From 1985 to 1986-1987

[XXL]

I am always fascinated by fan accounts of Madonna's 80s period. Particularly early to mid 80s. I mean fans that were old enough then to be able to remember it now

When you look at her entire career timeline there's nothing that stands out as much as her journey from the first two studio albums and her third, her track dates and first North American tour and her first stadium world tour. No just in terms of a dramatic change of look and her taking up a military fitness regime but also in terms of taking full control of the production and songwriting process (not that she didn't write or produce on her own before but you know what I mean) and the increased worldwide adoration/attention she was receiving, being chased by a militia of fans and photographers while jogging in parks, being welcomed by poltical figures, so on and so forth.

Particularly interesting how most of the media labelled her as a 6-month phenomenon and soomehow it's like she flipped/shrugged the whole thing and came back an even bigger star. 1985 was huge for her but with the next project she turned her career into legend territory.

For those that were 10 or 15 then, in the US or outside, what was it like in terms of your own personal perception of who she was and the sense that you got of her from the media? Was Papa Don't Preach the first truly controversial Madonna moment?

[XXL]

[Supernatural]

Papa Don't Preach was my first awareness of Madonna (though I wouldn't be interested until a couple of singles later) because PDP seemed to be a news story and people were talking about it, so I can't compare it to her earlier years but one thing I do remember is that EVERYONE owned the True Blue album. Friend, aunt, neighbor, music teacher, it was everywhere I went.

[Dr Lecter]

1985 I was 7 my sister was 16 and Madonna was EVERYWHERE.

Songs all over the charts, number one and two at the same time. Live aid .desperately seeking Susan. Then in early 86 Borderljne being everywhere and then Live to Tell coming out where she looked totally different and then Papa and the short hair.

As far as I remember everyone loved her . She was a phenomenon.

[XXL]

[Jazzy Jan]

XXL, it was just incredible to be a Madonna fan in the 80's and watch her turn into the biggest star in the World. I don't know about others, but the song title of "Like a Virgin" was slightly controversial. Got a lot of talk then because the only other time the word Virgin was mentioned much in music was when it was about the Virgin Mary in Christmas carols ! A lot of the press would say she would not last and would be over soon, but True Blue album proved them wrong in every way.

I can never stress enough the influence and sheer star power she had. She literally was the most famous, copied and talked about women in the World. I have never seen that kind of popularity for a female singer before that or since then.

[XXL]

In 4 years time

[XXL]

XXL, it was just incredible to be a Madonna fan in the 80's and watch her turn into the biggest star in the World. I don't know about others, but the song title of "Like a Virgin" was slightly controversial. Got a lot of talk then because the only other time the word Virgin was mentioned much in music was when it was about the Virgin Mary in Christmas carols ! A lot of the press would say she would not last and would be over soon, but True Blue album proved them wrong in every way.

I can never stress enough the influence and sheer star power she had. She literally was the most famous, copied and talked about women in the World. I have never seen that kind of popularity for a female singer before that or since then.

I remember Melanie C reminiscing about those years in that BBC Madonna special from 2001 and saying how the Virgin word was slightly taboo in the UK too, or something along the lines

I love listening these stories from those years and the transition between LAV and TB in particular from people who were old enough at the time to be aware of her. Thanks for posting them guys!

[surannée]

Was Papa Don't Preach the first truly controversial Madonna moment?

No. Both Playboy and Penthouse publishing her early nude pictures in July 1985 was.

[nick00]

The first time remember hearing M was on the radio about the time holiday was first released. I assumed she was black! Remember kids in school liking her, particularly a boy in my school who I remember buying the LAV 45. Surprise, surprise he turned to be a big bottom later on!

I wasn't a fan of M as a kid tbh, but my family brought me to see DSS in the theatre. My oldest sister was a huge M fan (she can be a bitch) and remember her driving me around while she blasted TB album cassette. Remember thinking during TB that M looked so incredibly different than just a couple of years earlier, and she seemed extremely popular judging by the amount of coverage she was receiving in the news and on MTV.

For some reason, I barely remember when LAP, EY, and Cherish was released too.

[XXL]

[XXL]

[XXL]

[scrapple]

Was Papa Don't Preach the first truly controversial Madonna moment?

I would say this was her first...

So many things riled people up...

