Vogue (song)
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| “Vogue” | |||||
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| Single by Madonna from the album I'm Breathless |
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| B-side | "Keep It Together" (Single Remix) "Vogue" (Bette Davis Dub) in (USA) |
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| Released | March 20, 1990 | ||||
| Format | Cassette, CD, CD maxi, 7", 12" | ||||
| Recorded | 1989-1990 | ||||
| Genre | Dance-pop, House | ||||
| Length | 4:19 (single version) 4:50 (original album version) 5:16 (Immaculate Collection version) |
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| Label | Sire, Warner Bros. | ||||
| Writer(s) | Madonna Shep Pettibone |
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| Producer | Madonna Shep Pettibone |
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| Certification | 2x Platinum (United States) Gold (United Kingdom) Silver (France) |
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| Madonna singles chronology | |||||
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| I'm Breathless track listing | |||||
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| The Immaculate Collection track listing | |||||
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"Vogue" was the first single by American singer-songwriter Madonna from her soundtrack album I'm Breathless (Music from and Inspired by the film Dick Tracy) and was released on March 20, 1990 by Sire Records. It later appeared in a slightly remixed and extended form on the 1990 greatest hits compilation The Immaculate Collection.
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[edit] Song information
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"Vogue" A tribute to the Golden Age of Hollywood, it became Madonna's first big hit of the '90s, reaching number one in Australia, the UK and the U.S. - Problems playing the files? See media help.
In late-1989, after the album Like a Prayer had spawned three U.S. hits - the title track, "Express Yourself" and "Cherish" - and a top-five European single in "Dear Jessie" - its fourth US single, "Oh Father", stalled at number twenty in the charts. Perhaps to ensure that the last single release of "Keep It Together" would fare better on the charts, Madonna and producer Shep Pettibone decided to compose a new song to be placed on the flipside of "Keep It Together" and quickly produced "Vogue", partly inspired by a dance performed in New York clubs in which dancers used a series of complex hand gestures to imitate their favourite Hollywood stars (see the list of the names of the Hollywood stars below), as well as the cover models on the magazine Vogue.
Madonna brought the hitherto underground "vogueing" culture into the mainstream with the release of her song. After presenting the song to Warner Bros. executives, all parties involved decided that the song was too good to be "wasted" on a B-side and should be released as a single. Although the song itself had nothing to do with Madonna's then upcoming movie Dick Tracy, it was included on the album I'm Breathless, which contained songs from and inspired by the film.
In 2003, Madonna fans were asked to vote for their Top 20 Madonna singles of all-time by Q-Magazine. "Vogue" was allocated the #14 spot.
[edit] Chart success
Aided by both a single version and an extended remix, as well as a black and white video directed by David Fincher, the song shot to number one in several territories. In the UK, the song knocked Snap!'s "The Power" off the number one slot and stayed there for four weeks, continuing a trend of club/pop crossovers going to number one. In the US, the single reached multi-platinum status. In Australia, it was released as a double A-side to "Keep It Together", and it went to the top spot.
In the USA, massive airplay and sales demand in response to the popular music video (discussed below) in April 1990 made way for "Vogue"'s #39 debut in the week of April 14. The song made it to #1 on the Billboard Hot 100 by its sixth week, knocking Sinéad O'Connor out of the top spot, where "Nothing Compares 2 U" had ruled for four weeks.
The success of "Vogue" boosted the sales of the I'm Breathless album, and combined with Madonna's Blond Ambition Tour, generated massive publicity for the Dick Tracy movie.
[edit] Music video
The video, directed by David Fincher and shot at The Burbank Studios in Burbank, California on February 9-10, 1990, is widely considered one of Madonna's best. In 1993, Rolling Stone magazine listed the video as the twenty-eighth best music video of all-time. It was the third time Fincher and Madonna collaborated on a video (the first being 1989's "Express Yourself" and the second being 1989's "Oh Father").
Filmed in black-and-white, the video recalls the look of 1930s Hollywood films with the use of artwork by the Art Deco artist Tamara de Lempicka and an Art Deco set design. Many of the scenes are recreations of photographs taken by noted photographer Horst P. Horst, including his famous "Mainbocher Corset". Some of the close-up poses recreate noted portraits of such stars as Marilyn Monroe, Veronica Lake and Marlene Dietrich. (Additionally, several stars of this era are name-checked in the song's lyrics.)
There was some controversy surrounding the video due to a scene in which Madonna's breasts (though not her nipples) can be seen through her sheer blouse, as seen in the above picture. MTV wanted to remove this scene, but Madonna refused, and the video aired with the shot intact.
The video features the dancers and back-up vocalists for Madonna's then-upcoming Blond Ambition Tour. The choreography was set by "Punk Ballerina" Karole Armitage. The video world-premiered on MTV on March 29, 1990.
There are two versions of the video, the regularly aired television music video, and an extended version over three minutes longer.
- Director: David Fincher
- Producer: Vicki Niles
- Director of Photography: Pascal Lebegue
- Editor: Jim Haygood
- Production Company: Propaganda Films
A live performance of "Vogue" at the 1990 MTV Video Music Awards also proved popular and was released as a music video on The Immaculate Collection compilation. It featured Madonna and her dancers dressed in an 18th-century French theme, with Madonna bearing great resemblance to Marie Antoinette. The performance was considered risqué, as Madonna and her dancers flashed their undergarments during their routine, and at one point Madonna pushed the faces of two male dancers into her breasts, and one of her dancers also fondles her breasts.
In 1993, Madonna performed "Vogue" on her tour The Girlie Show. During the song, she wore a large beaded headdress inspired by both Cyndi Lauper in her "True Colors" video and also [The King And I]] and the music was re-arranged with Middle-Eastern sounds.
