what seemed like a lot of money at the time, and I moved to the East Village and got my first apartment. With the next money, I moved to a loft in Soho, which was triple the rent I was paying in the East Vil-lage. These were all necessary things. The most extravagant thing I ever bought — that I felt really guilty about buying — was a color TV. I never had a TV before in the seven years that I had lived in New York. When I grew up I didn’t have a color TV. So I got a color TV, a VHS machine, and a push-button remote control.

Belly Buttons 


My favorite button is my belly button. I have the most perfect belly button: an inny, and there’s no lint in it. I never wore a jewel in my belly, but if I did it would be a ruby or an emerald, but not a diamond. When I sticky my finger in my belly button, I feel a nerve in the center of my body shoot up my spine. If 100 belly buttons were lined up agaisnt a wall, I could definitely pick out which one is mine.

Crucifixes


Crucifixes are sexy because there’s a naked man on them. When I was a little girl, we had crucifixes all over the house, as a reminder that Jesus Christ died on the cross for us. Crucifixes are something left over from my childhood, like a security blanket. I liked the way they look and what they symbolized, even before they were fashionable. I buy mine in Spanish bodegas, where they have rosaries in lots of colors. I have a really long one that looks white in the light, but glows in the dark. Every new-wave designer has crucifixes in the their line. Calvin Klein doesn’t, but he’s Mr. Mainstream. Girls who buy Calvin Klein jeans don’t wear crucifixes.

Bras


I have to wear a bra. I’m the only one in my family with breasts. Bras that open in the front are the best, and torpedo bras are the sexiest. On my Like A Virgin record cover and in all my photographs, like when i did the MTV show, I’m in my bustier. Bustiers are very restricting.They have ribs that make you feel like you’re suffocating and zip up the back. They’re tight and squeeze you in. I wear them because they’re very 19th centuryish. They have that really svelte look. I like the way it makes my body look. It’s very sexual. I have about five of them. I go to a regular lingerie store and get the basic nylon bustier, with no frills, and have it customized with lace or tulle. I wish I was flat-chested and didn’t have to wear a bra. It’s one extra piece of clothing to worry about.

Returning Calls 


I used to call different management companies, agencies, A&R people, club owners, you name it, and no one ever returned my calls. If someone did, ten-to-one it was some horny old man who was in charge of listening to tapes and when he’d hear my voice, he’d want me to come in and bring the tapes, and then he’d put the make on me. Now when I call people they come right to the phone. Everyone except John Peters, the big Hollywood producer who did Flashdance, and my movie Visionquest. He’s a real schemer — wheeling and dealing all the time — and the only one who doesn’t call me back.

Sister Madonna 


If I wasn’t doing what I’m doing, I would be a nun. The reason I’m not a nun is because you can’t take your own name. How could I change my name? I have the most holy name a woman can have. But if I had to change my name, I’d use my confirmation name, Veronica. I chose her because she wiped the face of Jesus, which I thought was really dramatic.

Physical Attractions


I dig skin, lips and Latin men. I’m attracted to bums. When I went to Paris, I hung out with Algerians and Vietnamese guys who didn’t have jobs, who just drove around on motorcycles and terrorized people. I’ve always been attracted to people like that, because they’re rebels and they’re irresponsible and challenge the norm. I try to rehabilitate them. I’m just trying to be the mother I never had.

Virginity
I wouldn’t like to sleep with a guy who was a virgin. I’d have to teach him stuff and I don’t have the patience. I’d rather deal with experience. When I say virgin, like in my song, I’m not thinking about sexual virgin. I mean newness. Even after I made love for the first time, I still felt like I was a virgin. I didn’t lose my virginity until I knew what I was doing.

Monogamy


The longest monogamous relationship I’ve had was two-and-three-quarter years, right before Jellybean, with someone who never wants to see me again. He’s the guy trying to run me over in my “Burning Up†video. It wasn’t just because I was seeing someone else. Our relationship was deteriorating anyway. But I’ve had heart broken, too. All my boyfriends hurt me in their way, by lots of thing, but I’m not telling you.

Stepped-on Men


All those men I stepped all over to get to the top, everyone of them would take me back because they still love me and I still love them. I wish I was a million different people so I could stay with each boyfriend while moving on to another one. I learn more, want more, and suddenly — that person isn’t enough. The problem is, after you start to love someone, you start to hurt them. I get interested in somebody else and I latch on to that interest to get me through the other one. It’s awfully painful, but then I have this new guy to look forward to.

Records


The first song I remember hearing was “The Twist†by Chubby Checker. The first record I ever bought was either “Incense & Peppermint†or “Give Me a ticket for an Airplane.†I don’t remember if there was music playing when I lost my virginity, but the best music to make love to nowadays is anything funky or soulful, like the Gap Band, Prince or the Isley Brothers. The best music to wake up to is “Moments in Love†by Art of Noise and the best music at the moment to workout to is anything by Prince, Lime, Bronski Beat or Bruce Springsteen. My first album was a total aerobics records. I make records with aerobics in mind. When I’m mad or have a fight with my boyfriend, I work out.

Bad Press


I get so much bad press because people associate a girl who’s successful with a bimbo or an airhead. Sexy boys never get bad press. Do you think they’d bug Prince if he pulled out his dick on stage? If I ever did something like that, I’m the slut of the year.

Fights


Most of the fight I have with boyfriends are how I’m not paying enough attention to them or I’m always off doing things for my career. Of course, I disagree. I have a lot of shit to do right now. I’m always surrounded by people. I have a very visible career. I got to go out West and audition guys to be in my videos and I got to kiss guys in my movies. But I always say it’s the quality of time and not the quantity of time. If you spend the time that you do have together not fighting, you might enjoy each other.

Little Madonna


I was never a Girl Scout, but I was a Campfire Girl and a Brownie. Campfire Girls had the cooler uniform. I was never good at being part of an organization. When I was a Brownie, I ate all the cookies. When I was a Campfire Girl, I’d camp out with the boys and get into trouble.

Fantasy Photo


Of all the great photographs in history, I’d most like to have been in one of me having dinner with John Kennedy, with Marilyn Monroe sitting next to him, singing “Happy Birthday.â€

2Ad7gwf.jpg

Link to comment
Share on other sites

On the eve of Like a Virgin

http://www.ultramadonna.com/en/articles/5/on_the_eve_of_like_a_virgin

 

K46tIcr.jpg

 

On the eve of Like a Virgin

 

"I have sunglasses on right now because my eyes are killing me," apologizes Madonna. "I haven’t slept in three days and a friend of mine is in jail right now and I just found out last night… ugh, forget it, it’s a long story, but never a dull moment in my life."

 

She’s just wrapped up a day’s worth of meetings between her manager and Nile Rogers, who’s producing her new LP "Like A Virgin." The album, which will feature tracks called "Dress You Up," "Material Girl" and "Angel," will be released as soon as her debut album gives it some room on the charts. Mr. R, she admits, "is a very passionate man. He lives life to the hilt. When you deal with people who are that way you get good stuff and bad stuff, but it was really great working with him."

 

But right now Madonna- nattily turned out in a black leather jacket with silver graffiti, "kind of bluish" lipstick and the usual rubber jewelry and crucifixes – is content to unwind over a grapefruit and Campari, chewing on the questions as eagerly as she attacks her two sticks of Trident sugarless bubblegum.

 

David: Where did you learn to dance?

Madonna: I really leaned on my own. I watched television a lot and I used to try to copy Shirley Temple when I was a little girl. I used to turn on the record player and dance in the basement by myself and give dance lessons to my girlfriends in my five year old manner. As I got older I started giving lessons to boys, too, and I remember the first guy I gave lessons to the song was "Honky Tonk Woman" by the Stones. It was really sexy, right, like stomping and grinding. When I was about 12 I decided I should try to get pro about this and started going to the schools where they teach jazz, tap, baton twirling and gymnastics. It was just a place to send hyperactive girls, basically.

 

David: Do you worry about your weight?

Madonna: Sure, that’s why I swim 100 laps every day to keep in shape. It’s good to have a supple body, you can move around easily and it’s a lot more visually appealing. You feel better too when you’re at a normal weight.

 

David: What one thing would you change about yourself if you could?

Madonna: I always wanted to be taller. I feel like a shrimp, but that’s the way it goes. I’m 5’4" – that’s actually average. Everything about me is average, everything’s normal, in the books. It’s the things inside that makes me not average. I’d also change my indecisiveness. Yes, no, yes, no YES! In my business career I feel I make good decisions but in my personal life I’m constantly creating havoc by changing mind every five seconds.

 

David: Who would you like to go out with: Rick Springfield, Simon le Bon, Lionel Richie or David Lee Roth?