Her name

The crucifixes/rosaries

The nudes

The filthy 15 (not just M)

[Guest]

I started being a Madonna fan in '83.

I don't have much to say right now.

[Guest]

XXL, who's that in your avatar? Is that you?

[Gus]

I was 5 or so, had no idea what pop music was, one day in late 1985 sitting on my parents bed, they played the Material Girl video...i couldn't take my eyes off the tv fascinated by her, as soon as the video ended i remember peeing in the bathroom singing the song lol

I immediately became obsessed, Madonna was very popular in Argentina by 1985, but she became HUGE with the True Blue album, La isla bonita was one of the if not THE biggest anglo hit ever here, that everyone from 5yrs old to 80yr old knew, TB remains to this date the best selling anglo female album of all time(Thriller among males), she was so big that there was a tv show on national television dedicated to her called "el club de madonna", wich only played M videos in the beginning(by 1989 they played other artist' videos too), i think it aired from 1987 till 1990...

I truly feel that a part of Madonna's inmense popularity over here is thanks to the La isla bonita phenomenon...no anglo artist had done the latin thing before, oh well...good times

[LVX]

The mid- to late 80's is probably my favorite era of Madonna's career. I so wish I could've experienced it myself.

[david86]

I remember WTG tour getting bigger with every stadium she played. Everyone was like "you gotta see this!!! she looks/moves and sounds amazing!!!" / very few moments were televised and only the first few minutes were allowed to be recorded for news channels/ which made it even more mysterious. Untill the Italia broadcast from Turin. School was just starting [ early september I guess ] and she was bigger than ever before. I mean girls at my school started imitating the short hair from then on.

Reading her brothers book [in 2008??], which shortly mentions this tour as well. It kind of ruins the memory of how amazing this whole era was.

[Carta]

Jazzyjan and I would have similar memories of the Madonna phenomenon, since we're both Aussies .

"Like A Virgin" was enormously controversial - a woman named Madonna singing about virgins in a pop song? Sacrilegious! Even "Dress You Up" caused its own commotion and had some parents' group up in arms in the US (it was put on someone's list of controversial songs - was it Tipper Gore?).

I can't imagine what it would be like to go back and discover Madonna's catalogue. I've always been very much a pop music junkie, but I've never actually gone back and embraced an era before my own time (I started loving music when I was 3 and have vivid memories of my neighbour taking me to the local department store to buy my very first 7" single - "Hasta Manana" by ABBA). I've been a rabid collector of music since the very early 80s and I feel very blessed to have been around for Madonna's entire career as a recording artist. I've loved her since early 1984 and while I have an appreciation for the massive pop artists of the 60s (and Elvis in the 50s), apart from their hits collections (The Beatles and Elvis in particular), I've never felt inclined to go back and explore their back catalogues.

As Jan said, a female artist had NEVER reached Madonna's level of success before, and no one has ever equalled it. A few years ago, one of the morning DJs at my local station tried to claim that Lady Gaga was bigger and had achieved more in four years than Madonna had in her entire career. I was gobsmacked. The same DJ made a smart remark about Madonna's age the other day and was taken to task by his co-host (Charli Delany, who used to be in Hi-5 and is a fan of Madonna's).

Madonna is a legend - it really is as simple as that. Thank God she chose the path she did!

[Jamesy]

Lived in the UK and I was 14 when Papa Don't Preach came out.

I remember in 1985 I'd had little interest in pop music - had been into computer games more than anything that year - but was massively aware of Madonna. In 1985 she was the biggest pop star by a mile. All the girls at school seemed obsessed with her and all the boys seemed to fancy her - and I can remember thinking it was difficult to keep up with what her "latest single" was - because every few weeks she seemed to be in the charts again with something else.

She was already considered "controversial" in 1985 because of her image, her name, all the crucifixes and even just having had a song called "Like a Virgin".

Although I had virtually no interest in Madonna that year - I can still remember things like seeing her on "Live Aid" and catching a news report on the BBC about her wedding to Sean Penn. Can remember that "Madonna and Sean Penn" was in the papers a lot and I can kinda remember being a bit sick of seeing and hearing about her non-stop!

Got to 1986 - I'm 14 years old - and she's still top of everything. Borderline is her "new single" - and it's that woman with the crucifixes again (from my point of view).