In 2004, Madonna opened her Re-Invention Tour with "Vogue", again using an 18th-century-influenced theme - 're-inventing' the set design of the 1990 VMA performance. That version is included on the track setlists of I'm Going to Tell You a Secret.
[edit] Trivia
- This video was ranked #28 on Rolling Stone magazine's "The 100 Top Music Videos".
- This video was ranked #2 on MTV's "100 Greatest Videos Ever Made".
- This video was ranked #5 on VH1's 100 Greatest Songs of the 90's.
[edit] Remixes
- vogue (12inch alternate mix) 10.11
- vogue (12inch version) 8.25
- vogue (album version) 4.49
- vogue (andy's house mix) 5.50
- vogue (bette davis 12inch vinyl remix) 10.24
- vogue (bette davis dub) 7.26
- vogue (club st. john mix) 7.46
- vogue (dippy dub) 3.36
- vogue (dj logik's 808 state mix) 5.17
- vogue (don't vogue mix) 5.05
- vogue (evil mix) 5.19
- vogue (fabian benez original extended mix) 5.18
- vogue (fabian benez sub club mix) 5.17
- vogue (felix meow's fashionable dub) 4.20
- vogue (flange's tribal dub mix demo) 5.46
- vogue (future mix) 7.23
- vogue (house remix 2000) 8.12
- vogue (junior's club mix) 8.39
- vogue (live at the mtv video music awards 1990) 5.40
- vogue (mike danavan's madonnathon dub of doom) 13.12
- vogue (mike danavan's queerboys matix dub) 13.12
- vogue (new dub 2) 11.43
- vogue (nic's power anthem) 10.50
- vogue (orchestra version) 4.22
- vogue (orthodox reproduct) 6.45
- vogue (perpetuous dreamer mix) 6.18
- vogue (q sound version) 5.19
- vogue (rare white label mix) 7.56
- vogue (revenge of the girl with attitude remix) 4.00
- vogue (sharp boy's edit) 5.56
- vogue (sharp boy's remix) 7.37
- vogue (sm trax dancefloor disco mix) 8.23
- vogue (sm trax radio mix) 5.00
- vogue (saint ken's short sample club mix) 3.52
- vogue (sheps on the fly dub) 11.25
- vogue (southeast asian mix) 8.43
- vogue (stereo mix) 5.54
- vogue (strike a pose dub) 7.39
- vogue (system 2k mix) 6.39
- vogue (the exorcist mix) 5.19
- vogue (tom veras @ nic mercy's power anthem edit) 5.45
- vogue (tom veras re-styled keep on jumpin' mix) 5.56
[edit] Hollywood star names
The lyrics of the song reference the names of several 20s, 30s, 40s, 50s, and 60s stars, in this order:
- Greta Garbo
- Marilyn Monroe
- Marlene Dietrich
- Joe DiMaggio
- Marlon Brando
- James Dean
- Grace Kelly
- Jean Harlow
- Gene Kelly
- Fred Astaire
- Ginger Rogers
- Rita Hayworth
- Lauren Bacall
- Katharine Hepburn
- Lana Turner
- Bette Davis
Nine of the stars were alive at the time the single was released: Greta Garbo (who died less than a month after "Vogue" was released), Marlene Dietrich, Joe DiMaggio, Marlon Brando, Gene Kelly, Ginger Rogers, Lauren Bacall, Katharine Hepburn, and Lana Turner. As of May 2008, Bacall is the only one alive.
[edit] Charts
| Chart (1990) | Peak Position |
|---|---|
| U.S. Billboard Hot 100 | 1 |
| U.S. Billboard Hot 100 Airplay | 1 |
| U.S. Billboard Hot 100 Singles Sales | 1 |
| U.S. Billboard Adult Contemporary | 23 |
| U.S. Billboard Hot Dance Music/Club Play | 1 |
| U.S. Billboard Hot Dance Music/Maxi-Singles Sales | 1 |
| U.S. Billboard Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Singles & Tracks | 16 |
| U.S. Billboard Rhythmic Top 40 | 1 |
| U.S. Billboard Top 40 Tracks | 1 |
| Australia | 1 |
| Austria | 7 |
| Belgium | 1 |
| Brazil | 1 |
| Canada | 1 |
| Chile | 1 |
| Eurochart Hot 100 | 1 |
| Finland | 1 |
| France | 9 |
| Germany | 4 |
| Greece | 1 |
| Ireland | 2 |
| Israel | 2 |
| Italy | 1 |
| Japan Oricon International Singles Chart | 1 |
| Mexico | 1 |
| Netherlands | 2 |
| New Zealand | 1 |
| Norway | 1 |
| South Africa, Republic of | 1 |
| Spain | 1 |
| Sweden | 1 |
| Switzerland | 2 |
| United Kingdom | 1 |
[edit] Cover versions
- On the Madonna tribute album Virgin Voices, the song was covered by British electronic music group Astralasia.
- Finnish band Waltari recorded a cover of the song.
- A dance version by Mad'House can be found on their album Absolutely Mad.
[edit] External links
- Madonna - Vogue music video on YouTube.
| Preceded by "The Power" by Snap! |
UK number-one single April 8, 1990 for 4 weeks |
Succeeded by "Killer" by Adamski |
| Preceded by "Nothing Compares 2 U" by Sinéad O'Connor |
Billboard Hot 100 number one single May 19, 1990- June 2, 1990 |
Succeeded by "Hold On" by Wilson Phillips |
| Preceded by "Opposites Attract" by Paula Abdul |
Australian ARIA Singles Chart number-one single May 5, 1990 - June 9, 1990 |
Succeeded by "All I Wanna Do Is Make Love to You" by Heart |
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