Madonna: Ugh. UGH. Yeeeuch! C’mon. I wouldn’t go out with any of them if you want to know the truth. If I had to choose, I’d go out with David Lee Roth, but I wouldn’t dress up for him.

 

David: Is there any item of clothing you have that you wouldn’t dare to wear in public?

Madonna: Well, underpants. I wouldn’t wear just sexy underpants in public. I have to feel really comfortable and that my clothes look good, but not that I obviously tried to make them look good. My favorite clothes are my Vivienne Westwood skirt with Keith Haring designs, this ripped-up black net shirt and a denim jacket with my graffiti tag "Boy Toy written on the back. I used to go out with graffiti writers and I got into the habit of carrying markers around, but I really lost the zest for writing my name everywhere. Now I have suitors that do it for me.

 

David: What’s your most treasured possession?

Madonna: A picture of my mother when she was young and she was riding on a horse and smiling and laughing. She didn’t give it to me. My mother died when I was real young and when I moved to New York I stole it from my father.

 

David: What did you like best about Britain?

Madonna: They have lots of good clothes shops. I always have a good time shopping there because fashion is so important to English people. I didn’t have time to find any good restaurants, but I like the way the cars are on the other side.

 

David: What is your wildest ambition?

Madonna: Well, I’d love to be a memorable figure in the history of entertainment in some sexual comic-tragic way. I’d like to leave the impression that Marilyn Monroe did, to be able to arouse so many different feelings in people.

 

David: How do you see yourself in 30 years’ time?

Madonna: Hopefully I’ll be incredibly mellow and wise with age. Not mellow, but very wise and still just as mischievous and childlike and wondering as I am now.

 

David: Do you go to church?

Madonna: No. I never go to church anymore except to steal crucifixes. That’s a joke. But I get a lot of letters from religious freaks because of my name.

 

David: How does it feel to have a name like Madonna?

Madonna: It feels like I have to live up to it. I didn’t get made fun of because I went to Catholic schools and I never remember feeling tormented for my name.

 

David: What’s your favorite kind of ice cream?

Madonna: I don’t like ice cream, but if I made a sundae it would have vanilla, chocolate chip and coffee ice cream with hot fudge topping and whipped cream and nuts. But none of those cherries on top. Those cherries are gross.

 

David: What happened between you and Simon le Bon and a certain birthday cake backstage at Madison Square Garden?

Madonna: Huh? Was there a birthday cake? There was a lot of food and champagne. I fought over a piece of cake with Simon? That’s an interesting rumor. I never did anything of the sort. I actually got very ill and had to leave right when they were doing their first encore. Champagne on an empty stomach. I went to see them because Nile was going to do an encore, otherwise I didn’t think I would have found myself there.

 

David: What would you do if you could be invisible for a day?

Madonna: I’d go to my record company and listen to all the people saying what they’re really going to do with my next record.

 

David: Do you read your horoscope?

Madonna: Yeah, well, no. If I happen to read the New York Post that day, but I don’t seek it or anything. I’m a Leo. I do believe in it, but I don’t really follow it or study it. I think it’s a bona fide science. I think there really is something to say for it.

 

David: What do you think about Ronald Regan?

Madonna: I don’t think about him very much but I think he’s a pretty good actor. I think he’s a puppet for all the people in cabinet, I think everybody else makes the decisions and he’s the guy that gets up there and hopefully doesn’t get shot at. Nancy? Give me a break.

 

David: What would you do if you had more time?

Madonna: Relax. Read, watch movies. I wish I had more time to see my family. They’re in California, New York, Brazil, everywhere. I have eight brothers and sisters. Last time I went home was Thanksgiving and I hadn’t been home in two years.

 

David: Have you ever cried yourself to sleep?

Madonna: Oh, so many nights. What’s the point, there’s so many, they’re horrible. You just cry yourself to sleep or you don’t go to sleep at all, that’s me anyways. I have insomnia terribly when I’m upset or excited by something that’s going to happen the next day.

 

David: Is New York City scary?

Madonna: No, not at all, I find other places outside of New York scary where people are really backwards and they look like they want to shoot you for looking so different. Like the south, where there are some really ignorant people.

 

David: What’s your favorite place to go dancing?

Madonna: There are not any great night clubs as far as I’m concerned in New York City, and I used to always think the best clubs were in New York. The last good time I had in a club was at the Paradise Garage in New York or the Rhythm Lounge in Los Angeles.

 

David: Who does your laundry?

Madonna: Me. I take it to this Laundromat down the street and they do it for me.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

@@groovyguy

 

in an interview at ear say she said the Album is already finished and she hopes to put it out in summer! so that ear say interview must be around late may 84,right?

 

and when was the i want my MTV ad filmed? any idea?

 

and the interview at WB Office in NY was on sep 13,84 a day before the VMAs as recalled in MTV Raw!

Link to comment
Share on other sites

@@MiB

in an interview at ear say she said the Album is already finished and she hopes to put it out in summer! so that ear say interview must be around late may 84,right?
April: Madonna interviewed on Ear Say TV Show



and when was the i want my MTV ad filmed? any idea?
June 1985

 
and the interview at WB Office in NY was on sep 13,84 a day before the VMAs as recalled in MTV Raw!
September 13: Interview at WB Office in NY


MTV Music Awards aired on Sept 14, 1984.

Mark Goodman Video Countdown aired weekend of Sept 28-29


May: In a quick backstage interview with MTV’s Alan Hunter at Limelight, NYC, Madonna talked about her new album:
What are the next video plans for you then?
I’m working on an album right now with Nile Rodgers and I hope to release the first single from it the first week of June. And I’ll do a video for that.
And how long have you been working on the album?
For the last, almost, two months. It’s almost finished.
What’s it been like working with Nile?
Really great. He’s a genius, I have to say.
Did you contact him?
Yeah, actually, well my record company did. But as soon as we met, we hit it off really well.
How has he helped you out over other people who’ve produced you in the past?
We just have a really good chemistry and he understands my musicality. He’s a trained musician and I’m not really. I don’t know musical terminology, he just reads my mind.

In her first sit-down interview with MTV with VJ Mark Goodman at MTV Studios, NYC, Madonna said to anticipate the first single of her new album in June “after ‘Borderline’ fizzles outâ€. She told him that “BOY TOY†was her “tag name†and that was what she graffitied on walls. She said the album, titled Like a Virgin, was finished that month (May). Like A Virgin would also be the name of the first single and she’d be doing a video for.
Link to comment
Share on other sites

AWARDS

 

1984

 

THE FACE MAGAZINE

 

Top Albums of 1984: #19 "Like A Virgin"

#1 "Purple Rain" by Prince

 

POLLSTAR CONCERT INDUSTRY AWARDS

Nomination for Which Artist is Most Likely to Successfully Headline Arenas for the First Time in 1985? Award

Lost to Bryan Adams

 

1985

 

AMERICAN MUSIC AWARDS

Nomination for Favorite Female Pop/Rock Artist Lost to Cindy Lauper

 

BILLBOARD MUSIC AWARDS

  • Top Dance Club Play Artist
  • Top Dance Sales Artist
  • Top Pop Artist
  • Top Pop Album Artist – Female
  • Top Pop Singles Artist
  • Top Pop Singles Artist – Female
  • Top Music Video for "Madonna"

 

BRAVO OTTO AWARDS

Female Singer (Gold)

 

THE FACE MAGAZINE

Top Singles of 1985: #10 "Into The Groove", #30 "Material Girl"

#1 "Slave To The Rhythm" by Grace Jones

 

POP ROCKY MAGAZINE GOLDENER HAMMERSCHLUMPF

Film Star Of The Year for "Desperately Seeking Susan" (Madonna)

 

JUNO AWARDS

Nomination for International Album of the Year for "Like A Virgin"

Lost to "Born in the U.S.A." by Bruce Springsteen

 

MTV VIDEO MUSIC AWARDS

  • Nomination for Best Female Video for "Material Girl" Lost to "What's Love Got To Do With It" by Tina Turner
  • Nomination for Best Choreography In A Video for "Like A Virgin" (Choreography by Madonna) Lost to "Sad Song (Say So Much)" by Elton John (Choreography David Atkins)
  • Nomination for Best Choreography In A Video for "Material Girl" (Choreography by Kenny Ortega) Lost to "Sad Song (Say So Much)" by Elton John (Choreography David Atkins)
  • Nomination for Best Art Direction In A Video for "Like A Virgin" (Art Director: John Ebdon) Lost to "The Boys Of Summer" by Don Henley (Art Director: Bryan Jones)
  • Nomination for Best Cinematography In A Video for "Like A Virgin" (Director of Photography: Peter Sinclair) Lost to "The Boys Of Summer" by Don Henley (Director of Photography: Pascal Lebègue)

