FEATURE:
Physical Attraction
IN THIS PHOTO: Madonna photographed in 1983 by Richard Corman
Madonna at Forty: Its Legacy and Visual Impact
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I have already…
PHOTO CREDIT: Richard Corman
written features about Madonna’s eponymous debut album. Madonna turns forty on 27th July. It is undoubtably an album that changed the face of Pop. I was a couple of months old when the album was released, but I can only imagine what it was like living in a time when this exciting and fresh Pop artist came through! Madonna is an exceptional and enduring album that sort of revived Disco. At a time (1983) when a lot of Pop artists sounded the same, Madonna combined Disco of the 1970s and added something personal and distinct into the mix. Dance-Pop was created. Instantly, here we had this artist with enormous star power! Songs with catchy hooks, bright choruses and infectious moments aplenty, this was an introduction like no other. I am going to discuss the legacy of Madonna. But I want to discuss the visual impact of the album. In terms of the cover, promotional photography and the videos. I think Madonna has always been synonymous with her changing looks and distinct style. Someone who was individual and empowering, she also borrowed from other cultures and periods. In 1983, there was this blend of girl-next-door and cool-as-hell street chic. I am going to drop some photos in. I was caught by something on Wikipedia in the Legacy section of the Madonna page:
“Music critics Bob Batchelor and Scott Stoddart, commented in their book The 1980s that "the music videos for the singles off the album, was more effective in introducing Madonna to the rest of the world." Author Carol Clerk said that the music videos of "Burning Up", "Borderline" and "Lucky Star" established Madonna, not as the girl-next-door, but as a sassy and smart, tough funny woman. Her clothes worn in the videos were later used by designers like Karl Lagerfeld and Christian Lacroix, in Paris Fashion week of the same year. Professor Douglas Kellner, in his book Media Culture: Cultural Studies, Identity, and Politics Between the Modern and the Postmodern, commented that the videos depicted motifs and strategies which helped Madonna in her journey to become a star. With the "Borderline" music video, Madonna was credited for breaking the taboo of interracial relationships, and it was considered one of her career-making moments. MTV played the video in heavy rotation, increasing Madonna's popularity further”.
To start, there is that iconic album cover. Photographed by Gary Heery (the cover for the reissued album was by George Holz) and directed by Carin Goldberg, it is so different to anything that came out in 1983! That year – especially Pop albums – had a lot of bright and almost garish covers. There is something classic and subdued. The lettering and colour scheme is perfect. It perfectly frames this image of a young and hungry artist who mixes sexiness and sweetness. Confident and bold, yet there is that look of mystery and intrigue. It is such a great shot and album cover! The album’s back cover sees Madonna tugging at the chain around her neck. There is that sort of street tough look. There is also an allure and sense of tease in there. I think that Madonna’s looks and style of 1983 is among her most memorable and incredible. She comes across as someone who is quite accessible and relatable. You also get the sense she is a star. Someone who has this incredible aura and power! I will come back to the photos around 1983 soon. Before that, it is worth talking about the music videos for Madonna. Each of them is crucial. I wonder, ahead of the fortieth anniversary of Madonna, whether the videos for Holiday, Lucky Star and Burning Up will be remastered and in HD. The videos for Everybody and Borderline have already received this treatment. I always wonder, if there was more budget, whether Madonna would have reimagined the Holiday video. The one we have is very basic: looking like she is in an aerobics studio, it has that homemade feel. Even so, it shows that here was this quite modest and unstarry artist who was creating videos that were quite low-key. It is clear she had a love of dance and, at a time when the aerobics craze was huge in the U.S., it is perfectly suitable. The videos for Burning Up, Lucky Star and Borderline are the best visual representations of Madonna’s incredible music.
