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The True Blue Era


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·         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 & Packaging: http://www.madonna-infinity.net/forums/index.php?/topic/12055-the-true-blue-era/?p=557778

 

Legacy: http://www.madonna-infinity.net/forums/index.php?/topic/12055-the-true-blue-era/?p=557779

 

Sources: http://www.madonna-infinity.net/forums/index.php?/topic/12055-the-true-blue-era/?p=557781

 

Timeline:

 

Press:  http://madonnaunderground.com/madonna-live/album-promo/true-blue-promo-tour/#tab-1432754322-2-25

 

Memorabilia: http://madonnaunderground.com/madonna-live/album-promo/true-blue-promo-tour/#tab-1432754748649-2-3'>http://madonnaunderground.com/madonna-live/album-promo/true-blue-promo-tour/#tab-1432754748649-2-3

 

Pictures:  http://madonnaunderground.com/madonna-live/album-promo/true-blue-promo-tour/#tab-1432754748649-2-3

 

Videos: http://www.madonna-infinity.net/forums/index.php?/topic/12055-the-true-blue-era/?p=557790

 

Articles:

 

Awards: http://www.madonna-infinity.net/forums/index.php?/topic/12055-the-true-blue-era/?p=559522

 

 

 

Overview

·         True Blue was released on June 30, 1986. Madonna worked on the record with Stephen Bray and Patrick Leonard, she co-wrote and co-produced.

·         True Blue was dedicated to her husband at the time, Sean Penn (the coolest guy in the universe)

·         The iconic album cover was shot by Herb Ritts, to this day, one of the most iconic album covers of all time

·         The first official single off the album was Live To Tell, previously featured in the At Close Range film (starring Sean Penn)

·         Papa Don’t Preach stirred some controversy regarding teenage pregnancy. Otto von Wernherr (a man she worked with pre-stardom) even released a singing statement titled Madonna don’t preach

·         True Blue hit the top spot in 28 countries across the world. It became the world’s top selling album of 1986, to this day remains one of the best-selling albums of all time, selling more than 25 million worldwide

·         For this album Madonna did no promotional performances on television shows, she did some TV interviews, but no live performances

·         She received the Video Vanguard Award at the 1986 MTV Video Music Awards

·         La Isla Bonita was originally written for Michael Jackson’s BAD album, but he turned it down. M later rewrote some of the lyrics

·         Love Makes the World Go Round was originally performed for the first time at Live Aid in Philadelphia 1985.

·         True Blue gave Madonna her first ever nomination in the 1988 edition of the Guinness Book Of World Records, for being the most successful singer for 1986

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ARTWORK & PACKAGING

The album cover, shot by photographer Herb Ritts, is one of Madonna's most recognizable pictures. It features a picture of Madonna from the neck up. The main colors in the picture are gray, white and various shades of blue to reinforce the album's title. Madonna positioned herself in an elegant pose while wearing pale make up with red lips, tilting back her neck in a swan like pose.  Jeri Heiden, who was working at Warner Bros. art department, was given the task of editing the photos and making them compatible for appearance in an album cover.  She had to work with a total of 60 rolls of photos, each of size 35 mm. Heiden ordered about 30 to 40 test prints from Ritts' studio and made recommendations based on it.  Several images from the photo shoot were considered for the album cover, some of which later became the single covers for "Papa Don't Preach", "True Blue" and "Open Your Heart". The final photo was selected by Madonna, Heiden and Jeff Ayeroff, creative director of Warner Bros. at that time.

 

After the final photo was selected, Heiden commissioned two different versions of the album cover. The original image was taken in black-and-white, and Heiden experimented with a variety of treatments of the photo, to go along with the album's title, and finally arrived at the blue toned, hand tinted version of the image. The LP and CD album cover is a cropped image of a longer picture including torso, more of which is seen in the cover of the cassette tape edition, and was also included as a fold-out poster in the initial pressings of the LP. A poster of Madonna, mirroring the cover art, was included within the vinyl versions of the album.

 

In the US and Canada, the cover did not have any logo, but in the European nations, they were sold with Madonna's name and album title on the cover. Heiden explained in an interview with Aperture magazine that they thought it would be "cool" to use a shrink wrap on the US covers, so that when one took it off, there would only be the photo of Madonna. For the European nations, Warner felt that the name was needed on the cover, as they did not want to take chance with Madonna's popularity there. The back sleeve and the booklet inside featured the song titles in Heiden's own handwriting. About cropping the image for the cassette and the vinyl versions, Heiden said: "I think the image became more interesting cropped into a square—and at that time we always started with the album cover configuration. It was like she was floating—her clothing was not visible. She took on the appearance of a marble statue—Goddess like. In the vertical cropping you see her leather jacket and the wall, and it becomes more typical, editorial, earthly."

 

According to Lucy O’Brien, author of Madonna: Like an Icon, the album artwork was on-par with Andy Warhol’s concept of pop art. She felt that the image was a mixture of innocence and idealism, while incorporating 1950s-style Technicolor and hand tinted color, characteristic of Warhol's silkscreen printed design, prevalent in the 1960s. Jeri Heiden, the album's cover designer, commented, "She was already highly aware of the value of her image and was in control of it. After I took the photo, it appeared as if she was floating—her clothing was not visible. She took on the appearance of a marble statue, goddess-like." O'Brien felt that the artwork heralded the arrival of a new Madonna, while drawing on the enduring appeal of her celluloid icon Marilyn Monroe. "With this picture, Madonna made explicit the connection between Warhol and herself, the vivid nexus between pop art and commerce. The late 1980s marked a new era of the pop artist as a brand, and Madonna became the first one to exploit this."

 

Erica Wexler from Spin described Madonna on the cover as "like a cobra basking in the hot sun, Madonna on the cover of her new album stretches her profile lasciviously." Author J. Randy Taraborrelli commented in Madonna: An Intimate Biogarphy, that the album cover indicated how True Blue was a vehicle of growth for Madonna. He felt that the "washed out color photograph" of her with head tilted back and eyes closed was "understated", especially when compared to the sexier poses she had been associated in the past. The album's inner sleeve did not feature any photographs, and instead was dedicated to album credits and the song lyrics, since Madonna wanted to be represented by her songs on True Blue, not her image. Billboard listed the cover at rank 34 on their article about the "50 Greatest Album Covers", describing it as a striking image of the singer. 

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Legacy

Stephen Thomas Erlewine noted that "True Blue is the album where Madonna truly became 'Madonna the Superstar'—the endlessly ambitious, fearlessly provocative entertainer that knew how to outrage, spark debates, get good reviews—and make good music while she's at it." Mark Savage from BBC stated that True Blue is the album which cemented Madonna's reputation as the ‘First Lady of Pop’.

 

http://www.slantmagazine.com/music/review/madonna-true-blue

Sal Cinquemani from Slant Magazine said that with the album "Madonna made the transition from pop tart to consummate artist, joining the ranks of '80s icons like Michael Jackson and Prince. Similarly, Robert C. Sickels, the author of 100 Entertainers Who Changed America: An Encyclopedia of Pop Culture Luminaries, wrote that the album "cemented Madonna's place as the most popular female musical star of the 1980s, shining alongside male pop icons like Prince and Michael Jackson."

 

Regarding Madonna's influence on the record industry and younger artists, Debbie Gibson’s then manager Doug Breitbart commented: "Madonna has brought back a really strong, melodic component to pop music. She has a very youth-oriented, up, bubbly, fun sound." Slant Magazine listed the album at number 60 on their list of "The 100 Best Albums of the 1980s" and stated that "True Blue was the album on which it became readily apparent that Madonna was more than just a flash-in-the-pan pop star." They added, "It's when she began manipulating her image—and her audience—with a real sense of clarity and purpose and made sure she had quality songs to back up her calculation and world-dominating ambition."

 

The global success of True Blue marked the first time Madonna entering the Guinness Book of World Records in its 1988 edition, where she was dubbed as the most successful singer for 1986. The album also held the record for number one in the most countries, topping the album charts in a total of 28 countries around the world. True Blue was later included in the 1991 edition of Guinness Book of World Records as the biggest selling album by a woman, with copies sold of more than 17 million until October 1990. Becoming the world's top-selling album of 1986 and the biggest selling album of the 1980s by woman, True Blue also remains one of the best-selling albums of all time with sales of more than 25 million copies worldwide.

 

The second single from the album, "Papa Don't Preach" faced criticism as well as support from groups concerned with pregnancy and abortion for its theme of a girl getting pregnant and then deciding to continue the pregnancy rather than ending it. Alfred Moran who was the executive director of Planned Parenthood of New York City, criticized the song, fearing that it would undermine efforts to promote birth control among adolescents and that it would encourage teenage pregnancy. Susan Carpenter-McMillan who was the president of Feminists for Life (FFL) in the U.S., accepted the song's theme as being pro-life and said that "abortion is readily available on every street corner for young women. Now what Madonna is telling them is, hey, there's an alternative."

 

In a NewYork Times interview, Madonna commented on the events happening surrounding the song:

 

"Papa Don't Preach" is a message song that everyone is going to take the wrong way. Immediately they're going to say I am advising every young girl to go out and get pregnant. When I first heard the song, I thought it was silly. But then I thought, wait a minute, this song is really about a girl who is making a decision in her life. She has a very close relationship with her father and wants to maintain that closeness. To me it's a celebration of life. It says, 'I love you, father, and I love this man and this child that is growing inside me'. Of course, who knows how it will end? But at least it starts off positive."

 

True Blue also made social impact through its music videos, as author John E. Semonche observed in his book Censoring Sex that Madonna pushed the envelope of what could be shown on television which resulted in increase of her popularity. The music video for "Open Your Heart" was a subject of analysis among scholars for its concept of the stereo-typical male gaze and voyeurism. She appeared as a stripper in the video, who escapes with a young boy from the strip parlour in the end. MTV had some reservations initially before airing the video, which was later resolved after a meeting with Warner Officials. Feminist writer Susan Bordo reacted negatively to the video, saying that the leering and pathetic men in the cubicles and Madonna's escape with the boy is "cynically and mechanically tacked on [as] a way of claiming trendy status for what is just cheesecake—or, perhaps, pornography". Author Donn Welton pointed out that the usual power relationship between the "voyeuristic male gaze and object" is destabilized by the portrayal of the male patrons of the peep show as leering and pathetic.

 

 

Author Douglas Kellner noted that the multiculturalism in her music videos and her culturally transgressive moves "turned out to be highly successful moves that endeared her to large and varied youth audiences." In the fall of 1986, Sire Records held Madonna's "Make My Video" contest that involved MTV viewers to make their own videos for "True Blue". Thousands of viewers submitted their recorded tapes which were mainly made using home-made video equipment and featured themselves or relatives as the actors. MTV publicist Peter Danielson said that many of the submissions featured teenagers imitating Madonna. Her Spanish look in the music video for "La Isla Bonita" became popular and appeared in the fashion trends at that time in the form of boleros and layered skirts accessorizing with rosary beads and crucifix like the video. In recognition of her impact on popular culture through her music videos, Madonna was honored with the Video Vanguard Award at the 1986 MTV Video Music Awards, only four years into her career. She became the first female artist to receive such career achievement from MTV.