 

NME READERS' POLL

Worst Dressed Person

 

THE VILLAGE VOICE MAGAZINE

 

Top Singles of 1985: #11 "Into The Groove"

#1 "Sun City" by Artists United Against Apartheid

 

1986

 

AMERICAN MUSIC AWARDS

  • Nomination for Favorite Female Pop/Rock ArtistLost to Tina Turner
  • Nomination for Favorite Pop/Rock Female Video ArtistLost to Pat Benatar
  • Nomination for Favorite Pop/Rock Album for "Like A Virgin"Lost to "Born in the U.S.A." by Bruce Springsteen

 

BAFTA AWARDS

Best Actress in a Supporting Role for "Desperately Seeking Susan" (Rosanna Arquette)

 

CASTING SOCIETY OF AMERICA

  • Nomination for Best Casting for Feature Film, Comedy for "Desperately Seeking Susan" (Risa Bramon Garcia, Billy Hopkins) Lost to Prizzi's Honor (Alixe Gordin)
  • CÉSAR AWARDS
  • Nomination for Best Foreign Film for "Desperately Seeking Susan" (Susan Seidelman) Lost to The "Purple Rose of Cairo" (Woody Allen)

BILLBOARD MUSIC AWARDS

Top Music Video for "The Virgin Tour"

 

BRAVO OTTO AWARDS

Female Singer (Gold)

 

BRIT AWARDS

Nomination for Best International Solo ArtistLost to Bruce Springsteen

 

 

GOLDEN GLOBES AWARDS

Nomination for Best Performance by an Actress in a Motion Picture - Comedy/Musical for "Desperately Seeking Susan" (Rosanna Arquette)Lost to "Prizzi's Honor" (Kathleen Turner)

 

GRAMMY AWARDS

Nomination for Best Pop Vocal Performance, Female for "Crazy for You"

Lost to "Saving All My Love for You" by Whitney Houston

Link to comment
Share on other sites

MADONNA INTERVIEW : TEEN MAGAZINE (1985)

 

https://allaboutmadonna.com/madonna-library/madonna-interview-teen-magazine-1985

 

1985-madonna-teen-magazine.jpg

 

This set of lyrics from Madonna’s single “Lucky Star†certainly can be used to describe her career — one that has been guided by unique style, talent and good fortune! Her 1983 debut album, Madonna, sparked more hits and praise than most performers can hope for in a lifetime! And now, with the recent release of her latest album, Like a Virgin, and two upcoming film roles, it looks as if all of Madonna’s wishes have been answered.

 

And her lucky star seems to be rising higher and higher!

 

Madonna is a fitting name for this dynamic beauty who has created her own self-styled fashion statement with uncombed hair, bracelets up to the elbows and a number of earrings on each ear. In a word, Madonna is unique. And, along with a small handful of other versatile performers, such as Sting and Prince, Madonna has become a one-name sensation!

 

Bom Madonna Ciccone (named after her mother who died when Madonna was 7 years old), 24 years ago in Detroit, Mich., Madonna comes from a large Italian family with five boys and three girls. She describes the home environment as being very competitive.

 

“My father brought me up to be very goal-oriented — to be a lawyer or doctor and study, study, study. We didn’t get allowances, but we definitely got rewards for achieving,†she says. And with all those siblings to compete with, Madonna sought out every opportunity to be number one. “I got the best grades, straight As … and all my brothers and sisters hated me!†she jokingly adds.

 

On the lighter side, however, Madonna also describes her upbringing as being very musical. When she was very young, she studied piano for a year, but quit after convincing her father to let her take ballet lessons year, but quit after convincing her father to let hn take ballet lessons instead. And soon after, she became involved in everything from jazz and tap to modern dance.

 

Madonna’s dance roots may seem like a strange beginning for someone who has blossomed into a dynamic singer, but as she explains, â€œI always had the idea that I wanted to be a performer, but I wasn’t sure if I wanted to sing or dance or be an actress or what, so I concentrated on dancing.â€

 

And what began with her winning the lead roles in her high school’s musicals sach as My Fair Lady and The Sound of Music, soon earned her a dance scholarship to the University of Michigan. Yet after only a year, Madonna was filled with the desire to dance professionally and she set aside her studies and decided to go test her talents in the big time — New York City!

 

“I moved to New York in ’78,†says Madonna. â€œI was only 17. I had $35 in my pocket and knew no one, I told the taxi driver to take me to the middle of everything. I was let off in Times Square,†she remembers.

 

Although this may have been a startling introduction for any other teenager Madonna made this overwhelming environment work for her.


And not long after her arrival, she auditioned for and won a dance scholarship with the Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater, and later studied the famous Martha Graham technique under the direction of one of Graham’s dance soloists. Pearl Lang.

 

Madonna had a strong desire to dance professionally in New York, but as she explains, â€œThere weren’t many companies that I wanted to work for. The best ones didn’t need anyone at that time. And I wasn’t willing to wait five years for a break.â€

 

Therefore, when Madonna was offered the opportunity to sing and dance in a French disco singer’s international tour, she jumped at the chance and caught the first plane to Paris.

 

She arrived back in New York six months later and came up with the innovative idea of combining her talents for music and dance. And after hanging out at various dance clubs, watching and picking up on the dancing she liked the best, Madonna put it all together and created her own chorcographcd music. At this same time, Madonna was briefly involved with a band called the Breakfast Club, in which she played the drums, but she soon broke away from the band so she could put all her energies into pursuing her solo career.

 

After recording a demo tape of original material, she convinced a disc jockey at a dance club called the Danceteria to play one of her songs. The song was “Everybody†and it was not only a pleasant surprise to the disc jockey and the dancers at the club, hut it also happened to impress a record executive who was there. He signed her to a major recording contract that very evening! She was now on her way.

 

The immediate success of her debut album, Madonna, was solid gold proof that all her unique talents and stunning looks could come together and create a powerful and appealing package. And soon after the single “Everybody†was released, there was a string of crossover hits (on the dance and pop charts) that followed, including “Holiday,†“Physical Attraction,†“Burning Up†and “Borderline.†In addition, the sophistirated “Burning Up†and “Borderline†videos helped establish Madonna as a star to be reckoned with!

 

Madonna describes her music as the kind that helps people to forget about the problems of the world. â€œIt’s just to cheer people up,†the says. â€œPeople go out to dance to get away and forget about their problems, like a Holiday, and that’s what the music’s about — to get together and forget.â€

 

On Madonna’s latest album, Like a Virgin, she is following in the same formula. And with a powerful blend of dance songs on the album and a slick video to match, the package is hard to beat! Yet Madonna is not the kind to sit back and let success completely catch up with her, and that is why she’s always thinking one step ahead of the game. That little girl is no longer inside of her who isn’t quite sure in which creative direction to take her career. She has decided — and she wants everything!

 

“I want to keep on making great records and want to develop as a music artist, but also to get involved in other things, as well I’d like To make more videos and to write music for other people and then I have a great interest in films,†she says.

 

And in Madonna’s go-getter style, she is exploring this great interest and will soon be seen in two films that will be released early this year – Desperately Seeking Susan and Vision Quest.

 

With all of her dreams falling perfectly into place, Madonna’s schedule is extremely hectic. And although she finds it difficult to travel home to Michigan to visit the members of her family, they try to come to New York whenever they can. And during those rare moments when Madonna finds the time to relax, the things she enjoys doing most are reading, writing, eating, warching old movies and dancing.

As Madonna takes the time to reflect on her quick rise to super-stardom, she easily puts things into perspective. â€œThree to four years ago dancing was the most important thing — now it’s music. That will lead on to something else … acting. Above all, I want to be an all-around entertainer. And happy,†she says.

And judging from her self-confidence and mass appeal, it all seems to be in the stars for Madonna!

© Teen Magazine

Link to comment
Share on other sites

MADONNA INTERVIEW : THE FACE (FEBRUARY 1985)

 

https://allaboutmadonna.com/madonna-library/madonna-interview-face-january-1985

 

1985-madonna-face.jpg

 

Manipulating people, that’s what I’m good at. Madonna says it matter-of-factly. and smiles. Her upper lip stretches taut across her wide mouth, her teclh flash, and she laughs. The laugh says she’s making a joke, and you’re not meant to believe it. But the eyes tell you to believe. The wide round eyes, staring innocently but urgently at you implore you to believe her. She is serious. She’s a serious girl.

 

Madonna wants desperately to be a star. A big star. Having a Number One single and a Number Two LP in the US, as she did in December, is nowhere near enough. She got in trouble for saying on American TV that her ultimate goal was to rule the world. She says to me instead that it is to stand next to God. and laughs. But I believe her.

