Madonna's eponymous debut album celebrates its 35th anniversary July 27. It was released in 1983 by Sire Records, and peaked at #8 on the Billboard 200. It went five times platinum (RIAA). In 2008, it was ranked number five in the top 100 albums of the past 25 years. It utilized the Linn-1 drum machine, Moog bass, and OB-X synth.

Producer Reggie Lucas had ignored many of M's suggestions for the final mixes, putting too many instruments on the songs. She contacted Jellybean to remix the available tracks as we know them now. Due to a conflict of interest, Stephen Bray sold "Ain't No Big Deal" making it unavailable to Madonna.

However, Jellybean found a new track floating around New York written by Pure Energy bandmates Lisa Stevens and Curtis Hudson. The song had been turned down by Phyllis Hyman and Mary Wilson (The Supremes). It was literally the last minute that fellow producer and arranger came in to record the piano solo at the end of the song. That song was "Holiday".

Can you even imagine Madonna without "Holiday" on it?! I can't.

Singles: "Everybody"

"Burning Up"

"Holiday" / "Lucky Star" (released a day apart)

"Borderline"

Bonus - "Everybody" from The Girlie Show

a fun fact: the album was orignally titled Lucky Star and this is the original artwork:

oh yeah saw her at the Portland paramont with the beasty boys....like a virgin. dance dance dance

I like the song "Think Of Me" a cool track that could have easily been a single

SoulAlive said:

a fun fact: the album was orignally titled Lucky Star and this is the original artwork:

Yeah, I'm glad they went with a self-titled record. It's sort of standard issue with many artists. Prince certainly did it with almost every protege act he produced. In The UK, it was Madonna: The First Album. It's a solid dance-pop record, and I believe it opened up for artists like Janet, Britney, Debbie Gibson, Tiffany, and the like to not be afraid to put out a truly danceable record with the type of music that was still underground sometimes.

I think music has ebbs and flows. One thing relieves another. War music of the 60s and 70s was relieved by disco; people wanting to just party. Yet the backlash against that was punk etc. Its relief was New Wave and Madonna type dance music. It all happened very quickly in the late 70s to early 80s. But there wasn't a huge shift in music again until the 90s probably with grunge bouncing back against the barrage of hair bands throughout the 80s (although some of their popularity did start to die down by 1987 or 1988). And even bands like Guns n' Roses could be seen as a relief to typical hair bands, because they were anything but typical.

All that said, Madonna opened as many doors for dance music in the 80s as Bowie's Glass Spider Tour did for big stadium shows beyond a simple stage and a 4-piece. I personally think Madonna is a bit stronger in some regards than Like A Virgin, although you could whittle the two into one longer great record/playlist. And You Can Dance took the best of all of that and wove it into a fun mix that hadn't necessarily been done before on a commercial level. Sure, the Moody Blues or Pink Floyd were weaving albums into one long 24-minute mix (per side). But who was dancing to "Another Brick In The Wall"? People were dancing to "Holiday" and "Get Into The Groove".

SoulAlive said:

I like the song "Think Of Me" a cool track that could have easily been a single

Isn't it peculiar that some of those early singles weren't making big waves like the last two or three did? I remember hearing "Holiday" while getting my haircut, but it wasn't until "Borderline" was all over MTV (there was never really a video to "Holiday", oddly enough) that I took notice of ol' girl. Then it seemed like "Lucky Star" got famous after that, despite being released before it.

But it was the 80s. Nothing was normal. And I loved it.

Great albums with different great songs. Some of the most recognised pop songs on it, still as strong today as 35 years ago, not aging a bit imo.

She was actually pretty sexy in that holiday clip!

loveandkindness said:

oh yeah saw her at the Portland paramont with the beasty boys....like a virgin. dance dance dance

That is awesome! Yeah, the Beastie Boys opened for Madonna before they released Licensed To Ill! All they had on Def Jam was a coupla singles: "Rock Hard" b/w "Party's Getting Rough" & "Beastie Groove", and "She's On It" b/w "Slow And Low".