 

True Blue; Revisiting a Classic

https://syntheticpublications.wordpress.com/2016/06/10/true-blue-revisiting-a-classic/

Tom Andrews revisits the life and legacy of this iconic album.  The iconic third studio album from the most successful female artist of all time celebrates it’s 30th birthday at the end of this month. Selling over 25 million copies worldwide it quickly became the best-selling album by a female artist in the 1980s, and spawned over five hit singles; it isn’t difficult to realise this could be one of the music industry’s finest exports.

 

True Blue deals with the pop icons view of love, work, and dreams as well as disappointment.  The nine-track masterpiece has become synonymous with 1980s pop culture as well as Madonna herself.  The album cover shot by photographer Herb Ritts is one of the most recognisable images of the pop icon.  Credited as the album which cemented Madonna’s future as the ‘first lady of pop’ and compared to works by Prince and Michael Jackson, True Blue solidified her position as pop royalty. It marked the beginning of Madonna’s long and ongoing reign on the pop throne. Viewing her ventures as not only a pop career but a business portfolio is what has kept us wanting more from this interesting and intriguing chameleon of character.

 

Fact: Madonna originally stated that the album was named Live to Tell. 

 

Using the album as a mark to engage an older audience who had previously been sceptical of her music, Madonna was broadening her own horizons.  She was reaching out to an audience that would either love or hate her, but luckily the risk paid off and Madonna became the pop queen that we know today.  Stephen Thomas Erlewine wrote that True Blue is, â€œone of the great dance-pop albums, a record that demonstrates Madonna’s true skills as a songwriter, record-maker, provocateur, and entertainer through its wide reach, accomplishment, and sheer sense of fun.†Reflecting the idea that Madonna has just become Madonna the superstar.  Coining the phrase, “Madonna wannabeâ€, and becoming a household name.

 

Fact: The single La Isla Bonita was originally written for Michael Jackson however after he turned it down Madonna picked up the pieces, rewrote the lyrics and voila! A #1 single.

 

Her career didn’t end there either, 275 million records later Madonna has just wrapped up the last remaining leg of her sold out Rebel Heart Tour which visited four continents; which caused controversy and received critical acclaim alike; whilst still hot off the heels of her #2 US Billboard album. So it’s safe to that it doesn’t seem Madonna is showing any sign of slowing down or giving up the throne; just yet.

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Sources:

Bruce Baron for Goldmine Magazine

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/True_Blue_(Madonna_album)

http://madonna-mdolla.blogspot.com/2008/08/1986-jan-borderline-is-re-released-as.html

http://www.nydailynews.com/sports/baseball/mets/1986-flashback-remembering-year-mets-title-article-1.2407460

Bronson, Fred (2003). The Billboard Book of Number 1 Hits. Billboard Books. ISBN 0-8230-7677-6.

https://web.archive.org/web/20130728210535/http://www.diariocolatino.com/es/20030606/amigos/2903/Vivir-para-contarlo-Madonna.htm?tpl=69

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

Metz, Allan; Benson, Carol (1999). The Madonna Companion: Two Decades of Commentary.Music Sales GroupISBN 0-8256-7194-9.

Patrick Leonard Interview: Madonna Collaborations (TV transcript) (in Swedish). Los Angeles: Sveriges Television. 2001.

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List of Unreleased Songs 1986
The "True Blue" era began when Madonna recorded the first of several collaborations with Patrick Leonard who worked with her on the "Virgin Tour". The pair wrote and copyrighted "Get Up Stand Tall" in 1985. This song later became "White Heat", the third cut on the "True Blue" album which is copyrighted separately from "Get Up Stand Tall". During this period Madonna also recorded the original version of "Spotlight" with Stephen Bray which never made this album. Later, changes to the music and the lyrics and were submitted to amend the 1985 copyright when the Jellybean remix was released on the dance collection "You Can Dance" in 1987. The original version of "Spotlight" remains unreleased.

Another Madonna-Bray demo for "Each Time You Break My Heart" also remains unreleased. Bray describes it as "virtually unchanged from the version later recorded and released by Nick Kamen" with Madonna backing vocals in 1986 except the original demo features Madonna on the lead vocal.
Bray also confirmed another title that he wrote with Madonna called "Working My Fingers To The Bone" that was never registered with the Library Of Congress. I asked him if this was an early version of "Where's The Party" since that song features a similar theme, and he replied "No, that concept was already worked out with Pat Leonard, and then I was brought in to help finish it." Bray does have a tape of Madonna singing "Working My Fingers To The Bone", but it has never been released in any form.

------------------------------------------------------------------------------ --
"Spotlight", original version 1985 US copyright registration PAu-716-379 written in 1984. Curtis Hudson & Lisa Stevens. Stevens' demo version sounds remarkably like "Holiday" which she also co-wrote. Madonna and Stephen Bray changed lyrics and music to this in 1985 via copyright registration PAu-924-278. The demo also has a different rhythm and chorus melody. Sample lyric "Spotlight shine on you. Be what you want to be, do what you want to do" and "Spotlight shine so bright, spotlight shine tonight".

"(title(s) unknown)", musician Fred Zarr tried to write two or three songs with Madonna around the time of “Papa Don’t Preach†but never finished.

1985 GET UP STAND TALL Registered seperately from "White Heat" at Library Of Congress. Written by Pat Leonard, Madonna. Cassette on file PAU-828-147. Bruce Baron recently heard this track at the Washington DC Library of Congress, and he notes that this was probably one of the first songs recorded for the "True Blue" album with Pat Leonard since it registered as being from 1985. From what I can tell it is exactly the same as the album version of "White Heat" including the James Cagney sample. I could not determine any differences during my listen. The title is obviously different, but not a typo. That's how it was sent in, and is clearly marked on the label. The name of the song must have changed at a later date prior to the albums release. The other side of the tape contains a recording of "Dangerous" PAu-828-146 which is a Leonard production of a non-Madonna song with a male vocalist. I originally thought that Madonna might appear on this track, but it is unrelated.

1985 UNCONFIRMED TITLE Madonna wrote for French singer Nathalie, as reported in Biography by Mark Bego. Existence never confirmed.

1986 EACH TIME YOU BREAK MY HEART Madonna demo written & produced with Stephen Bray. The rare thing about this song is that it was recorded with Madonna as the lead vocalist. Nick Kamen's voice is not heard on the song. Madonna disposed of this track because it was given and written for Nick Kamen. Nick Kamen later recorded his version of this song with Madonna as backing vocals. It was a big hit in Europe (number 1 in Italy, number 5 in the UK in November 1986). The song went to No. 5 in the U.K. in November 1986. It went to No. 2 in Switzerland (Feb. 15, 1987). #25 in Austria, #8 in France, and #6 in Sweden. The track is HUGE in Italy. It will see its U.S. release in May 1987. The original demo with Madonna on lead vocals is reportedly very similar. Madonna's version has appeared on various file-sharing networks. Bray described Madonna's demo in an interview with Bruce Baron for Goldmine Magazine as "virtually unchanged from the version later recorded and released by Nick Kamen"

"Tell Me" Stephen Bray confirmed the existence of this demo with Madonna singing as the lead vocal; in the Extended version, Nick Kamen sings lead vocals and Madonna sings backing vocals and a solo

1986 JIMMY JIMMY Confirmed original Madonna demo written & produced with Stephen Bray. Different from released version.

1986 TRUE BLUE Confirmed original Madonna demo written & produced with Stephen Bray, different from the released version.

1986 VERDARAMENTE TRISTE (True blue in Spanish) - It is unknown whether there actually is a recording of this song sung in Spanish, or if it's simply confused with the Argentina promo-only 7" single of the record, in which the title is spelled out as "Verdaramente Triste" (although the song is entire in English on the record).

1986 "Working My Fingers to the Bone" and "Pipeline", recorded with frequent collaborator Stephen Bray. WORKING MY FINGERS TO THE BONE Confirmed song never used, Madonna demo written & produced with Stephen Bray circa "True Blue" album. Never filed copyright. Smash Hits reviewed it and said it was comparable to the Jackson’s “Shake Your Body Down to the Ground†and was supposed to end up on the You Can Dance remix project.

"I Want You" Stephen Bray confirmed the existence of this unreleased track in an interview with Madonna music expert, Peter Magennis in 2009. To date this song has never been leaked.
Madonna and TV star Don Johnson talked about composing a song together during telephone conversations they had. This led to the rumor of a track called “Love Over the Phone.†They apparently wrote words but no music.

* Songwriter Gardner Cole (and his good friend Peter Rafelson) had been working for a whole year on a song called “Follow Your Heart.†The demo originally had a male vocal (Jason Scheff from the band CHICAGO). Cole played the track for his manager who worked at Weisner-DeMann Mgmt. Freddie DeMann overheard the song and suggested he re-demo it with a female vocal and he’d suggest it to Madonna. Donna Delory did the demo and Madonna recorded it in late 1985/early 1986. She changed some of the verse and the B section lyrics. Pat Leonard made the song more up-tempo and changed the groove.


1984:
December 9: For choosing a music director for the Virgin Tour tour, Madonna's manager Freddy DeMann contacted record producer Patrick Leonard, who had just returned from the Victory Tour by The Jackson 5. At first Leonard said no, feeling exhausted from the Victory Tour, but after he spoke to Madonna on the phone, he found her charming, and agreed to sign for the tour. Shortly after, Freddy DeMann contacts Leonard to work on Madonna’s upcoming tour. Leonard initially declined until DeMann had him actually meet her and they hit it off.

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1985:

May 4-5: On the long bus ride from Houston to Austin, the green flatlands float past the window and Madonna settles down for an interview. Madonna is finishing writing for "Love Makes the World Go Round" a song she has co-written with Pat Leonard, her musical director on tour.

[Time Magazine, 1985 http://content.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,957025,00.html ]

 

May 18-19: According to Bill Lanphier, bass player on the Virgin Tour, Madonna and Pat Leonard recorded a demo of "Love Makes the World Go Round" in Chicago while on tour. He also said they wrote "some things" together while on this tour. [ MTribe interview with Bill Lanphier http://www.madonnatribe.com/idol/bill_lanphier.htm ]

MT: One other member of the band was of Patrick Leonard himself - he played keyboards on that tour. If I'm not wrong Leonard and Madonna started writing music together during the Virgin Tour.
One of their first compositions together "Love Makes The World Go Round" was played live during Live Aid.
Do you remember about them writing or rehearsing new songs together?

BL: Yes, they co-wrote some things and I'm pretty sure that was one. I don't remember them rehearsing it, but we did record a demo of that in Chicago.

 

July 13: She co-wrote the song “Love Makes the World Go Round†with Patrick Leonard - the musical director and keyboard player for The Virgin Tour which had wrapped up a month earlier. Madonna is the only artist to perform a new song at Live Aid for Africa when she sings “Love Makes the World Go Round.â€

 

August: after her honeymoon with Sean Penn, Madonna began work with her collaborators on her “True Blue†album. This is the first album Madonna co-produces. One of the first songs she co-wrote with Leonard is titled “Get Up Stand Tall†which is copyrighted in 1985. This demo eventually becomes “White Heatâ€, inspired by Sean Penn's love of old James Cagney films.