 

There is something special about her. It has little to do with her singing, which is indifferent, nor her dancing, which is merely proficient, nor her fashion sense, which we can summarise best perhaps by saying she is a fast learner. It has something to do with the beauty and sexuality she radiates, but even more, it is the effect of her extraordinary personality. Madonna is a strange, uniquely American creation: on the outside she is all ambition and determination, raw will to succeed. But on the inside, like a grain at the centre of a pearl, is a strange and unexpected fragility. The tension between these two makes Madonna a fascinating, even irresistible character; one who. it is all too easy to believe, is destined for the success she craves.

 

Possibly she will do it as a pop star, you feel but perhaps more likely, as an actress. And there are some people in New York who are saying she will be the next Marilyn Monroe …

 

Madonna is a child-woman, says Maripol, her French-born clothes designer. She is fun and joyful, but she is also a femme fatale. She is vulnerable – but then she’s not that vulnerable. She’s not tough exactly – but she’ll survive through anything. She’s a natural star. She is born to stardom.

 

What she was born to, in fact, was a large lower-middle-class Italian-American family in industrial Detroit, Michigan. The Ciccones might have been a very happy family, if Madonna’s mother hadn’t died early on of cancer, tragically misdiagnosed by the doctors. Young Madonna was only seven at the time and her world was shattered. Her father couldn’t cope with taking care of six children and holding down his engineering job, working on defence systems for the Chrysler Corporation, so the children were sent off to live with various relatives.

 

After several months of shuttling from relative to relative. Madonna’s father hired a lousckeeper and all the children were able to eturn home. But for Madonna there was no :oing back to the stability of earlier days. Her father went through a succession of housekeepers, none of whom Madonna remembers liking. He eventually married one of them, when Madonna was ten.

 

My father’s marriage was a surprise to us because we all thought he was going to marry someone else who looked very much like our mother, and we were rooting for her. She looked sorta like Natalie Wood, or that’s what 1 thought she looked like when I was a child. But then suddenly he didn’t marry her … I wasn’t that fond of my stepmother. She was really gung-ho, very strict, a real disciplinarian.

 

Without getting excessively,Freudian about it, it seems fair to say that Madonna’s childhood experiences have a lot to do with the fragility and insecurity which Madonna exudes. But at the same time, she was a fighter. And the struggle to win the love she sought from her father, in competition with her stepmother and the seven other children in the house, turned the little girl into a very precocious young woman:


From when I was very young, I just knew that being a girl and being charming in a feminine sort of way could get me a lot of things, and I milked it for everything I could.

 

The strict discipline of her Catholic school education reinforced Madonna’s feelings of being lonely and unloved – she describes Catholicism as dark, painful and guilt-ridden – and responded by becoming an even more flamboyant attention-getter.

 

I wanted to do everything everybody told me I couldn’t do. I had to wear a uniform to school, I couldn’t wear make-up, I couldn’t wear nylon stockings, I couldn’t cut my hair, I couldn’t go on dates. I couldn’t even go to the movies with my friends. So when I’d go to school I’d roll up my uniform skirt so it was short, I’d go to the school bathroom and put make-up on and change into nylon stockings I’d brought. I was incredibly flirtatious and I’d do anything to rebel against my father.

 

Her craving for attention led her into performing. At school, she was a cheerleader and a baton-lwirlcr, but soon became more ambitious:

 

Every chance to make up a little song and dance routine, I took advantage of it, and I always got standing ovations. Finally I decided to devote myself professionally to it. I started taking ballet classes with a really strict ballet teacher – he was very Catholic and disciplined. He’s the one who really inspired me. He kept saying ‘you’re different’ and ‘you’re beautiful’. He never said I’d make a great dancer, he just said you’re very special.

 

Dance and performing provided the outlet for her energies that she was seeking, and filled the voids she felt.
I never had a group of friends in school. I kept to myself and did what I wanted to do. But it bothered me. I think I was lonely in lots of ways. And when I latched onto the dance thing, I was with older and more sophisticated people. I fell really superior. I just felt that all this suffering that I felt for not fitting in is worth it – I don’t fit in because I don’t belong here, I thought. I belong in some special world.

 

Madonna talks about the the development of her extrovert, showbiz ‘sex-kitten’ persona with an almost clinical detachment. It is as if she too is amazed that such a lonely little girl could grow such a rock hard outer layer of ambition. But grow it she did, and by her late teenage years, the determination to be a star utterly eclipsed everything else in her life.

 

I asked Madonna if, as a Catholic, she found it difficult deciding to lose her virginity.

 

Oh no. I thought of it as a career move.

 

Laughter – and again those wide eyes which refuse to let you take it as just another joke.

 

At 17 Madonna set off in search of her special world – she went to New York. It was the first plane ride of my life. I didn’t know anyone. I didn’t have a place to stay, and 1 only had $35 in my pocket.

 

Times were rough at first. She moved around constantly, was often broke, and didn’t really enjoy the dance schools she enrolled in. But she graduated to the world of rock’n’roll, sensing that it held out the best possibilities for stardom.

 

The story of her rise to fame has such a methodical inevitability, you’d think it was written in Hollywood. Indeed, Madonna’s story would have made a far better film than the actual Flashdance. In New York she met a boy named Dan, who persuaded her to join his rock band and move in with him. He taught her to play guitar and write music. Then a boy named Steve, an old boyfriend from Detroit, whom she bumped into by chance in New York, inspired her to take her music in a disco direction, and to make some demo tapes.

 

Her next boyfriend introduced her to New York’s thriving new wave nightclub scene. Madonna developed an interest in trendy fashion and became one of New York’s night people. She went to the trendy discos nearly every night, and told everybody she met that she wanted to be – was going to be – a big star.

 

It was in the NY clubs that she developed her own dress style, one which is still with her. Picture it as a wrestling match between knitwear and lingerie, with major damage sustained on both sides. She makes up for the skimpiness of her garments with a stunningly excessive collection of jewellery, mostly in metal and rubber, much of it with a strong Catholic motif (crucifixes and rosaries in places which would give nuns apoplexy). The jewellery – from Maripolitan on Bleecker St. – is mi/ch the best bit, and you don’t need to have the body of Madonna to wear it.

 

Mark Kamins. DJ at Danceteria, met her in those days: Madonna was special – young and a little bit naive. She had her own style -always with the little bellybutton showing, the net top, and the stockings. But she always knew what she wanted to do. She had a tremendous desire to perform for people. When she’d start dancing, there’d be twenty people getting up and dancing with her.

 

It was Mark Kamins – yes, he was a boyfriend too – who gave her her first big break. She persuaded him to play her demo cassette at Danceteria one Saturday night. The song was Everybody. Mark loved it and so did the club regulars. He took it round to the record companies. Sire immediately signed her to make three 12-inch dance-orientated singles. Once again it was as much her personality as her music ability that got her the record deal.

 

Seymour Stein, the president of Sire Records, is one of the shrewdest and most discerning figures in the New York music business. Not known as a sucker for pretty young girls, he nevertheless was struck by Madonna’s specialness.

 

I was in hospital when I heard about Madonna. From what I’d heard I wanted to meet her immediately. So Mark Kamins brought her in and I signed the contract there, right in the hospital. You know, you normally don’t care what you look like when you’re in hospital. But I shaved, I combed my hair. I got a new dressing gown. From what I’d heard, I was excited to meet Madonna. And there was something that set her apart immediately. She was outgoing, strong, dynamic …

Self-confident?

Oh no, I’d say … self-assured.

The first two singles, Everybody and Burning Up, were big disco hits, but. with very low-key promotion, made only a slight impact in the pop charts. At this stage, many of Madonna’s disco fans actually believed she was black. Her success in the discos convinced Sire, and their parent company Warner Brothers, to release an LP with the third single and to wheel out the big promotional guns, which are vital for breaking into the pop charts in America,

The single, Holiday, went Top 20 and became a summer anthem in America. It is perhaps the quintessential Madonna song – a catchy tunc and a disco beat wrapped in a crisp New York production, elegantly straddling all the racial and stylistic boundaries that compartmentalise the American charts.

And that was without a video. The ncxl single, Borderline, was promoted with a very neat little video. Madonna plays a leather-clad street girl frolicking around Manhattan’s Lower West Side with cars, spray painl, and, of course, boys. When American youth got their eyes on her – those clothes! those lips! those crucifixes! that bellybutton!! – there was no stopping it. She had made the Big Time.

Now with hat she calls the Warners’ star machine solidly behind her, there can be little doubt that the best is yet to come. The latest single, Like A Virgin, reached Number One in the US with the help of a video in which Madonna goes to Venice to cavort with gondolas, lions, and – no prizes for guessing -boys. Its cost is believed to have run into six figures. The second LP, also called Like a Virgin, is produced by Nile Rogers, ex-Chic, after his work with David Bowie, once again the hottest producer in New York.

