All language subtitles for The Story Of The Songs S01E01 Madonna

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 just confusion.

So, it came to me like,
if we just had one day

that we can just stop
everywhere all over the world,

that would be, like,
a really great thing.

So the lyrics came -
"If 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.

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.

# Everybody spread the word

DAVID: 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.

(APPLAUSE, CHEERING)

It's 1983 and Madonna has risen
from dance school drop-out

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,

CURTIS HUDSON: 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.
# Da, ba, ba, ba. #

I wrote everything else
in the song -

the melody, the lyrics,
the arrangement,

everything else was my ideas.

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

the... (SINGS INTRO MELODY)

(INTRO TO 'HOLIDAY' PLAYS)

When Curtis created that part,

we knew the song had
a certain...energy, I would say.

It was a positive energy.

And we was like, "We gotta
do something with this song."

I let tons of people hear it,

and when...every time
Holiday would come on,

everyone would say, "That's a hit."

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

And we were hoping that it would be
the song that launched 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.

Jellybean was a very influential DJ,
and he wasn't just in one club -

he was in about sort of six clubs,
including Studio 54.

RAYMOND: There was 3,000,
4,000 people in his club,

and if he spin your song
and your song catch on,

and I think it was 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 ended up
meeting Madonna,

because what we did was we went to
this club called the Funhouse

where Jellybean was a big DJ,
and he invited Madonna there.

After we met with her,
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.

She wanted make sure
that nothing did mess the song up

or hurt the song.

(HUMS MELODY)

I remember when I was doing
the guitar parts

and I was playing it a certain way,

and she stopped and said,
"Do you have to do that?

"You can hear the bounce
on the strings."

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

I said, "Yes,
but I don't wanna do that."

And so we kinda, like,
had a little, debate about it,

and I think Jellybean 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
with, you know, the attention,

the money and the 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 order everyone out,

I mean, I kinda felt bad,
'cause Raymond and myself,

we were there in the session
for the rhythm track,

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.

RAYMOND: She brought
a sort of innocence

that's gonna 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."

And she sounded like
she was riding the rhythm,

and just kind of almost
speak-singing the words.

# If we took a holiday. #
No riffs, empty the space.

# If we took a holiday

# Just one time to celebrate. #

Empty the space.

# Took 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.

Holiday took her to the next level.

I mean, that was really
getting radio play,

and people were aware of Madonna.

She was a force to contend with.

Holiday was her pop breakthrough.
It was irritatingly unforgettable.

It kind of works its way into you.

# Celebrate

# Holiday

All those involved
in the recording of Holiday

believed it would be a hit,

but surprisingly,
record company Warner Brothers

hadn't even bothered
to produce a promotional video.

# Took some time to celebrate

JOE LYNCH: There are a couple
of performances Madonna gave

for a little LipSync 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.

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.

Madonna's image, when she first
burst upon to the scene in 1983,

it was very New York
thrift bohemian,

with the fishnets and
the distressed denim and leather.

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.

It kind of took America by storm.

not just amongst her fans
but amongst other pop stars too.

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.

RICHARD: I had never met anybody
like Madonna.

From her dark roots in her hair
to her red lips

to the makeup 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,

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.

What are your dreams? What's next?

To rule the world.

And you just think,
"Whoa. What hubris."

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

DAVID: 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 alright

By 1984,
Madonna was an established pop act,

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

# Girls, they wanna have fun

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.

ROB DICKINS: With Madonna,
all of the hit singles
were building blocks.

We were building a success route,

and it got bigger
and bigger and bigger

to make her into
the huge star she became.

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,

# Like a virgin

Like A Virgin broke Madonna
on a worldwide stage.

Holiday had been her breakthrough,
but this was her golden ticket.

Like A Virgin was Madonna's
first number one hit.

It's really one of the more
fascinating songs in pop history.

MATTHEW: 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.

(ETERNAL FLAME BY THE BANGLES PLAYS)

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.

# Say my name

Billy Steinberg and Tom Kelly
co-wrote so many great
'80s pop songs.

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.

# Hey
Like a virgin

KATIE: 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

and sense of the word 'virgin'.

I kind of got that,
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.

He was playing that baseline,
I propped the lyrics on the piano,

and he started singing falsetto
"I made it through the wilderness",

# Didn't know how lost I was
until I found you

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.

# And you hold me

# And you love me

# Oh, oh, ohh

Madonna just basically
lifted the whole performance.

Like, she just copied it
from beginning to end,

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.

# Oh, freak out!

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 Rodgers, he wasn't sure.

He was like, "It's kinda a weird
hook to sing 'like a virgin',
and I'm not really..."

She was like, "No, this is...
Trust me, this is absolutely it."

And she was right.

Once Rodgers overcame his doubts,

he and Madonna shared the studio
for every moment of the production,

including some awkward ones.

She came up to him and said,
"Do you think I'm sexy?"

and he responded, "Well, of course,"
you know?

