Original subtitles

CROWD SCREAMS

Queen of Pop...

She brought her liveliness,

she brought her identity,

she brought energy,

she brought her style.

...mistress of reinvention...

She just loves to shock.

She lives to shock.

...with over 300 million record sales,

Madonna's been at the top of her game for over four decades.

But how did she get there?

And what were the secrets

behind the songs that made her a superstar?

# Holiday... #

From the innocent...

Holiday is a fun, frothy pop song.

It's light as air and you just can't resist how wonderful it is.

...to the provocative...

# Like a virgin... #

Like a virgin, like a what?

Excuse me, lady?

...to the track that defined an entire era.

If there was ever a song

that captured an attitude of the time...

...that was a moment.

# Cos we are living in a material world... #

We speak to those who helped propel her to success,

from the musicians...

We decided that maybe there's something

between this song and this artist -

might be something magical.

ROBOTIC: Liv...ing in a material world.

...and those who sang on her big hits...

We finished Material Girl, and it was just like,

"Oh, God, this is ridiculous!"

People are gonna love this!

...to the writers.

We did get the response that

no-one would ever sing a song titled

Like A Virgin.

But fortunately, it was perfect for one...

...singer, and her name was Madonna.

# Like a virgin... #

We reveal the ruthless ambition

that took a struggling clubland hopeful...

What are your dreams? What's left?

To rule the world.

...to the pinnacle of global stardom.

This is Madonna and the story of the three songs

that defined her career.

Madonna Louise Ciccone,

a dance school dropout from Michigan

who went on to conquer the world

and enjoy a 40-year career of unparalleled success.

It's...

...just bigger than anything I could ever imagine.

From New York street chic

to blonde ambition.

From leather-clad Dita

to Ray Of Light Earth mother,

to Evita.

Over and over again,

Madonna reinvented her music and look

to become the ultimate pop star survivor.

Was it 16 consecutive top five hits?

Oh, I don't know. Something like that.

Madonna has one of the most ground-breaking careers in pop music.

The first female pop star

to have complete control over her career.

From William Orbit to Demolition Crew,

she's collaborated with the world's best producers

to create the world's biggest hits.

She is a vocalist who can bring her identity

to everything she sings.

And she's still going strong today.

She was so heat-seeking-missile focused on success.

I want longevity as a human being, so...

...l want it to last forever.

She was like that from the beginning and she's still like that now.

But if you want to understand why Madonna took the world by storm,

you need to explore just three huge songs -

her first three mega-hits...

# Holiday... #

# Ooh! Like a virgin... #

# And I am a material girl... #

...to find the answer.

CONTROL ROOM: We have main engine ignition.

Three, two, one...

We have lift-off!

It's 1982 and the Columbia Space Shuttle's taking off

on its third mission into space...

"jimmy Connors is bringing bad boy of tennis,

John McEnroe, back down to Earth...

...and the sky's the limit for Michaeljackson,

as his Thriller album breaks all sales records.

Meanwhile, a young Madonna Ciccone

has risen from dance student in Michigan

to be on the verge of releasing her first single.

But it had been four tough years getting there.

When Madonna was 20,

she did what she now says

is the bravest thing she'd ever done.

She dropped out of dance college

and she went to New York.

She said it was the first time she'd been on a plane.

First time she'd been in a taxi.

She only had $35 in her pocket.

But she had a dream and she had a belief.

And it was, for her, the beginning of everything.

Madonna worked at a Dunkin' Donuts to make money.

She lived in really cruddy, broken-down buildings

in rough parts of town.

To be a young woman on your own

in Manhattan at the time,

we had to be made out of pretty stern stuff.

MADONNA: A lot of it has to do with imagination

and the great desire and need to get out

of that small town kind of feeling,

go somewhere and be somebody

because you feel like you're missing something.

As well as being edgy, the city was a hotbed of artistic invention.

In and around the club scene, the ambitious Madonna

soaked up all the influences on offer.

So the underground scene in New York in the early '80s when Madonna

was running around was wild.

Hi!

It was filled with a lot of people who didn't have a lot of money,

but had a lot of creativity.

I would say there was just an incredible rhythmic surge

in New York City during that time.

The city was raw.

