Vogue (Madonna song)

This article is about the Madonna song. For the Ayumi Hamasaki song, see Vogue (Ayumi Hamasaki song).

"Vogue"
Song
B-side	"Keep It Together" (Single Remix) "Vogue" (Bette Davis Dub) in USA

"Vogue" was the first single by American singer-songwriter Madonna from her soundtrack album I'm Breathless (Music from and Inspired by the film Dick Tracy) and was released on March 20, 1990 by Sire Records. It later appeared in a slightly remixed and extended form on the 1990 greatest hits compilation The Immaculate Collection.

Song information

In late-1989, after the album Like a Prayer had spawned three U.S. hits - the title track, "Express Yourself" and "Cherish" - and a top-five European single in "Dear Jessie" - its fourth US single, "Oh Father", stalled at number twenty in the charts. Perhaps to ensure that the last single release of "Keep It Together" would fare better on the charts, Madonna and producer Shep Pettibone decided to compose a new song to be placed on the flipside of "Keep It Together" and quickly produced "Vogue", partly inspired by a dance performed in New York clubs, on the underground gay scene in which dancers used a series of complex hand gestures to imitate their favourite Hollywood stars (see the list of the names of the Hollywood stars below), as well as the cover models on the magazine Vogue.

Madonna brought the hitherto underground "vogueing" culture into the mainstream with the release of her song. After presenting the song to Warner Bros. executives, all parties involved decided that the song was too good to be "wasted" on a B-side and should be released as a single. Although the song itself had nothing to do with Madonna's then upcoming movie Dick Tracy, it was included on the album I'm Breathless, which contained songs from and inspired by the film.

In 2003, Madonna fans were asked to vote for their Top 20 Madonna singles of all-time by Q-Magazine. "Vogue" was allocated the #14 spot.

Chart success

Aided by both a single version and an extended remix, as well as a black-and-white video directed by David Fincher, the song shot to number one in several territories. In the UK, the song knocked Snap!'s "The Power" off the number one slot and stayed there for four weeks, continuing a trend of club/pop crossovers going to number one. It was helpedin the Uk by mutli formatting. As well as the 7, 12, CD and cassette singles, the label released four limited editions: 12 with Face of the 80s poster, 12 with 'X-rated poster and an extra remix on the b-side, 7 picture disc and 12 picture disc. In the US, the single reached multi-platinum status. In Australia, it was released as a double A-side to "Keep It Together", and it went to the top spot.

In the USA, massive airplay and sales demand in response to the popular music video (discussed below) in April 1990 made way for "Vogue"'s #39 debut in the week of April 14. The song made it to #1 on the Billboard Hot 100 by its sixth week, knocking Sinéad O'Connor out of the top spot, where "Nothing Compares 2 U" had ruled for four weeks.

"Vogue" was at the time of its release Madonna's highest-selling single and her most successful single worldwide, surpassing the success of "Like a Prayer". "Vogue" became also Madonna's first and only multi-platinum certified single in U.S. until 2008 when "4 Minutes" was released. Worldwide, the song was the biggest hit single in her career hitting number-one in over thirty countries and selling over six million copies, until 2005 when "Hung Up" topped the charts of over 45 countries and sold nine million copies.

The success of "Vogue" boosted the sales of the I'm Breathless album, and combined with Madonna's Blond Ambition Tour, generated massive publicity for the Dick Tracy movie.

Music video

Madonna in the black and white "Vogue" music video.

The video, directed by David Fincher and shot at The Burbank Studios in Burbank, California on February 9-10, 1990, is widely considered one of Madonna's best. In 1993, Rolling Stone magazine listed the video as the twenty-eighth best music video of all-time. It was the third time Fincher and Madonna collaborated on a video (the first being 1989's "Express Yourself" and the second being 1989's "Oh Father").

Filmed in black-and-white, the video recalls the look of 1930s Hollywood films with the use of artwork by the Art Deco artist Tamara de Lempicka and an Art Deco set design. Many of the scenes are recreations of photographs taken by noted photographer Horst P. Horst, including his famous "Mainbocher Corset". Some of the close-up poses recreate noted portraits of such stars as Marilyn Monroe, Veronica Lake and Marlene Dietrich. (Additionally, several stars of this era are name-checked in the song's lyrics.)

There was some controversy surrounding the video due to a scene in which Madonna's breasts (though not her nipples) can be seen through her sheer blouse, as seen in the above picture. MTV wanted to remove this scene, but Madonna refused, and the video aired with the shot intact.

The video features the dancers and back-up vocalists for Madonna's then-upcoming Blond Ambition Tour. The choreography was set by "Punk Ballerina" Karole Armitage. The video world-premiered on MTV on March 29, 1990.

There are two versions of the video, the regularly aired television music video, and an extended version over three minutes longer.