 

AT A LATER TIME:

On US magazine (Sept. 7, 1987 issue) Madonna said she wrote "Open Your Heart" recollecting her memories of when she lived on NYC’s lower East side and sat on her stoop trying to make friends with the hardened ghetto Hispanic kids. This seems to be a strange statement since she only re-wrote some of the lyrics

http://madonnascrapbook.blogspot.com/2010/10/us-magazine-september-7-1987-madonna.html

 

AT A LATER TIME:

http://www.digitalspy.com/music/feature/a812470/the-surprising-stories-behind-6-of-madonnas-biggest-hits/

Co-writer Gardner Cole recalled in Billboard's Book of Number 1 Hits that initially he and his writing partner weren't sure it was a hit song at all. "Peter (Rafelson) and I usually write very quickly. It's usually a day or two a song, but for some reason this didn't really hit us as a hit song," he said. The original title of the song, 'Follow Your Heart' was actually stolen from a Californian health food restaurant, where a young woman that Cole was infatuated with worked.

After Cole and Rafelson played Madonna the track, they were sure that she'd turn it down. "I thought she was going to stick with 'Holiday' and what she was already doing," Cole recalled. "But this song was a step forward for her, it was a different area – more rock and roll than I thought she would want to go."

Despite the fact that Madonna had gone in and re-worked parts of the song, Cole and Rafelson weren't sure that it would actually end up being included on the final tracklisting for True Blue. "It was the first song that was cut on the album," Cole said. "It made me nervous as a writer, because a lot of times the very first song that gets cut doesn't make it in the long run."

 

MTribe interviewed Gardner Cole http://www.madonnatribe.com/idol/gardner.htm

 

MT: As our readers know you're the co-author of one of Madonna's most popular and loved songs ever: Open Your Heart. When did you write that song and what was your original inspiration for it? 

GC: The song was started with my good friend Peter Rafelson, we worked on the song for over a year.

The original title was "Follow Your Heart" which is the name of a vegetarian restaurant in Los Angeles. I was in love with a waitress there named Lisa and she was the original inspiration for the lyrics. 

MT: Legend says that when you submitted a demo of the song to Madonna she didn't accept it at first. You then asked your friend Donna Delory, to sing a new version of the demo, right? Can you tell us a bit more about that?

GC: Actually the truth is, I did submit a song that Madonna didn't accept but it was titled "Motor City Girl" and was a song that I co-wrote with songwriter David Bryant (Whitney Houston). 
The lead singer of the group Chicago (Jason Scheff) sang the original demo of "Open Your Heart". 

I was being managed by a man named Bennett Freed who was part of Madonna's management company (Weisner and Demann management), I went in to the offices on Sunset blvd and played the
song for Bennett, Freddy Demman overheard the song and thought it would be a hit for Madonna and he asked me to re-demo a female demo version. Donna Delory was my very first girlfriend in LA and I immediatelay asked her to sing the demo. 
Later, I became friends with Patrick Leonard and when he was helping Madonna put together a tour I suggested they use Donna to dance and sing back-up and I gave him her contact info.

MT: Speaking about demos, apparently there's a song called "Dance" floating around on sharing programs by some unknown artist which is passed for the "Open your heart demo". From what we heard it has nothing to do with your song but some fans believe it can be genuine.


GC
: No, It is definetly not the original demo.

MT: What did Madonna add to your original song and how was the original different from the final version we have on the True Blue album? 

GC: Madonna changed some of the verse and B section lyrics. Patrick Leonard changed the groove and made it more uptempo, I think his production is superb! 

MT: The song went on being a number one single in many countries around the world, was that a surprise to you? How did you react to that?

GC: I had a dream that I was driving in my car and Casey Kasem (the host of the weekly top 40 countdown show) was announcing the song as the number one song in America, on my birthday a year later I was driving to Malibu beach and Casey Kasem announced on the radio that "Open Your Heart was number 1! It was an incredibly joyous moment.

 

October 29: According to Rolling Stone, Madonna is seeking a film to co act with hubby Sean Penn. If they can’t find a script they agree on soon, she will make a new album before she makes a movie.

 

December: In a TV interview to promote The Virgin Tour VHS release, Madonna talks about her 1986 plans:

“Next year, I’m gonna do the movie,

Shanghai Surprise

, and then the album’s gonna come out in the spring. I did a soundtrack for a movie that Sean just finished in Tennessee that’s gonna be out in the spring. I did the title track from that – it’s called “Live to Tell,†and then I have the album coming out, and then the movie I am doing in January will also come out – August, well, they plan an August release but who knows.â€

 

December: Madonna starred in the film Shanghai Surprise.

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1986:

January: Borderline" is re-released as a UK single.

Madonna and Sean begin filming Shanghai Surprise in Macau, China, directed by Jim Goddard and produced by ex-Beatle George Harrison's Handmade Films company.

 

Patrick Leonard and and Bruce Gaitsch came up with the music for “La Isla Bonita†one day after seeing the preview of Top Gun that the studio held for writers. They weren't interested in writing for a macho war movie, so they instead decided to write a song about an island paradise. Leonard played it for Michael Jackson and got no response from him. Gaitsch suggested they send it to Madonna who was in China (Hong Kong & Macao) this month shooting Shanghai Surprise with Sean Penn. She loved it and wrote the words. What inspired her was the groove and the lyrics. She was in China for a while and wanted to be somewhere else...an island somewhere. Madonna's demo was the first with music and vocals together. Bruce also mentioned that he felt very lucky to work with such a big artist. It ended up becoming a huge hit worldwide, one of her biggest, and won an ASCAP award.

 

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

 

Feb 15: "Borderline" hits UK #2.

 

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

 

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

 

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

 

March 6: On March 6, 1986, at the Kensington Roof Gardens in London, during a press conference for Shanghai Surprise, Madonna confirmed that she was working on a new album named Live to Tell, which would be later changed to True Blue. She collaborated with Stephen Bray, who had worked on the preceding Like a Virgin, and with The Virgin Tour's musical director Patrick Leonard. "I was down in the basement with these idiot muso friends, working on a tune," Leonard recalled in 1992. "She liked it. And that ended up being one of the tracks on True Blue." Madonna wrote or co-wrote every song, although her involvement on ones such as "Papa Don't Preach" and "Open Your Heart" was limited to adding lyrics. She was also credited with co-producing every track. When asked by a reporter to apologize for her and Sean's behavior towards the British press, Madonna answers: "I have nothing to apologize for".

 

Mar 11: Madonna is named Favorite Female Musical Performer at the 12th annual People's Choice Awards: she accepts her award on the set of Shanghai Surprise in London, England.

 

Mar 26: Live to Tell was released as the lead single from True Blue on March 26, 1986 by Sire Records.

"Live to Tell" was originally composed by Leonard for the score of the film Fire with Fire. "My managers represented the guy who was directing the film; it was his first film. I saw a little piece of the film, and I had the script. I wrote a theme and I said, 'What if I could get Madonna to write the lyrics for it?'", said Leonard.

 

However, Paramount rejected the song, believing that Leonard was incapable of creating the score for the film. Leonard later presented the track to Madonna, who decided to use it for At Close Range, Sean Penn’s new film. Madonna wrote the lyrics of the song, titled "Live to Tell", and created a demo recording on a cassette. She presented the track to the film's director James Foley, who liked it and enlisted Leonard to compose the film's score, as suggested by Madonna.

 

Sean Penn called Patrick Leonard to come to Foley's home. There he asked Leonard who would sing the track, since it was written from a man's perspective. Leonard, although he had initially envisioned a male voice interpreting the song, decided to use Madonna as the main vocalist and used the demo version as the main vocal with backup drums only. He later recalled that "it was so innocent and so shy. It's as naive, as raw, as raw can be and that's part of what gave it all its charm." In a 1986 interview, Madonna said that the mood on the song was inspired by a different facet of her image makeover and her desire to focus on something different.

 

The original composition of the song did not have the background synths, instead Leonard created a basic structure on piano, and Madonna added the words on top of that melody. According to Leonard, Madonna came up with the bridge by herself, extending it from the music that he was playing.

 

Lyrically, "Live to Tell" portrays the complexity of deceit and mistrust. The song is also about childhood scars and had an extreme emotional pitch. According to the book The Heart of Rock & Soul by Dave Marsh, the archetype of songs like "Live to Tell" is The Platters' song "The Great Pretender". In an interview about the song, Madonna said, "I thought about my relationship with my parents and the lying that went on. The song is about being strong, and questioning whether you can be that strong but ultimately surviving.â€

 

March 30: The Material Girl is back on the airwaves again this weekend singing “Live to Tell,†a new ballad from Orion Pictures'

upcoming At Close Range. The video features performance footage of Madonna, as well as scenes from the movie. The song will also be released as a single from Warner this week. (L.A. Times)

 

Live to Tell debuted on the Billboard Hot 100 at number 49, reaching the top position eight weeks later, becoming Madonna's third number-one single in the US, and her second number-one that is featured in a film after "Crazy for You". The song was a crossover success, topping the Adult Contemporary chart for three weeks, and peaking at number three on the Hot Dance Singles Sales chart.

 

April 9: Madonna is a married woman. But that isn't the reason she's passed on an experience many other young females would jump at - a Blind Date with Moonlighting star Bruce Willis.

As reported, Madonna and hubby Sean Penn originally were set to star in "Blind Date," the Tri-Star film to be directed by Blake Edwards. Then Sean opted out, and Bruce entered the picture. Shooting starts May 5, but the cameras will roll without Madonna. She reportedly visited Bruce on the set of his ABC show and told him her recording schedule wouldn't allow her time to do the film. (Inside NY)

 

April 16: Madonna and Sean attend the Los Angeles premiere of his film At Close Range at the Bruin Theatre.

 

April 18: At Close Range (Orion) is released in theaters. Sean Penn took the pop ballad “Live to Tell†(performed by wife Madonna) and placed it in the film after Paramount Pictures declined the track for its film Fire with Fire (1986).

 

April: "Live To Tell" single and video (theme from film At Close Range) are released.

 

In Shanghai Surprise, Madonna toned down her appearance, inspired again by Marilyn Monroe. Madonna held the look for the "Live to Tell" video. Her make-up was pale and her clothes consisted of a simple 1930s-style floral dress. In an interview with music critic Stephen Holden from The New York Times, she commented about her new look:

 

http://www.nytimes.com/1986/06/29/arts/madonna-goes-heavy-on-heart.html?pagewanted=all

 

'After awhile I got sick of wearing tons of jewelry - I wanted to clean myself off,'' Madonna said flatly. ''I see my new look as very innocent and feminine and unadorned. It makes me feel good. Growing up, I admired the kind of beautiful glamorous woman - from Brigitte Bardot to Grace Kelly - who doesn't seem to be around much anymore. I think it's time for that kind of glamour to come back.''

 

Foley also directed Live to Tell's video. David Naylor and Sharon Oreck were in charge of the production. The video serves as a publicity campaign for the movie, as it includes brief scenes of the film.

The locations in the film are separated visually from the shots of Madonna, who is singing in a darkened studio. Unlike her previous videos, Madonna portrays a narrator, whose song comments on the story, appearing in shots completely different from the narrative action. She appears to speak for the character, addressing his problems directly, like the chorus of a classical tragedy.

 

In Canada Live to Tell debuted at number 79 of the RPM singles chart in April 1986, and reached the top of the chart for two weeks in May 1986, staying on the chart for a total of 23 weeks, It was ranked at the second position of the 1986 RPM Singles year-end chart.