The city was accessible.

You could come from anywhere and absolutely reinvent yourself.

And that's what Madonna did.

There was a buzz going on with Madonna because Madonna

had so much charisma.

She was really a new, upcoming phenomenon.

You know, in New York. Everyone knew about her in town.

Although New York had been at the centre of earlier music trends,

styles were heading in new directions.

By that time, the big crest of disco had really come and then receded.

People still wanted to dance, but it had to change a little bit.

Madonna's music really - early music - really reflects that.

She'd do her act at clubs

probably with pre-recorded music doing, like, dance stuff.

It was about the music, the presentation, the visual image.

You can see that she's very influenced by people

like Debbie Harry, who had that kind of glamour and grace.

I was inspired by Debbie Harry

because she seemed very in charge of what she was doing

and she also had a sort of wittiness about her

and street smarts.

And I liked her.

She was a role model.

Grace Jones is also the apotheosis of it.

# Pull up to the bumper baby

# In your long black limousine... #

You don't just get music on its own.

What you get is the music matches the attitude, which matches

the visuals, which matches the videos.

After months on the music circuit fringe, Madonna signed her first

record deal, and in October 1982,

her label released her debut single, Everybody.

# Everybody, come on, dance with me

# Everybody, get up and do your thing... #

We had heard her singing "Everybody", the song -

# Everybody... #

You know, which is sort of like a sing-along song.

We was very impressed with it

and I liked it a lot when I first heard it.

The song may have been low-key, but the singer had high-powered friends

and in her determination to be a success,

she was prepared to call on them.

Madonna had been dating the DJ at Danceteria, Mark Kamins,

and she decided that she was going to impress upon Mark that he needed

to play this music.

Now, this is his beautiful girlfriend and it's a song

that he liked, but he was afraid because he thought,

"What if everybody stops dancing?"

But he took the risk. He played it and nobody stopped dancing.

Everybody continued dancing. They loved it.

Loved it, and bought it.

Not only did the song become a clubland favourite

it reached the top five in the US dance charts.

It's the world superstar in embryo.

You can't yet tell she's going to be a superstar

but what you can tell is she has an identity,

she has an attitude

and she has a presence. And it's all there.

# But you don't even know I'm alive

# And this pounding in my heart just won't die

# I'm burning up... #

Keen to cash in on her early success

Madonna's label rushed out a follow-up dance single - Burning Up.

# I'm burning up, burning up for your love

# I'm burning up, burning up for your love... #

I really enjoyed Madonna's first singles, Burning Up and Everybody.

They were so melodic, poppy and dancey all at the same time.

And then I saw a photograph of her.

I thought, OK. She's sort of a contender here

because she was combining this street look

with this very accessible pop sound.

# Now tell me what you want me to do

# I'm not blind, and I know

# That you want to want me but you can't let go, c'mon, let's go!

It wasn't a hit, but that almost doesn't matter

because every journey starts with a step.

And Burning Up is a very small but significant step.

A much bigger step came six months later.

Madonna released a feel-good pop anthem that would take her

out of the dance charts and into the mainstream.

# Holiday

# Celebrate... #

Holiday is a fun, frothy pop song.

The meaning isn't super deep.

It's just a song about partying and having a little bit of fun.

# If we took a holiday... #

The upbeat lyrics were no accident.

They were written as an antidote to the depressing events

that dominated the early '80s news cycle.

# It would be, it would be so nice... #

I was inspired by watching the television news at the time.

It was troubling to see so much turmoil and this confusion

so it came to me like, if we just had one day that we could just stop

everywhere all over the world, that would be like a really great thing.

So the lyrics came -

"lf we took a holiday, took some time to celebrate,

"Just one day out of life, it would be so nice."

Sometimes when people are going through very difficult situations,

simplicity sticks the landing better than sophistication, something

that just lifts your spirits because it's light as air

and you just can't resist how wonderful it is.

The melody went like this.

HE STRUMS MAIN RIFF FROM "HOLIDAY"

# If we took a holiday

# Took some time to celebrate... #

By the time Curtis offered Holiday to Madonna,

two other artists had already turned the song down.

But her recording would deliver the stardom she'd always craved.

