Holiday (Madonna song)

Infobox Single
Name = Holiday


Artist = Madonna
from Album = Madonna
B-side = "I Know It" (USA & Europe) "Think Of Me" (UK) - 1983 & 1985 "True Blue" (UK) - 1991
Released = September 7, 1983
(Worldwide)
*January 17, 1984
(UK/Japan)
*July 30, 1985
(UK re-entry)
*June 4, 1991
(UK re-issue)
*February 5, 1999
(Japan re-issue)
Format = Vinyl (12")
CD Single
Vinyl (7")
Cassette Single
CD Maxi-Single
"Holiday Collection" EP
Recorded = 1983
Length = 6:07
Genre = Dance-pop
Label = Sire, Warner Bros.
Writer = Curtis Hudson
Lisa Stevens
Producer = John "Jellybean" Benitez
Chart position =

#6 (UK)

#2 (UK - 1985 re-entry)

#4 (Australia)

#5 (UK - 1991 re-issue)

#16 (U.S.)
Last single = "Burning Up"
(1983)
This single = "Holiday"
(1983)
Next single = "Borderline"
(1984)
Misc = Extra chronology
Artist = Madonna UK
Last album = "Rescue Me"
(1991)
This album ="Holiday (UK re-issue)"
(1991)
Next album = "This Used to Be My Playground"
(1992)Extra tracklisting
Album = Madonna
Type = studio
prev_no = 4
prev_track = "I Know It"
this_track = "Holiday"
track_no = 5
next_track = "Think of Me"
next_no = 6Extra tracklisting
Album = The Immaculate Collection
Type = compilation
this_track = "Holiday"
track_no = 1
next_track = "Lucky Star"
next_no = 2"Holiday" is the third single by American singer-songwriter Madonna and was released on September 7, 1983 by Sire Records. It appears on her 1983 debut studio album "Madonna" and later remixed on the 1987 remix compilation "You Can Dance" and the 1990 greatest hits compilation "The Immaculate Collection".

The single has been released in the UK market three times; in January 17, 1984 (no.6), July 30, 1985 (no.2, only kept off the top spot by her own single "Into the Groove") and June 4, 1991 (no.5) with an EP accompanying the single release, entitled "The Holiday Collection". Holiday is Madonna's third best selling single in the UK and has sold 752,968 copies.

History

The song was originally offered to, but turned down by, Mary Wilson.

Madonna had performed "Holiday" on each of her tours (The Virgin Tour, Who's That Girl, Blond Ambition, The Girlie Show, Drowned World, and Re-Invention) up until 2006's Confessions Tour. (A snippet of the song was included in the introduction to "Music Inferno", however.) It is considered to be one of her signature songs. In 2005, she revealed that the song is one of her favorites. [ [http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2005/12/13/earlyshow/leisure/celebspot/main1121578.shtml Madonna, Elvis Alike In Key Way, She Discusses It, Parenthood, More With Harry Smith - CBS News ] ]

Madonna also performed "Holiday" at the 1985 Live Aid concert in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.

In March 2008, Madonna said on a radio interview that she would never perform "Holiday" or "Like a Virgin" again unless someone paid her $30,000,000.

Commercial Releases

"Holiday" has been released several times in several different formats.

The song was originally released worldwide on September 7, 1983, but has since re-entered the UK chart on two separate occasions (in 1985 following the success of the "Like a Virgin" album and having been performed on Live Aid, and in 1991 having been re-released to promote "The Immaculate Collection" compilation album). On the first of these occasions, it peaked at No.2, being held from the No.1 spot by Madonna's own "Into the Groove", making her the first non-Liverpudlian to hold the top two positions in the UK chart at the same time.

The song was released again in Japan in 1999 as part of the promotion for the soundtrack "The Wedding Singer Vol. 2".

In 2003, Madonna fans were asked to vote for their Top 20 Madonna singles of all time by "Q-Magazine". "Holiday" was allocated the #6 spot.

Music videos

A music video for "Holiday" was created featuring Madonna dancing in front of a pink background, but it was reportedly so bad that it was never released and very few people have actually seen the original video. The only evidence of the video appears to be an old cover of the magazine Id featuring a picture of Madonna with her dreadlocks against a vivid pink background. This issue of the magazine is extremely hard to find. The video was rumoured to be found on Youtube, but it turned out to be various appearances on European TV which have surfaced. Instead, recordings of television performances from "American Bandstand", "Solid Gold" and "Top of the Pops" were used as music videos in the US, UK, Europe and Canada. The "Top of the Pops" performance was released on the promotional-only video compilation "It's That Girl". It was after the aforementioned performance of "Holiday" on "American Bandstand" that Madonna replied to host Dick Clark's inquiry of what her future plans were: "To rule the world!"