Then came the turning point for me. I remember one Saturday my Dad had the newspaper and I saw Madonna was on the front of it. It was a story about her being in London and having run over a photographer in her limo. And there were photos of Madonna with sunglasses on - not looking anything like "MADONNA" (up to that point - she always looked the same to me - bangles and beades and cruficixes and torn clothes and messed up hair).

She looked nothing like "MADONNA" this time - and for some reason I was a bit fascinated. (she was in London to film Shanghai Surprise).

Then a short while later I heard "Live To Tell" - and everyone at school was talking about it. Talking about a "new Madonna song" - and it was nothing like the Madonna of 1985. I remember hearing the song on the radio and loving it. Stuck in my mind. I kept saying to someone "that's not Madonna though is it?". And then the video - again it was like this wasn't the same popstar. This was something new.

I was mesmerized. Blown away. Fascinated.

PDP came a few months later and this time I was like "WHOOOOAHHHH!". The song was just EPIC and then when I saw the video - again - this wasn't Madonna as I had ever been aware of her before - this was something completely different and I was in TOTAL AWE. Then that summer you could not turn for seeing photos of the "new" Madonna. Every day in every newspaper and magazine. True Blue album went to No.1 and I heard songs from it on radio and was like "ok - this is it - she's unbelievable - I have to get this album".

From then on - for the rest of my teenage years - totally obsessed.

And she just kept getting "better and better" as far as I was concerned. And bigger and bigger. Every song was better than the last one. Every video better than the last one. She changed her hair - I wasn't interested in seeing pics of her with the old hair any more. It was like that - for the next 4 years. Non-stop excitement. Always doing something exciting. Always in the papers and magazines. Never enough of her on TV.

PDP wasn't considered controversial at all in the UK. She had mild moments of controversy in 1987 with her tour (Mary Whitehouse objected to her taking her nickers off during DYU). As far as I was aware (and I was IMMERSED in Madonna for those years of mylife) the controversy really started in 1989 - and kicked off bigtime.

I could ramble on all day.

Just want to say that of course now in hindsight, I see the pre-1986 years properly lol! I love all of that. I love "1985 Madonna". I love her first album more than anything. I love the Virgin Tour. I am intrigued as to how as a 12 and 13 year old I was not drawn to her one tiny little bit.

[XXL]

No. Both Playboy and Penthouse publishing her early nude pictures in July 1985 was.

Oh right

[XXL]

I would say this was her first...

So many things riled people up...

Her name

The crucifixes/rosaries

The nudes

The filthy 15 (not just M)

So LAV then PDP in terms of her music and the nude Penthouse shots in terms of media created "controversies"

[XXL]

Lived in the UK and I was 14 when Papa Don't Preach came out.

I remember in 1985 I'd had little interest in pop music - had been into computer games more than anything that year - but was massively aware of Madonna. In 1985 she was the biggest pop star by a mile. All the girls at school seemed obsessed with her and all the boys seemed to fancy her - and I can remember thinking it was difficult to keep up with what her "latest single" was - because every few weeks she seemed to be in the charts again with something else.

She was already considered "controversial" in 1985 because of her image, her name, all the crucifixes and even just having had a song called "Like a Virgin".

Although I had virtually no interest in Madonna that year - I can still remember things like seeing her on "Live Aid" and catching a news report on the BBC about her wedding to Sean Penn. Can remember that "Madonna and Sean Penn" was in the papers a lot and I can kinda remember being a bit sick of seeing and hearing about her non-stop!

Got to 1986 - I'm 14 years old - and she's still top of everything. Borderline is her "new single" - and it's that woman with the crucifixes again (from my point of view).

Then came the turning point for me. I remember one Saturday my Dad had the newspaper and I saw Madonna was on the front of it. It was a story about her being in London and having run over a photographer in her limo. And there were photos of Madonna with sunglasses on - not looking anything like "MADONNA" (up to that point - she always looked the same to me - bangles and beades and cruficixes and torn clothes and messed up hair).

She looked nothing like "MADONNA" this time - and for some reason I was a bit fascinated. (she was in London to film Shanghai Surprise).

