Madonna - Like A Virgin
The album's photographs were shot by Steven Meisel. Madonna wanted the album title and the cover image to make a provocative link between her own religious name Madonna, as the Catholic title for Jesus' mother Mary, and the Christian concept of the virgin birth. While not a substantial musical departure from Madonna's first album, she felt that the material from Like a Virgin was stronger. After its release, Like a Virgin received mixed reviews from music critics; however, retrospective reviews of the album have been much more positive. Like a Virgin was a commercial success and became Madonna's first number one album on the Billboard 200 and set the record as the first female album in history to sell over five million copies in the United States. The Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) later certified it diamond for shipment of ten million units. It also reached number one in Germany, the Netherlands, New Zealand, Spain, Italy and the United Kingdom, and remains one of the best-selling albums of all time with sales of over 21 million copies worldwide.[4]
Madonna - Like A Virgin
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.[7]
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."[8]
"Dress You Up" was the last track to be added to the album as it was submitted late by songwriters Andrea LaRusso and Peggy Stanziale.[27] Although Rodgers rejected it as he felt there was no time to compose a melody and record it for the album, Madonna pushed for the song's inclusion on Like a Virgin, as she particularly liked its lyrics.[28] The song is a drum beat-driven dance track featuring instrumentation of guitars and vocals from a choir. The lyrics are an extended metaphor for fashion and sex, comparing dressing up with passion.[28] "Shoo-Bee-Doo" contains homage to Motown music. Beginning with a slow introduction, the song is in the doo-wop genre and resembles the songs of early Sixties girl groups like The Shirelles or The Crystals. The saxophone breakdown is played by Lenny Pickett.[28] The lyrics discuss relationship problems, and are phrased as clichés in the coda.[28] "Pretender" starts with the chorus and then moves to the verse. It talks about seduction and the insecurity felt by a woman who feels that things are moving too quickly for her with her man.[28] "Stay" is the final track on the album. Using triple-rhythms and double-tracked vocals, the song includes a noise resembling someone slapping a microphone and a spoken sequence which fades away in the end.[28]
"Into the Groove" was added as a bonus track in the 1985 international reissue of Like a Virgin. Madonna's inspiration behind the song was the dance floor, and she wrote it while watching a handsome Puerto Rican man across her balcony.[26] Initially written for her friend Mark Kamins, Madonna later decided to use it in the soundtrack of her 1985 film Desperately Seeking Susan.[29] Unlike the other songs on Like a Virgin, "Into the Groove" was recorded at Sigma Sound Studios, and produced by Madonna and Stephen Bray. Madonna's friend Erika Belle was present during the recording and watched the whole process.[30] In Andrew Morton's Madonna biography, she noted that at one point of the recording, Bray was facing difficulties with the bridge of the song, as the melody thought by him was not syncing with the rest of the composition.[30] Undeterred by his obvious difficulties, Madonna stepped up to the microphone and sang the words "Live out your fantasy here with me". Bray's problem was solved; Belle remembered the experience as: "[The song] seemed to come out of her, I was awestruck."[30] The song consists of instrumentation from drums, percussion, congas and whistles. Madonna's voice is double-tracked in the chorus.[26] The lyrics are simple, and written as an invitation to dance with the singer, with sexual innuendos and undertones in the meaning.[31]
That whole tour was crazy, because I went from playing CBGB and the Mudd Club to playing sporting arenas. I played a small theater in Seattle, and the girls had flap skirts on and the tights cut off below their knees and lace gloves and rosaries and bows in their hair and big hoop earrings. I was like, 'This is insane!' After Seattle, all of the shows were moved to arenas. I've never done a bus tour. Everyone says they are really fun.[19]
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.[4]
