Madonna - The Singles 1982-1990 : Part 2

I cannot think of another point in history where a pop star became so omnipresent as Madonna did during 1985. During this 12-month period, Madonna singles were being released from her new LP, “Like A Virgin”, and her 1983 self-titled debut, along with other 45’s released in connection with two movies she made an appearance in - “Vision Quest” and “Desperately Seeking Susan”. She appeared at Live Aid, made an un-planned appearance in “Penthouse” magazine due to some “pre-fame” nude photos, and got married. And all this before we even mention the release of the John ‘Jellybean’ Benitez “Sidewalk Talk” single, the US “Virgin Tour” concerts, and the reissue of both those first and second albums!

In this article, we look at all of Madonna’s singles released between the tail end of 1984 and the start of 1986 - in other words, all of the singles issued after the end of the “Madonna” album campaign but before the release of album number three, “True Blue”. As with the April 2010 blog, the article will list all known (and presumed) UK pressings, along with details of the German CD Single reissues from 1995, which attempted to replicate the 12“ releases. As ever, photos of the standard UK picture sleeves are shown, along with the CD edition where the photo was changed. 1985 also saw the first Madonna Picture Discs to be released in the UK, and these are also shown where appropriate. As ever, if you can spot any mistakes or wish to add any comments you think are relevant, you can do this at the end of the article or you can email me direct - once again, later reissues of any singles listed below will be discussed in future Madonna articles. All releases are on Sire, unless otherwise stated. For various complex issues, the “German” sleeves, if you click on them, will more than likely bring up a slightly different zoomed in photo of that “edition” (such as, say, a US 12” version) but they are here purely to show the actual picture used for the German pressings.


Like A Virgin
The single that really turned Madonna into a superstar. “Like A Virgin” was the start of a continuous run of top 5 UK hits that lasted for nearly three years, but was also the beginning of a run of top 40 hits that continues to this day. Whilst the debut album seemed to exist of songs aimed at the clubs, which then had to be edited for 7” and Radio-play, the “Like A Virgin” singles were the opposite - four minute long pop songs, seemingly written with an eye on the charts, requiring them to be “extended” for the 12” versions.

For the 7”, the two tracks on either side were both lifted straight from the forthcoming album of the same name, whilst on the 12”, the album version of the A-side was replaced by an extended mix. As was so often the case with Madonna singles, the extended mix was titled differently in different countries, but was always exactly the same mix. Initial copies of the 12” came with a free poster, and were housed in a suitably stickered sleeve, but the catalogue number on both the sleeve and the vinyl was the same as the “poster-less” editions. This was the same for all other Madonna singles issued with free posters during 1985 (although singles housed inside fold out sleeves were different - more of that in a bit).

In Germany, the single was housed in a different sleeve - but one that was as equally attractive as it’s UK counterpart. The 1995 CD pressing, as such, uses this sleeve but features the same tracklisting as the UK edition.

Like A Virgin/Stay (W9210, 7”)
Like A Virgin (Extended Dance Mix)/Stay (W9210T, 12”, initial copies with free poster in stickered p/s)
Like A Virgin (Extended Dance Mix)/Stay (7599-20239-2, German CD Single, “Canal” p/s)

Material Girl
Another single that, despite being an enormo-hit, is the subject of an unconfirmed format. As per “Like A Virgin”, three formats definitely exist - the 7” featuring album mixes of album tracks on the A and B sides, with the 12” edition replacing the album version of “Material Girl” with an extended mix. Again, initial copies came with a free poster.

The mythical format is the 2nd 7”. This supposedly featured the normal 7” housed inside a fold out posterbag sleeve, but despite regularly being listed on Madonna discographies over the years, nobody seems to own one. All that can be said is that if it DOES exist, then only the sleeve is collectable, because the vinyl would just have been the standard 7” used for the standard issue (as per the use of a standard 12” for the 12”-with-free-poster edition). If it does exist, then the catalogue number for the sleeve would be different to denote it being a fold out bag (Sire, at the time, denoted such pressings with an “F” suffix).

The 1995 edition from Germany uses the same sleeve and same tracklisting as the UK 12” edition - a good choice as the picture sleeve for this edition is stunning. In the US, the sleeve had a more “pop art” feel, with a small Madonna picture being reduced to a mere footnote in the bottom right cover. Boo!!!