 

April 21: In the United Kingdom, "Live to Tell" was released on April 21, 1986. The next week, the song debuted at number ten on the UK Singles Chart, peaked at number two, and stayed 13 weeks on the chart. Live to Tell" was certified silver by the British Phonographic Industry (BPI) in May 1986, for shipment of 250,000 copies of the single across the United Kingdom. According to the Official Charts Company, the song has sold 280,000 copies in the UK.

 

Across Europe, "Live to Tell" topped the Eurochart Hot 100 for two weeks, and the singles chart in Italy, as well as peaking inside the top ten in Belgium, France, Ireland, the Netherlands, Norway, and Switzerland. It was also certified silver by the Syndicat National de l'Édition Phonographique (SNEP) for shipment of 250,000 copies in France.

 

May 21: This week’s edition of the UK magazine Smash Hits says Madonna is back in America (after filming Shanghai Surprise) putting the finishing touches on her upcoming album.

 

May 30: Madonna performs her second day of shooting for an upcoming video, “Papa Don’t Preach†on Staten Island, NY. The song is from her soon-to-be released True Blue album. (Boca Raton News) The director is James Foley.

May 31: "Live to Tell" hits #1 for 3 weeks on US Hot Adult Contemporary singles chart.

 

June 7: "Live To Tell" hits US #1.

 

June 11: "Papa Don't Preach" is released as the album's second single. The song was a commercial success. It became Madonna's fourth number-one single on the Billboard Hot 100, and performed well internationally, reaching the top position in the United Kingdom and Australia. It was well received by music critics and was frequently cited as a highlight in the album. It debuted on the Billboard Hot 100 at number 42 and, within eight weeks of release, reached the top of the chart, making it Madonna's fourth number-one single in the US. It maintained the top position for two weeks and spent 18 weeks on the chart. It also reached a peak of four on the Hot Dance Club Songs chart and a peak of number 16 on the Adult Contemporary chart. In October 1998, the single was certified gold by the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) for shipment of a million copies of the single. It placed at position 29 for the Billboard Year-End chart for 1986.

 

The song was written by Brian Elliot with additional lyrics by Madonna, and produced by Stephen Bray and Madonna. The song's musical style combines pop and classical styling, and its lyrics deal with teenage pregnancy and abortion. It was based on teen gossip Elliot heard outside his studio, which has a large front window that doubles as a mirror where schoolgirls from the North Hollywood High School in Los Angeles regularly stopped to fix their hair and chat. The lyrics show Madonna's interest in her Roman Catholic upbringing, as the song theme is about a girl who admits to her father that she is pregnant and refuses to have an abortion or give up the baby for adoption despite what her friends are telling her to do. It is constructed in a verse-chorus form, with a bridge before the third and final chorus. At the beginning, she addresses her father directly, asking him to talk to her as an adult, "You should know by now that I'm not a baby". The transition to the chorus employs a more dramatic voice with a higher range, ending nearly in cries as she sings the word "Please". Leading to the chorus, Madonna switches to a pleading voice, singing the song's main hook in a high tone. During the bridge, the song features a Spanish-inspired rhythm, one of the earliest examples of the influence that Hispanic music had on Madonna's musical style.

 

In 2009, during an interview with Rolling Stone, Madonna was asked by the interviewer Austin Scaggs as to why the theme of the song was meaningful to her. http://www.rollingstone.com/music/news/madonna-looks-back-the-rolling-stone-interview-20091029

 

It wasn't just your performances that were provocative. You didn't write "Papa Don't Preach," but it's impossible to imagine anyone else singing it. Why did that song speak to you?

It just fit right in with my own personal Zeitgeist of standing up to male authorities, whether it's the pope or the Catholic Church or my father and his conservative, patriarchal ways.

What was the fallout?

There have been so many fallouts, they all get confused. But for "Papa Don't Preach," there were so many opinions — that's why I thought it was so great. Is she for "schma-smortion," as they say in Knocked Up? Is she against abortion?

 

June 16: The new Madonna single, “Papa Don’t Preach†is due out today. (LA Times)

In the United Kingdom, "Papa Don't Preach" was released on June 16, 1986. The song debuted at number 13 on the UK Singles Chart before climbing to number one two weeks later. It then spent three consecutive weeks at the top, stayed 15 weeks on the chart,

 

HERE'S THE story behind the song, "Papa Don't Preach," Madonna's chart- topping anthem about an unwed mother. Brian Elliot, who wrote the song, has a studio across the street from North Hollywood High School in California. His large front window doubles as a mirror where schoolgirls regularly stop to fix their hair and chat. "Their gossip is unbelievable," he said. "I developed an empathy for the things they get themselves into." Elliot based the song, in which the narrator says, "I've made up my mind, I'm keeping my baby," on a composite of overheard conversations. Elliot says the song is a plea for compassion and that he was astonished when a columnist charged him with glamorizing teen-age pregnancy. "If someone else had sung it, it would have had an entirely different resonance," he says. "But Madonna is larger than life." (Orlando Sentinel, August 19, 1986)

 

June 29: Madonna says the album’s title is taken from a favorite expression of her husband’s and is a tribute to Sean’s “very pure vision of love.†It also pays musical homage to Motown and 60’s “girl group†hits like Chapel of Love. “La Isla Bonita†is a celebration of “the beauty and mystery of Latin American people.†(NY Times)

 

June 30: TRUE BLUE is released and the video for “Papa Don’t Preach†premieres on MTV today.

 

June 30: True Blue LP is released. True Blue is the third studio album by American singer and songwriter Madonna, released on June 30, 1986, by Sire Records. She co-wrote and co-produced the entire album with Stephen Bray and Patrick Leonard. Deemed Madonna's most girlish album, True Blue deals with her visions of love, work, dreams as well as disappointments, and was inspired by her then husband Sean Penn, to whom Madonna dedicated the album. Musically, the songs on the album took a different direction from her previous endeavours, incorporating classical music in order to engage an older audience who had been skeptical of her music.

 

"Papa Don't Preach" video premieres on MTV. The music video, directed by James Foley, shows Madonna's second image makeover, featuring her with a more toned and muscular body, and cropped platinum blonde hair. It portrayed a storyline where Madonna is trying to tell her father about her pregnancy. The images are juxtaposed with shots of Madonna dancing and singing in a small, darkened studio, and spending a romantic evening with her boyfriend.

 

Shortly after its release, the song caused heated discussions about its lyrical content. Women's organizations and others in the family planning field criticized Madonna for encouraging teenage pregnancy, while groups opposed to abortion saw the song as having a positive pro-life message.

At the 1987 MTV Video Music Awards, the "Papa Don't Preach" video won the Best Female Video award, and was nominated for Best Cinematography and Best Overall Performance.

 

July: Madonna and Sean begin rehearsals for a Lincoln Centre Theatre workshop production of David Rabe's play Goose & Tom-Tom, directed by Gregory Mosher which will be performed to a non-public audience for only 4 nights.

 

July 5: In Canada the song debuted at number 53 of the RPM singles chart on July 5, 1986, reached the top for two weeks in August 1986, and stayed on the chart for 20 weeks. It placed at position 13 on the RPM Year-End chart for 1986.

In Canada, the album debuted at number 73 on the RPM albums chart for the issue of July 5, 1986. The album climbed rapidly upwards and reached number one on the issue dated August 9, 1986 It stayed at the top for nine weeks and was present on the chart for 77 weeks. True Blue was certified diamond by the Canadian Recording Industry Association (CRIA) for shipment of one million copies.

 

July 12: True Blue opened at the top of the UK Albums Chart on July 12, 1986, making it the first album by American artist to debut at number one in British chart history. It remained at the summit for six weeks and on the chart for a total of 85 weeks. True Blue was the best-selling album of 1986 in the United Kingdom.

 

July 19: True Blue achieved its biggest commercial reception in European countries, where it topped the European Top 100 Albums chart for 34 consecutive weeks—a record that has yet to be broken—from issue dated July 19, 1986 to March 7, 1987.

 

August: Shep Pettibone was asked to remix “True Blue†for a 12-inch single and “Into the Groove†for an album of dance remixes.

“I made it a point to let her know what I could do,†says Pettibone. “After that point, I became the person she wanted to remix her records.â€

 

August 4: In Australia, the album topped the Kent Music Report albums chart on the issue date of August 4, 1986, staying there for two weeks. It was certified four times platinum by the Australian Recording Industry Association (ARIA) for shipment of 280,000 copies. It also reached number one in 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.

 

August 11: Brian Elliot on Papa Don't Preach: "What happened is that the girl I wrote the song for didn't record it. Madonna did. I'm not complaining, believe me. It probably wouldn't be selling 50,000 copies a day otherwise. But picture this song sung by someone soft and scared and waif-like in the middle of `West Side Story.' It becomes a very different song than the one it is when someone like Madonna sings it." (San Francisco Chronicle)

 

August 16: In the USA, True Blue debuted at number 29 on the Billboard 200 and reached number one on the issue dated August 16, 1986. It stayed on the top position for five consecutive weeks and on the chart for a total of 82 weeks. The album also reached a peak of number 47 on the Top R&B/Hip-Hop Albums chart.] True Blue was certified seven times platinum by the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) for shipment of over seven million units, making it Madonna's third best-selling album in the United States, behind Like a Virgin (1984) and The Immaculate Collection(1990). After the advent of the Nielsen SoundScan era in 1991, the album sold a further 404,000 copies.

 

True Blue was also a commercial success in Asia and Oceania. In Japan, the album peaked at number one on the Oricon LP chart. At the 1987 Japan Gold Disc Awards held by the Recording Industry Association of Japan (RIAJ), True Blue received "Album of the Year Pop Solo" and "Grand Prix Album of the Year", which was given for the year's best-selling international album, while Madonna was honored the "Artist of the Year" for the year's best-selling international artist. In Hong Kong, True Blue was certified platinum by the International Federation of the Phonographic Industry.

The British Phonographic Industry (BPI) certified it seven times platinum for shipment of 2.1 million copies and as of October 2014, it has sold 1.997 million copies, the highest sales for any of Madonna's studio albums. True Blue also topped the albums chart in France and was certified diamond by the Syndicat National de l'Édition Phonographique (SNEP) for shipment of one million copies. Actual sales of the album in the country stand at 1,353,100 copies. In Germany, the album peaked at number one for eight weeks and was certified two times platinum by the Bundesverband Musikindustrie (BVMI) for shipment of one million copies.

 

August 16: Madonna and Sean celebrate her 28th birthday and their first wedding anniversary at Gotham Bar and Grill, New York. True Blue hits US #1 for 5 weeks and "Papa Don't Preach" hits US #1 for 2 weeks.

