- Like a Virgin (song)
Infobox Single
Name = Like a Virgin
Caption =
Artist = Madonna
from Album =Like a Virgin
A-side =
B-side = "Stay"
Released =November 6 ,1984
Format = 7" single
12" singleCD single
Recorded =
Genre = Pop
Length = 3:38 (Album Version)
3:11 (Edit Version from "The Immaculate Collection ")
Label = Sire, Warner Bros.
Writer =Billy Steinberg , Tom Kelly
Producer =Nile Rodgers
Director = Mary Lambert
Certification = Gold
Last single = "Borderline" (1984)
This single = "Like a Virgin" (1984)
Next single = "Material Girl " (1985)
Misc = Extra tracklisting
Album = Like a virgin
Type = studio
prev_track = "Angel"
prev_no = 2
this_track = "Like a Virgin
track_no = 3
next_track = "Over and Over"
next_no = 4Extra tracklisting
Album =The Immaculate Collection
Type = compilation
prev_track = "Borderline"
prev_no = 3
this_track = "Like a Virgin"
track_no = 4
next_track = "Material Girl "
next_no = 5Audiosample
Upper caption = Audio sample
Name = Like a Virgin
Audio file = LikeAVirginSample.ogg"Like a Virgin" is the first single by American singer-songwriter Madonna from the album of the same name and was released on
November 6 ,1984 bySire Records . It also appears in a truncated and slightly remixed form on the 1990 greatest hits compilation "The Immaculate Collection ".ong information
Billy Steinberg and Tom Kelly wrote the song, and Kelly sang on the demo. In an interview withSongfacts , Steinberg said: [ [http://www.songfacts.com/detail.php?id=1116 Songfacts "Like A Virgin" entry] . Accessed onAugust 14 ,2007 ]Madonna wears a
wedding gown in themusic video , which was directed byMary Lambert .The bassline has been known to be similar to
Michael Jackson 's "Billie Jean " andThe Four Tops ' "I Can't Help Myself ." Madonna acknowledged the similarities between her hit and those of Jackson and The Four Tops by incorporating elements of each into her live performances of "Like A Virgin" (with "Billie Jean " during 1985'sThe Virgin Tour and with "I Can't Help Myself " during 1987'sWho's That Girl World Tour ).Madonna performed "Like a Virgin" at the first
MTV Video Music Awards ceremony in 1984. This performance is considered to be one of the iconic performances in music history.In 2003, Madonna fans were asked to vote for their Top 20 Madonna singles of all-time by "Q". "Like a Virgin" was allocated the #5 spot.
ong trivia
*"Like a Virgin" was honored by "
Rolling Stone " andMTV in 2000 as the #4 song on their list of the "100 Greatest Pop Songs".
*This song was voted #10 onVH1 's 100 Best Songs of the Past 25 Years.
*This song was voted #8 onVH1 's 100 Greatest Songs of the 80's.
*The song was listed at #95 on "Billboard's Greatest Songs of all time." [http://www.billboard.com/bbcom/specials/hot100/charts/top100-titles-00.shtml]Production
"Like a Virgin" was written by
Billy Steinberg and Tom Kelly (who also wroteCyndi Lauper 's "True Colors") and was produced byNile Rodgers . Other credits on the song are as follows:
*Bass byBernard Edwards .
*Guitar by Nile Rodgers.
*Drums byTony Thompson .
