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BuzzJack Music Forum _ Madonna _ 'Vogue' at 25!
Posted by: liamk97 9th May 2015, 06:48 PM
“Strike a pose, there's nothing to it”
Last month celebrated 25 years since the career-defining, essential club anthem 'Vogue' hit the UK charts.
Background
When 'Keep It Together' was confirmed as the sixth single from Like a Prayer, it was decided that a new song for the B-side was required to ensure it would be a hit following the under-performance of 'Oh Father' in the US. Together, Madonna and Shep Pettibone - who had remixed many of the tracks from True Blue and Like a Prayer and was later heavily involved in the creation of Erotica - composed the song 'Vogue'. It was inspired by and celebrated the dance form of voguing which was becoming a trend in New York gay clubs, mixed with the notion of enjoying yourself on the dance floor regardless of who you are and the admiration of the Golden Age Hollywood stars. In an interview with MTV Breakfast, when asked what was so appealing about voguing, Madonna said: "I think it has a lot of humour to it...it's so arrogant and there and presentational...self-conscious in a way". She also commented: "I think that a lot of people haven't seen voguing and I think that that should make an impression on people and I think it would be great if everyone started doing it". It would seem the record label could also see the potential of releasing this song and considered it to be far too good to remain a B-side. As a result, it was upgraded to a double A-side with 'Keep It Together' in Australia and was made lead single from Madonna's upcoming second soundtrack I'm Breathless elsewhere in the world.
Perhaps the most iconic part of 'Vogue' is the rap section which name-checks 16 stars - 15 being among the greatest Hollywood stars from the 20s-50s and one, Joe DiMaggio, being a famous baseball player. It refers to the fashion magazine Vogue which had been the inspiration for the dance form. There was, of course, some confusion, particularly in regards to the lyric "Rita Hayworth gave good face". In an interview on the Arsenio Hall Show, Madonna explained that "Rita Hayworth always looked fabulous...her face was always sitting, that's what it means...she never looked rotton", after joking that "it's not exactly like giving good head"! The rap was later rewritten to be appropriate for MTV's advertisement titled "Rock the Vote" which encouraged younger adults to vote. Madonna - wrapped in the American flag - and two of her dancers starred in the promotional clip which ended up raising a few eyebrows for "mixing patriotism and pleasure" and was accused of desecration. Nevertheless, the advertisement worked as the election had the highest amount of 18-24 year old voters in 20 years.
When Lauren Bacall passed away aged 89 in August 2014, it meant all 16 stars had now died. However, they still receive royalties for the name-checking: it was reported that a number of them had $3,750 sent to their estate following Madonna's performance of 'Vogue' during the Super Bowl half-time show in 2012.
Video
Production began in January 1990 when auditions took place in search for the dancers who would appear in the video. One who successfully made a place in the video, Carlton Wilborn, recalled in Madonna: Like an Icon that the "first day [Madonna] saw, she cut, she saw, she cut, and ended up with thirty guys". David Fincher had been assigned the role of director - his third Madonna video, following his directing of 'Oh Father' and 'Express Yourself' - and filming was done over 10-11 February. The video was filmed completely in black and white and, like the song itself, paid homage to many Golden Age movie stars as well as famous artists and photographers. Madonna could be seen wearing a controversial lace top which made her breasts visible and the 'iconical' bra whilst performing a series of dance routines that enabled many viewers to see voguing for the first time.
Reception to the video was huge. As hoped, voguing became a cultural phenomenon and was performed by people of any demographics, whilst the video found itself appearing in all-time lists (ranked second in Rolling Stone and MTV's best music videos of all-time) and was nominated for 9 MTV Video Music Awards, winning Best Direction, Editing and Cinematography.
Critical & Commercial Reception
Unsurprisingly, 'Vogue' received great reviews from music critics. AllMusic celebrated its "endlessly deep house groove" and "instantly memorable melody", claiming it to be "one of her crowning artistic achievements", whilst the song placed at #2 on all-time lists by Billboard, the Official Charts Company and Rolling Stones, always beaten by 'Like a Prayer'. Reports claim that 'Vogue' went to #1 in over 30 countries and sold 6 million copies - 2.3m in the US and 530k in the UK. Its worldwide total is better than the reported 5m for 'Like a Prayer' but is second to the 9m 'Hung Up' managed.
UK Chart Run: 4-1-1-1-1-4-6-8-9-15-27-36-48-65-x [14wks]
US Chart Run: 39-28-12-4-2-1-1-1-2-5-6-14-20-23-33-40-50-56-58-59-67-67-76-100-x [24wks]
Live Performances
'Vogue' has become one of Madonna's most performed songs, being included on the set list for 5 of her tours, usually accompanied with pre-recorded vocals so that dancing could be the main focus. For the Blonde Ambition Tour, Madonna repeated the choreography used in the 'Vogue' music video and was praised for the vast amount of energy she had throughout; The Girlie Show World Tour saw a middle-eastern take on the song with Madonna wearing a Dolce & Gabbana headdress; the Re-invention Tour echoed her 1990 MTV performance with its French Baroque theme; the Sticky and Sweet Tour combined the instrumentals of '4 Minutes' and Timbaland's 'Give It to Me' with 'Vogue' sung over it; and the MDNA Tour saw the return of an updated version of the conical bra.
When Madonna performed at the 2012 Super Bowl half time show, she opened with 'Vogue' with an Egyptian theme. This saw her perform in front of one of her biggest audiences, as the televised event was viewed by 114m - 3m more than the Super Bowl game and, at the time, the biggest ratings for the event.
Arguably the most famous performance was the one at the 1990 MTV Video Music Awards. Borrowing Glenn Close's costume from Dangerous Liaisons, Madonna appeared Marie Antoinette-style in a theatrical performance that saw her flashing her undergarments and pulling dancers' faces into her breasts. It was a surprising moment, however, it has gone down as one of her best, being placed at #2 on MTV's top performances from the VMAs and considered to have changed the way artists created performances.
Posted by: HausofKubrick 9th May 2015, 07:34 PM
One of the greatest songs of all time, period. Not only for Madonna as an icon but what it has meant for people and whole communities across the globe.
That rap section is perhaps the highlight of her entire career but the entire song is so fun-filled, daring and lush <3 Nothing but love.
Posted by: J▼hnkm 9th May 2015, 10:53 PM
I missed this being my birth number one by a matter of WEEKS. WHAT a song though, one of her very best, one of the very best songs ever made. It is, in the true sense of the word, ICONIC.
Posted by: vibe 10th May 2015, 06:41 AM
Amazing song
Amazing video
One of her best
Posted by: slowdown73 10th May 2015, 11:46 AM
One of Madonna's best songs - instant classic.
Posted by: liamk97 17th May 2015, 05:51 PM
Unbelievably, when I first heard this after purchasing Celebration, I found 'Vogue' really boring(!!). I thought the introduction dragged on too long and the song wasn't catchy enough to hold my attention. Whether I needed to see the video to bring the song to life, I don't know, but now I absolutely love it. In the past year, it's been one I keep returning to and, along with the video, it's one of my favourites of Madonna's career. 
Despite having some reasonably typical house music sounds, it is still so iconic and not something that can be touched by any other artist really. I don't see why this should be considered merely a "gay anthem" because I think it's accessible to all (that is the message of the song after all!).
Anyone remember when this became somewhat a viral sensation?
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