Her music is developing, refining the early disco dolly style into a purer pop, but also straying into other areas of black-influenced music. There are some refreshing echoes of Motown on the new LP – as well as an unfortunate sacrilege to the memory of the old Rose Royce song Love Don’t Live Here Anymore.

But however much the music may be developing, Madonna’s image seems fixed immovably in the role of the sex kitten.

Her album jacket photos and her lyrics all seem to suggest that her highest aspiration is the one she wears on her famous belt: BOY TOY.

Within the world of pop, what does Madonna stand for, besides the pleasures of BoyToy-hood? Madonna unfortunately seems to have no answer to this question. Not only has she not thought much about her own image, it seems as if she hasn’t thought much about pop music at all. It is as if the ambition and the success are all that concern her: the route taken to achieve them seems barely worth a second glance. Let’s ask her.

Madonna, what videos do you like?

Oh. I don’t know. John, what videos do I like? You know … . (John – current boyfriend John Jellybean Benitez – shrugs.)

What music do you like?

Oh, I like Bronski Beat . . . John, what else do I like? (John shrugs.)

I like music that has soul. I like good music.

What actresses do you like?

Marilyn Monroe, Carole Lombard.

Great. What current ones?

 

Oh, Jessica Lange, Susan Sarandon – but John likes them more than me.

 

All of your songs seem to be about boys …

 

‘Over And Over’ isn’t.

 

What’s that about?

 

Ambition.

 

Well, what else would you like to write about?

 

Long pause . . . My childhood. I’d write about growing up and feeling lonely. How you never find the love you need at home.

 

Are you a Boy Toy?

 

That’s a joke. It’s a tag name given to me when I first arrived in New York. In New York people wear their nicknames on their belts. You have to see the joke.

 

Yes, but do you feel happy recommending to the girls of America that they turn themselves into Boy Toys?

 

It’s a personal statement. It’s not for the women of the world, only for myself.

 

So what is the statement? That you’re burning up for my love? That you’re bending over backwards for my love? (cf Burning Up).

 

Pause – long enough for those beautiful eyes to send out a bolt of pure animosity – but also for a bit of thought.

 

It’s a statement for innocent sexuality.

 

So you are encouraging all the junior high school girls of America, not to mention the Catholic school girls – to indulge in innocent sexuality?

 

(Exasperated) Boy Toy is a joke.

 

To judge from the above, not particularly pleasant exchange, Madonna is set fair to become the Jane Fonda of the under-21s, exhorting girls everywhere to fight the noble struggle against stomach bulges, unsightly blemishes, and lonely nights without the man of their dreams. But there may be more to Madonna …

 

Later this year will appear Madonna’s first feature film. Desperately Seeking Susan. In it she plays a free-spirited young girl who captivates a middle-class housewife. It sounds like an ideal role for her. The film is directed by Susan Seidelman, who made the well-received Smithereens. Madonna is very keen to do more acting, and indeed shows far more enthusiasm for movies than for pop music. She senses that her special qualities, her child-woman-ness and her honesty, as well as her wit, lend themselves far better to the more nuanccd medium of film than they do to the very direct, plastic medium of pop.

 

The comparison between Madonna and Marilyn Monroe goes beyond the physical resemblance, and beyond Madonna’s penchant for punctuating her singing with Monroe-esque squeaks, squeals, and gasps. Like Marilyn, Madonna had an unhappy childhood which gave her a bottomless desire for public acceptance, and a conviction that she could only win it with sex appeal. Like Marilyn, Madonna has the intelligence and wit to raise the sex appeal above the level of crass vulgarity (like Marilyn, this requires the right directors).
Madonna, what do you like about Marilyn Monroe?

 

Her innocence and her sexuality and her humour and her vulnerability.

 

You have all those qualities. I know.

 

As Madonna walked silently down the streets of Greenwich Village, decked out like some Christmas tree in nylons, but shrinking with uncertainty under all the glances she gets, and brightening only when she is sure each look is admiring. I was reminded of Dame Edith Sitwell’s description of Marilyn, Monroe: a beautiful ghost.

 

Like Marilyn. Madonna seems to have allowed the obsessive quest for fame and adulation to blot out her enjoyment of all the lesser pleasures of life. Not only docs she not seem to take much pleasure from music or dancing, she doesn’t even seem to enjoy her boyfriends very much.

 

I was very surprised, in light of all the gossip now circulating about how Madonna had used her boyfriends ruthlessly in her climb to the top, to find that her past boyfriends all remembered her fondly; while she seems to have found very little worth remembering in any of her relationships. New York is full of rumours that her current relationship with ‘Jellybean’ is on the skids – another likely victim of the goddess fame. Madonna’s hardened case of ambition may carry her to great success, but it risks also crushing the sensitive girl that remains inside.

 

One of her ex-boyfriends told me:
1 think Madonna’s living out the Monroe myth even more than she suspects. Sex is Madonna’s calling card. She knows she’s a sex symbol, and she uses it in a self-conscious way. to the point where it’s become her only way of communicating. It’s becoming the only way she can feel comfortable and know she’s wanted.

 

She’s deeply terrified of herself and of being alone with herself. Yet she’s a much more interesting person than she knows, and a much more fragile person than she wants to admit. But I fear for her if she doesn’t change the way she operates.

 

That sounds not only like a recipe for unhappiness but the best argument that could be made against BoyToyhood as a desirable objective for any girl.

 

It also sounds, just possibly, like a prescription for a very good actress.

 

Maripol was with Madonna the night she performed live on national TV at the MTV awards:

When we left, the kids were waiting for Madonna in the street, cheering. As we went into the limo, I was watching her.

 

She was looking at all the kids, and she was wondering why she was here. She wanted to be there, with them, in the street, yelling at herself. And I looked at her face, and it was pure innocence and pure joy.

© FACE

Link to comment
Share on other sites

ROCK VIDEO (FEBRUARY 1985)

 

https://allaboutmadonna.com/madonna-library/madonna-interview-rock-video-february-1985

 

1985-madonna-rock-video.jpg

 

Madonna is one of those singers whose voice just hits you when you hear it over the radio. And when you see her… well, even she admits that she thinks she’s sexy. Her first LP yielded such smash singles as “Borderline†and “Lucky Star†– the new album, Like A Virgin, has more. In this talk, Madonna reveals her thoughts about love, stardom, hard work and her dream to conquer the world.

 

LR: Your work thing seems to be poretty much under control. What about the rest of your life? Or is there a rest of your life at this point?

Madonna: There is a rest of my life and it’s important to me, and that’s the part that’s not in control.

 

LR: Don’t you think that’s part of an artistic nature?

Madonna: There has to be something that’s off and that’s my personal life and relationships with people. They’re totally irrational. I can’t say that I’m enjoying every minute of my personal life being topsy-turvy.

 

LR: People meaning Boyfriends?

Madonna: Not only boyfriends, but friends as well. Friends don’t understand. They get pissed off when you don’t return phone calls. And boyfriends definitely don’t understand. They constantly hold it against you. They have perfect toming. Whenever you have an audition to something where you really have to concentrate and be in a good mood, they mess it up. They start a fight, they whatever. It just always happens for me that way.

 

LR: If you do have a fight before you have to do something, are you able to pull it together, or do you still fall apart?

Madonna: I’ve been upset, but I’ve always gone on stage. I’ve had fights with people right before I’ve gone on stage. I’ve gone on stage with tears in my eyes. I’ve just dealt with it and it wasn’t the greatest performance or anything, but I could always go on stage. That’s all there is to it. Unless, ya know, like my father died or something. But so far, I’ve been able to deal with any emotional distress and be really professional about it.

 

LR: Do you think you’re sexy?

Madonna: Yes.

 

LR: Do you find that a problem, or do you think it’s an advantage?

Madonna: It’s an advantage being sexy. Yes.

 

LR: Do you want people to know you’re smart?

Madonna: Yes.

 

LR: Do you think people think you’re not?

Madonna: People are surprised.

 

LR: Why don’t you perform with a band?

Madonna: Well, I started doing dates with backing tracks to promote my last album and no one ever thought that my album was going to do that well. Warner Bros, certainly didn’t; they wanted to get me in the studio and do a new record, do I never planned to get a band together. I never planned for my record to go platinum, which it’s three records away from being. (Actually, the album is now double platinum and still climbing – Ed.) No one ever planned for it so I was always going to put out a new record and then go on tour to support that with a band.

 

LR: Three records away from being platinum? We should go out and buy them. What are you planning to do on stage after you put a band together and start touring?