# ..so nice

# Everybody spread the word... #

Holiday was like a wrecking ball that smashed the wall

that Madonna had been facing.

It was her pop breakthrough and it was the start of her becoming

one of the biggest stars on the planet.

CHEERING

"Holiday" PLAYS

It's 1983

and Madonna has risen from dance school dropout to dance chart star.

This is the story behind the three songs that launched her

into global superstardom.

# Holiday... #

With the first, Holiday, just about to be released, it was her first

mainstream pop song and would go on to be a hit across the globe.

# Celebrate... #

But while the song had worldwide appeal,

it was rooted in New York's disco-influenced R&B scene.

I was in a band called Pure Energy.

It consisted of myself,

Raymond Hudson, my brother,

and Lisa Stevens, the lead singer.

Lisa had these chords...

HE HUMS CHORDS FROM "HOLIDAY"

I wrote everything else in the song - the melody,

the lyrics, the arrangement. Everything else was, was my ideas.

As soon as we got to the point that we heard the intro part

of Holiday, the...

HE HUMS SYNTH PART

SYNTH PART PLAYS

...Curtis created that part.

We knew the song had a certain...

SONGS STOPS BEFORE MAIN BEAT KICKS IN

...energy, I would say.

It was a positive energy and we was like, we gotta do something with this song.

Holiday had all the elements

a catchy pop anthem needed

but if Pure Energy thought it would make THEM famous, they were wrong.

When we finished recording a demo,

I let tonnes of people hear it.

And every time Holiday would come on,

everyone would say, "That's a hit.

"Stop there, play that again. That, that song is a hit."

And we was hoping that it would be the song to launch us,

but our record label, they turned it down.

And that's when we decided

we were going to shop the song to other artists.

Two of those artists turned the song down, but, remaining convinced

of its potential, Curtis and his bandmates turned to

their New York disco contacts.

We had a relationship with Jellybean, john Benitez.

Jelly Bean was a very influential DJ.

And he wasn't just at one club.

He was in about six clubs, including Studio 54.

But it was jellybean's romantic rather than clubland connections

that landed the perfect artist.

Madonna and he hooked up and I think it's very fortuitous

that they happened to come together that time.

They were dating for a while.

I mean, I don't know how serious, but we know

that they were very close. Very close.

That's how we end up meeting Madonna, because what we did was

we went to this club called The Funhouse

where jellybean was the big DJ.

And he invited Madonna there.

After we met with her and she told us she loved the song and, you know,

pretty much asked us could she do the song.

And as a whole we decided that maybe there's something between this song

and this artist, might be something magical.

With the agreement struck, Madonna turned up at the studio

ready to record Pure Energy's song.

But, right from the start, she made it clear it was now HER song.

Madonna comes in and does sing Holiday -

# Holiday, celebrate!

She was, like, really happy about it.

So we hoped that Holiday gonna be good for Madonna.

She was watching everything that happened in the studio.

She want to make sure that nothing didn't mess the song up

or hurt the song.

I remember when I was doing the guitar parts

and I was playing it a certain way, and she stopped.

She said, "Do you have to do that?

"You can hear the bounce on the strings."

HE STRUMS PERCUSSIVELY

HE STRUMS WITH NOTES LAYERED ON

So when you put the two of those together,

it's a very funky track.

That's what they call the funk.

You know, it's the guitar pick hitting up against the strings

and give it a funky, you know, rhythmic feel.

BASS RIFF IS ADDED

She like, "But could you do that without playing, without doing it?"

I say, "Yes, but I don't want to do that."

And so we kind of like had a little, uh, debate about that

and I thinkjellybean shut it down.

You know, sort of like, "He's the guitarist, let him play it."

How many artists even pay attention to that?

You know, so I was annoyed a little bit,

but I was kinda impressed at the same time.

The thing about many artists, you see their personalities change

when, you know, the attention, the money and publicity.

Madonna was always the same.

So when she hadn't sold a record,

she was as difficult as when she'd sold 50 million records

because she knew her own mind and she was generally always right.

# If we took a holiday... #

Madonna may have been difficult over the instrumentals,

but when it came to laying down her vocals,

she was downright demanding.