On that tour, Madonna slept with MCA (RIP). When Adam Yauch died, Madonna had this to say, "The Beastie Boys were one of a kind! And so was Adam! They were all an important part of my musical history and integral to the musical revolution that was happening at the time. I'm very sad to hear about Adam's passing. God bless him and his family."

Christ, I feel old

Still one of my fave M albums, and one of her best. I wasn't there at the time but I imagine it perfectly captured the sound and spirit of a New York dancefloor from that era.

I actually started going through my M singles collection on the weekend (I own every single on CD) just to listen to the additional remixes on each one. Still blows me away how many great singles she's had. I don't think anyone will match her career of hits, especially that unstoppable run she had from Like A Virgin to Erotica ... hit after hit.

DaveT said:

I wasn't there at the time but I imagine it perfectly captured the sound and spirit of a New York dancefloor from that era.

I heard mix yesterday that had the "Physical Attraction" break with the scratches from "Rockit". I always thought that song had a New York b-boy poppin' sound to it.

who she bangin these days ...?? she kept it tight with those cesareans (sp?)

luvsexy4all said:

who she bangin these days ...?? she kept it tight with those cesareans (sp?)

your taste level is rediculously low

luvsexy4all said:

who she bangin these days ...?? she kept it tight with those cesareans (sp?)

Makes me wonder why degrading a woman is so important to you on a thread that celebrates music. Guess that says more about you than it does Madonna.

DaveT said:

Still blows me away how many great singles she's had. I don't think anyone will match her career of hits, especially that unstoppable run she had from Like A Virgin to Erotica ... hit after hit.

Yeah,especially in the 80s,she was unstoppable.One major hit after another.I remember how crazy things were in 1985.It felt like every two months or so,she had a new major hit single....."Dress You Up"...."Angel"....."Into The Groove"......"Crazy For You"

Madonna impowered women....prior to her first tour she played at clubs with Prince. Madonnas "first music" was much different than her later ...she evolved, revolved...than circled back around.. quite the Journey....her 1980s fashion style was something any girl could pull out of a closet or head to the thriftshop and grandmas bead box.. and big hair! Awh the 80's. Prince was on purple rain wave and around the world was being released....Disco was on fire couple dancing.... Dance fever!!....When i saw Madonna in Portland it was her second stop, seattle being her first....it was a small venue...bam! sold out ...I set 11 row.... later she booked into arenas. I heard The Beastie Boys were not well received but they raw handed the Portland opening ...they were great Id never seen anything like it...... and the PNW being grunge/punk friendly no problems, add a little rap /rock and ..poof. ...WHEN madonna joined there was no fluffy stuff just madonna front and center doing what she dose best ..dancing and singing...happy birthday Madge

Our local R&B station gave this album lots of attention.They played songs like "Holiday" and "Lucky Star" constantly.Pop radio didn't really catch on until "Borderline" came out in spring '84.

SoulAlive said:

Our local R&B station gave this album lots of attention.They played songs like "Holiday" and "Lucky Star" constantly.Pop radio didn't really catch on until "Borderline" came out in spring '84.

This rings true for my area too. For the people who can actually recall an era in anticipation of Like A Virgin, it was on the heels of Borderline and the MTV VMAs Performance.

SoulAlive said:

DaveT said:

Still blows me away how many great singles she's had. I don't think anyone will match her career of hits, especially that unstoppable run she had from Like A Virgin to Erotica ... hit after hit.

Yeah,especially in the 80s,she was unstoppable.One major hit after another.I remember how crazy things were in 1985.It felt like every two months or so,she had a new major hit single....."Dress You Up"...."Angel"....."Into The Groove"......"Crazy For You"

"Dress You Up" from Like A Virgin was my shit! "Crazy For You" is a great country song in the making.

Madonna had incredible lasting power, cranking out the hits year after year despite chronic over-exposure from non-stop publicity antics. For me, her songs were so different from her public image. They soared with their beautiful melodies, direct and seemingly sincere delivery, and almost old fashioned in their romantic veiwpoint though there were definitely some exceptions.

i bought this album in 1988, the year i started to buy my own albums.

but iirc it had a totally different cover.

years later i saw this one and i thought it was a bootleg i like this
cover a lot more. the one i bought back in 1988 was kinda meh.

