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The Brilliance of 'Rescue Me'


Arckangel
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Rescue Me is one of my ultimate fav. It's pop, soul, dance, I never want the song to end, I love every part of it, and it always reminds me of the time when I became a fan, back in 1990 !!

 

And it had quite a success at the time :

In the United States, Michael Ellis from Billboard noted that "Rescue Me" had entered the Hot 100 Airplay chart prior to its commercial release, and had already climbed to number 7. It was already being played in almost all major radio stations in the country.[31] After release, the track debuted at number 15 on the Billboard Hot 100 chart on the week of March 2, 1991. It was the highest debut for a song within the previous 21 years, since the Beatles' "Let It Be" debuted at number six in March 1970.[15] "Rescue Me" was also the highest debut for a song released by a female artist, since Joy Layne's "Your Wild Heart" debuted at number 30 in 1957. After three weeks the song reached number 9 on the Hot 100, becoming Madonna's 22nd top-ten single.[32][33] The track reached number six on the Dance Club Songs chart, aided by the remixes played in clubs.[34] On May 24, 1991, "Rescue Me" was certified gold by the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) for shipments of over 500,000 copies.[35] In Canada, the song debuted on the RPM Top Singles chart at number 96 and reached a peak of number seven after nine weeks.[36][37] It also reached top-five on the RPM Dance/Urban chart.[38] The song was present for a total of 16 weeks on the Singles chart and ranked at number 55 on the 1991 year-end tabulation.[39][40]

In Australia, "Rescue Me" debuted at number 31 on the ARIA Charts, and after four weeks reached a peak of number 15.[41] In New Zealand the song managed to reach number 18 and was present for six weeks on the chart.[42] In the United Kingdom, the track had debuted at number 84 on the UK Singles Chart and then dropped off. It re-entered at number four in April 1991 and reached its peak position of number 3 a week later, being present for a total of nine weeks in the chart.[43] According to Music & Media, the track reached the top of the UK sales chart.[44] As of August 2008, it has sold 134,767 copies in the country according to the Official Charts Company.[45] Across Europe, "Rescue Me" reached the top 20 of the charts in Belgium, Denmark, Ireland, Netherlands, Norway and Switzerland,[46][47][48] and top 40 in France, Germany and Sweden.[48] Its commercial performance in the European countries helped it attain a peak of number 3 on the European Hot 100 Singles chart, placing at number 90 on the year-end ranking

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11 minutes ago, steady75 said:

It was a big hit but as us often in Madonnas catalogue, if she doesn’t continue to give it life it withers away.

Rescue Me was orphaned at birth. 

So many hit singles orphaned at birth... Bad Girl, Bedtime Story, You'll See, I'll Remember... Or used in a tour and forgotten after that... Who's That Girl, Fever...

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  • 2 years later...

Thats why it bothers me when crap like back that up to the beat gets "revived " on tiktok and amazing songs like this dont ... i guess tiktok generation have better taste in music then !! and yes im bumping this thread coz i love this song more than any other M song from her imperial phase (yes even Vogue ) !! 

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38 minutes ago, wtg1987 said:

Thats why it bothers me when crap like back that up to the beat gets "revived " on tiktok and amazing songs like this dont ... i guess tiktok generation have better taste in music then !! and yes im bumping this thread coz i love this song more than any other M song from her imperial phase (yes even Vogue ) !! 

Rescue Me = :heart:

0f3c8c74ce79e2f454f59640a687df28.gif

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On 3/20/2020 at 10:11 PM, A. A. Aardvark said:

 

This is also a great song by an amazing band. I know there are some similarities, but I always thought Lady Kier might have been a bit overzealous as far as accusing M of copying the song.  Let's face it, "I believe in the power of love" isn't an original thought or lyric for either artist, and while it's a great (and very true!) sentiment, it's not exactly Shakespeare either way.  

That said, Deee-Lite are ridiculously underrated and unfairly written off as one-hit wonders, when they actually delivered three albums worth of brilliance.  I wish someone could convince Lady Kier to dump all her solo songs that she's been working on for the past 20 years on SoundCloud, kinda like what Aphex Twin did a few years back.  I would die a happy man.

Oh, and "Rescue Me"?  Easily 10/10, and a huge highlight in a body of work that's full of competition.  I would have loved a live version, but maybe we'll get one down the road.  We can dream ...