Other than the producer, she ordered everyone out,

including original vocalist Lisa Stevens.

Jellybean informed us that

well, Madonna don't want anybody to be in the studio.

So we was like, "OK!" You know?

I mean, I kind of felt bad cos Raymond and myself,

we was there, you know, in the session for the rhythm track

and we was participating in that

and Lisa was like, I guess she was saying, "OK, vocals next."

And Madonna had a different idea.

Even at this young age, she would take no bull from anybody.

She would believe what she believed.

And she trusted her own instinct.

And, time after time, she proved to be right.

She brought a sort of innocence

that's going to appeal to a lot of young people.

And she brought her liveness,

she brought her identity,

she brought...energy,

she brought her style.

We wasn't in the studio at all.

That's why we were surprised when we did hear her final vocals.

It was like, "Wow, OK, they sound good!"

Madonna at this stage was a great vocalist because she had something

that you'd not get on a lot of club records.

Her diction was really clear

and she sounded like she was riding the rhythm

and just kind of almost speak-singing the words. Yeah -

# If we took a holiday...

No, riffs, and she'd give space.

# If we took a holiday...

# just one time to celebrate... #

Empty the space.

# Some time to celebrate

# Just one day out of life

# It would be

# It would be so nice... #

Madonna was all about rhythm and attitude and vibe, and Holiday

had all of those imprints.

Holiday was the first showcase for a vocal style that would soon

become instantly recognisable all over the world

and was an important step towards the global phenomenon

that Madonna would soon become.

It quickly became a mainstream American radio favourite

and reached number 16 on the all-important US Billboard chart.

Madonna was a mere disco artist no more.

Holiday was her pop breakthrough.

It was irritatingly unforgettable.

It kind of worked its way into you.

# Celebrate

# Holiday

All those involved in the recording of Holiday believed

it would be a hit, but surprisingly the record company Warner Bros

hadn't even bothered to produce a promotional video.

# Some time to celebrate... #

There are a couple of performances Madonna gave for a little lip-sync

promotion spot and those sort of ended up being what was used

as the video, in people's minds.

The video is absolutely charming because she's so free in it.

The dancing is kind of goofy.

It's a little bit like doing the Sailor's Hornpipe.

It's great. She's got this kind of skipping little dance

that she does, but it's the same dance that she did every time

she performed this -

the kind of swaying from side to side.

She knows exactly where the cameras are.

She looks fantastic.

Those looks caught the public's attention as much as the music.

The first of many Madonna styles was born.

We have the scarf in the tousled hair.

We've got the really acutely defined lips,

loose top, the layers,

the skirts, the little dancer leggings.

She looks like a cute, broke New York dancer

on her day off.

The street style may have looked thrown together,

but every aspect was carefully thought through -

as photographer Richard Corman found out

during one of her first professional shoots.

I had never met anybody like Madonna.

From her dark roots in her hair to her red lips,

to the make-up on her eyes,

to the way she was dressed -

the torn jeans, the jewellery.

She was living art.

I knew I was in the throes of something remarkable.

Her sexuality was a part of every photograph we took.

Whether it was through her humour,

whether it was the way she looked into the camera,

she made an ordinary stove sexy and funny

and playful and charismatic

and three-dimensional,

unlike anybody could have.

Working with Madonna,

it was jaw-dropping for me because I had never seen somebody

that was so comfortable in her own skin.

And if she wasn't, you know, I was totally fooled.

With mounting record sales and magazine front covers,

it was time for the next step in Madonna's transformation

into a key cultural figure.

It came with an appearance on America's

premier TV music show.

American Bandstand is a pop music institution on US television.

The fact that Madonna was on such an iconic show

was really important.

To those who'd worked with her,

Madonna's ruthless ambition was an open secret.

Now she was about to share it with everyone.

Mm, to rule the world.

And you just think,

"Ooh, what hubris."

But, my God, she was right!

There's plenty of talented people out there -

more talented, much more talented than Madonna -

but they do not have that drive. # It would be so nice...

It had taken barely a year for Madonna to move

from an obscure dance artist to mainstream star.

And she would always have this song to thank.

# Let's celebrate. #

Holiday was like a wrecking ball that smashed the wall

that Madonna had been facing.