Burning Up sees Madonna on a boat and a variety of locations. The concepts would soon become more adventurous and filmic. Here, it is a showcase of her incredible look. With plenty of wristwear and bracelets, a combination of her album cover look and this awesome white dress (you call tell I am no fashion expert!), and you get this very cool and classic combination! Madonna already standing out as an iconic artist with her own look and designs. Directed by Mary Lambert, Borderline is the standout video from Madonna. Lambert would go on to direct the videos for Like a Virgin, Material Girl (1985), La Isla Bonita (1987) and Like a Prayer (1989). In the video, Madonna plays a young woman emotionally torn between her Hispanic boyfriend (Louie Louie) and a white photographer for whom she models and who publishes her pictures on a magazine cover. A young John Leguizamo appears in the background as an extra. Madonna wears different outfits. From ‘80s thrift looks to a tougher leather jacket and some denim, it is this amazing Pop artist dazzling and conquering the screen. She just owns the video! Even if the plot is quite basic, the direction and visuals are amazing. In every video released from the debut album, Madonna is very much at the front. Showcasing her range of styles and future acting prowess, even in 1983 and 1984, she was impossible to ignore! Borderline was the last video from Madonna. Released on 15th February, 1984, it would be only a few months until the Like a Virgin video came out. A video compilation, Madonna, was released by Warner Music Video and Sire Records in November 1984 to promote the debut album. The first video compilation, it contained three music videos from the album - Burning Up, Borderline and Lucky Star - as well as the then current single, Like a Virgin. It was clear there was this enormous pull early on. A great new artist catching the eye and capturing the heart.
I will come to the photos around in 1983. Before that, I want to take a moment to recognise the legacy and impact of Madonna. CLASH wrote how this wonderful debut changed the face of Pop. It influenced countless artists - and it must surely rank alongside the most important albums of all time:
“It's 1983. Punk is dead. Post-punk is on it's last limbs. According to those in the know, disco is dead also, although that proved not to be the case. Indie and alternative is in it's infancy and pop music seems as varied and sparse in it's tastes as it ever has done. Prince was working up to his career's pinnacle, Talking Heads were about to descend from theirs and, in that climate, it seemed that very few would enjoy more than their fifteen minutes of fame, in a sector of the industry that now felt more immediate than ever before.
Recovering from it's biggest shake up since the emergence of The Beatles in the early 1960s, pop music also felt boundless in what it now had to offer the world. MTV blew the entertainment world wide open in 1981, turning former child star Michael Jackson into The King Of Pop in the process. The industry needed a Queen to share his throne.
Step forward a 25-year-old Michigan native who now worked the restaurants of New York City, following after her move to the big apple, pursuing her dream of making a career in modern dance, fell flat on it’s face. Her name? Madonna Louise Ciccone, although the world would come to know her by only one name.
In 1982, bed-stricken by a recurrent heart condition, Sire Records' founder Seymour Stein pressed play on her demo for ‘Everybody’, the song that was to become Madonna's first single, as well as the closing track on the eventual debut record. Within hours of hearing it for the first time, and calling over to Danceteria DJ Mark Kamis (who had given Stein the tape in the first place), Madonna was by his bedside, signing the contract that would see her career begin with one of the most fabulously realised debut albums in music history.
It's now 2018 and Madonna is celebrating her 60th birthday. It's also 35 years since that eponymous debut album and subject of this spotlight review hit the shelves in record stores all over the world and, as I drop the needle on my newly acquired vinyl copy, I get a sense of just how exciting it must have been for someone in my position to be doing just that, more than three decades ago.
PHOTO CREDIT: Richard Corman
As the shimmering intro to ‘Lucky Star’ begins to play and is replaced by that prime 80s mix of synth beats, choppy guitars and a funky bass line, I find myself transfixed by her timeless, thousand yard stare, one half of which shoes an angelic, young adult, the other a hardened, tortured soul. She had the look of a woman both frustrated by her past and determined to ensure her future is markedly different. More endearingly, she has the look of someone who's completely unaware of how different that future would prove to be, for both herself, and the rest of the entire world.
It's difficult to think of many more debut albums that, in retrospect, hint so boldly at the career that an artist would grow into and the reputation that they would subsequently cultivate – the only one that springs immediately to mind is U2's ‘Boy’, an album made in Dublin kitchens but destined to be played in the world's biggest, best arenas.
Throughout the course of ‘Madonna’, she discusses the tropes present on most pop debuts – the idea of love, loss and the struggles of early adulthood. The overriding presence of her lyrics here is her independence and her ability to challenge the preconceived ideas that others have of how she should act and the choices that she is making”.
That street-smart monochrome cover shot for Madonna by Gary Heery and art directed by Carin Goldberg remains staggering and perfect! I think it captures so many different sides to this new artist who was still mixing styles and personas. It was hard, in 1983, to define who Madonna was. In 2015, The Cut interviewed Carin Goldberg about her memories of directing Madonna for her debut album shoot:
“Because she wasn’t famous, the budget was not huge at all. I asked her to come dressed in the kind of clothes she would normally wear. I said, “You’ve got your thing, just do it.” There was nothing particularly shocking about what she was wearing at the time. I think she just had a unique style. A lot of people did — Betsey Johnson, Cyndi Lauper, Diane Keaton. There was a lot going on then that was all about women wearing all kinds of weird combinations. We were all doing that kind of eclectic look, but Madonna did it with a much more audacious, sexual edge. It wasn’t so much about trying to be a rock star — it was more just making something from something you had around. Taking some piece of fabric and wrapping it around your head, for example. Over the years her style has changed, given her independence and wealth and ability to have designers design for her, but there’s still a kind of eclecticism to some degree.
