FEATURE:
Love Wears No Disguise
IN THIS PHOTO: Madonna in a promotional image for Desperately Seeking Susan (1985)/PHOTO CREDIT: Rex Features
Madonna’s Into the Groove at Thirty-Five
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IT is not often I focus on a single…
and celebrates its anniversary – normally, I will tackle a whole album instead. One reason for marking Madonna’s Into the Groove as it approaches thirty-five is that it remains one of her most underrated tracks and is one of the best tracks from 1985. On 15th July, Into the Groove turns thirty-five, and I think it still sounds pretty fresh today. There are reports out that says Pop has got faster and happier this year and, whilst it might not reach the same levels as Madonna’s best, artists like Jessie Ware are definitely being inspired by the sort of Pop and Dance sounds Madonna was putting out in the mid-’80s. Originally intended for the soundtrack of the 1985 film, Desperately Seeking Susan (where Madonna’s role was praised by many), it made its way onto the reissue of Like a Virgin (1984) outside of America. One does not really hear of it too much these days, but big stars like Madonna was recording songs for film soundtracks and there were these great non-studio album cuts flying around! She did it a lot through her career, and I wonder what an album such as Like a Virgin would have sounded like with Into the Groove in the mix to bolster it! Put out as the fourth single from Like a Virgin (released as a single outside of the U.S.), I think Madonna’s sound would take a real turn and leap by the time True Blue arrived in 1986 – not that she had abandoned frivolous and fun; there was definitely more depth in her music, which was no bad thing!
I do think that a lot of modern Pop stars are updating songs like Into the Groove for 2020. Written and produced by Madonna and her then-boyfriend Stephen Bray (a frequent collaborator), there was a bit of friction between Madonna and her friend Mark Kamins, who the song was written for. Madonna did not inform him that Into the Groove was intended for the Desperately Seeking Susan soundtrack and, whilst it did not appear there, it showed that Madonna was pretty tough and was going to do things her way! Into the Groove is one of her tracks, like Cherish (that appears on Like a Prayer), where Madonna sort of dismissed it as a bit lame or dorky. She wrote Into the Groove about a Puerto Rican man who was suiting across the way from her on a fourth-floor walk-up on Avenue B (in Manhattan). Although the two got together and the relationship did not last long, Into the Groove is more a call to the dancefloor: somewhere Madonna felt at her most liberated and happiest. Just the fact that there was this simple story behind the song is great; a sort of lust that turned into a date but, more than that, she produced a song that ranks alongside her very best works! Madonna would release more iconic songs – including Like a Prayer, and Vogue -, but it showed that she was capable of penning these infectious hits that got people dancing.
As a songwriter, I feel Madonna was a lot stronger and more individual than many of her peers – who had teams writing tracks for them – and, by 1985, her voice was growing a lot stronger and more expressive. Though Into the Groove can be seen as quite a light confection, it has an evocative nature that provokes images of New York chic and effortless cool. Into the Groove was assessed by some as Madonna’s first great single – though I have a fondness for Material Girl (the second single from Like a Virgin) -and others have called it one of the 1980s’ greatest Pop anthems. Into the Groove originally was B-side for Like a Virgin’s third single, but it was released as a single by Sire Records in the U.K. on 15th July, 1985 (though some say the release date was 23rd July in the U.K., Discogs lists it as 15th July) – such was the impact of the song, it topped the charts in Australia, Belgium, Ireland, Japan, The Netherlands, New Zealand and Spain; it became her first number-one song in the United Kingdom (it initially entered at four on the chart dated 27th July, 1985, becoming the highest-debuting single for any female artist in the history of the chart at that time). Rather than Into the Groove competing against Angel in the U.S., the fact it was a B-side meant that it was not eligible for the Billboard Hot 100. No matter. Into the Groove has taken on a life of its own, and Madonna herself has performed the song on tours. It appeared on the setlist to The Virgin Tour in 1985, and it was added to the setlist of the 2008–2009 Sticky & Sweet Tour.
IN THIS PHOTO: Madonna captured in 1985 by Herb Ritts
It goes to show that, despite the fact she wasn’t completely in love with the song back in 1985, she values it a lot and knows how much it means to fans. To mark the thirty-fifth anniversary of Into the Groove being released in the U.K. (and countries outside of the U.S.), I wanted to give a nod to an awesome track – it’s B-side, Shoo-Bee-Doo, isn’t too bad either! Although my favourite Madonna song is Take a Bow – from 1994’s Bedtime Stories -, I think Into the Groove is one of her classics, and definitely one of the most fun tracks she ever released! Ahead of its thirty-fifth anniversary, I have been listening to the song and not only realising how impactful and important it was in Madonna’s career: Into the Groove has endured through the decades and it is inspiring songwriters and Pop sounds today! Even if you are not a fan of Madonna’s work as a whole, one cannot deny the lure, energy, and passion of…
THE incredible Into the Groove.