 

August 17: Madonna and Felix Howard were seen filming a video for her new “Open Your Heart†in the Echo Park around Toluca and Court Street in Los Angeles, California. The video is structured as a cinematic peep show and voyeurism that portrays Madonna as a stripper. According to Mondino, the peep show was his idea since at that time, "we were into a period where we were experimenting [with] some kind of freedom about the body, about sexuality and stuff". He wanted to have a "naive and sweet" feel with the portrayal of a boy waiting outside for Madonna. They built the set from scratch, including the frontal part with the ticket booth. Although it looked fake, Mondino liked it saying "I like the fakeness of it. I haven't seen it for a long time, but when I saw it once again, I said, 'It's so naïve'. It's kind of badly done, which I like, compared to today. We didn't have the same equipment, people are more skillful today, but there's something sweet about it." Madonna was initially asked by him to wear a black wig, and the initial reaction to the whole wardrobe was positive. But Madonna wanted Mondino's opinion on the whole ensemble, who replied that she would look better as a blonde. So the wig was kept for the initial scenes of the video only.

 

She told a bystander at the video shoot: "This shows my new look. I see my new look as very innocent and feminine and unadorned." (L.A. Times)

Jean Baptiste-Mondino directed the video for “Open Your Heart.†The video was produced by David Naylor. This is their first collaboration and they were actually introduced to each other by the song’s co-writer Peter Rafelson. Cinematography was done by Pascal Lebegue, and production design by Richard Sylbert (Carnal Knowledge).

 

August 20: A Worldwide Hit - Madonna's True Blue is the first pop album released this year to go through the roof. The album, which reached #1 on the Billboard charts in just five weeks, has sold over 2 1/2 million copies in the United States and is as big a hit internationally as it is here. It has already reached #1 in Australia, Austria, Belgium, Brazil, Britain, Canada, Finland, France, Germany, Hong Kong, Ireland, Italy, Japan, the Netherlands, New Zealand, the Philippines and Switzerland. The album's second single, ''Papa Don't Preach,'' holds at #1 for the second week, and Warner Brothers Records plans to release the title cut as the third single. If the momentum continues - and there are no signs of its slackening - True Blue stands a good chance of topping the six million sales figure of Like a Virgin. (NY Times)

PDP was certified gold by the British Phonographic Industry (BPI) in August 1986 for shipment of 500,000 copies of the single. According to the Official Charts Company, the song has sold 650,700 copies in the UK by August 2016. Across Europe, "Papa Don't Preach" was successful, topping the Eurochart Hot 100 for 11 weeks. It reached the top position of the singles charts in Belgium, Ireland, Italy, and Norway, and peaked inside the top five in Austria, France, Germany, the Netherlands, Spain and Switzerland.

 

August 28: Madonna and Sean open in Goose & Tom-Tom at Lincoln Centre's Mitzi Newhouse Theatre, New York, NY.

 

August 28: On August 28 1986, Madonna and Sean opened in David Rabe’s Goose & Tomtom at Lincoln Centre’s Mitzi Newhouse Theatre, in New York. https://todayinmadonnahistory.com/tag/goose-and-tomtom/

 

August 29: Shanghai Surprise premieres at 400 US theatres.

 

August 31: Madonna and Sean play their final performance in Goose & Tom-Tom.

 

September 5: Madonna films the video for “True Blue†today in NYC.

Madonna is honored with the Video Vanguard Award for her visionary videos at the 3rd annual MTV Video Music Awards at the Palladium, New York, NY and at the Universal Amphitheatre, Los Angeles, CA.

 

September 8: True Blue is certified 2x platinum by the RIAA for sales of 2 million copies.

 

September 10: "True Blue" single is released in Canada. Written & produced by Madonna & Stephen Bray, the title-track of her third album was a 1960’s Motown-inspired love letter to her husband, Sean Penn. After including True Blue on 1987’s Who’s That Girl World Tour set list, the song appeared to have been written out of Madonna’s repertoire following her split from Sean. By 2015’s Rebel Heart Tour, Madonna had made amends with both Sean and True Blue, performing the track as a stripped-down, crowd-pleasing acoustic number. Shep Pettibone’s remixes of the single marked his first of many collaborations with Madonna.

 

"True Blue" topped the charts in UK, Ireland and Canada and became another consecutive top ten song in US for Madonna by reaching number three on the Billboard Hot 100. The original music video portrayed her again with a new look, leaner and sporting platinum blond bushy hair. An alternate video was made through the "Make My Video" contest on MTV. The final selected videos had a similar theme of a 1950s-inspired setting and the storyline following the lyrics of the song. The winner was awarded a trip to MTV's New York studio where Madonna presented a $25,000 check live on MTV. The winning entry was by Angel Gracia and Cliff Guest.

 

Madonna wrote and produced the song with Steve Bray. According to her, "True Blue" takes its title from a favourite expression of Sean Penn and to his very pure vision of love and was a direct tribute to him as well as the album, which was as a whole inspired by her "unabashed valentine" for Penn. In an interview, Bray said, "She [Madonna] was very much in love. It was obvious if she's in love she'll write love songs. If she's not in love she definitely won't be writing love songs." In 2015, Madonna said that "True Blue" is "a song about true love. I didn't know what I was talking about when I wrote it." "True Blue" is a dance-pop song inspired by the Motown's girl groups from the 1960s which are considered the direct antecedents of Madonna's musical sound.

 

September 19: Shanghai Surprise is released nationwide. Madonna attends the 2nd annual Commitment to Life benefit for AIDS Project Los Angeles (APLA) to honor Elizabeth Taylor at the Wiltern Theatre, Los Angeles, CA.

 

September 27: In Canada, the song "True Blue" debuted at number 84 the RPM singles chart on September 27, 1986, reached the top for one week in November 1986, and stayed on the chart for 23 weeks. It ended at the 37th position of the year-end chart.

 

September 29: In the United Kingdom, "True Blue" was released on September 29, 1986. It debuted at number three on the UK Singles Chart, before climbing to number one the next week, becoming Madonna's third number-one single there.] It was certified gold by the British Phonographic Industry (BPI) in October 1986. According to the Official Charts Company, the song has sold 556,900 copies there as of August 2016

 

October: The song peaked at number one for two weeks in October 1986 in Ireland, making it her fourth number-one single on the Irish Singles Chart. Both in Australia and New Zealand, the song reached the top five, and was certified platinum in the former region by the Australian Recording Industry Association (ARIA) for sales of 70,000 copies of the single. In Europe "True Blue" also topped the Eurochart Hot 100 for one week in October 1986. It peaked in the top five in Belgium, Italy, and the Netherlands, and in the top ten in Austria, France, Germany, and Switzerland.

 

October 2: The video for “True Blue†premieres on BBC1-TV's Top Of The Pops. (the non-fan-made version).

 

October 11: Madonna makes a surprise appearance on the season premiere of NBC-TV's Saturday Night Live.

 

October 16: "True Blue" single was released in the United States in October 1986. It debuted on the Billboard Hot 100 at number 40, six weeks later it reached its peak of number three, remaining at the position for three consecutive weeks, and spent a total of 16 weeks on the chart. The song performed equally well on the other Billboard charts, peaking at number five on Adult Contemporary, and number six on the Hot Dance Club Songs chart. In October 1998, the single was certified gold by the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) for shipment of 500,000 copies.

 

November: Madonna begins filming Who's That Girl, co-starring Griffin Dunne and Sir John Mills, directed by James Foley.

 

November 10: Madonna participates in an all-star AIDS benefit modelling fashion show at Barney's clothes store, New York, NY, which benefits the AIDS Research Clinic at St. Vincent's Hospital in Manhattan, NY.

 

November 15: "True Blue" hits US #3. (18) True Blue is certified 3x platinum by the RIAA for sales of 3 million copies.

 

November 19: "Open Your Heart" was released as the album's fourth single in November 19, 1986 by Sire Records. Originally a rock and roll song titled "Follow Your Heart", it was written for singer Cyndi Lauper by songwriters Gardner Cole and Peter Rafelson. Looking for new songs for True Blue, Madonna accepted it. She rewrote the song and, along with Patrick Leonard, changed the composition to suit the dance-pop genre. "Open Your Heart" is an innuendo-laden love song where Madonna expresses her sexual desire. The original title according to Cole, was from a local health food restaurant called Follow Your Heart in Canoga Park, California. He was in love with a waitress named Lisa and she became the original inspiration for the lyrics. In Fred Bronson 's The Billboard Book of Number 1 Hits,

 

Cole explained:

Peter and I usually write very quickly. It's usually a day or two a song, but for some reason this didn't really hit us as a hit song. We didn't give up on it. We just kept working on it over the course of a year. Thank God we did. [...] It was the first song that was cut on the True Blue album. It made me nervous as a writer, because a lot of times the very first song that gets cut doesn't make it in the long run. But the song ended up making the album, which really opened up a lot of doors for me.

 

Cole's manager Bennett Freed was working with Madonna's management and they were looking for new material for her album. Three of Cole's songs were chosen for reviewing, including "Follow Your Heart". Madonna's manager Freddy DeMann overheard the song and thought it would be a hit for Madonna and he asked Cole to present a female demo version. Madonna's female backup singer, Donna De Lory was Cole's girlfriend and he immediately asked her to sing the demo. Despite the fact that it did not fit exactly with the genre of songs Madonna was singing at that time, she nevertheless accepted it. Madonna later rewrote and produced the track, retitled "Open Your Heart". Along with producer Patrick Leonard, Madonna added a bassline underneath the song which turned it into a rock-dance track rather than the original rock and roll genre. "Open Your Heart" was the first recorded cut for the True Blue album in late 1985 and ultimately made it to the final released track list.

 

Lyrically, "Open Your Heart" is a simple love song. According to Professor Mavis Tsai, the phrase "Open Your Heart" is a metaphor for the act of being vulnerable that corresponds to the behavior involved in developing an intimate or close relationship. The following lines in the song, "Open Your Heart, I'll make you love me; It's not that hard, if you just turn the key" illustrate this metaphor vividly. The concept of the song places Madonna as a victim of love.

 

According to Billboard, "Open Your Heart" is "brimming with sexual innuendo". In the song, "Madonna yearns for a man to open her lock with his key. And yes, that means exactly what you think it does." The lyrics puts Madonna in a more direct position expressing her sexual desires for her man according to author Santiago Fouz-Hernández in the line "If you gave me half a chance you'd see; My desire burning inside of me."

 

The song was well received by critics, who commended its simplicity. It was also successful commercially, reaching the top-ten of the charts in Belgium, Canada, Ireland, Italy, Netherlands, and the United Kingdom, and the top of the Billboard Hot 100 in the United States, thus making it Madonna's fifth number-one single in the US. The music video for "Open Your Heart" features a story line completely different from that of the song. In it, Madonna plays an exotic dancer in a peep-show club who befriends a little boy and subsequently escapes. It was critically acclaimed for subverting the male gaze, but the plot point of a child entering a strip club was criticized. The video is an homage to actresses Liza Minnelli and Marlene Dietrich.

 

December: "Open Your Heart" single and video are released. Madonna wins a Billboard Music Award for Top Music Video ("Madonna Live: The Virgin Tour").

In the United Kingdom, the Open Your Heart single debuted on the UK Singles Chart at number eight

 

December 1: According to Japanese music magazine ADLIB issue December 1986: The sales of the True Blue album in Japan to date: 520,000.

 

December 6: "Open Your Heart" debuted at number 51 the week ending December 6, 1986, on the Billboard Hot 100 chart.