My memory was that she wore some kind of cut shirt — there was definitely a lot of belly hanging out. And a balloon-y pant with the waist and legs rolled up. A lot of artists really didn’t have very much taste — they don’t always know who they are, and they need to be told — especially these days. Madonna walked in ready-made. She knew who she was. We didn’t have to worry about styling her.
She came with a lot of bracelets on, and so I said, “I think we ought to focus on the bracelets, let’s really try to get that in the picture.” That was the one iconic thing about her outfit, besides the rag in her hair. I thought she needed even more, so the girlfriend of the photographer went into her jewelry box and took as many bracelets as she could find, to give it a bit more boom.
We put on her music and I asked her to dance. There was not much else we needed to do, because she was a performer. It was short, it was sweet. She was prompt, she did everything we asked her to do, she said thank you. It could not have been more easy. I would not call her in any way warm and cuddly, but she was not unfriendly. She was just all business.
And who knew? In my wildest dreams, could I have ever imagined? I mean, I knew she had a little talent. She got there and danced, and sang “Holiday,” I think. I liked it, we could dance to it. But who the hell could have predicted after that? It totally exploded. That album was the moment”.
PHOTO/ART DIRECTION CREDIT: Gary Heery/Carin Goldberg
I think the best images of Madonna from 1983 were taken by Richard Corman (you can read more about his New York City shoot with Madonna here). A lot of the looks and styles in the photos would appear in the videos for Madonna. By Like a Virgin (1984), Madonna has shifted her looks and style choices. Here, in these Corman shots, there is that emphasise on a street-level and relatable artist who was natural in the streets of New York City. Big earrings, bangles and denim was quite a common look in 1983, though Madonna has this natural cool and charm that stands her aside from anyone else. I think the most iconic image from Richard Corman is one where Madonna is not street-ready and casual. In, I guess, a Cinderella homage (see above), she is on the roof and has this beautiful black-and-white striped skirt on. She looks relaxed and happy…and it says as much about Madonna as all the other shots. Kate Simon’s Madonna in NYC, 1983 work is brilliant. I suppose the idea was to portray this young woman from the Bay Area, Michigan who came to New York with not a lot of money to her name. She is a classic case of a promising talent coming to the city and making it. This early in her career, you sense that hunger and desire! Coming across both accessible and a star-in-the-making, the imagery and photography from 1983 (before and after the album release on 27th July) goes hand and hand with the music. George Holz took some grittier and tough images of Madonna (you can see one of his images on the Borderline single cover).
IN THIS PHOTO: Madonna photographed in 1983 by George Holz
Rather than simply be this sweet and fun artist, there was this definitely toughness and confidence. Madonna was not relying on anyone to make her a success! She wrote most of the tracks on her debut, as you know she had a lot of say when it came to her amazing videos and shoots. I wanted to look at the visual side of Madonna. The album’s videos definitely stood out from what was being released n 1983. When MTV was ruling the world, you had this artist emerging who seemed perfect for them. That incredible album cover, the beautiful and simple videos, together with the great photoshoots where we see this clear star blooming and making her first moves, I think a lot of people will look back at this element when celebrating Madonna at forty. I am not sure if there are anniversary reissues planned, whether the videos will be remastered, or there is going to be a photo exhibition on 27th July. Madonna is preparing for her Celebration Tour. She will be on the road on 27th July, so I am not sure how much time and energy she has to give to that. One of the most important releases in Pop history, the mighty and majestic Madonna changed Pop and influenced a generation of artists – and it continues to inspire artists forty years later. On 27th July, through Sire and Warner Bros., this album arrived off of the back of two successful singles – Everybody (three on the US Dance Club Songs (Billboard) chart) and Burning Up (three on the US Dance Club Songs (Billboard) chart). Of course, when Holiday was released on 7th September, 1983, Madonna became a chart phenomenon and a true star! That was thanks to the incredible album and the momentum she had built. After its release on 27th July, 1983, this wonderful artist would soon…
CONQUER the globe!