Material Girl
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| “Material Girl” | |||||
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| Single by Madonna from the album Like a Virgin |
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| B-side | "Pretender" | ||||
| Released | January 30, 1985 | ||||
| Format | 12" maxi single, 5" CD single | ||||
| Recorded | 1984 | ||||
| Genre | Pop | ||||
| Label | Sire, Warner Bros. | ||||
| Writer(s) | Peter Brown, Robert Rans | ||||
| Producer | Nile Rodgers | ||||
| Madonna singles chronology | |||||
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"Material Girl" is the second single and signature song by American singer-songwriter Madonna from her 2nd studio album, Like a Virgin and was released on January 30, 1985 by Sire Records. It also appears remixed on the 1990 greatest hits compilation The Immaculate Collection.
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[edit] History
The bassline in the song is reminiscent of The Jacksons's "Can You Feel It", which appeared on their 1980 album Triumph, and which is in itself highly reminiscent of "White Rabbit", the 1960s song by Jefferson Airplane.Furthermore, the strophes remind refrain from Melissa Manchester's hit 'You Should Hear How She Talks About You' (1982).[1]
"Material Girl" became another Top 5 hit for Madonna on the U.S. Billboard Hot 100 and her third number-one single on Billboard's Hot Dance Music/Club Play chart. The song debuted on the Billboard Hot 100 during the week of February 9, 1985 at #43, when "Like a Virgin", the previous single from the album, was descending out of the Top 10. The single climbed the Billboard Hot 100 quickly, jumping thirteen spots to number five the week of March 9, 1985, and eventually spent two weeks at number two, held off by REO Speedwagon's "Can't Fight This Feeling" and Phil Collins's "One More Night". "Material Girl" was less successful on the Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Singles & Tracks chart, failing to enter the Top 40. The single also reached the Top 5 in the UK, South Africa, Canada and Australia, among other countries.
Madonna often remarks that it is the song she regrets recording most, for the fact that it became her nickname. She has also said if she had known this, she probably would have never recorded it. She ended The Virgin Tour with a self-parodying performance of "Material Girl". She also performed the song humorously on the Who's That Girl Tour (where she dressed up in costumes which some suspected parodied Cyndi Lauper), and on the Blond Ambition Tour in 1990. In 2004, Madonna performed the song again on the Re-Invention Tour, after having declared years earlier that she would never again perform the song, only this time she performed a rock arrangement of the song, which included Madonna on guitar.
"Material Girl" was included on Madonna's greatest hits compilation album The Immaculate Collection (1990). In 2003, Madonna fans were asked to vote for their Top 20 Madonna singles of all-time by Q-Magazine. "Material Girl" was allocated the #15 spot.
[edit] Music video
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In the single's music video, scenes of Madonna mimicking Marilyn Monroe's performance of "Diamonds Are a Girl's Best Friend" from the 1953 film Gentlemen Prefer Blondes are intersperced with scenes of a Hollywood director trying to win the heart of an actress, played by Madonna herself. Finding out that, contrary to her song, the young woman is not impressed by money and expensive gifts, he pretends to be poor, bringing her hand-cut flowers and paying a poor man a large amount to borrow (or possibly buy) his dirty truck to take her on a date. His plan seems to work because the final scene is of him and Madonna kissing in the truck in an intimate position. This video was ranked #54 on VH1's 100 Greatest Videos. After making the video, Madonna said she never wanted to be compared to Monroe.
The music video was shot on January 10-11, 1985 at Ren-Mar Studios in Hollywood, California, and directed by Mary Lambert. Actor Keith Carradine has a role in the video, and Madonna had a short affair with him during its shooting. Madonna also met her first husband, Sean Penn, while shooting this video.
- Director: Mary Lambert
- Producer: Simon Fields
- Director of Photography: Peter Sinclair
- Editor: Glenn Morgan
- Production Company: Limelight Productions
[edit] Credits
- Written by Peter Brown and Robert Rans
- Produced by Nile Rodgers
- Bass by Bernard Edwards
- Guitar, Synclavier II, Juno 60 by Nile Rodgers
- Drums by Tony Thompson
- Background vocals by Madonna, Curtis King, Frank Simms and George Simms
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"White Rabbit" vs. "Can You Feel It" vs. "Material Girl" Jefferson Airplane's "White Rabbit", The Jackson 5's "Can You Feel It" and "Material Girl" by Madonna. - Problems playing the files? See media help.