 

December 13: : In Canada, the song debuted at number 83 on the RPM chart on December 13, 1986

In the United Kingdom, the Open Your Heart single subsequently reached a peak of number four on December 13, 1986. The single was on the chart for nine weeks in total, and was certified silver by the British Phonographic Industry (BPI) on December 1, 1986. According to the Official Charts Company, the song has sold 195,000 copies there. It also peaked at number four in Europe, thus becoming the only single from True Blue not to top the Eurochart Hot 100. In Australia, it only reached a peak of number 16, breaking a run of nine consecutive top ten singles for Madonna in that country. Elsewhere like in Switzerland, Austria, Germany and France, it reached within the top 40 of the singles chart.

 

True Blue was an immediate global success, reaching number one in then record-breaking 28 countries across the world, including Australia, Canada, France, Germany, the United Kingdom and the United States. It spent 34 consecutive weeks at the top of the European Top 100 Albums chart, longer than any other album in history. It became the world's top-selling album of 1986, and with estimated sales of over 25 million copies worldwide, True Blue remains one of the best-selling albums of all time. True Blue is credited as being the album which established Madonna's position as the biggest female artist of the 1980s, rivaling male musicians Michael Jackson and Prince. The album's singles and their accompanying music videos have sparked debates among scholars and social groups. She became the first female artist to receive the Video Vanguard Award at the 1986 MTV Video Music Awards in recognition of her impact on popular culture. The album also gave her first appearance on the Guinness Book of World Records.

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1987
Jan 10: "Papa Don't Preach" is honored as America's Most Popular Video and World's Favorite Video at the 1st annual World Music Video Awards, produced by Canada's MuchMusic and Europe's Sky Channel.

Jan 26: Madonna makes a surprise appearance at the 14th annual American Music Awards at the Shrine Auditorium, Los Angeles, CA, to accept her award for Favorite Pop/Rock Female Video Artist ("Papa Don't Preach").

Feb 3: True Blue is certified 4x platinum (4 million units).

Feb 7: "Open Your Heart" hits US #1.The song had a gradual rise and subsequently topped the chart on February 7, 1987, becoming Madonna's fifth number-one single on the Billboard Hot 100.

Feb 14: The single also had success on Billboard Hot Dance Club Songs chart, reaching number-one on February 14, 1987. It also became Madonna's sixth entry on the Billboard Adult Contemporary chart where it reached a peak of number 12.

Feb 21: In Canada, Open Your Heart reached a peak position of number eight for the chart dated February 21, 1987. It placed at number 68 on the RPM Year-end chart for 1987.
Internationally, it became a top ten hit in several European countries including the United Kingdom, Italy, Ireland, Netherlands, and Belgium.

Feb 25: "La Isla Bonita" (English: The Beautiful Island) was released as the album's final single on February 25, 1987 by Sire Records. The instrumental version of the song was first offered to Michael Jackson for his Bad album, who, according to Gaitsch, turned it down. Madonna both accepted it and wrote the lyrics and melody thus earning herself a co-writing credit. The lyrics of the song tell about a beautiful island and according to Madonna, was a tribute to the beauty of the Latin people. "La Isla Bonita" was written by Madonna, Patrick Leonard and Bruce Gaitsch. The song was previously written as a lament for the town of San Pedro in the island of Ambergris Caye in Belize

Following its release, "La Isla Bonita" received a positive reception from critics. It also achieved worldwide popularity, topping the record charts in countries such as Austria, Canada, France, Germany and Switzerland. It became Madonna's fourth number-one single in the United Kingdom, giving her the record for most number-one singles for a female artist. In the United States, it reached number four on the Billboard Hot 100 chart.

In the accompanying music video, Madonna portrayed two opposite characters – a young, pious Catholic woman and a glamorous, passionate Latina. The Latin style and the flamenco red dress she wore became a trend later.

Feb 26: Madonna wins Best Female Singer and Sexiest Female Artist in Rolling Stone magazine's 11th annual Readers Poll.

March: La Isla Bonita" single and video are released. Madonna is voted "Favorite Artist Of Record Pirates" by Billboard magazine.

March 4: Shanghai Surprise is released on home video.

Mar 6: The music video was set in Los Angeles and was directed by Mary Lambert. Benicio del Toro appeared on the video as a background character, portraying a teenager sitting on a car hood. The video first appeared on MTV on March 6, 1987 and became the most requested video in the channel history by a record-breaking 20 consecutive weeks.[51]

Mar 15: Madonna is named Favorite Female Musical Performer at the 13th annual People's Choice Awards.

Mar 29: Madonna wins a Razzie Award for Worst Actress in Shanghai Surprise at the 7th annual Golden Raspberry Awards at the Hollywood Roosevelt Hotel Blossom Ballroom, Los Angeles, CA.

Mar 30: Madonna is a presenter at the 59th annual Academy Awards at the Dorothy Chandler Pavilion, Los Angeles, CA.

April: Madonna begins rehearsals for "Who's That Girl World Tour 1987".

April 2: Madonna wins Best Female Performance for "Papa Don't Preach" at the 5th annual American Video Awards at the Scottish Rite Auditorium, Los Angeles, CA.

April 4: In Canada, the song La Isla Bonita debuted at number 74 for the issue dated April 4, 1987.
In the United Kingdom, "La Isla Bonita" topped the UK Singles Chart for two weeks, giving Madonna her fourth number-one single on the chart. She became the female artist with the most number-one singles in the British chart history—a record that has since been maintained by Madonna to date. The single was certified silver by the British Phonograhy Industry (BPI) for shipment of 250,000 copies of the single. According to the Official Charts Company, the song has sold 435,000 copies in the UK.

Across Europe, it became her fourth number one hit from True Blue, topping the Eurochart Hot 100 for three weeks in 1987. The song also peaked atop the charts in Switzerland, Belgium and Austria along with reaching the top-five in Ireland, Italy, Netherlands, Norway and Sweden, and the top-ten in Spain.

April 25: Madonna becomes the only female solo artist to have 4 No. 1 singles in UK with "La Isla Bonita".

May 2: "La Isla Bonita" hits US #4.
"La Isla Bonita" debuted at number 49 and reached a peak of number four on the Billboard Hot 100 chart in May 1987. The song was Madonna's second number one single on the Adult Contemporary chart, following 1986's "Live to Tell.†It became the 11th consecutive top-five hit for Madonna, a feat surpassed only by the Beatles and Elvis Presley. The single also found success on the Hot Dance Singles Sales chart, where it peaked at number one.

May 18: Madonna is honored for Best Songwriting for "Live To Tell" at the 4th annual ASCAP Pop Music Awards at the Beverly Hilton Hotel, Beverly Hills, CA; the award is accepted on her behalf by brother-in-law Christopher Penn.

June 6: La Isla Bonita reached the top of the chart in its tenth week on the issue dated June 6, 1987, remaining on the chart for 25 weeks. It placed at number 22 on the RPM Year-end chart for 1987.

June 9: Madonna makes her first TV talk-show appearance on NBC-TV's The Tonight Show (hosted by Johnny Carson).

July: "La Isla Bonita" was Madonna's first number one song in France, where it spent three weeks at the top spot in July 1987. "La Isla Bonita" was certified gold by the Syndicat National de l'Édition Phonographique (SNEP) for shipment of 500,000 copies. "La Isla Bonita" remains Madonna's best-selling single in France, selling over 771,000 copies.


Billboard #1 Hits book:
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The era that elevated me to full Madonna loon. Once I saw "Live To Tell" video, the ride really began for me.  Loved her music before this, but her beauty and music stole my heart at this time.

 

And Groovyguy, I enjoy reading up on your summaries of each era. For the most part, I remember everything as you wrote it, but I still find a few tidbits that I either didn't know or had forgotten. :wink:

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Madonna: True Blue

 

http://www.rollingstone.com/music/albumreviews/true-blue-19860717

 

By Davitt Sigerson

July 17, 1986

 

Of all current superstars, none has manipulated the apparatus of fame more astutely than Madonna. Like Prince, she recognized the virtue of a one-word name and demonstrated the truth of an old adage — sex sells. She has played America's public morals like a virtuoso, building from starlet to megaslut to bad girl with a heart of gold to New Honest Woman.

 

Cynics and idealists can agree: a conquest this perfect requires incredible amounts of both luck and smarts. Up comes a good-looking, good-singing doll who parlays great ambition and market sense into a lowbrow dance album that becomes an international hit. She completes the transition from genre diva to mass-media wet dream brandishing a boy toy belt buckle under her bared bellybutton (for all convent girls to admire and feminists to loathe), then turns it around in a show of humor and pluck. But Madonna's march takes her to the brink of overexposure.

 

Then, out come the Penthouse and Playboy spreads. How do a couple of four-year-old portfolios just happen to make it into the hands of two fiercely competitive publications at the same exact ideal-for-Madonna moment? If it isn't a fix, then clearly God likes bad Catholic girls. And what could be better? That this bathroom consummation of boy toy love should be followed immediately by ritual purification at the altar of real love. Madonna marries Sean Penn and at long last hits the matrimonial sack.

 

And she did it all in less time than it has taken Ronald Reagan to send millions below the poverty line. Like Jimmy Cagney, to whom she dedicates "White Heat," Madonna is a lovable punk: cynical, street smart, funky, sexy, fundamentally idealistic, indestructibly self-respecting. Like Cagney, she's a national icon — but first and always, a patron saint of parochial-school America.

 

It is for the prokie (a less publicized but still more populous stratum than yuppie or preppie) that True Blue is written. Singing better than ever, Madonna stakes her claim as the pop poet of lower-middle-class America. On "Where's the Party," she presents a concise manifesto for the straphanging classes: "Couldn't wait to get older/Thought I'd have so much fun/Guess I'm one of the grown-ups/Now I have to get the job done." But Madonna isn't sad about her responsibilities. Full of immigrant-stock hustle, she's going to "find a way to make the good times last." On "Jimmy Jimmy," she laughs at her breathless boyfriend: "You say you're gonna be the king of Las Vegas.... You're just a boy who comes from bad places." But it's a loving laugh — and, surprise, Jimmy really does leave to make a better life. The story ends sadly, but the song is so happy that we can't doubt Madonna's pride in her guy or that she'll find a way to follow.

 

In "Love Makes the World Go Round," the happiest anthem for this age of uplift, Madonna scores at least as many points as "We Are the World" with lines like "It's easy to forget/If you don't hear the sound/Of pain and prejudice/Love makes the world go round" and "We're all so quick to look away/'Cause it's the easy thing to do."

 

Produced by Madonna with Pat Leonard and Stephen Bray, the sound of True Blue is yet another canny move. Armed with the success of "Into the Groove" (an unretouched eight-track demo by Bray and Madonna that epitomizes dance-pop perfection), M. resisted any temptation to reach for the kind of tour de force production Nile Rodgers achieved on Like a Virgin. Instead, we have a clean, accessible record assembled by a singer and songwriters to showcase material and performances. And (excepting the "Both Sides Now" rewrite "Live to Tell") it's true blue to Madonna's disco roots.

 

If there is a problem with Madonna's proke-rock testament, it's the lack of outstanding songs. Only the magnificent "Papa Don't Preach" — Madonna's "Billie Jean" — has the high-profile hook to match "Like a Virgin," "Dress You Up" and "Material Girl." Not coincidentally, all of the above were written by outside contributors. "White Heat," "Jimmy Jimmy" and "World Go Round" are excellent within their aspirations and easily comparable to "Angel" and "Holiday" (though not quite up to "Into the Groove" or "Lucky Star"). But none has the feel of a pop event. "Party" starts well but doesn't ignite, and "True Blue," a cross between "Heaven Must Have Sent You" and "Chapel of Love," squanders a classic beat and an immensely promising title.

