It’s 40 years since Madonna released her debut album.

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The self-titled debut came out on July 27th 1983. It followed on from two singles which had begun to get the music world’s attention, but the singer’s earliest successes were still largely in her future at the time of the album’s release.

Madonna had been in indie bands NYC, first as a member of The Breakfast Club, and then she and bandmate Stephen Bray formed Emmy and Emmy. In late 1980 the pair put four tracks down on a demo cassette, but by the following year Madonna was on her own hoping to be signed as a solo artist.

She gave a cassette featuring three tunes, Everybody, Burning Up and Aint No Big Deal to Mark Kamins, the DJ at the popular dance club Danceteria. Kamins liked what he heard and got Madonna a contract for two 12-inch singles with Sire Records. Record label boss Seymour Stein famously signed Madonna to the label from his hospital bed where he had been undergoing surgery.

Everybody was chosen to be Madonna’s first single. Kamins produced the track, and it features singer Gwen Guthrie as one of the backing vocalists. The post-disco song has elements of RnB and features Madonna imploring everyone to get on the dancefloor and “dance and sing” and “do your thing”.

When the song was released, it featured a cover with a hip-style street scene, but Madonna herself was not pictured. At first people assumed Madonna was a black artist, and the song got airplay on radio stations that featured largely black musicians.

Not long after Madonna was given a tiny budget to create a video, which gave the world their first look at the singer who would go on to find success in the music industry over the next four decades.

Following the success of the track, Madonna was signed to make an album. Producer Reggie Lucas was brought in to help create the record.

Lucas was a jazz guitarist who had played with Miles Davis and Billy Paul. In a creative partnership with fellow musician James Mtume he had produced a huge disco hit Never Knew Love This This Before for Stephanie Mills. The song won Mills a Grammy Award for best female vocal performance in 1981.

After working with artists including Phylis Hyman, Roberta Flack, Lou Rawls, and The Spinners Mtume and Lucas ended their creative partnership, and Madonna’s project was one of the first he tackled as a producer on his own.

Lucas would bring several songs to the project Physical Attraction and Borderline, while Madonna had the songs Lucky Star, Burning Up, I Know It, Think of Me and the previous recorded Everybody. Madonna had also planned to include a new version of Aint No Big Deal which had been the b-side to her debut single, but due to a rights issue it was no longer available.

Madonna was not satisfied with the finished result and clashed with Lucas during the recording process. After he left the project she brought in her then boyfriend DJ John ‘Jellybean’ Benitez to remix the tracks. He also found an additional song written by Curtis Hudson and Lisa Stevens from the pop group Pure Energy, it was Holiday. 

Burning Up was released as ahead of the album in March 1983. It found a lot of love on MTV, but it took a long time to rise in the charts.

While the video for Madonna’s first single had been shot in a local nightclub on grainy video, the record company hired top director Steve Barron to create the clip for Burning Up. Barron had created videos for Michael Jackson’s Billie Jean, Eddy Grant’s Electric Avenue and Toto’s Africa. 

In 2015 Barron told Rolling Stone magazine that the video shoot had almost had a deadly accident. A seven-ton crane had been stretched out to shoot scene of Madonna laying in a boat. At one stage the crane almost fell, which could have potentially killed Madonna.

The album was originally going to be titled Lucky Star but the title and initial artwork for the record was rejected.

A second shoot was organised and photographer Gary Heery was chosen to create the cover image. In interviews he has recalled the shoot.

“She arrived at my Broadway studio in New York with a small bag of clothes and jewelry, 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.” Heery recalled.

It was the album’s third single that really got the world’s attention. Holiday with its memorable lyrics and plea to have a good time was the song Jellybean had brought to the project at the last minute. The song had been turned down by several artists, including former Supreme Mary Wilson and Phylis Hyman.

Madonna’s recording features Norma Jean Wright from Chic on backing vocals, as well as Tina B who had provided vocals for IOU which had been a massive hit for Freeez.

While a video for Holiday was filmed, a clip of Madonna and her two backing dancers performing the song on British music program The Tube was largely used to promote the song. Both clips feature the same dance routine. On her official YouTube channel Madonna shares a clip from an appearance on US program Solid Gold. 

In Australia the track was championed by Molly Meldrum who declared on his weekly program Countdown that he believed Madonna would have a huge career. Soon Holiday was racy up the charts and it triggered interest in Madonna’s previous releases too.

Lucky Star was chosen as the fourth single from the album giving Madonna another hit in September 1983. The video features Madonna’s younger brother Christopher Ciccone as a backing dancer alongside friend Erica Belle, they’d been appearing as Madonna’s dancers since her first single.

Christopher worked alongside his sister as a dancer, and later a dresser on her first concert tour.  He became a designer styling her homes and concert tours. They later had a falling out and became estranged. He wrote a book Life With My Sister Madonna that documented his experiences.

The clip was shot in Los Angeles in the old Charlie Chaplin studio, Christopher recalled that he was paid just $200 for being a dancer in the video, and he did not get any residuals.

In February 1984 a fifth single was released. Following the success of the album around the globe Borderline got a much bigger budget than Madonna’s previous videos.

Directed by Mary Lambert the clip is remembered for its inclusion of an interracial relationship and for showcasing graffiti art and street style.

Lambert would go on to make videos for many of Madonna’s later hits including Like a Virgin, Material Girl, La Isla Bonita and Like a Prayer.  

By the time the album’s fifth single was in the charts Madonna was heading back into the studio to record her follow up Like a Virgin and would then begin filming Desperately Seeking Susan soon after.

Before her second album came out in late 1984 Madonna continued her assault on the charts with two songs recorded for the film Vision Quest.

Madonna actually recorded three songs for the film project but only two were used. Crazy for You and Gambler gave Madonna two more hits, and in many regions the film was retitled Crazy for You to make the most of Madonna’s rising popularity.

As Madonna’s hits continued the album would be released in some territories with new artwork and retitled The First Album.

To celebrate her four decades in music Madonna had announced a world tour, the first time she’s undertaken a greatest hits tour. Unfortunately, she fell ill recently and spent some time in intensive care. She is now on the road to recovery and has been seen out on the streets of New York.

In a recent statement Madonna said she still hopes to be back in business in time for the European leg of the tour in October. In the meantime, put her first album, on for another spin. Dance and sing, get up and do your thing.

OIP Staff

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