Then a short while later I heard "Live To Tell" - and everyone at school was talking about it. Talking about a "new Madonna song" - and it was nothing like the Madonna of 1985. I remember hearing the song on the radio and loving it. Stuck in my mind. I kept saying to someone "that's not Madonna though is it?". And then the video - again it was like this wasn't the same popstar. This was something new.

I was mesmerized. Blown away. Fascinated.

PDP came a few months later and this time I was like "WHOOOOAHHHH!". The song was just EPIC and then when I saw the video - again - this wasn't Madonna as I had ever been aware of her before - this was something completely different and I was in TOTAL AWE. Then that summer you could not turn for seeing photos of the "new" Madonna. Every day in every newspaper and magazine. True Blue album went to No.1 and I heard songs from it on radio and was like "ok - this is it - she's unbelievable - I have to get this album".

From then on - for the rest of my teenage years - totally obsessed.

And she just kept getting "better and better" as far as I was concerned. And bigger and bigger. Every song was better than the last one. Every video better than the last one. She changed her hair - I wasn't interested in seeing pics of her with the old hair any more. It was like that - for the next 4 years. Non-stop excitement. Always doing something exciting. Always in the papers and magazines. Never enough of her on TV.

PDP wasn't considered controversial at all in the UK. She had mild moments of controversy in 1987 with her tour (Mary Whitehouse objected to her taking her nickers off during DYU). As far as I was aware (and I was IMMERSED in Madonna for those years of mylife) the controversy really started in 1989 - and kicked off bigtime.

I could ramble on all day.

Just want to say that of course now in hindsight, I see the pre-1986 years properly lol! I love all of that. I love "1985 Madonna". I love her first album more than anything. I love the Virgin Tour. I am intrigued as to how as a 12 and 13 year old I was not drawn to her one tiny little bit.

How fascinating!! Thanks to you and everybody else for sharing. I love hearing these stories

I remember watching mid 80s UK TV reports and the journalist introducing Madonna as "the woman who made a fortune by dressing like a homeless girl" or something like that He looked pissed while he was saying it I wish I could find that clip, too funny

I'm particularly interested in the filming of Shanghai Surprise and how Madonna many times said she felt horrible when coming to the UK during her first years of fame "because of the vicious tabloid culture." I think she only felt that way after LAV and TB and the mega success they had. Because before she always seemed to feel welcome and part of the underground culture there, her raving second welcoming at Camden Palace etc

She said she loved the UK and its fashion culture/attitide in that first MTV Interview with Mark Goodman

Never heard about the incident with the limo and it's curious that, as you say, PDP wasn't as big a controversy as it was in the US

[XXL]

XXL, who's that in your avatar? Is that you?

Not me

[LCD]

I was in elementary school when I first saw her. I think I had heard her on the radio by then ... but the first time I actually laid eyes on her was the Borderline video. I was instantly intrigued and couldn't take my eyes off the screen. She was so different and cool.

From that point on, it was like she was everywhere to me: Material Girl, Like a Virgin, Lucky Star, Dress You Up, Angel, Into the Groove, Crazy for You, etc. It was nonstop. Most of the teen girls I saw dressed like her. My friends and I were too young to really take part in that ... but we did eventually get our hands on some of those black rubber bracelets And we would shriek in excitement every time one of her songs or videos came on the radio or tv.

Most of my classmates knew about her, even at that very young age - her and Michael Jackson were everything. My young loon status was extra cemented when I saw an interview with her during those early MTV days and she said she was from Michigan. And I remember thinking "hey that's where I live, she's like me!" Lol!

I then recall being floored at how different (yet so beautiful!) she looked for the Live to Tell video and then the ensuing meltdowns when she showed up with her totally transformed look for True Blue. But omg that album was so fucking huge. My friends and I were closer to 10-11 by that point and if you didn't own True Blue you weren't even worth talking to. Every person had it. So many hits. The title track, Papa Don't Preach, Open Your Heart, La Isla Bonita ... I mean the woman was just unstoppable but then. And with each passing song and video, it felt like she was becoming more daring, more interesting. You could feel that she was fearless and it made her to so exciting to watch.

Like others have already mentioned, it's hard to truly explain the scope of her fame and popularity then. Some singers would kill to have even a couple hit songs in their entire careers and she had like, 20 in less than 5 years. She was simply a part of everyone's life it seemed.