 

In commercial terms, it may not matter. "Live to Tell" hit Number One on career momentum, and "Papa Don't Preach" is great enough to carry several of True Blue's solid contenders home. In a clever double-entendre, M. — no longer anything like a virgin — pleads for her father's approval of the decision to keep an unborn child. Given Madonna's conscientiousness and ambition, it's not likely True Blue's dearth of "career records" was intentional. But its integrity and very freedom from attention seeking may turn out to be yet another piece of great timing in a remarkable career.

 

Madonna's sturdy, dependable, lovable new album remains faithful to her past while shamelessly rising above it. True Blue may generate fewer sales and less attention than Like a Virgin, but it sets her up as an artist for the long run. And like every other brainy move from this best of all possible pop madonnas, it sounds as if it comes from the heart.

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sjZ4v7t.jpg

 

Did you know that…

 

… the True Blue album cover is originally a black and white shot? Yes! Jeri Heiden, the creative director behind many of Madonna’s singles and albums, came up with the concept of bringing Andy Warhol’s Pop Art into pop music.

 

So Madonna was shot by Herb Ritts in B&W and later colored digitally by Jeri Heiden. He thought it would be an iconic shot of Madonna, and it is! True Blue sold about 30 million copies worldwide and it’s her most successful studio album ever.

 

whmAouJ.jpg

 

Did you know that…

 

… it’s not Madonna’s handwriting on the back cover of True Blue? Yes!!!! It’s Jeri Heiden’s handwriting, the creative director responsible for the album. Madonna did a photoshoot with Herb Ritts that generated hundreds of pictures, and Jeri was in charge to choose the best from them to create an image for the album.

 

While producing its cover, Heiden had the idea to handwrite the album’s title and its songs, but Madonna was not available, so Jeri wrote it all by herself.

 

Quite a mystery solved!

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http://www.madonnatribe.com/idol/jeri.htm

The MadonnaTribe Team has had the pleasure to have a brief chat with Jeri Heiden, the woman in charge of the cover design of many Madonna albums, among them, Like A Virgin, Like A Prayer, You Can Dance and True Blue.

To celebrate the 20th anniversary of the True Blue album this month, we focused our questions to Jeri on the making of its iconic cover. Let's celebrate!

 

MadonnaTribe: Hi Jeri and welcome to MadonnaTribe.
This year marks the 20th anniversary of one of the most classic Madonna albums ever, True Blue.

Released in the summer of 1986 that album entered iconic status not only due to the classic songs it contains but also for the incredible and powerful packaging, which is still very contemporary.



 

After working on the artwork of the Like A Virgin album you were approached again by Warners to work on True Blue. 

What do you remember about the first meetings you had with Madonna? Did she already have a clear idea of what she wanted?



 

Jeri Heiden: I was working in the art department at Warner Bros. at the time - on staff as an Art Director. At that time, most artists worked with us in-house.
 Madonna had commissioned the Herb Ritts photo shoot - she was already highly aware of the value of her image and was in control of it. The photo shoot was given to me to edit - it was at least 60 rolls, mostly 35 mm. 

Good thing my eyesight was strong back then! 

I edited the session and made recommendations for prints. We ordered about 30 or 40 test prints from Herb's studio.
Other than that, there was no specific idea for the cover.



 

MT: The back cover of the album presents the song titles written in Madonna's handwriting. It's funny as her latest album Confessions On A Dance Floor has the titles written in the same way. Whose idea was to write the titles that way on True Blue?

 

JH: Sorry if I am busting a myth - but that's my handwriting!

I have used my own handwriting on numerous albums, and have had several different fonts created from it. 
So... I guess it was my idea.

 

MT: Talk about busting a myth, indeed!

 Speaking of the front image, there are two different versions of the True Blue cover, there are copies printed in Canada and the U.S. that just have Madonna's face with no logos.

Other copies released in the UK and Europe had the Madonna logo and album title on top. Is there a reason for this?

 

JH: We used a sticker in the U.S. - thinking it would be really cool if when you took off the shrink-wrap there was nothing left but the gorgeous photo of Madonna. It was so iconic.

Other territories were less confident I suppose, and felt that her name HAD to be on the cover. This isn't unusual at all - for territories to modify artwork for their needs. I remember providing International with the alternate cover.

 

MT: The cassette version of True Blue presented the full Herb Ritts image while the vinyl album cover had the face close up. Was it hard to crop that powerful image to fit the square size of the vinyl cover?



 

JH: No, not really. I think the image became more interesting cropped into a square - and at that time we always started with the album cover configuration. 
It was like she was floating - her clothing was not visible. She took on the appearance of a marble statue - Goddess like.

In the vertical cropping you see her leather jacket and the wall, and it becomes more typical, editorial, earthly.



 

MT: From what we hear, the original Herb Ritts photo was in black and white that was then hand tinted with blue tones. Can you tell us more about the process the led to the final result?



 

JH: That's correct. The image was a 35mm b&w shot. I experimented with a variety of treatments, looking for a good compliment to the album title.



 

MT: Was that technique applied to other photos? I seem to recall a couple of Herb Ritts shots in the official 1987 calendar having a similar look?


 

JH: I haven't seen the calendar, so I'm not sure about that.



 

MT: Several images by Herb Ritts were considered for the True Blue album cover, among them the ones that later became the Papa Don't Preach and True Blue single photos and another amazing image that remains unreleased. Who was responsible in the end for choosing the final cover image?

 

JH: The final cover image was chosen by Madonna, myself and Jeff Ayeroff - Creative Director at WB at the time. It was so strong, it just became the natural choice.

 

MT: Obviously you were then involved in the making of the singles' covers, adapting the rejected lp cover shots to the single releases.

Did Madonna had to approve the singles covers?



 

JH: She approved everything, along with her management. And in the course of designing the album package there are often 2nd or 3rd 'choices' that we hold out for single sleeve artwork. 


 

 lLz1jtM.jpg

 

MT: You also worked on the art direction of the Open Your Heart single cover.

As with Live To Tell it presented an image coming straight from the video set.

Was this a decision made at the last minute to make the image of Madonna in the video coincide with the commercial release or was it planned?

 

JH: At that time we felt that a very current image, i.e, one that would tie into the video, was a good choice. So much money and energy was expended in the creation of the videos, and she got so much air time, it just made sense. Also - it offered something 'new' to the fan & collector - always a plus.



 

MT: Your original artworks and logos were slighly modified in some foreign markets.

French singles had to have for some reasons all horizontal writings. Japanese singles had often totally different cover photos and UK picture discs often presented alterated layouts.

 

Did you work on those "extentions" of the True Blue project as well?



 

JH: No, typically these modifications were done in each territory. Although I really enjoy seeing them - especially the Japanese versions!



 

MT: At the time it was rumoured a sixth single after La Isla Bonita was due to be released from True Blue. The rumoured song was Where's The Party. Did you happen to work on a single cover for that song?

 

JH: I don't believe so.

MT: Right after True Blue you worked again for Madonna for the You Can Dance album. The album presents once again the platinum blond Madonna that was introduced for the first time with True Blue in a Herb Ritts photo.

 

How did the artwork of You Can Dance come to life?

Was it conceived as a sort of True Blue tie in?

 

JH: I don't think it was meant to be a tie-in. It was just Madonna's look at the time - Platinum Blond. And of course the handwriting reappears on that album.



 

MT: Among the many albums you did for Madonna, which is by far your favourite creation and the one you had more fun working on?

 

JH: True Blue remains my favorite Madonna cover and project.

 

MT: Jeri, thanks for sharing your time with us.

 

JH: Thank you.


 

Ubm50Lv.jpg

 

For more information about Jeri Heiden please visit www.smogdesign.com.

All images of released memorabilia are original scans from M-Tribe's archive/collection.
Logos and images are copyright of the original owner.
This interview © 2006 MadonnaTribe

 

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@@MiB

 

Thank you.

 

Paula Ciccone - Interview 1986

 

Nick Kamen's Each Time You Break My Heart

Is noted @

 

* Unreleased http://www.madonna-infinity.net/forums/index.php?/topic/12055-the-true-blue-era/?p=557782

 

Another Madonna-Bray demo for "Each Time You Break My Heart" also remains unreleased. Bray describes it as "virtually unchanged from the version later recorded and released by Nick Kamen" with Madonna backing vocals in 1986 except the original demo features Madonna on the lead vocal.

 

Nick Kamen later recorded his version of this song with Madonna as backing vocals. It was a big hit in Europe (number 1 in Italy, number 5 in the UK in November 1986). The song went to No. 5 in the U.K. in November 1986. It went to No. 2 in Switzerland (Feb. 15, 1987). #25 in Austria, #8 in France, and #6 in Sweden. The track is HUGE in Italy. It will see its U.S. release in May 1987.

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AWARDS

 

1986

 

THE FACE MAGAZINE

Top Singles of 1986: #26 "Live To Tell"

 

MELODY MAKER'S END OF YEAR CRITIC LISTS

Singles of 1986: #9 "Papa Don't Preach

 

MTV VIDEO MUSIC AWARDS

Video Vanguard Award

 

Q MAGAZINE

Recordings Of The Year: "True Blue"

 

ROLLING STONE CRITICS POLL

Best Singles of 1986: #3 "Papa Don't Preach"

 

SOUNDS MAGAZINE END OF YEAR LIST

Albums Of The Year: "True Blue"

 

THE VILLAGE VOICE MAGAZINE

Top Singles of 1986: #20 "Papa Don't Preach"

 

1987

 

AMERICAN MUSIC AWARDS

Favorite Pop/Rock Video Female

 

Nomination for Favorite Pop/Rock Female Artist

Lost to Whitney Houston

 

Nomination for Favorite Pop/Rock Single for "Live To Tell"

Lost to "There'll Be Sad Songs (To Make You Cry)" by Billy Ocean

 

ASCAP FILM AND TELEVISION MUSIC AWARDS

Most Performed Songs from Motion Pictures for "Live To Tell" by Madonna (from "At Close Range")

 

BILLBOARD MUSIC AWARDS

  • Top Dance Sales Artist
  • Top Pop Singles Artist
  • Top Pop Singles Artist – Female

 

BRAVO OTTO AWARDS

Female Singer (Gold)

 

BRIT AWARDS

Nomination for Best International Solo Artist

Lost to Paul Simon

 

DIAMOND AWARDS

One Million for "True Blue" Album (1 million albums sold in Canada)

 

THE FACE MAGAZINE

Top Singles of 1987: #25 "Who's That Girl"#1 "Sign O' The Times" by Prince

 