It was her pop breakthrough,

and it was the start of her becoming one of the biggest stars

on the planet.

Holiday was a great entry-level song for future Madonna fans.

It was just the fun Madonna.

The escapist Madonna.

# You're so fine

# And you're mine... #

But there was a series of other Madonnas

already in the pipeline.

And as the styles kept changing, the hits kept coming.

# Make everything all right...

By 1984, Madonna was an established pop act,

following up her breakthrough hit, Holiday,

with the equally catchy Lucky Star.

# You must be my lucky star... #

Her sound and image had inspired other female artists.

And, soon, rivals like Cyndi Lauper were vying to take her place.

# Girls, they want to have fun. #

# Cos you got the best of me...

Madonna knew she had to hit back.

Her next release, Borderline, hit the top ten.

# Borderline... #

But, behind the scenes,

she was working on something much bigger.

The key to that stardom arrives later that year

with a track that was to smash away convention,

confront controversy and put Madonna in an unassailable position

in global pop-

Hi, we're in New York,

and here's a song for my new album, entitled Like A Virgin.

# Like a virgin

# Touched for the very first time

# Like a virgin...

Like A Virgin broke Madonna on a worldwide stage.

You know, Holiday had been her breakthrough,

but this was her golden ticket.

Hearing like a Virgin for the first time was a shock

because the word virgin wasn't really used on the radio.

Like a virgin. Like a what?

Excuse me, lady.

Like a virgin? You know, those days are gone for you.

Like A Virgin came from the pens of Billy Steinberg

and Tom Kelly, the celebrated duo behind a string of top ten hits

for other artists across the '80s.

Billy Steinberg and Tom Kelly co-wrote

so many great '80s pop songs.

I'm thinking about I Drove All Night.

True Colours was another one.

Such deft songwriting.

# True colours are shining through... #

Steinberg and Kelly had never worked with Madonna before,

and they didn't compose the track with her in mind.

The song tells the story about how I extricated myself

from a very difficult relationship...

...and found myself in a new, joyous relationship...

...which made me feel shiny and new.

# Yeah, you made me feel

# Shiny and new...

Like a virgin.

# Like a virgin...

I was really surprised to find out that it was written by a man

reflecting on a time in his life

when he'd come out of a bad relationship

and was sort of finding his mojo again.

I did feel when I came up with the title

that I had something special,

and something a bit irreverent,

and something that would tickle people's imaginations

and sense of the word virgin.

I kind of got that it would be provocative.

With the risque chorus completed, Billy and songwriting partner

Tom Kelly began working on the rest of the track.

We didn't find the right direction for the music immediately.

And then he started to play a bass line

that resembled I Can't Help Myself by the Four Tops.

MUSIC: I Can't Help Myself by Four Tops

MUSIC: Like A Virgin by Madonna

He was playing that bass line.

I propped the lyrics on his piano and he started singing falsetto.

"L made it through the wilderness.

"Somehow I made it through."

I said, "That's it!"

And then the song quickly wrote itself.

It may only have been a demo version,

but Tom Kelly's falsetto became the blueprint

for Madonna's final vocal.

An interesting part of it is the fade at the end of the demo,

because you can really hear how she copied all Tom's ad libs

as our demo was fading out.

Madonna just basically lifted the whole performance.

Like, she just copied it from beginning to end,

including all of the little sighs and oohs and aahs.

And even just some things that are said on the outro for the record.

I mean, that's how perfectly conceived it was

from songwriting to demo.

Brilliantly conceived, but tough to sell.

When Steinberg and Kelly completed their track,

almost no-one would touch it.

We started to play the song for various A&R people

at different record companies,

and we did get the response that no-one would ever sing

a song titled Like A Virgin.

But, fortunately, it was perfect for one singer,

and her name was Madonna.

# Like a virgin...

Madonna has so many talents,

and one of them is to know when a song is right for her,

and somebody from the record company presented Like A Virgin to her

in the demo form.

And she went crazy.

Everything about it was right for Madonna.

It feels like there is no other singer in the world

that could have sung that song.

With Like A Virgin chosen by an excited Madonna

as her next track,

Chic's legendary guitarist, Nile Rodgers,

was brought in to produce.