[edit] Chart positions
| Chart (1985) | Peak Position |
|---|---|
| U.S. Billboard Hot 100 | 2 |
| U.S. Billboard Hot 100 Airplay | 2 |
| U.S. Billboard Hot 100 Singles Sales | 3 |
| U.S. Billboard Hot Dance Music/Club Play | 1 |
| U.S. Billboard Adult Contemporary | 38 |
| U.S. Billboard Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Singles & Tracks | 49 |
| U.S. ARC Weekly Top 40 | 1 |
| Australia | 4 |
| Austria | 8 |
| Canada | 5 |
| Chile (E.P.) | 1 |
| Eurochart Hot 100 | 5 |
| France | 47 |
| Germany | 13 |
| Ireland | 3 |
| Israel | 3 |
| Japan Oricon Weekly Singles Chart | 35 |
| Japan Oricon International Singles Chart | 1 |
| Spain | 10 |
| South Africa, Republic of | 2 |
| Switzerland | 15 |
| United Kingdom | 3 |
[edit] Official mixes
- Album version – 4:00
- Extended Dance Remix – 6:05
- Video version – 4:43
- Remastered version from The Immaculate Collection – 3:50
[edit] Cover versions
- Industrial band KMFDM covered the song for the Virgin Voices tribute album.
- Mexican Latin Pop singer Byanka covered the song in Spanish in 1985, under the title "Chica Material".
- Cantopop artist Sally Yeh (Chinese: 葉蒨文) recorded a cover titled 200 Degrees (Chinese: 200 度) on her 1985 album Long Night, My Love Goodnight (Chinese: 長夜 My Love Goodnight).
- Deathgrind band Exhumed covered the song as part of a limited edition bonus CD for their 2004 album Platters of Splatter.
- Polish pop rock band Virgin recorded a cover of the song for their self-titled 2002 album.
- Richard Cheese and Lounge Against the Machine covered the song in lounge music style on his 2004 album I'd Like a Virgin.
- The tribute compilation Jazz and 80s Part 2 features a jazz cover of the song by Cassandra Beck.
- Taiwanese girl group, 7 Flowers (Chinese: 七朵花) recorded a cover of Chinese lyric version also named Material Girl (Chinese: 拜金女孩) in their first album 7 Flowers (七朵花) (2005). As one of the hits, a music video is shot.
- Pop singer Hilary Duff and her sister, Haylie, recorded a cover of the song for the soundtrack of the film Material Girls (2006), in which both actresses star. Their cover was produced by Timbaland, and was originally to have been produced by Lil Jon.[2] According to Haylie Duff, the song was to be released as a single but there was no time to shoot a music video.[3]
- Pop singer Brenda Song recorded a cover of the song as London Tipton for The Suite Life Of Zack and Cody
[edit] Live cover performances, samples, etc.
- In 1998 the song was sampled for the number-two dance hit "If You Buy This Record (Your Life Will Be Better)" by The Tamperer featuring Maya.
- While Britney Spears was on her first-ever concert tour, "The ...Baby One More Time Tour 1999", the singer performed a cover of "Material Girl" as a medley with two Janet Jackson covers: "Black Cat" & "Nasty"
- Amanda Palmer of the Dresden Dolls once did a live cover of the song.
- Icelandic singer Hafdis Huld performed the song at The Secret Garden Festival and The Big Chill in the summer of 2007.
[edit] Appearances in other media, etc.
- The song was part of the "Sparkling Diamonds" medley in the 2001 film Moulin Rouge!.
- Bollywood actress Preeti Zinta briefly incorporated "Material Girl" into one of her musical numbers during the 2004 Temptations tour.
- In the 2004 movie Bridget Jones: The Edge of Reason based on the book by Helen Fielding, this song was used for the scene where Bridget gets out of a Thai jail.
- The 2006 Nintendo DS rhythm-action game Elite Beat Agents contains a cover version of the song for one of the game's levels. The level follows two celebutantes trapped on a deserted island.
[edit] Parodies
- The children's show Sesame Street did a interpolation of the song in 1989 with completely different lyrics called "Cereal Girl". The "music video" was about a "girl" grouch who loves cereal after tasting a bowl of it.[4][5]
- ^ Cinquemani, Sal (2005). Madonna: Confessions On A Dance Floor. Slant Magazine.com. Retrieved on 2006-06-20.
- ^ Reid, Shaheem. "Lil Jon Jamming On LPs From Trillville, Scrappy — And Jessica And Hilary". MTV News. August 21, 2005.
- ^ "For The Record: Quick News On Kanye West, U2, Madonna, Hilary And Haylie Duff, Pearl Jam & More". MTV News. July 21, 2006.
- ^ http://muppet.wikia.com/wiki/The_Cereal_Girl Muppet.wikia.com
- ^ http://www.songfacts.com/detail.php?id=1117 Songfacts.com
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