• Director: David Fincher
• Producer: Vicki Niles
• Director of Photography: Pascal Lebegue
• Editor: Jim Haygood
• Production Company: Propaganda Films

A live performance of "Vogue" at the 1990 MTV Video Music Awards also proved popular and was released as a music video on The Immaculate Collection compilation. It featured Madonna and her dancers dressed in an 18th-century French theme, with Madonna bearing great resemblance to Marie Antoinette. The performance was considered risqué, as Madonna and her dancers flashed their undergarments during their routine, and at one point Madonna pushed the faces of two male dancers into her breasts, and one of her dancers also fondles her breasts.

In 1993, Madonna performed "Vogue" on her tour The Girlie Show. During the song, she wore a large beaded headdress inspired by The King And I and the music was re-arranged with Middle-Eastern sounds.

In 2004, Madonna opened her Re-Invention Tour with "Vogue", again using an 18th-century-influenced theme - 're-inventing' the set design of the 1990 VMA performance. That version is included on the track setlists of I'm Going to Tell You a Secret.

In 2008, Madonna once again performed "Vogue" on the Sticky and Sweet Tour, and for the first time in her career, entirely live. Having lipsynced past performances due to the constricting choreography, for the first time Madonna adapted the choreography to allow her to sing into a hand held microphone. The song was layered over the backing horns of "4 Minutes" & Nelly Furtado's "Give It To Me", merging two of her biggest hits.

Trivia

• This video was ranked #28 on Rolling Stone magazine's "The 100 Top Music Videos".
• This video was ranked #2 on MTV's "100 Greatest Videos Ever Made".
• This video was ranked #5 on VH1's 100 Greatest Songs of the 90's.

Official versions

• "Vogue" (Album Version) 4.50
• "Vogue" (Single Version) 4.19
• "Vogue" (12" Version) 8.25
• "Vogue" (12" Version edit) used in a remix video 8.04
• "Vogue" (Shep's On The Fly Dub) 11.42
• "Vogue" (Bette Davis Dub) 7.26
• "Vogue" (Live at the MTV Video Music Awards 1990) 5.40
• "Vogue" (Q-Sound Version from The Immaculate Collection) 5.16
• "Vogue" (Strike-A-Pose Dub) 7.36

Hollywood star names

The lyrics of the song's rap references the names of several 20s, 30s, 40s, 50s, and 60s stars, in this order (order sung in the song):

• Greta Garbo
• Marilyn Monroe
• Marlene Dietrich
• Joe DiMaggio
• Marlon Brando
• James Dean
• Grace Kelly
• Jean Harlow
• Gene Kelly
• Fred Astaire
• Ginger Rogers
• Rita Hayworth
• Lauren Bacall
• Katharine Hepburn
• Lana Turner
• Bette Davis

Nine of the stars were alive at the time the single was released: Greta Garbo (who died less than a month after "Vogue" was released), Marlene Dietrich, Joe DiMaggio, Marlon Brando, Gene Kelly, Ginger Rogers, Lauren Bacall, Katharine Hepburn, and Lana Turner. As of August 2008, Bacall is the only one alive. Judy Garland, Audrey Hepburn and Elizabeth Taylor were originally included as part of the rap but due to time, Madonna decided not to use the names.

Charts

Chart (1990)	Peak Position
U.S. Billboard Hot 100	1
U.S. Billboard Hot 100 Airplay	1
U.S. Billboard Hot 100 Singles Sales	1
U.S. Billboard Adult Contemporary	23
U.S. Billboard Hot Dance Music/Club Play	1
U.S. Billboard Hot Dance Music/Maxi-Singles Sales	1
U.S. Billboard Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Singles & Tracks	16
U.S. Billboard Rhythmic Top 40	1
U.S. Billboard Top 40 Tracks	1
U.S. ARC Weekly Top 40	1
Australia ARIA Singles Chart	1
Austrian Singles Chart	2
Belgian VRT Top 30	1
Brazilian Singles Chart	1
Canadian Singles Chart	1
Chilean Singles Chart	1
Dutch Top 40	2
Eurochart Hot 100 Singles	1
Finish Singles Chart	1
French SNEP Singles Chart	2
German Singles Chart	2
Greek IFPI Singles Chart	1
Irish Singles Chart	2
Israeli Singles Chart	1
Italian FIMI Singles Chart	1
Japan Oricon Weekly Singles Chart	34
Mexican Singles Chart	1
New Zealand RIANZ Singles Chart	1
Norwegian VG-lista Singles Chart	1
South African Singles Chart	1
Spanish Singles Chart	1
Swedish Singles Chart	1
Swiss Singles Chart	2
UK Singles Chart	1 (484,308)

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Cover versions

• On the Madonna tribute album Virgin Voices, the song was covered by British electronic music group Astralasia.
• Finnish band Waltari recorded a cover of the song.
• A dance version by Mad'House can be found on their album Absolutely Mad.
• On 2004's, Platinum Blonde NRG, Vol. 2: Nrgised Madonna Classics, a Hi NRG cover is performed by Nicki O
• Kylie Minogue in her tour Showgirl: The Homecoming Tour
• Rihanna at Conde Nast Media Group's 2008 Fashion Rocks.

External links

• Madonna - Vogue music video on YouTube.
• Mad-Eyes.net - "Vogue" Single Page