But, initially, he had his doubts about the track.

Nile Rogers, he wasn't sure.

He's like, "lt's kind of a weird hook to sing Like A Virgin.

"And I'm not really..."

She was like, "No, trust me. "This is absolutely it."

And she was right.

Once Rogers overcame his doubts,

he and Madonna shared the studio for every moment

of the production,

including some awkward ones.

# You're so fine...

Whatever the studio tensions, the results were worth it.

For Madonna, it was the song that changed everything.

Like A Virgin, for her, was the moment

where everybody who would have thought

she was a passing fad realised that, actually,

this woman, she's a game changer.

# Like a virgin...

Helping the song provide maximum punch -

the video.

The sexually charged performance was the template

for many more videos to come,

and this time along the canals of Venice.

She's writhing around in a gondola,

going through a tunnel and coming out the other side.

I mean, that's just so ham-fisted and so on the nose.

I think what this tells us about Madonna

is that she just loves to shock.

She lives to shock.

In music, at this point,

what you really didn't have is a female artist

who didn't look as though, or sound as though,

they were interested in romance.

You look at this video, the performance,

and Madonna, who was sexy on her previous stuff,

suddenly becomes Madonna, who is sexual.

And there's a big difference.

Sexy is "Like me, and I'm pretty and I look great. Don't l?"

Sexual is "l'm in control."

# Like a virgin

# Feels so good inside... #

Like A Virgin was the first moment

in the rise of the Madonna phenomenon

that we see her using the shock value of unashamed sexuality

and the power of controversy to create record sales,

something she will continue to do across her career.

I like to provoke people,

but I don't think about the danger of it.

And if there is a dangerous element, that's exciting to me.

The single ruled supreme at the top of the billboard chart

for a phenomenal six weeks.

It was certified gold in the US

and went on to be a massive worldwide hit.

I think Madonna became a pop culture icon

the moment Like A Virgin was released.

As soon as that song hit the airwaves,

there was no turning back.

Like A Virgin took Madonna to the next level.

The songwriters Steinberg and Kelly had helped her

find the superstardom she'd always dreamed of.

But when they saw her at a party sometime later,

there was little appreciation.

We see at the other end of the terrace,

Madonna walking out of the house...

...towards us.

And she was with Warren Beatty.

And I thought to myself,

"Well, this is the perfect opportunity

"to meet Madonna finally."

And a guy we knew said to Madonna,

"Madonna, I would like you to meet Tom Kelly and Billy Steinberg,

"who wrote Like A Virgin."

And Warren Beatty started to laugh,

and I think he was laughing because he thought, you know,

"Of course she must know the guys that wrote Like A Virgin.

"It must be some kind of a spoof."

I stepped up and I said to Madonna...

"l've wanted to meet you for so long."

And she said to me, "Well, now you did."

And she grabbed Warren Beatty and walked off.

So she wasn't particularly cordial, shall we say.

# Material girl...

As was the case from the beginning of her career,

Madonna's eyes were fixed only on the future.

And her next incarnation -

recalling Hollywood's ultimate blonde bombshell

and featuring a song and iconic video

that would come to symbolise not just Madonna's pulling power,

but a whole global decade -

Material Girl.

# And I am a material girl... #

The mid 1980s saw free market economics

sweep across the West.

Britain is confident, strong and trusted.

In the booming financial centres of New York and London,

fortunes were made fast and spent even faster.

For the lucky ones, the consumption had never been more conspicuous.

This was the Ronald Reagan era.

Greed is good.

Dynasty is huge on TV.

Everyone's into more, more, more.

In America, 1985 was all about big hair, big shoulder pads,

big wallet, all that kind of thing.

The new era demanded its own soundtrack,

and Madonna was the one to provide it,

with a song that would finally cement her superstar status.

# Some boys kiss me

# Some boys hug me

# I think they're OK... #

If there was ever a song that summed up an artist,

that captured an attitude of the time,

that was her moment.

# Cos we are living in a material world

# And I am a material girl...

Material Girl saw Madonna reunite

with production genius Nile Rogers.

Right on the one there. Give me a nice fall off.

HE VOCALISES

And to help him create another irresistibly catchy hit,

he brought in one of his most trusted backing artists.