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16 hours ago, momosfantasy said:

This is also a great song by an amazing band. I know there are some similarities, but I always thought Lady Kier might have been a bit overzealous as far as accusing M of copying the song.  Let's face it, "I believe in the power of love" isn't an original thought or lyric for either artist, and while it's a great (and very true!) sentiment, it's not exactly Shakespeare either way.  

That said, Deee-Lite are ridiculously underrated and unfairly written off as one-hit wonders, when they actually delivered three albums worth of brilliance.  I wish someone could convince Lady Kier to dump all her solo songs that she's been working on for the past 20 years on SoundCloud, kinda like what Aphex Twin did a few years back.  I would die a happy man.

Oh, and "Rescue Me"?  Easily 10/10, and a huge highlight in a body of work that's full of competition.  I would have loved a live version, but maybe we'll get one down the road.  We can dream ...

The issue was the timing because both songs came out in 1990. In fact too close to each other for Madonna taking notes.

Deee lite were pretty popular with "World Clique" but they started as a indie dance event from NY and got popular quickly. The record label wanted them to tour a  lot and perform gigs. And while Lady was up for it, Dmitry and Towa were'nt so much. Specially Towa tei, he was the first one detaching himself from the whole thing. Overall they were pretty fresh and weren't pay right for what they were doing or their sales. The second album was a flop and the third, when they went for the rave mode, only had Towa involved in one song. Miss Kier and Dmitry fell out with some emotional drama in between .They had as well issues with samples (that Towa used) not being clear for reproduction in other countries. That's why even today is hard to find some of their songs in stream compilations. 

Lady has been always inclined to bring 'em back for a new project and recently Dimitry said it could be fun, but Towa in an interview few years ago said that he didn't want to be involved with anything Deee Lite related. ( But he did use the samples for the Kylie song)

They had been printing their records and making it available in stream, so who knows

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I love Rescue Me  - could even be my favourite song she has ever done and certainly in the top 5. Dane pop perfection with amazing vocals, backing from Niki and Donna which sound great . The remixes were great too I think Junior Vasquez was involved with them

I think it's been forgotten as there was no video and never been performed live (Madame X interlude does not count)

Rescue Me was a huge hit when it was released - I think it got to number 2 in the UK with no video only a compilation of clips from Who's That Girl not even from the most recent tour at the time which was Blond Ambition, no live performance and released after people had already bought the immaculate collection and already had the song on that. Think I remember in the US it was one of her highest entries in the billboard chart. Imagine if she had made a video and promoted it with live performances  - think it would have surely been another number 1 single for her.

I think a lot of newer fans will think it was not a hit but it really was! It's just been forgotten about

I think if she had included it in the Madame X show it would have outshined everything else in the show by a mile and made everything else in the show pale next to it - most of Madame X is so dull and flat by comparison I can understand she did not include it but really wish she had. If she had closed the show with Rescue Me in it's original form instead of I Rise I think people would have left the show only more of a high - but that was not the aim of the Madame X show

 

 

 

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Just now, MDNA22 said:

I love Rescue Me  - could even be my favourite song she has ever done and certainly in the top 5. Dance pop perfection with amazing vocals, backing from Niki and Donna which sound great . The remixes were great too I think Junior Vasquez was involved with them

I think it's been forgotten as there was no video and never been performed live (Madame X interlude does not count)

Rescue Me was a huge hit when it was released - I think it got to number 2 in the UK with no video only a compilation of clips from Who's That Girl not even from the most recent tour at the time which was Blond Ambition, no live performance and released after people had already bought the immaculate collection and already had the song on that. Think I remember in the US it was one of her highest entries in the billboard chart. Imagine if she had made a video and promoted it with live performances  - think it would have surely been another number 1 single for her.

I think a lot of newer fans will think it was not a hit but it really was! It's just been forgotten about

I think if she had included it in the Madame X show it would have outshined everything else in the show by a mile and made everything else in the show pale next to it - most of Madame X is so dull and flat by comparison I can understand she did not include it but really wish she had. If she had closed the show with Rescue Me in it's original form instead of I Rise I think people would have left the show only more of a high - but that was not the aim of the Madame X show

 

 

 

 

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6 hours ago, animalinstinct said:

‘Rescue Me’ is right up there with her very best. Her raspy vocals are arguably her best vocal performance too. 
My guess is that she hasn’t performed it, is that it’s vocals are just too difficult. 

Madonna can sing most anything, even jazz, theatre and opera stuff. If a number is too high, she can lower the notes. As for the original Rescue Me, she can pull it (as she did in the studio). Half the song is spoken, and the other half just requires some good technique and placement. Her Blond Ambition voice would work best for it for that deep, guttural belting.