Material Girl/Pretender (W9083, 7”)
Material Girl/Pretender (W9083F, 7” in fold out poster-sleeve, existence unconfirmed)
Material Girl (Jellybean Dance Remix)/Pretender (W9083T, 12”, initial copies with free poster in stickered p/s)
Material Girl (Jellybean Dance Remix)/Pretender (7599-20304-2, German CD Single)

Crazy For You
The first of two tracks that Madonna recorded for the “Vision Quest” movie, in which she starred playing… well, a singer. Madonna was rumoured to have been asked to write (and indeed, may have recorded) a third song, but this never materialised. Such was the success of this song, that despite featuring a couple of future Hollywood stars in the form of Linda Fiorentino and Matthew Modine, “Vision Quest” was released on VHS soon after as “Crazy For You” instead.

The soundtrack was released by Geffen Records, who as such, issued this single - Madonna’s first to be released on a label other than Sire. Rather than include Madonna’s other soundtrack contribution on the flip, Geffen realised they could make a few quid by releasing that song, “Gambler”, as a single in it’s own right at a later date, and as a result, issued a non-Madonna song from the soundtrack on the B-side instead. Record companies aren’t stupid, you know.

As “Crazy For You” was a ballad, no 12” was issued in the UK, as the track was not suitable for the banging remix treatment, although some European countries issued it on this format seemingly for fun. However, Geffen did issue the single in the UK as a Shaped Picture Disc - the first such Madonna single to be issued in this format. For our younger viewers, a shaped picture disc is effectively a clear 12” disc, but with the grooves only pressed across the middle 7 inches in width, with a picture (often a random shape, sometimes a square or a rectangle) printed on the disc which, at it’s narrowest point, could be 7” in width, but at it’s largest, could be 12”. The disc is then cut around the shape. Many shaped picture discs often feature a photograph on the front (in Madonna’s case, it was usually always a picture of the lady herself), and as such, the artist’s name and the title of the single was often absent. Details would be on the rear of the disc, however. Because these items were desirable because of their artistic nature, they were rarely included in a picture sleeve, but would be housed in a clear PVC sleeve, so the actual disc would be on display in the shops. Most, if not all, would have a sticker on the front showing the name of the artist and the name of the A-side, although I will admit, I am not sure if all Madonna discs had these. Any offered for sale without stickers don’t tend to sell for less. The “Crazy For You” picture disc is quite a rarity, and has long sold for £50+. Uncut discs for all shaped picture discs exist - in other words, the original 12” disc with the photos and 7” grooves intact, but not cut around the shape. The value of these was usually estimated to be double the value of the normal shaped edition, but as these were factory test pressings, very few actually existed, and these estimated prices were far too conservative - you are looking at a four figure sum for an ’uncut’ “Crazy For You”. Shaped picture discs, in recent years, have been subject to “browning” - a random condition where the colours used for the photo on the disc cause the clear parts of the vinyl to discolour, and these discs are starting to sell for less than the unaffected pressings. All picture discs, however, are notable for featuring slightly inferior sound quality to their black vinyl cousins, although I can only recall seeing such a warning on just one picture disc in my entire life - and that wasn’t for a Madonna record at all.

Given that “Crazy For You” was not issued on Sire, there is no accompanying German CD Single reissue, although a bootleg CD single was issued in the UK (looking, at first glance, like it might be official) - but why you would want an unofficial copy of a single that can be picked up quite easily on 7”, is beyond me.

Crazy For You +1 (Geffen A6323, 7”)
Crazy For You +1 (Geffen WA6323, Shaped Picture Disc in clear sleeve)

Into The Groove
One of Madonna’s most famous songs, “Into The Groove” was originally tossed away as the B-side of the “Angel” 12” in the US. It had been recorded for inclusion in Madonna’s second movie, “Desperately Seeking Susan”, and after appearing in demo form in a scene in which Madonna dances to her own song, it was spruced up for it’s appearance on record. At this point in her career, Madonna was getting more famous by the day, and in the US, the appearance of new Madonna material was the subject of much excitement, and radio DJ’s took to flipping the 12” over to play the song. As the US Billboard Charts are based partly on airplay, “Into The Groove” started to appear on the charts - despite not being released as a single in it’s own right (a prelude to the current state where downloads of album tracks get to appear on the singles chart - horror of horrors!)

In other countries, the decision was taken to issue “Groove” as a proper single, including the UK. In a rather charming unplanned retro move, because the track had been recorded purely as a B-side, it was therefore not edited or extended for single release, and it didn’t matter which format you bought, you got the same mix of the track. Old album tracks were dished out as B-sides - “Shoo-Bee-Doo” on the 7”, with “Everybody” also on the 12” editions. Initial copies of the 12” came with a free “Desperately Seeking Susan” film poster.