Madonna: Well, the first tour that I do, I’m not going to go crazy and spend tons of money. I really want it to be pretty basic. I’d like to keep it simple to start off with and really just come across as a performer and a singer and rely on myself. I don’t know if you’ve ever seen any of my track shows where I use dancers, but I still want to incorporate that even with my band. I have those two singers who move really well and they’re great. One of them is the guy in my “Borderline†video. I want to make the dancing and stuff part of the live show. But I want to keep it simple, the way TAMI shows were.

 

LR: When you were growing up in Detroit, what did you dream that you would become?

Madonna: I thought of being everything. When I was younger, I bounced around and did everything. The first thing I wanted do was a movie star. Then, I wanted to be a singer and then, I got into dancing more and really started concentrating on that. I just felt like I really needed a skill to go to New York with. I had to arm myself because I didn’t know anyone in New York and I had never been here before. I loved to dance and I was really good at it so I figured well, I can always start off as a dancer in New York and just take it from there. It will always help me as a performer on stage, but basically it was something to arms myself with.

 

LR: Why did you think you had to arm yourself with something?

Madonna: I just knew that I couldn’t go to New York and say, “Well, I’m here now. I’m gonna do something.†I always have to be good at something. That’s me. I have to know that I’m great at something. I knew that I could sing, but I didn’t know how to go about becoming a singer. The singing I did in Detroit was in the backyard with my girlfriends.

 

LR: You lived in Paris for awhile, didn’t you? Tell me about that. How did that haappen?

Madonna: When I stopped dancing, I got involved with (singer) Patrick Hernandez. I was going to go on a tour with him as a backup singer and dancer. But his record producers decided that they didn’t want me to be a back-up singer, they wanted to make me a star in Paris, in france, in Europe, whatever. So I went and lived in Paris for six months. That was really the begining of my singing career. Someone said, “We’re going to make you a star. We own a record company, we’ll make a record with you. Our company is based in France, come to Europe. We’ll work with a vocal coach, we’ll find material for you, we’ll support you, we’ll take care of you and we’ll give you money and you don’t have to sign a contract.â€

1985-madonna-rock-video-01.jpg

So, of course, I jumped on that because I was living in New York for two years as a dancer, starving, and I really ultimately wanted to get involved in the music business, so that was a perfect opportunity. So I went there and that didn’t work out because they were busy with Patric, they were a very young record company, and they didn’t know what to do with me. They just saw talent and they wanted to do something with me. There I was, stuck in Paris for six months.

 

LR: Stuck ? You didn’t like Paris?

Madonna: No, I hated it.

 

LR: Why?

Madonna: Because I was miserable. I had no friends. Well, I made friends eventually, but I was used to the fast-paced living of New York and Paris everyone takes their time. I really wanted to do something. I had so much energy and I wanted them to do something with me. I just didn’t see the results and I didn’t see them fast enough. They weren’t doing anything, really. It was a good experience for me, though, because when I went there I started writing a lot, writing lyrics and stuff. I hadn’t really learned how to play an instrument yet. So I continued to take dance classes there and I worked with a vocal coach for a little while and I wrote a lot and I traveled around Europe. That was a good experience so I don’t complain about it.

But at the time, I would march into their offices and say, “What are you doing with me? You’re not doing anything with me. Every time I come in here, you say you’re busy. Now do something with me. You said you want to make a record, let’s make a record. I’m ready to make a record.†And they’d say, “Oh there, there, Madonna. Now here, take some money. Now go out and buy yourself a new outfit, okay? We’re really busy right now.†They were completely condescending to me and it really annoyed me. It was miserable.

 

LR: So what happened after you left Paris?

Madonna: Well, I had so much pent-up anxiety and desire to be a singer and get in a band and everything, that when I got back to New York, I had met these two brothers in a band before I left, and I called them up immediately when I arrived in the city. I said, “Teach me how to play guitar. teach me, I have to know. You have to show me.†And they did. They were very helpful. They became my instructors.

They had a synagogue in Queens that they sort of took over, and in the basement of the synagogue they had all their equipment and a little rehearsal studio. And in the upstairs was a living area. they’d go off to work every day and I go down there and I’d play the drums for four hours, and then I’dplay guitar for a little while, and then I’d play the keyboards. I had the whole place to myself. i stayed there for 10 months. I never came into the city. I stayed in Corona. That was a great experience.

 

LR: Can you play those instruments respectably ?

Madonna: Yes, but I haven’t in a while.

 

LR: Will you play them on stage?

Madonna: I might, You’ll have to wait and see. But my first job, I was a drummer for this group, the Breakfast Club. We made the circuit of all the shitty clubs. We played on the audition nights and the nights where you didn’t get any money and you were the tenth band to play and you set up your shit at three in the morning and there were 10 people in the audience and people threw things at you. I went through all of that. I just played the drums in that band. They didn’t want a singer in their band, they had enough singers. So I quit that band and I formed my own band and I sang and played guitar.

 

LR: What was the name of that band?

Madonna: Emmy. That was my nickname at the time. Everyone called me M because they were too lazy to say my full name. You get stuck with really stupid nicknames sometimes, but no one call me that anymore. And that anymore. And then I got tired of that. It was a three-piece band and it was very difficult to sing and look down and make sure I was playing all the chords right. So I got another guirat player and eventually I stopped playing altogether on stage.

I still play guitar and keyboard to write. But then I get sick of bands, I felt like I was getting nowhere with it. I just went in with this guy Steve and made a demo. Between him and I, we played enough instruments. We made the tape ourselves, playing everything and writing everything.

 

LR: Where did you make the demo?

Madonna: In the music building, on Eight Avenue and thrty-seventh Street.

 

LR: Did you have money to pay for that demo?

1985-madonna-rock-video-02.jpg

Madonna: No, we had our ways of getting things without paying for them. Steven played for many bands. He’d go around whoring himself off. He’d say, “I’ll play drums only if you let me come in here at night and use ypur eight-track studio.†We’d just con people into letting us use all their equipment. It took a while, it took a lot of nights working from midnight to eight in the morning but eventually we got the demo finished. That’s how I got the record deal.

I hung out for about a month at Danceteria before I got enough courage to tell the DJ, Mark Kamins I had a tape for him to listen to. I didn’t want to sound like another girl with another tape. I knew that once I gained his respect and got him to listen to my pate, he had a number of friends that were A & R people. He was also a former A & R person at island records. I knew that he was very well-connected. I planned the whole thing.

 

LR: When you got the record contract, were you beside yourself with ecstasy?

Madonna: Of course I was. I had gone from dancing to paris to playing in these shitty-assed clubs.

 

LR: How long did all this take?

Madonna: Almost four years.

 

LR: So you don’t see this as an overnight success.

Madonna: Are you kidding? Everyone else thinks it is, but I worked my butt off before I got where I got. I literally starved and lived on the street and ate out of garbage cans before any of this happened.

 

LR: Didn’t you come from a family that could’ve helped support you?

Madonna: No, not really. I had very big family. I’m the third eldesr and when I came to New York, there were still a lot of kids at home. I always felt too guilty to ask my father for any money. I had turned down a scholarship at the University of Michigan to come and do this so i couldn’t expect much sympathy for starving in New York when I could be living wonderfully in Michigan and going to an Ivy League school and blah blah blah. So I didn’t get moyes from my parent, no.

 

LR: Was there ever any doubt that you had to get out of Detroit?

Madonna: No. I knew I wanted to come to New York when I was five-years-old. I don’t know why, i just knew it. I could never explain my feelings the first year I lived here. I didnn’t know anyone. When i came to New York, it was the first time I’d ever taken a plane, it was the first time I’d ever gotten in a taxi cab, it was the first time for everything. And I came here not knowing anyone with thirty-five dollars in my pocket. It was the bravest thing I’ve ever done. My goal was to conquer this city and I feel like I have. i can’t belive how frightened I was when I look back at it, but I was.

 

LR: And when you talk about conquering the city, if you walk down the street and you hear your song on car radios…

Madonna: That’s conquering the city. And really feeling like I own the joint, ya know?

 

LR: Now what’s next? The world?

Madonna: Yes. Definitely.

 

© Rock Video

Link to comment
Share on other sites

“THE DAY I MADE THE ‘LIKE A VIRGIN’ VIDEO†BY MADONNA : STAR HITS (FEBRUARY 1985)

 

https://allaboutmadonna.com/madonna-library/the-day-i-made-the-like-a-virgin-video-by-madonna-star-hits-february-1985

 

1985-madonna-star-hits.jpg

 

“The Day I Made The ‘Like A Virgin’ Videoâ€

In Venice, where we filmed the video, they have Carnivale where people wear masks. Well, the video goes back and forth between modern day me in New York and ancient me in a bridal gown in Italy. It starts out in a boat in Manhattan and when I get off the boat I’m in Venice. It’s kind of like a dream.

