80's Madonna - 7 UK Singles

She’s been a pop sensation ever since her appearance in 1984 with Holiday – a UK number 6 hit. But then, according to the statistics, she went a bit quiet for the rest of that year until the November release of Like a Virgin (peaking at number 3). In total, including Holiday and Dear Jessie, our Madge had 22 UK single releases in the 80’s, of which only Lucky Star failed to make it to the top ten. Borderline originally a flop, making number 56 in 1984, re-entered the chart and made it to number 2 in 1986.

For an 18 month period between 1984 and 1986 I was a big fan of Madonna and it was Like A Virgin which had me caught in her snare. At the time I was a spotty teenager – just going on 15 and exactly Madonna’s target audience. Using the power of MTV to get herself noticed (although we didn’t have MTV in our house) her provocative prancing on gondolas and running around in a wedding dress was just lapped up by me and countless other spotty oiks on TOTP. And then there was that pink wig that she wore on her 'live' performance on TOTP.

The follow up to Like A Virgin was Material Girl, with the video paying homage to Marilyn Monroe in Gentleman Prefer Blondes. I’m lead to believe that Material Girl isn’t one of Madonna’s favourite songs – it was the eighties though, a time of material excesses and Material Girl did become her nickname. Just as Like A Virgin had, Material Girl peaked at number 3 in the UK singles chart.

Crazy For You went one better and reached number 2 in the UK. It was taken from the soundtrack from the 1985 film Vision Quest, starring Matthew Modine, and had a different B side depending upon where it was released. In the UK, we were treated to Van Halen's Sammy Hagar with his self penned I’ll Fall In Love Again. Crazy For You is perhaps my favourite Madonna song – ‘Swaying room as the music starts/ Strangers making the most of the dark’, oh my, it just didn’t get any better for spotty adolescents like me.

The next single Into The Groove was to be Madonna's first UK number 1 and was taken from her film, the criminally under-rated Desperately Seeking Susan. Perhaps she wasn’t too keen on this song as it was only released as a B side to Angel in the US. But in the UK we were treated to Into The Groove as a stand-alone A side and didn't we treated it well?!

Next up for us in the UK was Angel (in other parts of the world, Angel came before Into The Groove). I coughed up my hard earned in October 1985, and although it didn’t repeat the success of Into The Groove, number 5 was still a respectable chart position – although I can't for the life of me remember how it goes!

Dress You Up was next. Like Angel it made number 5 in the UK singles chart. In the UK Dress You Up was released in October 1985 a little after its release date in other countries. I know that Madonna does have a reputation for being a little bit of a minx, but I find it strange that Dress You Up should have acquired notoriety in the US as one of the PMRC’s Filthy Fifteen. But there you go.

Gambler was Madonna’s next offering to the UK market and despite my not buying it, it still rose to number 4 in the UK singles chart. The seventh and final Madonna single that I bought was Live To Tell. It was released in the UK on 21 April 1986 and I was quick off the mark, rushing out and buying it on 25 April. It served as an accompaniment to her then husband Sean Penn’s film, At Close Range. It really is a gorgeous ballad, telling the tale of relationship with parents, of deceit and mistrust. It was written by Madonna and Patrick Leonard, a long time collaborator of hers.

Subsequent to my career as an 80’s Madonna record buyer, she released a further 11 UK singles. Of these 5 were destined to become UK number 1. The releases were, Papa Don't Preach (1); True Blue(1); Open Your Heart; La Isla Bonita(1); Who's That Girl(1); Causing a Commotion; The Look of Love; Spotlight; Like a Prayer(1); Express Yourself; Cherish; Oh Father and Dear Jessie.

In summary, Madonna was a true 1980’s icon - certainly in the eyes of this spotty schoolboy. To read more on 80’s Madonna and her place amongst all the other stuff that was going on in the 1980's why not pay my website a visit.