Whilst a lot of Madonna’s picture discs over the years featured completely different pictures to the photos used on the picture sleeves of the black vinyl versions, “Groove” did not - and a shaped picture disc with a picture of Madonna and co-star Rosanna Arquette was used on both the picture disc and picture sleeve editions. There was at least one minor difference picture-sleeve-wise in other editions issued worldwide, but the German version was identical to the UK edition and the 1995 CD replicates the UK version in both sound and vision.

Into The Groove/Shoo-Bee-Doo (W8934, 7”)
Into The Groove/Everybody/Shoo-Bee-Doo (W8934T, 12”, initial copies with free movie poster in stickered p/s)
Into The Groove/Shoo-Bee-Doo (W8934P, Shaped Picture Disc in clear sleeve)
Into The Groove/Everybody/Shoo-Bee-Doo (7599-20352-2, German CD Single)

Holiday
I don’t want to repeat too many of my thoughts on what versions of “Holiday” were or weren’t released back in 1983, but there will be a bit of a crossover in order to discuss the 1985 reissue. What has been confirmed since the April 2010 blog is that the “Borderline”/”Holiday” double pack does include a “Red Border” version of the “Holiday” 7”, which suggests this was pressed especially for the limited release.

The only two confirmed pressings for the 1985 issue were a black vinyl 12” and picture disc 12” - the latter, the first Madonna release in this format in the UK. The picture disc, like the shaped editions, was housed in a clear sleeve, whilst the black vinyl edition came in possibly the cheapest Madonna sleeve of all time - the same photo as the picture disc on a white background, and when I say the same photo, I mean it - the picture is inside a 12” circular disc! Both these editions feature the same basic catalogue number as the 1983 original, and the same tracklisting, but feature a 1983 publishing date with a 1985 copyright date.

The “train” sleeve that (in my view) was originally released as a 7” in 1983 has often been thought of as being issued in 1985 ONLY - but does not show a 1985 copyright date on the rear, so this seems unlikely. It’s possible copies were repressed, but why the 12” should change sleeves and not the 7”, is baffling. There was no reissue in hardly any other countries, so there’s no 1995 German Single for this release.

Holiday/Think Of Me (W9405T, 12”)
Holiday/Think Of Me (W9405TP, 12” in clear sleeve)

Angel
Despite having been overshadowed in the States by it’s more famous B-side, “Angel” was still given a single release in the United Kingdom post-”Into The Groove”. The b-side in the UK was the “4.48 Album Mix” of “Burning Up” (part 1 of this article will explain what all that nonsense is about).

The 7” featured an edited version of the A-side - the 12” replaced this with an extended mix. There was also a shaped picture disc which featured the same songs as the 7”. Initial copies came with a free cardboard plinth - you would fold it into a sort of box, and you could fix your picture disc into the plinth - this did, of course, mean you could get your disc damaged if a drink went flying across the room, for example. “Angel” is one of only two Madonna singles to include a plinth, and even then, only initial copies had them - later pressings didn’t include one, and rather intriguingly, plinth-less editions usually sell for a fiver less.

Although “Angel” was issued in Japan in a nifty unique sleeve, the sleeve for the UK edition was also used in Germany, and as such, the 1995 CD pressing looks like it’s 1985 original. However, “Into The Groove” was issued as the B-side in Germany, and the 1995 edition subsequently features this instead of “Burning Up”.

Angel (Edit)/Burning Up (4.48 Album Mix) (W8881, 7“)
Angel (Extended Dance Mix)/Burning Up (4.48 Album Mix) (W8881T, 12”)
Angel (Edit)/Burning Up (4.48 Album Mix) (W8881P, Shaped Picture Disc in clear sleeve, some with display plinth)
Angel (Extended Dance Mix)/Into The Groove (7599-20335-2, German CD Single)

Gambler
The second Geffen single, “Gambler” has gained a certain notoriety in Madonna circles, as it remains the only Madonna ‘hit’ originally released on vinyl only, to not be included on a Madonna album (“Crazy For You” was included, in various forms, on “The Immaculate Collection” and “Celebration”). Even the live version of the track on the 1985 “Virgin Tour Live” Video is hard to find, as the VHS has been deleted, and is not available on DVD.

Being more upbeat than “Crazy For You”, the song was issued on 12” but again, not being ones to miss a trick, Geffen spread the three mixes across two formats. The 7” featured the normal mix from the soundtrack LP on the A-side (with a non-Madonna song on the flip), but replaced this with two alternate mixes on the 12”. “Gambler” was also issued on 7” in a fold out poster sleeve - assuming the fold out “Material Girl” does not exist, this therefore was the first Madonna 7” to be issued in such a form. The sleeve had a different catalogue number, but the actual vinyl did not.