*Assorted synthesizers and bass synthesizer by Rob Sabino.Music videos
The
music video , directed byMary Lambert , was shot in Venice, Italy and partly inNew York City during the summer of 1984. (And while on a break from filming the movie "Desperately Seeking Susan ".) It shows Madonna dancing on a gondola, [http://www.queenmadonna.com/image/screen-caps/like%20a%20virgin/04.jpg] and running around in a wedding dress intercut with shots of a panting lion [http://www.queenmadonna.com/image/screen-caps/like%20a%20virgin/11.jpg] . The video'sMTV world premiere took place onNovember 13 ,1984 , and became an instant hit. [http://www.queenmadonna.com/image/screen-caps/like%20a%20virgin/18.jpg]*Director: Mary Lambert
*Producer: Simon Fields
*Director of Photography: Peter Sinclair
*Editor: Glenn Morgan
*Production Company: Limelight ProductionsThe Virgin Tour live
In 1985, a live music video of "Like a Virgin" from "
The Virgin Tour " filmed inDetroit, Michigan was used to promote "Live - The Virgin Tour" video. This version was nominated for Best Choreography at theMTV Video Music Awards .*Director: Danny Kleinman
*Producer: Simon Fields
*Director of Photography: Jerry Watson
*Editor: Mitchell Sinoway
*Production Company: Limelight ProductionsTruth or Dare version
The live performance of "Like a Virgin" from the
Blond Ambition Tour inParis, France was released as a music video onMay 9 ,1991 to promote the documentary film "". This version was nominated for twoMTV Video Music Awards : Best Female Video and Best Choreography.*Director: Alek Keshishian
*Producers: Tim Clawson, Lisa Hollingshead, Jay Roewe
*Director of Photography: Toby Phillips
*Editor: John Murray
*Production Company: Propaganda FilmsTrivia
*This video was ranked #61 on
VH1 's 100 Greatest Videos.Live performances
Like a Virgin made its debut at the first MTV
Video Music Awards in 1984, where Madonna appeared on stage atop a giantwedding cake dressed in a wedding dress (adorned with the infamous "Boy Toy" belt buckle) and veil. The climax of her risqué performance found her humping and rolling around on the stage.Madonna's performance of Hollywood at the 2003 Video Music Awards recreated the 1984 performance of Like a Virgin, with
Britney Spears andChristina Aguilera dressed in the wedding costume and singing the song atop a wedding cake with Madonna as their groom. Following in the controversial footsteps of the original performance, Madonna created another stir by kissing Spears and Aguilera on the lips.The song has also been included in five of Madonna's seven tours.
For 1985's
The Virgin Tour , Madonna again donned wedding attire and performed a straight version of the song featuring a quotation fromMichael Jackson 's similar-soundingMotown -style single, "Billie Jean ". In 1987'sWho's That Girl Tour , the song was given a lighthearted comedic theme and included quotations fromThe Four Tops ' "I Can't Help Myself (Sugar Pie Honey Bunch) ".For the 1990
Blond Ambition Tour , the song was re-invented with a middle-eastern arrangement and risqué (and utlimately infamous) choreography which found Madonna simulatingmasturbation on a bed. The explicit performance garnered a lot of attention, particularly when police inToronto ,Canada threatened to arrest Madonna and charge her with indecency unless she altered the performance. Madonna refused and the show went on unaltered. She was never arrested. (This situation was documented in the singer's 1991 documentary,Truth or Dare .)Seeing how the song could not get any more risqué Madonna swapped the wedding dress for a tuxedo and adopted a
Marlene Dietrich -like persona for 1993'sThe Girlie Show Tour , singing the song with a thick German accent and including a quotation from Dietrich's signature tune,Falling in Love Again (Can't Help It) .April 2003, an impromptu performance at Tower Records NYC was done as a request from the crowd and would later air on NBC. It was the crowd's response to her mentioning VIRGIN records, which brought on the request of Like a VIRGIN.
In 2006's
Confessions Tour , the song was given a horseriding theme whilst the arrangement was brassy with more hooks than the original and featuring a thumping bass & brass climax in the middle. Madonna performed the song atop a studded leatherS&M carousel horse while x-rays of her broken bones (the result of a horse-riding accident on her 47th birthday) flashed on the screens behind her.IN 2008's
Sticky and Sweet Tour , Madonna sang the song inRome and dedicated the song to PopeBenedict XVI saying " i'd like to dedicate this song to the Pope, I know he loves me" and saying that she is a child of god. She asked the audience to sing with her.Tributes and cover versions
*
Cristina Yang , character from TV seriesGrey's Anatomy played bySandra Oh , sings "Like a Virgin" while harvesting hearts from cadavers. During a few lines from the first chorus, characterLexie Grey played byChyler Leigh also sings to the song, but Cristina seems to disapprove oj it and Lexie leaves her singing by her own. The scene is featured on Season 4's episode "The Becoming". It is also already inYouTube .
*The song was the subject of aparody by"Weird Al" Yankovic , "Like a Surgeon ", and was performed byJim Broadbent in thefilm "Moulin Rouge! " (2001 ) as a comic piece sung in the third person singular ("She made it through the wilderness. ..").