There are also two live videos of "Holiday":

Truth or Dare version

The live performance of "Holiday" from the Blond Ambition Tour in Paris, France was released as a music video in 1991 to promote the documentary film "". This version was nominated for four MTV Video Music Awards: Best Female Video, Best Dance Video, Best Choreography and Best Cinematography.

*Director: Alek Keshishian
*Producers: Tim Clawson, Lisa Hollingshead, Jay Roewe
*Director of Photography: Toby Phillips
*Editor: John Murray
*Production Company: Propaganda Films

Drowned World Tour montage

Another live video of "Holiday", this time a montage of clips from the Drowned World Tour in 2001, was released by Warner Bros. Records to promote the live DVD at the end of that year. Although the clips were taken from the DVD and were from the second Detroit performance (August 26), the audio was taken from the previous night's performance and is noticeably different from the audio on the DVD.

*Director: Hamish Hamilton
*Producer: Marty Callner
*Director of Photography: Toby Phillips
*Editor: Guy Harding
*Production Company: Tadpole Films Inc.

Chart performance

"Holiday" was Madonna's first hit song. The single became a top twenty hit on the Billboard Hot 100 in the U.S. and also reached the top forty on the R&B chart. It went on to become the first on a long list of Madonna singles to reach #1 on the Club Play Singles chart.

The song, released with "Lucky Star" as a double-A side single, spent five weeks at number 1 on the dance chart and a total of seventeen weeks on that chart, tying with "Music" and "Like a Virgin" as the songs to have spent the most time at number one on the dance chart.

"Holiday" was a huge hit in Australia in April 1984, reaching #4.

This song has hit the UK top ten on three separate occasions. When it was originally released in the U.K. in 1984, the track peaked at #6. The next year, the song re-entered the chart, peaking at #2 in the summer of 1985 [it was blocked from the #1 spot by Madonna's latest release, "Into the Groove"). Only The Beatles and Frankie Goes to Hollywood had previously managed this feat.

When the song was re-released in the U.K. in 1991 as part of "The Holiday Collection", it charted at #5.

Charts

* * Released and charted as the Double-A side Holiday/Lucky Star

Certifications

Credits

*Written by Curtis Hudson and Lisa Stevens
*Produced by John "Jellybean" Benitez
*Drums, moog bass, synthesizer, fender rhodes and acoustic piano by Fred Zarr
*Guitars by Curtis Hudson
*Bass by Raymond Hudson
*Percussion by Bashiri Johnson
*Cowbell by Madonna
*Background vocals by Madonna, Tina B., Norma Jean Wright

For "You Can Dance":
*Additional production and remix by John "Jellybean" Benitez

Official versions

Original versions

#Album Version 6:07

Remixes

#Dub Version ["YCD"] 6:58
#Radio Edit 4:04
#Extended Remix [Mixed - "YCD"] 6:42
#Extended Remix [Unmixed - "YCD"] 6:58
#QSound Remix/"Immaculate" Version 4:06
#Single Edit of Album Remix ["YCD"] 4:14
#Live Version from "I'm Going to Tell You a Secret" 5:45

Included on

*"Madonna"
*"You Can Dance"
*"The Immaculate Collection"
*"The Holiday Collection" EP
*"I'm Going to Tell You a Secret (album)"

Cover Versions and Remixes

In 1985, Mexican Latin Pop singer Byanka has sung under the title "Día De Fiesta".

In 1986, Dutch rap duo MC Miker G & DJ Sven released a remix of Holiday (entitled "Holiday Rap"), which achieved success in several countries.

In 1998, Stuntmasterz created a mash-up of Holiday with Stardust's "Music Sounds Better with You". This is sometimes mistakenly credited to the artist Thunderpuss. In the full length version the artist's name "Stuntmasterz" is stated at approximately 1:03. This version of the song was used as the basis for the live arrangements of Holiday in both the Drowned World Tour and the Re-Invention Tour.

The bassline of the song was sampled by The Avalanches for their 2000 album "Since I Left You". It was used on the songs "Stay Another Season" and "Little Journey".

In 2002, Mad'House covered the song. Girl Authority also covered the song in 2007 for their album, "Road Trip".

Almost all of the instrumental part of the song "He's Hot!" uses samples of "Holiday". The song was recorded by the "Will & Grace" cast especially for the sitcom soundtrack in 2004 and even includes vocal samples from Madonna herself.

Legacy

The popular Canadian teen drama "", which is known for naming each episode after an 80s hit song, named a two part episode after this song.

The song appears on the game .

References

*"Chart Performance of Madonna Records - A Compiled History" (2004). "MLVC.ORG: Charts". Retrieved from http://charts.mlvc.org/CHThist.php on December 9, 2005.
*"Holiday" (2004). "Madonna: Single Summaries". Retrieved from http://www.madonnanation.com/charts/ on December 9, 2005.
*"Charts". (20050. "Mad-Eyes Discography". Retrieved from http://www.mad-eyes.net/disco/charts.htm on December 18, 2005.