Again, being released on Sire means there is no German CD version - but once more, a pointless Bootleg CD exists. Avoid.

Gambler +1 (Geffen A6585, 7”)
Gambler +1 (Geffen QA6585, 7” in fold out poster-sleeve)
Gambler (Extended Dance Mix)/(Instrumental Remix) +1 (Geffen TA6585, 12”)

Dress You Up
The last Madonna 45 of 1985, “Dress You Up” was released at the same time as the “Virgin Tour Live” VHS, and the accompanying promo video was lifted straight from said release. Madonna doesn’t really do B-sides, so “I Know It” from the first album was stuck on the flipside.

For the 12”, the album version of “Dress You Up” which adorned the 7” was replaced by two remixes, and for the first time, a 12” posterbag edition was released - as with “Gambler“, the catalogue number was different on the actual sleeve to the bog-standard 12”, but actual labels showed the normal 12” catalogue number. Because of it’s size, these editions of the single rarely turn up in mint condition, primarily because the use of a paper sleeve, as opposed to card, usually sees the edges get a bit tatty - a shame, because the actual sleeve, when folded out, is astonishing.

A shaped picture disc was also issued, as a star-shaped Christmas tree decoration - it had a hole through one of the “points”, so you could hang it up on your Christmas tree. Whether or not anybody tried this is open to question. In Germany, the single seems to have been issued in the same sleeve, but for the 1995 CD version, was changed to the slightly inferior (but still quite cute) US sleeve with a different B-side.

Dress You Up/I Know It (W8848, 7”)
Dress You Up (The Formal Mix)/(The Casual Instrumental Mix)/I Know It (W8848T, 12”)
Dress You Up (The Formal Mix)/(The Casual Instrumental Mix)/I Know It (W8848TF, 12” in fold out poster-sleeve)
Dress You Up/I Know It (W8848P, Star-shaped Picture Disc in clear sleeve)
Dress You Up (The Formal Mix)/(The Casual Instrumental Mix)/Shoo-Bee-Doo (7599-20369-2, German CD Single, different p/s)

Borderline
Having stalled outside the top 50 in 1984, Sire decided to reissue what is arguably Madonna’s greatest ever single to try and get it into the charts - and succeeded. Like the “Holiday” reissue, the basic catalogue number stayed the same, but this time, the same picture sleeve was used as well. The only difference between the reissue and the original was artwork differences on the back sleeve, with the reissue also making reference to Madonna’s debut LP as “The First Album”, as opposed to just “Madonna”.

As before, there was a 7” and 12” version, but this time around there was no “Borderline”/”Holiday” double pack, but a Shaped Picture Disc instead with the single mix of “Borderline” backed with the heavily edited 7” version of “Physical Attraction”. I am not 100% certain what differences are on the labels of the reissue - any showing a reference to “Brampton Music Ltd” are believed to be a 1984 pressing only, but don’t quote me on that. The labels for the 1986 release may refer to either “The First Album” or “Madonna” - again, I am not too sure. Being a reissue, there is no CD Single version from Germany for the 1986 edition of “Borderline”, as it would have looked and sounded just like the reissue of the 1984 version.

Borderline (7” Remix)/Physical Attraction (Edit) (W9260, 7”)
Borderline (US Remix)/(Dub Remix)/Physical Attraction (W9260T, 12”)
Borderline (7” Remix)/Physical Attraction (Edit) (W9260P, Shaped Picture Disc in clear sleeve)

Sidewalk Talk
I wouldn’t normally bother with “guest spots” on record, but this Jellybean 45 is worth it. Whilst some Madonna fans will get overly excited by the fact that she can just about be heard somewhere in the background of Nick Kamen’s “Each Time You Break My Heart”, “Sidewalk Talk” is actually a duet between Madonna and another singer (the details aren’t too important in the context of this article).

The single appeared in different sleeves in different countries, in the UK the cover proudly displayed “written by Madonna” but seemed to make no mention of the fact that she also sang on it. The 7” featured the original mix, the 12” an extended version. The B-side on each was a Jellybean instrumental (a cover of Cat Stevens’ “Was Dog A Doughnut”, with no Madonna present).