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On 2/2/2023 at 9:18 PM, momosfantasy said:

This is also a great song by an amazing band. I know there are some similarities, but I always thought Lady Kier might have been a bit overzealous as far as accusing M of copying the song.  Let's face it, "I believe in the power of love" isn't an original thought or lyric for either artist, and while it's a great (and very true!) sentiment, it's not exactly Shakespeare either way.  

That said, Deee-Lite are ridiculously underrated and unfairly written off as one-hit wonders, when they actually delivered three albums worth of brilliance.  I wish someone could convince Lady Kier to dump all her solo songs that she's been working on for the past 20 years on SoundCloud, kinda like what Aphex Twin did a few years back.  I would die a happy man.

Oh, and "Rescue Me"?  Easily 10/10, and a huge highlight in a body of work that's full of competition.  I would have loved a live version, but maybe we'll get one down the road.  We can dream ...

"hanky - panky - spanky"

 "it's not exactly Shakespeare either way."

"This was discussed in the MTV The Story of Madonna. They do sound alike."

https://www.tapatalk.com/groups/madonnadotrefugees/rescue-me-rips-off-deee-lite-39-s-power-of-love-t8676.html

:dance:




 

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On 2/2/2023 at 10:18 PM, momosfantasy said:

This is also a great song by an amazing band. I know there are some similarities, but I always thought Lady Kier might have been a bit overzealous as far as accusing M of copying the song.  Let's face it, "I believe in the power of love" isn't an original thought or lyric for either artist, and while it's a great (and very true!) sentiment, it's not exactly Shakespeare either way. 

but it's more than just the "I believe in the power of love" lyrics... Madonna's vocals are quite atypical for Madonna, and quite similar to Lady Kier's vocals, with the growling and everything. The songs are similar on a few levels, not just the lyrics but also the house / gospel combination.

9 hours ago, EgoRod said:

The issue was the timing because both songs came out in 1990. In fact too close to each other for Madonna taking notes.

 

Not sure what you meant, that there was or wasn't enough time for Madonna to be inspired by Deee-Lite? Their album was released in August, just a few days after Madonna finished the last dates of the Blond Ambition tour. Not sure when Rescue Me was recorded, but most likely after the tour ended.

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7 hours ago, androiduser said:

but it's more than just the "I believe in the power of love" lyrics... Madonna's vocals are quite atypical for Madonna, and quite similar to Lady Kier's vocals, with the growling and everything. The songs are similar on a few levels, not just the lyrics but also the house / gospel combination.

Not sure what you meant, that there was or wasn't enough time for Madonna to be inspired by Deee-Lite? Their album was released in August, just a few days after Madonna finished the last dates of the Blond Ambition tour. Not sure when Rescue Me was recorded, but most likely after the tour ended.

Not really, Madonna dipping into Gospel House  is nothing new (Like a Prayer) and it was pretty wide popular at the time. You can find similar style in artist like Adeva, Dajae, Kathy Brown ..I mean Gospel House is a category itself:

I'd been a huge fan of Deee lite since day one. They were influenced by NY dance scene, they were part of it. And were working with the sound and the most creative people at the time. Their music is filled with samples from funk, soul, disco. And Lady Miss Kier got the vocals from the old school house . Gospel House being linked to the gospel in church terminology too. That's what you have the terms like "House' My house (the house of lord) Preach, Believe, Save me etc.. There are lots of house themes that say I believe, I believe in the power etc

I don't think the ways the songs are sung are similar at all. Miss Kier goes in high pitch alternating the vocals for long creating a melody  The guitars had a 60s distortion, drums beats, funk meets disco.

Rescue me's  I believe is shorter and within Madonna's range what it made it more gospel (and similar on sound to Kiers vocals) is the back vocals that are black singers doing proper Gospel house. The idea of Rescue me, believe, power of love etc are all linked to the Gospel house terminology.

The music arrangement is totally different , being more house than funk and her  deeper voice during the 'reading part' is similar to that of house.

The Immaculate Collection came out in November  1990 and World Clique came out a couple of months before. Considering the technology at the time I think is a bit of a push to think she was taking notes to release a song from an album that it was only popular by one hit. Instead I think she was more influenced by the NY club scene and trying again like she did with Vogue. Adopting the sound of what's popular at that time. Vocal house music.

Power of Love was sampled a lot after the video released (with the single mix) but  mostly the Lady Miss Kier's chant

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