Madonna showed she is still at the top of her game yesterday, picking up a stack of MTV Video Music Awards for her latest album, Confessions II. Today, the singer marks another milestone: it is 40 years since she released her song True Blue.
The doo-wop-inspired track was the title song from her third studio album and the third single released from the project, following Live to Tell and Papa Don’t Preach. The accompanying video also cemented Madonna’s new look, featuring short peroxide-blonde hair and a taut figure.
The song was released in Europe and Australia on this day in 1986, but fans in the United States had to wait until early October to buy the record. Such were the realities of the pre-internet era, before simultaneous global releases became commonplace.
The song was written by Madonna and longtime collaborator Stephen Bray. Bray had previously performed with Madonna in New York bands Breakfast Club and Emmy and the Emmys during the early 1980s.
Together, Madonna and Bray wrote many of her early hits, including Angel, Over and Over, and Into the Groove. He later co-wrote Causing a Commotion, Keep It Together, and Express Yourself.
The song was inspired by 1960s girl groups and Madonna’s whirlwind romance and marriage to actor Sean Penn. The pair met in 1985 and married six months later.
The video was directed by James Foley, who had previously directed Madonna’s videos for Live to Tell and Papa Don’t Preach. It featured three backing singers, including friends Erika Belle and Debi Mazar. While they appear in the video, in the studio the backing vocals has been supplied by acclaimed singer Siedah Garrett.
Belle also appeared in the videos for Lucky Star, Everybody, Holiday, and Papa Don’t Preach. She created many of the outfits Madonna wore during her early career before establishing herself as a successful fashion designer.
Mazar had been friends with Madonna since they met at New York’s Danceteria nightclub in the early 1980s. She featured in the video for the song of the same name from Madonna’s recent album and appeared on stage during the opening of the MTV Video Music Awards. A successful actress with a long list of credits, Mazar also appeared in the videos for Everybody, Papa Don’t Preach, Justify My Love, and Music.
Madonna has rarely performed True Blue on her concert tours. It was featured on her Who’s That Girl World Tour in 1987, but then largely disappeared from her setlists until the Rebel Heart Tour in 2016, where she performed it on ukulele.
The extended version of the song was remixed by Shep Pettibone, marking his first collaboration with the singer. He’d become a regular go-to producer for transforming Madonna’s work for the dancefloor and later he’d write and produce some of her biggest hits including Vogue, Rescue Me, Erotica, Deep and Deeper, This Used to Be My Playground, Bad Girl, Fever and Rain.