In mid-1984, Madonna met with Nile Rodgers at New York's Power Station studio to start working on her second studio album;[5] Rodgers put together an "economical" rhythm section, consisting of himself on guitars, Bernard Edwards from Chic on bass, and Tony Thompson on drums.[5] According to author Fred Bronson, Rodgers did not want Madonna to record "Like a Virgin", as he felt the lyric "like a virgin" was not a "terrific" hook, nor an "all-time catch phrase".[3] However, he began to have second thoughts after hearing the demo; "I couldn't get it out of my head after I played it, even though I didn't really like it [...] but it grew on me. I really started to like it. [...] But, my first reaction to it was, 'This is really queer'", Rodgers recalled.[6] The producer then "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", thus the song was finally recorded.[3][6] Madonna was very eager to release her work with Rodgers, despite "Borderline" being a top-ten hit at the time; "not that I didn't love Reggie Lucas and 'Borderline' [...] but the thing is, when I put out my first record it didn't really do that well. [...] So it kind of had a resurgence right at the time we were going to release 'Like a Virgin'", she recalled.[7] Of the recording process, Billy Steinberg commented:
Lyrically, "Like a Virgin" has been described as an "ode to a lover who makes the singer feel like new".[12] Madonna 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".[8] According to Rooksby, the song can be interpreted in many different ways: actual virgins are encouraged to hold their compose before their first sexual encounter; in the case of men and more sexually experienced women, however, the lyrics talk about how they can re-live the feelings of their first sexual encounter.[8]
"Like a Virgin" was released as the album's lead single on October 31, 1984.[13][14][15][16][17] Rodgers wanted "Material Girl" to be released as lead single but "Like a Virgin" was chosen instead, a decision Madonna herself found "quite controversial".[18] Afterwards, the song was included on the singer's compilations, The Immaculate Collection (1990), and Celebration (2009).[19][20] Upon release, "Like a Virgin" was met with generally positive reviews from music critics. On his biography of the singer, J. Randy Taraborrelli described it as a "coy song that suggested [she] really was a virgin - excited, sexy and willing".[21] Author Thomas J. Ferraro called it "hilariously tongue-in-cheek".[22] In The History of American Pop, Stuart A. Kallen referred to it as "light and catchy, easy to dance to, and just plain fun".[23] From AllMusic, Stephen Thomas Erlewine named it, along with "Material Girl", one of the album's "definitive statements" that "overshadow" the rest of the songs;[24] Stewart Mason from the same website, felt it was "pure bubblegum fluff" and the song in which Madonna "sounds most like Marilyn Monroe".[25] Rolling Stone's Debby Miller deemed it "terrific", and opined that, despite her "little-girl voice [...] when she chirps, 'You made me feel/Shiny and new/Like a virgin', [...] you know she's after something".[26] The same magazine then said that, "even if the word 'virgin' is the only sexual reference in the lyrics, ['Like a Virgin'] still sounds saturated in lust".[27] From Billboard, Brian Chin praised the singer's "flawlessly phrased, witty" vocals and referred to the song as her "most pop-oriented cut yet".[28] Kenneth Partridge, also writing for Billboard, compared it to "Billie Jean" and referred to it as a "complex song about purity and sex".[29] Parade's Samuel Murrian singled out "just how clever and skillfully constructed this song is".[30]
The staff of Cash box opined that, "though the hooks are not as interesting as on her previous singles, Madonna's voice is in full force".[31] While Yahoo!'s Nicole Hogsett said it was a "flirtatious, innocent-sounding (yet not innocent at all) [...] undeniably fun discussion of love", The Guardian called it "saucy".[12][32] Amy Davidson from Digital Spy praised its "instantly memorable" lyrics, and said it had "one of the best basslines in pop".[33] For The Arizona Republic, Ed Masley wrote that, "['Like a Virgin'] features young Madonna at her chirpiest" and, when compared to other singles such as "Justify My Love" (1990), it "does feel pretty virginal".[34] Stereogum's Tom Breihan pointed out that "Rodgers' production and the Chic members' playing is sharp and in-the-pocket [...] [Madonna] projects personality all over it. But she also sounds tinny and small", ultimately concluding that it was a "pretty good" song.[2] In less favorable reviews, Entertainment Weekly's Dave Karger felt it came off a bit repetitious and immature.[35] The Backlot's Louis Virtel opined it's the Madonna song that has "aged [the] worst and most" since its release.[36] Sal Cinquemani from Slant Magazine dismissed "Like a Virgin" as a novelty.[13] 041b061a72