# They're OK OK

# If they don't give me proper credit

# I just walk away... HE VOCALISES

Nile has a great atmosphere around him.

And Madonna was very involved as well.

You saw when you just sat in the studio

that she had an opinion.

She wasn't the produced act.

She was certainly learning the craft.

And she does everything -

she looks at other people, she soaks it all in.

Nile is so giving.

She was absorbing.

Despite her new-found stardom,

Madonna's vocals were still developing,

and for this track Rodgers knew she needed help.

I wouldn't say that she actually fully discovered

her voice until later.

Over this period of time,

What Madonna did is she found her sound.

She reinforced it.

She imprinted it.

And when people criticised it, she gave them more of it.

# You know that we are...

It was the song's distinct lyrical pattern

that made it such a challenge for the singer.

Material Girl has a lot of beeps, blips and bloops,

and it kind of chugs along in an electronic fashion.

There's these like robot men.

It's playful, it's boppy,

but it's also relentless at the same time.

A little bit like Madonna herself.

Despite needing help with her vocals,

Madonna, true to form, made sure everyone in the studio

knew that place.

But by the end of the session,

she and everyone else knew they had another hit on their hands.

With the recording complete, it now had to be promoted.

For the video, featuring big name actor Keith Carradine,

Madonna chose to pay tribute to fellow blonde bombshell

of yesteryear, Marilyn Monroe.

She would be taking on one of her most iconic 1950s performances,

and with it her characteristics and costume

from the American musical comedy, Gentlemen Prefer Blondes.

I didn't know her personally, but I admire her.

She's an idol.

Definitely, yeah.

Mary Lambert, the director of Material Girl,

really did a fine job of recreating Gentlemen Prefer Blinds.

You know, the Diamonds Are A Girl's Best Friend scene?

Any time you are dressing up like another performer,

especially someone as iconic as Marilyn Monroe,

it's kind of embarrassing at times

because the original swallows up the imitator.

But I think Madonna had such a supreme confidence

that she's able to take Marilyn Monroe

and use her for her own purposes

in a way that respects Marilyn Monroe

but that leaves Madonna herself intact.

# Some boys kiss me

# Some boys hug me... #

For many, Material Girl was a wholesale celebration

of '80s consumerism.

But, as the video hinted, it was actually a subtle criticism.

Yeah, he's still after me.

He just gave me a necklace.

I don't know, I think it's real diamonds.

Her message may have been misunderstood,

but at the time it didn't matter.

Material Girl's success put Madonna exactly where she wanted to be.

She started the year in 1985 as a rising star.

She ended 1985 as the biggest female artist in the world.

And this - this video, this song - was the moment when we knew

this was happening.

It cemented her as a force to be reckoned with.

You understood that she was a juggernaut.

# Get into the grove...

Madonna was now officially a megastar,

and that year would go on to release several more singles

from her Like A Virgin album, all of which entered

the US Billboard chart top five.

Musical success was followed by movie success,

as she co-starred in the particularly acclaimed

1985 comedy drama Desperately Seeking Susan.

And to cap the then most eventful year of her life,

she married Hollywood actor Sean Penn

on her 27th birthday.

Madonna created a whole new way to be a celebrity,

and especially to be a young female famous person.

Madonna actually tore up the old book of rules

that said a female artist had to be demure,

had to at least appear to not be in charge.

And there's something really inspiring

and empowering about that.

Madonna had started her career as a broke dance school dropout

on the streets of New York.

And with just three songs in three years,

she had become a cultural icon who defined a generation.

# Holiday... #

Early '80s Madonna kind of sums up, for me,

some of the best things about the '80s.

# Your so fine

# And you're mine... #

She presumed that success would be hers, you know?

And that's a very '80s idea,

that even if you start out with certain limitations

and inadequacies, you can overcome them.

So she embodies that.

# Material...

That was her revolution. That's what she brought.

And I think she's really the first modern pop superstar

for that reason.

In 1982, Madonna was unknown but up-and-coming.

By 1985, there wasn't anywhere you could go in the world

where people hadn't held of Madonna.

In three years, she transformed not just her career,

but she transformed pop.

# Material. #

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