Well, of course I have the first Madonna album. I did live through 1984, after all. It’s currently hard to imagine, but there was a time when Madonna was completely fresh and new, and this sort of synthy post-disco sound was as well. It was exciting, danceable and fun, and even though it wasn’t my usual genre, it was hard not to bop along to “Holiday” or “Lucky Star,” and I simply adored (and continue to adore) “Borderline.” It was also hard to ignore Madonna herself once she had burst on the scene, so no question her quirky, pushing the boundaries image enhanced the reception of the music.
The album came out in 1983, with “Holiday” released in September, right around the time we had moved into our first post-college apartment, just around the time we were getting married. The song was infectious and dancey, and it wasn’t hard to get caught up in the excitement of this new music. It wasn’t like a lot of the other new music I was listening to at that time – I was heavy on Soft Cell, Marc and the Mambas and the Church, all a far cry from Madonna – but it was fun and it seemed pretty clear she was gonna be big. How big, I wouldn’t have guessed.
But, the Madonna frenzy passed for me and I probably haven’t played this particular album since the ’80s ended. Listening to it now, it’s still great and infectious, though it could use a few more musical ideas or even second verses for songs that go this long. (I know, dance music . . . but I’m in my house, not on a dance floor.) “Borderline,” which I love, goes around the same circle a dozen times and then when it finally gets to a new idea it fades right out, which has made me angry since 1983.
Still, I got rid of a lot of other dance and new soul records from the ’80s, and I never got rid of this.