 

Anyway, I see this man in a lion’s mask for Carnivale and I keep following him. I’ll go into an alleyway or something, then I’ll transform into an ancient character in a gown with a real lion. We used a real lion in the video and it was one of the most dangerous experiences I’ve ever had. It had teeth and everything. The lion tamer said it wouldn’t bite me – or at least it hadn’t bitten anyone yet.

 

We filmed in these ancient ruins in Venice with pillars and marble buildings. There was water all around us; we were working on this piece of land that jutted out into the Grand Canal. So I’m leaning up against the pillar with this white gauze all over my face like a veil and I’ve got this long white dress on. The lion tamer is over there behind the camera man and he’s coaxing the lion so he’ll walk over on my right side. Then I’m supposed to lift the veil and we’re suppose to look at each other then he would keep walking toward the lion tamer.

1985-madonna-star-hits-02.jpg

Well, the lion didn’t do anything he was supposed to do. I kept waiting for the lion to come up on my right side, trying to pretend I was relaxed and not nervous… then all of a sudden I felt this nudge up against my left hand side. I looked down and the lion is RIGHT THERE with his head in my crotch! I was really frightened because I thought he was going to take a bite out of me. He wasn’t suppose to get that close.

So I lifted up my veil and had a stare-down with a lion! We just glared at each other for three-quarters of a minute. Then he opened his mouth and let out his huge roar. I got so frightened that my heart fell in my shoe. And the camera man, the director and everybody else, they were really scared for me. Nobody expected that to happen.

 

Meanwhile, the tamer ran over screaming “Charlie, Charlie†– that was the lion’s name – but Charlie wouldn’t do what he wanted. You know how you’re supposed to not be afraid when you’re around wild animals cause they’ll attack you if they can feel your fear? I tried to think that it wasn’t a lion but just someone curious about me. That got me through it and eventually the lion walked away from me. When he finally got away the director yelled “CUT!†Then the lion tamer wrestled with Charlie. The tamer was this big burly guy who didn’t wear a shirt and he got the lion on the ground and started wrestling with him. Charie worked the rest of the day, they did segments with him just walking around and laying down and stuff.

Sure, I might do something with animals again, it was fun. But I could really relate to a lion. I feel like in a past life I was a lion or a cat or something.

 

© Star Hits

Link to comment
Share on other sites

“MAYBE SHE’S GOOD? – 10 THEORIES ON HOW MADONNA GOT ‘IT'†: RECORD (MARCH 1985)

https://allaboutmadonna.com/madonna-library/maybe-shes-good-10-theories-madonna-got-record-march-1985

 

Jf37fWP.jpg

 

Usually it takes a while for a pop star to earn heavyweight hatred from a significant percentage of the press and public. But like everything else in her (very) young career, fear and loathing have come quickly indeed to singer/ writer/ dancer/ hot number Madonna. Loathe her or love her, it’s interesting to try and figure this one out. Theories abound, including a few from the lady herself.

 

I. Phyllis and Bob Theory

 


As Madonna puts it, “I seem to be the girl they hate to love.†No kidding. Private citizens tap their feet to “Lucky Star†or “Holiday†while wondering aloud if anything short of exorcism will get her off their radios and MTVs. The press file reads like she’s a ghoulish maidservant of notorious anti-libber Phyllis Schlafly and notorious Penthouse publisher Bob Guccione, sucking all the feminism and IQ points from the fragile neck of popular culture.

 


Fans and foes alike seem to agree that she’s an ’80s incarnation of the “It†girl – blessed/cursed with a charisma that makes skin goosebump as well as crawl, something beyond her prettiness or infamous tummy. It makes her videos, records and (soon) movies impossible to dismiss. It’s there in person, too. She comes down a corporate hallway in a big black jacket and modest red-knit dress, looking like the video Madonna sans the bare belly and excess Catholic iconography. There is absolutely nothing solicitous in her manner of greeting, nothing straining to charm, nothing yanking at you for approval. Her handshake (a tiny red glove conceals the hand) is firm, and brief. Even so, the force is with her; it swallows her little frame as she walks toward a vast conference room like a sixth grader going to a hard math exam.

 


Undoubtedly, her mind is elsewhere. Just this week, “Like A Virgin†has gone to Number One on the pop charts, and its namesake LP to Number Three, only five weeks after release. Her first LP took almost a year to happen, but once it did it sold two million-plus copies. It’s not quite finished yet, either. Nor is the fallout, which so far includes the four hit singles, three videos, one starring film role and one small part in a movie for which she sang three tunes. Oh yeah, and the lousy reputation.
 Part of that reputation says that Madonna is simply not a nice person, but superb at appearing so when someone‘s approval could be useful. On this particular day, anyway, she is kind of bristly. A little sharp-tongued and self-satisfied. But she makes no effort to hide any of the warts. More than a few rock stars are downright oily and self-protective when they need nice press. Madonna answers questions straight out, is only pretty nice most of the session, and leaves the warts right out there. If she’s such a master at showbiz politics, where’s the politicking? Where’s the manipulation?

 

II. The Wedding Dress Theory

 


Madonna Louise Veronica Ciccone was born in Detroit on August 16, 1958. Veronica is her Catholic confirmation name, chosen because St. Veronica “wiped the face of Jesus and then carried around the cloth with his blood and sweat on it — it was so passionate and weird.†The French-Italian family had five boys and three girls who lost their mother when her namesake, Madonna, was six, Madonna didn’t much like the stepmother that appeared two years later; no doubt the woman felt it.

 


Even in grade school, Madonna apparently had extraordinary intensity; it both scared and fascinated her.

 


“I felt overwhelmed by it at points in my life. People didn’t understand me, especially when I was young; I’d realize I’d just alienated someone and scared them away, a boy or a friend or whoever. I handled it in a number of ways — either I’d get more arrogant and say ‘I don’t need you, I don’t care if you understand or I’d get upset and cry. You can get hurt by it, or you can give them the finger. But it still hurts.â€

 


She learned to be defensive then, and still practices, frequently, “It’s easy for me to come out and say stuff. I think I was naturally a verbal and defensive kind of person, but I think I really developed that aspect of my personality growing up in my family, not feeling happy, feeling like I had to defend myself and make a statement, you know? It’s about insecurity? There are mementos of that time. “Just the other day I found a photograph of me dressed in my mother’s wedding gown when I was five years old. It was very strange.â€

 

AdOzJyT.jpg

 

III. The Barbie Doll Dishwashing Theory

 


“Oh yeah, I played with my Barbie dolls all the time — I deiinitely lived out my fantasies with them.†Madonna lets loose a naughty chuckle. “I dressed them up in sarongs and mini-skirts and stuff. They were sexy, having sex all the time. I rubbed her and Ken together a lot. And they were bitchy, man, Barbie was mean.†She hoots. “Barbie would say to Ken, ‘I’m not gonna stay home and do the dishes. You stay home! I’m going out tonight, I’m going bowling, okay, so forget it!’ You know? She
was going to be sexy, but she was going to be toughâ€

 


A quote from a recent story is brought up in which Madonna had claimed sexual awakening at age five. “Made it sound like I masturbated all the time, didn’t it?†she says with a raised eyebrow. “I really do remember from when I was very, very young, being really attracted to men, and being real flirtatious. The power of my femininity and charm, I remember it was just something I had, that I’d been given, you know what I mean? From the age of five I remember being able to affect people that way. I felt something but I didn’t know what to do with it. I was just very aware of it.â€

 

IV. The Boyfriend Theory

 


In the teenage years, two things were pure pleasure — dance and music. Madonna studied ballet as much as her father and her legs would allow. As for the music, it was on her radio, and the more radio-perfeect, the better. “My favorites when I was little were Stevie Wonder, the Supremes, Marvin Gaye, the Jackson 5, the Motown sound. But then I really like ’60s pop songs too — “The Letter†by the Boxtops, “Sugar Sugar†by the Arehies, Gary Puckett, Bob by Sherman, “Happy Together†by the Turtles. I loved all those innocent little pop songs. No hard rock, no heavy metal, no jazz. Pop and soul were it.â€


Dance won her a four-year free ride at the University of Michigan, but the prognosis for toe-shoe stardom was lousy. As would be the ease for years to come, Madonna saw no reason to follow rules, and that rubbed the rulemakers the wrong way. After one school year, she moved to New York City.

 

Hometown friend Steve Bray had started her on drums and singing and a little songwriting. It didn’t take long in New York before dance stepped aside to make more room for music.

 


The next teacher/companion was Dan Gilroy of Queens, whose adoration of the Beatles and their melodies shaped Madonna’s sense of how to construct a song; Gilroy also had the instruments and the patience to start her with the C chords.