GOLDEN RASPBERRY AWARDS

Worst Actress for "Shanghai Surprise" (Madonna)
Nomination for Worst Picture for "Shanghai Surprise" Lost to "Howard the Duck"
Nomination for Worst Actor for "Shanghai Surprise" (Sean Penn) Lost to "Under the Cherry Moon" (Prince)
Nomination for Worst Director for "Shanghai Surprise" (Jim Goddard) Lost to "Under the Cherry Moon" (Prince)
Nomination for Worst Screenplay for "Shanghai Surprise" (Screenplay by John Kohn and Robert Bentley, based on the novel Farraday's Flowers by Tony Kenrick)Lost to "Howard the Duck" (Screenplay by Willard Huyck and Gloria Katz, based on the Marvel Comics character created by Steve Gerber)
Nomination for Worst Song for "Shanghai Surprise" by George Harrison (from "Shanghai Surprise")Lost to "Love or Money" by Prince and The Revolution (from "Under the Cherry Moon")

 

GRAMMY AWARDS

Nomination for Best Pop Vocal Performance, Female for "Papa Don't Preach"Lost to "The Broadway Album" by Barbra Streisand

 

JAPAN GOLD DISC AWARDS

Artist of the Year

 

Grand Prix Album of the Year for "True Blue"
Best Album of the Year – Pops Solo for "True Blue"

 

JUNO AWARDS

International Album of the Year for "True Blue"
Nomination for International Single of the Year for "Papa Don't Preach" Lost to "Venus" by Bananarama

 

MELODY MAKER'S END OF YEAR CRITIC LISTS

Singles of 1987: #10 "Who's That Girl"#1 "Birthday" by Sugarcubes

 

MTV VIDEO MUSIC AWARDS

Best Female Video for "Papa Don't Preach"
Nomination for Best Female Video for "Open Your Heart"Lost to "Papa Don't Preach" by herself
Nomination for Best Overall Performance In A Video for "Papa Don't Preach"Lost to "Sledgehammer" by Peter Gabriel
Nomination for Best Choreography In A Video for "Open Your Heart" (Choreographer: Brad Jeffries) Lost to "Nasty" by Janet Jackson (Choreographer: Paula Abdul)
Nomination for Best Art Direction In A Video for "Open Your Heart" (Art Director: Mike Hanan) Lost to "Sledgehammer" by Peter Gabriel (Art Directors: Stephen Quay and Timothy Quay)
Nomination for Best Cinematography In A Video for "Papa Don't Preach" (Director of Photography: Michael Ballhaus) Lost to "C'est La Vie" by Robbie Nevil (Director of Photography: Mark Plummer)

 

MUCH MUSIC VIDEO AWARDS

Best Female Artist
Best Female Video for "La Isla Bonita"

 

NICKELODEON KIDS' CHOICE AWARDS

Favorite Female Vocalist

 

POLLSTAR CONCERT INDUSTRY AWARDS

Nomination for Most Creative Stage Set for "Who's That Girl World Tour" (Planview)Lost to Pink Floyd (Paul Staples & Marc Brickman)
Nomination for Personal Manager Of The Year for "Who's That Girl World Tour" (Freddie DeMann)Lost to Doug Thaler & Doc McGhee (Bon Jovi / Motley Crue)

 

WORLD MUSIC VIDEO AWARDS

America's Most Popular Video for "Papa Don't Preach"
World's Most Favourite Video for "Papa Don't Preach"

 
 

1988

 

AMERICAN MUSIC AWARDS

Nomination for Favorite Pop/Rock Female Artist Lost to Whitney Houston

 

 

BMI POP AWARDS

Most Performed Song for "La Isla Bonita", "Open Your Heart" and "Live to Tell"

 

BRIT AWARDS

Nomination for Best International Solo Artist Lost to Michael Jackson

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MADONNA INTERVIEW : NEW YORK TIMES (JUNE 29 1986)

https://allaboutmadonna.com/madonna-library/madonna-interview-new-york-times-june-29-1986

 

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“I like challenge and controversy – I like to tick people off,â€

 

Madonna boasted, tossing her head and flashing a mischievous half-smile. The 27-year-old pop star was sipping a diet cola in a conference room at the New York offices of Warner Bros. Records. She appeared almost demure in a pink-and-blue flowered dress and a very short haircut inspired by the late-50’s gamine look of Jean Seberg, Audrey Hepburn and Leslie Caron. Gone along with most of her hair was the heavy makeup and jewelry that made last year’s Madonna resemble a contemporary street version of Marilyn Monroe in “Gentlemen Prefer Blondes.â€

“After awhile I got sick of wearing tons of jewelry – I wanted to clean myself off,†Madonna said flatly. "I see my new look as very innocent and feminine and unadorned. It makes me feel good. Growing up, I admired the kind of beautiful glamorous woman – from Brigitte Bardot to Grace Kelly – who doesn’t seem to be around much anymore. I think it’s time for that kind of glamour to come back.â€

 

If Madonna’s new upscale look represents a dramatic swing away from the provocative sex symbol who wore lingerie as outerwear and crucifixes like diamonds, it does not signal an end to her courting of controversy. “Papa Don’t Preach,†the second single from her third album, “True Blue†(Sire 25442; LP, cassette, compact disk), is bound to rile some parents of teen-age girls. The protagonist of the song, which was written by Brian Elliot, is a pregnant adolescent who begs her father to bless her decision to keep the baby and marry her boyfriend. Madonna sings it in a passionate, bratty sob that makes the plea immediate and believable.

 

The song has also been turned into a compelling slice-of-life music video. Filmed on location in a working-class neighborhood of Staten Island, with Danny Aiello playing the father, it features a virtuoso performance by a waifish, saucer-eyed Madonna, who looks all of 15 as she quivers anxiously, awaiting her father’s response. Like Michael Jackson’s “Billie Jean,†the song and its video have an iconographic resonance that could push Madonna’s career to an even higher plateau than the household-word status she attained last year with her 6 1/2-million-selling second album, “Like a Virgin.â€

“‘Papa Don’t Preach’ is a message song that everyone is going to take the wrong way,†Madonna proudly predicted. “Immediately they’re going to say I am advising every young girl to go out and get pregnant. When I first heard the song, I thought it was silly. But then I thought, wait a minute, this song is really about a girl who is making a decision in her life. She has a very close relationship with her father and wants to maintain that closeness. To me it’s a celebration of life. It says, ‘I love you, father, and I love this man and this child that is growing inside me.’ Of course, who knows how it will end? But at least it starts off positive.â€

 

“Papa Don’t Preach,†for which Madonna contributed a couple of minor lyrical revisions, is the only song on the album that Madonna didn’t have a strong hand in writing. The song was sent to her by Michael Ostin, the same Warner Bros. executive who discovered “Like a Virgin.†Most of the album’s eight other songs Madonna co-wrote with Patrick Leonard, the musical director for her 1985 tour, or with her sometime songwriting partner, Stephen Bray. The three also co-produced the LP.

 

While “True Blue†lacks the gleaming ultra-sleek aural surfaces of “Like a Virgin,†both its songs and Madonna’s singing show a lot more heart. “Live to Tell,†written for the soundtrack of “At Close Range,†the movie starring her husband, Sean Penn, was released in advance of the album and recently spent a week perched at No. 1 on the pop charts. It proves that vocally Madonna isn’t limited to catchy novelties and disco tunes – she can carry off a weightier ballad. The rest of the album consists of highly commercial dance-pop whose lyrics convey an upbeat message along with casual autobiographical references. “True Blue†takes its title from a favorite expression of Sean Penn, and is a tribute, according to Madonna, “to my husband’s very pure vision of love.†Musically, it also pays homage to Motown and to 60’s “girl-group†hits like “Chapel of Love†that are the direct antecedents of Madonna’s sound.

 

The happy, Latin-flavored “La Isla Bonita†is Madonna’s celebration of what she called “the beauty and mystery of Latin American people.†The itchy dance tune, “Jimmy Jimmy†commemorates her youthful fascination with James Dean. “I used to fantasize that we grew up in the same neighborhood and that he moved away and became a big star,†she admitted. “White Heat†is dedicated to another mythic rebel, James Cagney, whose voice opens the track in a snatch of dialogue from the movie of the same name. “Where’s the Party?†Madonna explained, "is my ultimate reminder to myself that I want to enjoy life and not let the press get to me, because every once in a while it does.â€"Open Your Heart†is about “wanting to change somebody.†And the album’s final cut, “Love Makes the World Go Round,†preaches a cheerfully simplistic humanitarianism: “Don’t judge a man ’til you’ve been standin’ in his shoes/ You know that we’re all so quick to look away/ ‘Cause it’s the easy thing to do/ Make love not war.â€

 

Obviously, Madonna is still much more significant as a pop culture symbol than as a songwriter or a singer. But the songs on “True Blue†are shrewdly crafted teen-age and pre-teen-age ditties that reveal Madonna’s unfailing commercial instincts. And her singing, which has been harshly criticized as a thin imitation of the 60’s girl-group sound, has strengthened.

“I grew up loving innocent child voices like Diana Ross, while she was with the Supremes, and Stevie Wonder, when he was young, and I practically swooned when I heard Frankie Lymon’s records,†she said. "I don’t know why, but I was always instinctively drawn to those voices. I don’t think I sing like a woman. I sing like a girl, and it’s a quality I never want to lose.â€

But even more than a girlish voice, the quality that defines Madonna Louise Veronica Ciccone is an instinct for rebellion that she traces to her parochial school girlhood in Pontiac, Mich.

“When you go to Catholic school, you have to wear uniforms, and everything is decided for you,†she recalled. "Since you have no choice but to wear your uniform, you go out of your way to do things that are different in order to stand out.

 

All that rebellion carried over when I moved to New York eight years ago to become a dancer. At dance classes, all the ballerinas had their hair back in a bun, and so I chopped my hair off and ripped my leotard down the front and put little tiny safety pins all the way up just to provoke my teacher. After all, where is it written that in order to be a better dancer you have to wear a black leotard and pink tights and have your hair in a bun? Going out dancing with my girlfriends in New York clubs, we would dress for provocation. What I was wearing at the time I was signed to a record contract became my look.

 

“What kids see in me is another rebel kid who says what she wants and does what she wants and has a joy in life,†Madonna went on. "The girls that dressed like me all got the joke – it was their parents who didn’t. You didn’t see those girls going off and doing awful things because they bought my records. What I’ve learned from all the controversy is that you can’t expect everyone to get your sense of humor. But I’ve also learned that people eventually do catch on to what they didn’t get at first. It’s a nice surprise in the end when they, go, ‘Hey, well, you know… I like that.’ “

 

A disciplined, immensely self-confident woman who doesn’t eat meat, rarely touches liquor and rigorously trains her body every day, Madonna is a woman in charge of her life and career. She appeared to be uncowed by the voyeurism of a celebrity press that has dredged up vintage nude photos of her and made her recent marriage to Mr. Penn a running battle with the paparazzi.

 

Madonna’s title role of a freewheeling bohemian vagabond in the Susan Seidelman film “Desperately Seeking Susan,†along with her music-videos, has established her as a natural screen presence, and a larger movie career seems inevitable. In her next film, “Shanghai Surprise,†she plays a staid young missionary from Massachusetts who falls in love with a petty swindler, played by Mr. Penn. The film, which is set in pre-Revolutionary China, was shot in Hong Kong and is scheduled to be released this fall.

“I always thought of myself as a star, though I never in my wildest dreams expected to become this big,†Madonna said bluntly. “But I knew I was born to it. I don’t know why. I think people are named names for certain reasons, and I feel that I was given a special name for a reason. In a way, maybe I wanted to live up to my name.â€

 

© New York Times

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