On December 13 1984, Madonna performed Like A Virgin on BBC1-TV’s Top Of The Pops in London, England.
Madonna wore her signature Boy Toy belt, a Keith Haring jacket and a vibrant pink wig. She wore the same pink wig during a performance on Like A Virgin on Solid Gold.
On November 24 1984, Madonna’s Like A Virgin album was reviewed in Billboard magazine.
Check out Malcolm Middleton’s excellent cover of Stay, a pre-fame Madonna & Stephen Bray collaboration that later became the closing track on Like A Virgin:
On November 17 1984, the title-track and lead single from Madonna’s Like A Virgin album entered the Billboard Hot 100 at #48 – the week’s highest debut – hot on the heels of its commercial release as a 7-inch single in the preceding sales week. A commercial 12-inch single was also issued in North America during the chart week ending November 17th, with Like A Virgin pouncing onto the Hot Dance/Disco Sales chart at #26 in the November 24th issue of Billboard.
Created by the successful pop songwriting team of Tom Kelly & Billy Steinberg and produced by Nile Rodgers, the demo of Like A Virgin – sung by Kelly – was initially introduced to Madonna by Warner Bros. Records’ A&R rep Michael Ostin (son of then-CEO of Warner, Mo Ostin).
In a 2009 interview for Rolling Stone magazine, Madonna recalled her impressions upon first listening to the demos of Like A Virgin and its follow-up single, Material Girl:
“I liked them both because they were ironic and provocative at the same time but also unlike me. I am not a materialistic person, and I certainly wasn’t a virgin, and, by the way, how can you be like a virgin? I liked the play on words; I thought they were clever. They’re so geeky, they’re cool. I never realized they would become my signature songs, especially the second one.”
As audio engineer Jason Corsaro noted in a 2007 interview with Sound On Sound magazine, although she officially ceded production credit to Rodgers, Madonna was actively engaged in all aspects of the recording sessions for the album and title-track:
“Nile was there most of the time, but she was there all of the time. She never left.”
Like A Virgin made a high-profile debut via live performance during the first annual MTV Video Music Awards on September 14th, 1984.
With previous single Lucky Star still ascending the North American charts, however, the official release of Like A Virgin was held back by Warner Bros. Records in a bid to allow the former (along with its parent album) to reach its full chart potential. This strategy proved successful, with Madonna earning her first U.S. Top-5 single with Lucky Star in the October 20th issue of Billboard, while Like A Virgin would reach #1 in the December 22nd issue.
On November 12 1984, Madonna’s Like A Virgin album was released by Sire Records. The album was re-released worldwide in 1985, to include the bonus track, Into the Groove.
The original track listing for Madonna’s second album included:
Material Girl
Angel
Like A Virgin
Over & Over
Love Don’t Live Here Anymore
Dress You Up
Shoo-Bee-Doo
Pretender
Stay
The cover sleeve and album insert images were shot by Steven Meisel. The first shot in this post was used for the album cover. The rest of the photos in this post are outtakes from the same photo shoot.
On October 20 1984, Madonna’s debut album, Madonna, hit #8 on the Billboard 200 albums chart in the USA. It took the album over a year to reach its peak (it debuted on the Billboard 200 at #190 on September 3 1983), and went on to sell 10-million copies worldwide (5-million in the USA).
The artwork for Madonna was shot by photographer Gary Heery. Heery had this to say about the shoot:
“Madonna arrived at my Broadway studio in New York with a small bag of clothes and jewellery, and no entourage. Then, in front of the camera she was explosive, like a great model, but with her own unique style. She came over the next day to see some prints and the proofs, and there was shot after shot to choose from. We agreed on every choice and whittled it down to the album cover images. I had no idea what I had just been a party to.”
On August 25 1984, Lucky Star entered the Billboard Hot 100 chart in the U.S. at number forty-nine.
On August 14 1984, Madonna’s self-titled debut album was certified platinum by the RIAA to commemorate U.S. sales of more than one-million copies.
The album would eventually be certified five times platinum in the U.S.
Today In Madonna History 