Madonna left for a frustrating European tour singing and dancing behind a disco singer, then came back to spend a valuable year in the Gilroy brother’s band and home. Eventually she wanted things in the band her own way, although that way wasn’t entirely clear yet. Manhattan and new compatriots beckorted. Bray came out to work with her through two rock ‘n’ roll bands. They didn’t turn out to be the way either. “I didn’t want to go in a rock vein, and that’s what created the schism between my manager of that time period and myself. I was really being influenced by the urban radio stuff that was starting to be everywhere, on the streets and in the clubs. I love to dance in clubs, and I love all the music they play. It made me really want to dance, it was so soulful. I thought, why can’t I do that? I wanted to make music that I would want to dance to when I was out at the clubs.â€

 


Logically, New York nightclubs is where she went next. It came down to peddling R&B demo tapes done by her and Bray, at the places where the songs’ magic would get their roughest test. If the songs made people dance in New York’s hipness hothouses, that would be the sign that her way, finally, was the right way. DJ boyfriend Mark Kamins remixed one tape and then took it to Sire, where a deal was made.

 


But neither Bray nor Kamins got to produce the first album, a job they each felt had been promised, and earned. Instead, Madonna was done by veteran R&B producer Reggie Lucas (Stephanie Mills, Phyllis Hyman). Madonna knows it didn’t seem right. She also knows what else it seemed like. She looks the reporter straight in the eye: “If anybody wants to know, I
never f*cked anyone to get anywhere. Never.â€

 

BsiOijN.jpg

 

V. The Trickle-Down Theory

 

Stories about Madonna’s method of career advancement started to circulate shortly after the debut LP came to life on the pop charts. How did this woman with no band or playing credits on her record and no known credibility connections score such a surprise hit? Awfully, uh, juicy looking, isn’t she’? “Some of the things people say are so ridiculous, it’s not even worth defending yourself. The guy who wrote one recent long story, – he got his facts right, all my boyfriends’ names right and how they helped my career, but he wrote the article from just one corner of the room. He just talked about what he saw from that one corner.†She speaks with a tiny shade of sadness, but no rancor. “Yes, all my boyfriends turned out to be very helpful to my career, but that’s not the only reason I stayed with them. I loved them very much.†A pause, then a smile and a shrug. “I’m not Alexis from Dynasty. And going around in corsets is not all I am either. People home in on what they want to home in on. They rarely go for the sum total of someone’s personality.â€

 

Madonna is not the only one who got helped. Gilroy’s debut with his band, Breakfast Club, is due soon. Kamins is collecting royalties from Madonna and working on new projects. Bray is working with the Breakfast Club; he also had four cowriting credits on Like A Virgin. And Lucas, who lost his slot to Nile Rodgers on LP #2, is reportedly busier than ever.

 

VI. The Bathroom Theory

 

“Reggie was about one thing,†explains Madonna. “He did R&B. He’s a good producer, very open and sensitive. But Nile has worked with so many kinds of musicians, and every record he’s made is a great one as far as I’m concerned. He has the pop thing in him really strong, and he’s done great dance stuff with Chic and Sister Sledge and all those others, and he’s worked with a lot of female vocalists like Diana Ross. I identified with him, too. He’s a real street person, and we hung out at the same clubs. Even before I started to interview producers I thought he was the one I wanted for the second record.â€

 

Rodgers is getting to be a popular interview these days for people writing about Madonna. The implication is, of course, that Rodgers is legit, see, and if he likes Madonna without being her boyfriend, then maybe she’s not a total bimbo. Rodgers is affable and willing to talk, even with a mean head cold and a long airplane trip only a few hours away. “Someone like Iggy Pop can get out there and be super-sexual and wild and that’s great. But Madonna is a woman, so they say she’s sleazy? Madonna is blatantly sexual and sensual, but not sleazy, not even a little bit. In my opinion, she’s an excellent natural singer, a natural musician, a serious artist. It would be real nice if some ostensibly smart people who know about music would get past the image and get into the music. I’m hoping she can just ride out all the crap people are saying about her. I think a lot of the real nasty stuff is coming from men. And all that arrogance bit — she sticks to her guns, that’s all. It’s that attitude that comes from growing up in a huge family, you know, always having to fight and yell for things like

time in the bathroom.â€

 

VII. The Chauffeur’s Friend’s Theory

 

“I was making this movie, Desperately Seeking Suson. One of the drivers that took me to the set every day was this kid, and one day he said to me, ‘I have this bet going with my friend, he told me that all the music you do was done by someone else and they picked the songs and did it all, and all they needed was a girl singer and you auditioned and they picked you. And Madonna isn’t your real name and all of it is fabricated.‘ And I said, ‘WHAAAAATT?? Are you out of your mind??!’ But that’s what his friend told him, and it suddenly hit me that that’s probably what a lot of people think. It hit me.â€

 

VIII. The Phyllis and Bob Theory, Part II

 

Here’s the catch for the modern girl: you can be self-determining. You now have the right. You should be self-determining, you must. But. If your self determines that it wants to be smart and sexpot at the same time? You got the power to choose, honey, but you chose wrong, “I thought the Gina Schock quote was pretty funny,†grins Madonna, referring to Schock recent statement to the effect that Madonna makes it hard for people to take women seriously but that Schock loved the record in spite of it. “I think people want to see me as a little tart bimbo who sells records because I’m cute and record companies push ’em because they know they can make a quick buck on my image.†Madonna gives another eyeball to eyeball look. “People don’t want to like me. And that’s because you’re not supposed to be flirty unless you’re an airhead. And they say I do all this stuff to my appearance and look the way I do because I want to please men.†The blue eyes roll toward the ceiling. “I’m doing it because I like it. If I don’t like it, no one’s going to. I do it because it turns me on.â€

 

Any female role models or heroes? She sighs. “Carole Lombard. She’s my all-time idol. I love her so much. She’s real sentimental and vulnerable, and funny, and sometimes she’s real bitchy and tough, too. She’s it.â€

 

IX. The Sheet Theory

 

You gotta pay if you wanna play, says the firm set of her mouth. “I try to have a thick skin, but every once in a while I read something that someone says about me and it’s so slanderous and moralistic, and it has nothing to do with my music. There was this one review that said things about me that boys said to me in the seventh grade.â€

 

For instance?

“For instance – ‘slut.’ Yep, they called me that in this review. And ‘cheap coquette,’ a girl who made her way into lots of back seat in the drive-in theater, the kind of girl that made your father slip you a Trojan and pat you on the back and say, ‘Have a good time, don’t stay out too late.'†Her eyes focus across the room as if she’s watching a movie. “I remember guys saying that sort of stuff to me when I was really young. I thought suddenly that the whole experience was repeating itself all over again. Those boys didn’t understand me, and they didn’t like me because I wasn’t stupid, and I was blunt and opinionated, but I was a flirt at the same time.

 

They took my aggressiveness as a come-on. They didn’t get it. And they didn’t get it, if you know what I mean, so I guess they had to say things because they knew that was the only way they could hurt me. That review felt like junior high all over again. And check this out! This reviewer also said that every guy across the country is stroking himself under his sheets thinking about me.†Madonna’s face creases in mischief.

 

“Maybe he’s doing it himself and he feels guilty. Or maybe he asked me out on a date five years ago and I snubbed him.†It’s not out of the question.

 

X. The Time Theory

 

Madonna has to vamoose in 15 minutes, cover story and unanswered questions notwithstanding. This week preceding a needed vacation is crammed with band auditions for the boys who will go on the “Virgin Tour.†The trek will start around March and cover the States as well as Europe. Before and after and probably even during the tour there are TV tapings, fashion layouts, photo sessions, videos, commercials, movie scripts to consider and on and on. And then, “I’ll check into Bellevue, or maybe the Betty Ford Clinic, huh?†Any positive press along the way will be nice, of course, but serious reputation repair can only come if she keeps going, going, going. And she knows it.

 

“The fact of the matter is that you can use your beauty and use your charm and be flirtatious, and you can get people interested in you. Maybe at the start they’re only interested in your beauty. But you cannot maintain that. In the end, talent is the only thing. My work is the only thing that’s going to change any minds. The videos, the records, the movies are the things that will eventually make them think that I’m more than just a girl with a pretty face who’s had some pop hits. It’s just going to take some time.â€

 

© Record

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Join the conversation

You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.

Guest
Write here...

×   Pasted as rich text.   Restore formatting

  Only 75 emoji are allowed.

×   Your link has been automatically embedded.   Display as a link instead

×   Your previous content has been restored.   Clear editor

×   You cannot paste images directly. Upload or insert images from URL.

 Share

×
×
  • Create New...

Important Information

Terms of Use