"You're one of the most attractive
people I've ever seen."

And then she said, "Well, why
haven't you tried to sleep with me?"

and then stormed out of the studio.

It was just her way of
kinda like goofing around,

For Madonna, it was the song
that changed everything.

Like A Virgin, for her,

was the moment where everybody
who thought she was a passing fad

realised that actually this woman,
she's a game changer.

JOE: She went from being
a potentially big star

to being a huge, huge star.

# Like a virgin

# With your heartbeat

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.

KATIE: 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 she just loves to shock.

DAVID: 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 I?"

Sexual is "I'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 -

The single will 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.

MATTHEW: I think Madonna became
a pop cultural 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
some time 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,

"This is the perfect opportunity
to meet Madonna finally,"

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,

"I'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, uh...
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 the song
and iconic video

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

You too can become leaders in this
great new era of progress,

the age of the entrepreneur.

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,
the "greed is good".

Dynasty is huge on TV.

Everyone's into more, more, more.

KATIE: In America in 1985,

it was all about big hair,
big shoulder pads, big wallet,

all of 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

that was a moment.

# 'Cause we are living
in a material world

# And I am a material girl

Material Girl saw Madonna reunite
with production genius Nile Rodgers.

Right on the one there,
give me a nice fall off.

(SINGS MELODY FROM MATERIAL GIRL)

And to help him create another
irresistibly catchy hit,

he brought in one of his
most trusted backing artists.

# OK

# If they don't give me
proper credit

# I just walk away
(SINGS ALONG)

Well, in 1983, my brother George
and I were asked to sing

on David Bowie's Let's Dance album,
produced by Nile Rodgers.

And we did that.

We toured with David Bowie
around the world.

And as soon as we got back,
Nile Rodgers called us again

and told us he needed us
to sing background vocals

and Madonna too was very connected
to Nile's modus operandi.

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 a produced act.

She was certainly learning
the craft, as 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.

She wasn't that skilled a singer,

so we background vocalists,
you know, kind of helped her out

and gave her some pointers
and kind of moved her around

and told her what to do,

so she was learning from everybody,
I think.

Well, if you want to use
a scale of, like,

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.

(MATERIAL GIRL PLAYS)
# I am a material girl

# You know that we are living

# Living in a material world

# And
# I am a material girl

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 kinda chugs along
in an electronic fashion.

There's these, like, robot men.

(ROBOTICALLY) # Living
in a material world

# Material
# Living in a material world

It's playful, it's boppy but it's
also relentless at the same time -

and we'd be going right back
to re-recording or whatever,

you know, Madonna would say,
"OK, boys.

"Time is money,
and the money is mine."

You know, so that got to be
like a slogan,

so when she wasn't around,
we'd say, "Yeah, Madonna,

"remember, time is money
and the money is hers."

But by the end of the session,

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

We finished Material Girl and we
went back in the listening room -

it sounded great, you know,
everybody loved it.

We were laughing,
laughing, laughing.

Madonna was laughing her stones off,
you know,

and it was just like, "Oh, God,
this is ridiculous.

"People are gonna love this."

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

For the video, featuring
big-name actor Keith Carradine,

Madonna chose to play tribute

to fellow blonde bombshell
of yesteryear, Marilyn Monroe.

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

I didn't know her personally,
but I admire her. She's an idol.

Do you wanna be as big
a movie star as she was?

Is that important?
Yeah.

Mary Lambert, the director of
Material Girl, really did a fine job

of re-creating
Gentlemen Prefer Blondes,

the Diamonds Are A Girl's
Best Friend scene.

(ORCHESTRAL MUSIC PLAYS,
VOCALS INAUDIBLE)

Any time you're 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 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

In the Material Girl video,

Madonna wants to be the sugar daddy.

She's the breadwinner.

The video includes someone
who is trying to attract

her attention romantically.

Yeah, he's still after me.

He just gave me a necklace.

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

# Material

When he tries to show off
how wealthy and important he is,

she has no interest in him.

It's only when he humbles himself,

when he picks her up
in this beat-up pickup truck,

that she even gives him
the time of day.

So, there's an irony about it
in the video and the song

that was kind of lost
on a lot of people.

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,

You understood that this...
she was a juggernaut.

# Get into the groove

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 critically 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.

This is someone who, you know,
at every step of her career,

was told not to do things,

but always stuck to her gut
and her guns.

Madonna actually tore up
the old book of rules

and there's something really
inspiring and empowering about that.

Madonna had started her career
as a broke dance-school drop-out

on the streets of New York

and with just three songs
in three years,

she had become a cultural icon
who defined a generation.

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

some of the best things
about the '80s.

# You're 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
MEN: # Living in a material world

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

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

where people
hadn't heard of Madonna.

In three years, she transformed
not just her career,

but she transformed pop.

Captions by Red Bee Media
(c) SBS Australia 2021