*In 2001,MTV gay punk rockerNick Name performed a punk cover version for the Madonna tribute at the historicEl Rey Theatre .
*Britney Spears andChristina Aguilera paid a tribute to Madonna's performance at the MTV Vifeo Awards show nineteen years later at the same awards show, at the2003 MTV Video Music Awards , finishing the performance with both kissing Madonna. The kisses generated months of discussion in celebrity magazines.
*On "But Can They Sing? ",Bai Ling sang a cover of that song on week one.
*Japanese pop singer,Hitomi , performed a shortened cover of it during her LOVE LIFE tour in Japan, recorded on the tour dvd.
*Winnipeg death-folk outfitThe Horribly Awfuls recorded an ironic cover on their 2003 record, "We Fight Like the Crips and Bloods."
*Richard Cheese and Lounge Against the Machine covered this as a swingin'Lounge version on their2006 album "Silent Nightclub ".
*Japanese singer,Angela Aki , cover the song during her Piano Live ONE concert in Japan.
*Lords of the New Church covered the song on the 1985 IRS's "Best of" Album.
*In Shrek's "Karaoke Dance Party" extra Fiona can be heard singing this song.
**Scottish alternative rock bandTeenage Fanclub covered the song on their 1991 album "The King ".
*Alt-RockersSonic Youth performed the song in an alter egoCiccone Youth
*The Horribly Awfuls recorded a cover of this song on their 2003 release, "We Fight Like the Crips and Bloods".
*Rock band Incubus has been known to play this song live. The band Blur has also covered it before live in concert.
*A dance version by German techno groupMad'House was released in the early 2000s.
*German country bandTexas Lightning covered the song on their debut album "Meanwhile, Back At The Ranch ".
*Marilyn Manson has been known to perform a cover of the song at various concerts.
*Victoria Beckham has a solo segment where she poses on the catwalk whilst an instrumental mix of the song andRuPaul 's "Supermodel (You Better Work) " song is played in the 2007/2008Return of the Spice Girls Tour .
*Polish singer, Doda,cover the song on their 2008 reedition album "Diamond Bitch ".References in Pop Culture
In the movie "
Reservoir Dogs ", the song comes up in a conversation amongst a group of gangsters. Mr. Brown (Quentin Tarantino ) raises the theory that the song is actually about an oversexed woman who meets a man who is so well-endowed that the woman experiences pain during intercourse with him - reminding her of the pain accompanying the loss of her virginity. (Madonna would later meet Tarantino after "Reservoir Dogs" was released and when giving him her autograph wrote: "Quentin, it's about love, not dick. Madonna.")In the short story La Bamba, by Gary Soto, a boy is at a talent show. While describing the lineup of the event, he mentions there are three young girls singing "Like a Virgin". Also, the year after the song came out,
Weird Al Yankovic came out with a parody of it.In one episode of
Married with Children Kelly says to Bud that he got a dedication from a girl.The dedication is Like A Virgin.Shrek featured this song during the dance party scene at the end of the video.In the episode of The Becoming of
Grey's Anatomy ,Christina Yang sings Like a Virgin while harvestingHeart s from cadavers.The song is playable in the video game
Karaoke Revolution .Charts
"Like a Virgin" became Madonna's first of 12 number-one hits on the
Billboard Hot 100 , remaining at the top for six consecutive weeks and eventually earning gold certification. The single also reached number one on theHot Dance Club Play , and was her first top-ten hit on theR&B chart."Like a Virgin" slammed onto the U.S.
Billboard Hot 100 singles chart the week ofNovember 17 ,1984 at #48, and shot up the chart rapidly, reaching #1 by its sixth week,December 22 ,1984 . "Like a Virgin" was the first of four Top five singles from Madonna's album of the same name. "Like a Virgin" remained in the Top 10 for nine weeks, in the Top 20 for eleven weeks, and in the Top 40 for fourteen weeks.Internationally, the song was a Top 5 hit and reached the top spot in numerous countries. In the UK it was a massive hit reaching No.3 and sold over 720,000 copies. It was her first number one single in
Australia ,Canada ,Italy andSouth Africa . The song would be her biggest selling and top-charting single worldwide until "Like a Prayer" in1989 .References
* [http://www.mad-eyes.net/disco/lav/like-a-virgin.htm Mad-Eyes.net - "Like a Virgin" Single Page]
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