[Willie]

I only "heard" of Madonna from 83-84, either by tv shows, radio, older siblings playing her, but it wasn't until 1985 when Madonna caught me. I kept hearing Into the Groove, and I saw it on MTV, and even though it is a movie clip video, the Madonna I saw was THE coolest girl I ever saw, and I started to pay attention. I was 11 at the time. I won her Dress You Up 7" single at the school's Halloween party, and when I listened to Dress You Up, I was in another world, completely. Then, I listened to the B side (ShoBeDo) and I laughed, because I thought it sounded sad and dumb, and I didn't understand how one song can be sooo cool, and the other made me want to break the record. Anyway, I never played ShoBeDo again, unless it was on 78, or I didn't put the middle thing in to make friends laugh. I know- what a horrible "fan" I was- but I wasn't. Every time she did something, I payed attention, asking questions, and feeling creative. I saw most of her videos if someone left MTV on, so I was pretty familiar with her by the end of 1985. When she was on SNL, I thought she was really funny. It wasn't hard to keep up with her, either, because every time she did something, she was on the news, or in the newspapers, on the radio, etc. I will say it was an easy time- meaning I really didn't have to look for what she was doing, because it seemed like she was always there. I didn't start getting obsessed with her until 1989. When Like A Prayer came out, and seeing her with the long brown hair, completely different from what I saw, I was in love. This is when I started slowly collecting. I started "collecting" by recording her videos and songs off MTV and the radio. I had her first four albums from people just giving them to me, when they saw how enthusiastic I was. I loved drawing pistures of her different looks in chronological order, especially her hair. 1990 is when I started saving some newspaper and magazine clippings. The first album I went out and bought was Erotica, and that was the beginning of me playing her new album every day until next album release. It was such a magical time.

[Mad4Mad]

Hi!, I'm from Italy.

1) I'm looking for the original Star Motel and not the Star Hotel/Chelsea Star/Riff Chelsea now.

I've been in 300W 30th street, but I haven't found it, although in Madonna Rising, Mad&Rupert have just crossed the road.

2) What's happened to Lionel Bishop, a dancer who helped madonna in 1979? (cf. Biography by M. Cross)

Is he still alive?

Thanks to all!

Edited October 21, 2015 by Mad4Mad

[palladium75]

XXL, it was just incredible to be a Madonna fan in the 80's and watch her turn into the biggest star in the World. I don't know about others, but the song title of "Like a Virgin" was slightly controversial. Got a lot of talk then because the only other time the word Virgin was mentioned much in music was when it was about the Virgin Mary in Christmas carols ! A lot of the press would say she would not last and would be over soon, but True Blue album proved them wrong in every way.

I can never stress enough the influence and sheer star power she had. She literally was the most famous, copied and talked about women in the World. I have never seen that kind of popularity for a female singer before that or since then.

This.

She was and is the biggest pop star on earth maybe except for mj.

Not only popular but also a culural syndrome and phenomenon.

[palladium75]

ok ill post what i have experienced and known.

madonna was so huge and immense in 1986-87 in asia.

when she visited japan in 1987 for her tour,

it became headline news all over asia at least.

https://www.youtube....ayer_detailpage" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe>

this was the madonna earthquake shaking in japan in 1987.

the first ever solo artist to tour in a fullfilled schedule of stadiums around the world was Madonna.

japan was no different.

she was groundbreaking in japan in 1987.

her visit made such news and headlines around the world that time.

it was called 'madonna typhoon' in newspapers.

when she arrived in tokyo airport in 1987, 10 thousands of fans got flooded to see her.

and thousands of police had to get in line in case.

and her first stadium show in tokyo got cancelled due to a big storm and hurricane and more than 30 thousands of people got crazy outside the stadium and cried and screamed. it became such a riot and police had to step in and prevent further accidents.

one little japanese girl waited for madonna in her staying hotel and cried all day to meet her idol madonna, with lots of madonna goods in hands.

they finally encountered into each other.

that became news back in the day.

that was madonna the power of the real star.

she was more than gaga or whoriah or any other star.

madonna was the female michael jackson back then.

her japan stadium shows were so successful and gathered more than 200 thousands of japaneses.

madonna was the first solo artist to tour in a lined schedule of stadiums around the world even before michael jackson!!!

madonna is the king of pop!!!