It is a great first album. There is a couple of fillers, but there is a lot of great tracks. Holiday and Borderline are the best tracks, especially the latter. Burning Up and Physical Attraction are catchy dance numbers. This is a very strong debut album, probably overshadowed by her 2nd and 3rd albums which were iconic and hugely successful.

I am a huge Madonna fan by the way and have all of her albums even MDNA and Rebel Heart.

SoulAlive said:

DaveT said:

Still blows me away how many great singles she's had. I don't think anyone will match her career of hits, especially that unstoppable run she had from Like A Virgin to Erotica ... hit after hit.

Yeah,especially in the 80s,she was unstoppable.One major hit after another.I remember how crazy things were in 1985.It felt like every two months or so,she had a new major hit single....."Dress You Up"...."Angel"....."Into The Groove"......"Crazy For You"

And that was just 1985! ... think of everything that followed. Like A Prayer was such a high point, people must have been thinking surely she can't top that. Then she releases the likes of Vogue and Justify My Love. If those tracks came out now they'd still blow minds, let alone then.

I carried on with my chronological listen through her singles last night. I just love the sense of time and place her music invokes for me. When I hear Crazy For You it takes me right back to those junior school discos .... when I hear Holiday and Angel it reminds me of driving down to the beach in the summer holidays in my cousins car .... I was about to turn 12 when Erotica came out, a time when I was just discovering girls and becoming curious about sex, so anything from that album rather appropriately takes me back to that time. All great memories!

TrivialPursuit said:

luvsexy4all said:

who she bangin these days ...?? she kept it tight with those cesareans (sp?)

Makes me wonder why degrading a woman is so important to you on a thread that celebrates music. Guess that says more about you than it does Madonna.

how is that degrading?? its what she did

luvsexy4all said:

TrivialPursuit said:

Makes me wonder why degrading a woman is so important to you on a thread that celebrates music. Guess that says more about you than it does Madonna.

how is that degrading?? its what she did

luvsexy4all.....This is a thread about Madonna's debut album.Stay on topic,please

....

[Edited 7/31/18 14:20pm]

TrivialPursuit said:

SoulAlive said:

I like the song "Think Of Me" a cool track that could have easily been a single

Isn't it peculiar that some of those early singles weren't making big waves like the last two or three did? I remember hearing "Holiday" while getting my haircut, but it wasn't until "Borderline" was all over MTV (there was never really a video to "Holiday", oddly enough) that I took notice of ol' girl. Then it seemed like "Lucky Star" got famous after that, despite being released before it.

But it was the 80s. Nothing was normal. And I loved it.

yeah,it took a little awhile but by spring 1984,when "Borderline" was climbing the charts,the album became more and more popular.People were going back and checking out those early singles.This album was selling so well that the release of Like A Virgin was held back a few months.

As a LP, it's great. As an EP (the first three songs), it's nothing short but a masterpiece.
Out of nowhere, Madonna liberates all the eighties teen-agers, in under fifteen minutes.
Madonna celebrates their first love bliss, warns them about the narcissic pervert,
and tell them (everybody, in fact) it's OK to have the hots.

What a Lady.
Happy ReleaseDay, Madge.

bonatoc said:

As a LP, it's great. As an EP (the first three songs), it's nothing short but a masterpiece.
Out of nowhere, Madonna liberates all the eighties teen-agers, in under fifteen minutes.
Madonna celebrates their first love bliss, warns them about the narcissic pervert,
and tell them (everybody, in fact) it's OK to have the hots.

What a Lady.
Happy ReleaseDay, Madge.

I love when there is an EP within an LP. I think the first side of Sheila E.'s third album, minus the first track, is an EP to itself. I think on MJ's Dangerous from "Who Is It" to "Gone Too Soon" is an EP, or drop "Gone Too Soon" and add the title track.

As far as Madge records, I'd have to stew on that for a while. I think of the first 5 or 6 of Erotica like that.