Sidewalk Talk +1 (EMI America EA210, 7”)
Sidewalk Talk (Dance Mix) +1 (EMI America 12EA210, 12”)

As before, this blog will continue in three issues time with a look at the Madonna singles issued between mid 86 and the end of 1988 - the “True Blue” period, in effect. And again, listed below are a series of selected non UK singles from the 1984 - 1986 period, although they also cover release dates from after 1986. A link to the site “Madonna Records” is listed thereafter, which contains scans of all the 45s listed below. For any singles listed above that were reissued in the UK at a later date, these will be discussed in a future article looking at Madonna’s post-1990 single releases. Please note - this list is by no means exhaustive, but cherry picks the releases from outside of the UK that offered different sleeves, and the odd exclusive mix. Many of these singles were also issued as sleeve-less promos, or indeed, sleeve-less commercial releases, but only those with rare mixes are listed. I have also included some additional pressings of singles from the debut LP, which although they relate, in this blog, to singles that of course were only issued in 1985 in a “reissued” format, are worth a mention (all the “debut album” releases were originally from 1983/84).

SELECTED RARITIES 1984-1986

Angel (LP Version)/(Dance Mix Edit) (P-1973, Japanese 7”, unique p/s with B-side mix never released in UK)
Borderline (7” Remix)/Think Of Me (P-1852, Japanese 7” in unique p/s)
Borderline (7” Remix)/Think Of Me (18.084, Brazilian 7” in unique “cross-earring” p/s)
Dress You Up (LP Version)/(Remix Edit) (7228919, US Promo 7” in company sleeve, B-side mix never issued in UK)
Dress You Up/Shoo-Bee-Doo (P-2009, Japanese 7” in unique p/s)
Dress You Up ~ Ain’t No Big Deal (WPCP 3438, Japanese CD Mini-Album, includes 12” and Instrumental versions of “Dress You Up”)
Holiday/Think Of Me (0-20173, Australian 12” in unique pink p/s)
Holiday (LP Mix)/(Edit)/I Know It (WBM 53, South African 12” in “titles” p/s)
Holiday (Edit)/I Know It (18.075, Brazilian 7” in same p/s as “Madonna” LP. Italian 7” exists with different B-side, and same photo but zoomed in and slightly angled.)
Holiday (Edit)/I Know It (P-1831, Japanese 7” in “sunglasses” p/s)
Holiday (Edit)/I Know It (92 9478-7, 1985 Italian reissue 7”, in same sleeve as “The First Album”)
Into The Groove/Angel (DS-033, Philippines 12” in unique p/s, Cassette version also issued in “Angel“ p/s)
Into The Groove/Shoo-Bee-Doo (601.7052, Brazilian 7” in unique “Susan” p/s)
Into The Groove/Who’s That Girl (Extended Mix)/Causing A Commotion (Silver Screen Mix) (7599 21141 2, German CD Single from circa 1988, unique p/s, issued as both 3” and 5”)
Into The Groove/Dress You Up (9 00539-4, US “Backtrax” reissue single, late 80s, issued in at least two different coloured sleeves)
Into The Groove/Dress You Up (2-539, US CD Single, in ‘Vinyl’ style p/s)
Into The Groove/Dress You Up (GSRE 0539, US “Back To Back” AA-side 7” in white die cut sleeve)
Like A Virgin (LP Mix)/(LP Mix) (PRO-A-2172, US Promo 12” in unique “Graphics” p/s)
Like A Virgin (Extended Dance Mix)/(Extended Dance Mix) (PRO-A-2223, US Promo 12” in “Madonna on Bed” p/s)
Like A Virgin/Stay (P-1887, Japanese 7” in same p/s as “Like A Virgin” album)
Like A Virgin And Other Big Hits! (P-6206, Japanese 12” Mini-Album, includes extended mixes of “Virgin”, “Borderline”, “Lucky Star” and LP version of “Holiday”)
Love Don’t Live Here Anymore/Over And Over (P-2041, Japanese only 7”)
Material Girl (Jellybean Dance Remix)/Pretender (9 20304-0, US 12”, “Pearls” p/s)
Material Girl/Pretender (P-1943, Japanese 7” in same p/s as “Live A Virgin“ UK 7“)
Material Girl (Jellybean Dance Remix)/Into The Groove/Angel (Extended Dance Mix) (P-5199, Japanese 12” in “Angel” p/s)
Material Girl/Angel (GSRE 0507, US “Back To Back” AA-side 7” in white die cut sleeve)
Over And Over/Borderline (92 8737-7, Italian 7”, not issued as A-side in UK)

Further reading:

Madonna Records: http://www.madonnarecords.com/