On July 27, 1983, Madonna released Madonna, a self-titled debut that introduced the world to a Michigan-born, New York City-based woman who would become one of the most influential pop stars of all time. The album entered the Billboard 200 at No. 190, eventually hitting No. 8 and producing three top 20 singles on the Billboard Hot 100 and two No. 1 hits on the Dance Club Songs chart.
Even so, skeptics and hostile gatekeepers were as omnipresent as the bracelets around the 25-year-old’s wrists. Some dismissed her as a flash in the pan, deriding her vocals, fashion and dance-pop sound. Some of that was a symptom of the times. By 1983, the disco backlash — a movement at least partially motivated by homophobia and racism – was still a major motivator among industry players and tastemakers, and Madonna’s deification of the dancefloor didn’t jibe with those who wanted to see rock stay on top – without making room for anyone else.
Madonna, influenced by disco and coming up just as the burgeoning freestyle genre was taking shape in her adopted hometown of NYC, helped push unabashed dance-pop music back into the top 40 mainstream. She would go on to notch 12 No. 1s on the Hot 100 and become one of the best-selling artists of all time.
But in 1982, when Madonna made an early appearance in the pages of Billboard, she wasn’t there yet. In fact, she wasn’t even one person, according to us. The Nov. 6 issue described Madonna as “a young New York duo produced by DJ Mark Kamins” when writing of her debut 12-inch “Everybody.” Well, one of those things was correct: “Everybody,” which would appear on her debut LP the next year, was produced by Kamins. As for the rest of the album, Reggie Lucas – a Miles Davis sideman who had previously produced Roberta Flack and the Spinners – produced six tracks on the album, in addition to writing “Borderline” and “Physical Attraction”; John “Jellybean” Benitez produced one song, “Holiday,” which was written by two members of the dance band Pure Energy; Madonna wrote the other five songs.
Below, in honor of the album’s anniversary, we’re ranking all the songs on Madonna, one of the all-time great pop debuts.
