You Can Dance
'You Can Dance' is the fifth album and the first remix album by Madonna.
The album contains remixes of tracks from her first three studio albums: Madonna (1983), Like a Virgin (1984) and True Blue (1986), and a new track, ‘Spotlight’.
'You Can Dance' received generally mixed reviews from critics but was a commercial success and went on to sell five million copies worldwide making it the second best-selling remix album of all time (behind only ‘Blood on the Dance Floor’ by Michael Jackson).
The album contains remixes of tracks from her first three studio albums: Madonna (1983), Like a Virgin (1984) and True Blue (1986), and a new track, ‘Spotlight’.
'You Can Dance' received generally mixed reviews from critics but was a commercial success and went on to sell five million copies worldwide making it the second best-selling remix album of all time (behind only ‘Blood on the Dance Floor’ by Michael Jackson).
1. Background
In November 1987, Warner Bros. Records commissioned the release of You Can Dance – Madonna's first retrospective – which was aimed at the dance segment of her audience. It was an album containing seven of Madonna's songs in remixed format, which was still a revolutionary concept in the 1980s. By the mid-eighties, post-disco dance music was extremely popular and the concept of remix was widely regarded as a new direction of music. Several artists were remixing their tracks and compiling them to create new albums. Mixing was an interpretative process, where the artist was usually involved, but the development was generally looked after the record producer. The different parts of a song, including the lead vocals, background vocals, guitars, bass, synths, drum machine—all went through the process of mixing to sound considerably different from their original counterpart. Improvements in studio technologies meant the possibility of shaping the sound of a song in any way, after it has been recorded.
It was this concept that intrigued Madonna who remarked:
"I hate it when people do master mixes of my records. I don't want to hear my songs changed like that. I don't know that I like it, people screwing with my records. The jury is out on it for me. But the fans like it, and really, this one was for the fans, for the kids in the clubs who wanted to hear these songs in a fresh new way."
Madonna went to Warner with the idea of releasing her songs by remixing them in a complete dance tune. From Warner's point of view, the rise of remix was a commercial boon, because it meant making more money out of the same piece of music. Instead of paying Madonna to go to studio and record different tracks, they found that allowing her to record the same tracks in different formats was much less costly. Hence they decided to release the album, but gave full freedom to Madonna to choose the producers with whom she wanted to develop the remixes.
It was this concept that intrigued Madonna who remarked:
"I hate it when people do master mixes of my records. I don't want to hear my songs changed like that. I don't know that I like it, people screwing with my records. The jury is out on it for me. But the fans like it, and really, this one was for the fans, for the kids in the clubs who wanted to hear these songs in a fresh new way."
Madonna went to Warner with the idea of releasing her songs by remixing them in a complete dance tune. From Warner's point of view, the rise of remix was a commercial boon, because it meant making more money out of the same piece of music. Instead of paying Madonna to go to studio and record different tracks, they found that allowing her to record the same tracks in different formats was much less costly. Hence they decided to release the album, but gave full freedom to Madonna to choose the producers with whom she wanted to develop the remixes.
2. Recording
Madonna turned to her old friend and producer John ‘Jellybean’ Benitez to help her remixing the songs, and also enlisted the help of Patrick Leonard, the producer of True Blue. Along with the pre-released tracks, a never-before released song called ‘Spotlight’ inspired by the song "Everybody Is a Star" (1970), by American rock band Sly and the Family Stone was included as a bonus. Written by Madonna, Stephen Bray and Curtis Hudson, ‘Spotlight’ was originally recorded during the ‘True Blue’ recording sessions. It was omitted from the album because Madonna felt that it was too similar in composition and structure to ‘Holiday’.
On the process of remixing the tracks, Patrick Leonard remarked:
"Remixing is a form of secondary creativity. Dance music elevates the DJ and the mixer to being almost on a level with the musician. In my opinion this is false. Manipulation of pre-recorded sound sources may be creative in a secondary sense, and may be valid in its own field, but it is pseudo musicianship. That's why we tried to have a fresh approach to the songs for ‘You Can Dance’, as if we were developing and composing them for the first time.
On the process of remixing the tracks, Patrick Leonard remarked:
"Remixing is a form of secondary creativity. Dance music elevates the DJ and the mixer to being almost on a level with the musician. In my opinion this is false. Manipulation of pre-recorded sound sources may be creative in a secondary sense, and may be valid in its own field, but it is pseudo musicianship. That's why we tried to have a fresh approach to the songs for ‘You Can Dance’, as if we were developing and composing them for the first time.
3. Artwork
The album cover denoted Madonna's continued fascination with Spanish culture and fashion. She wore a female toreador outfit with a lacy bustier, embroidered bolero jacket and a cummerbund with a flouncy bustle.
Jeri Heiden, who had worked on the cover art for ‘True Blue’, was given the task of editing the photos and making them compatible for appearance in an album cover. Shot by Herb Ritts, this was the third consecutive album featuring Madonna with the same short platinum blond hair. For Madonna, this was one of her longest periods of image stability!
Heiden explained in an interview with Aperture magazine in October 2006 that the cover was not meant to be a tie-in with the True Blue cover. "It was just Madonna's look at the time – Platinum Blond. And of course the handwriting reappears on that album."
While the image was looking familiar, the packaging was unique as it included a gold-coloured paper wrap-around liner with notes written by Brian Chin, a Rolling Stone journalist.
Jeri Heiden, who had worked on the cover art for ‘True Blue’, was given the task of editing the photos and making them compatible for appearance in an album cover. Shot by Herb Ritts, this was the third consecutive album featuring Madonna with the same short platinum blond hair. For Madonna, this was one of her longest periods of image stability!
Heiden explained in an interview with Aperture magazine in October 2006 that the cover was not meant to be a tie-in with the True Blue cover. "It was just Madonna's look at the time – Platinum Blond. And of course the handwriting reappears on that album."
While the image was looking familiar, the packaging was unique as it included a gold-coloured paper wrap-around liner with notes written by Brian Chin, a Rolling Stone journalist.
4. Legacy
An album of dance remixes from the 1980’s is going to be rooted in that era and will inevitably sound dated. But as a snapshot of the era that Madonna dominated, within the genre she excelled in, the collection of sequenced songs can still hold their own.
At the time it was criticised for being a cynical marketing ploy, a re-hash of old hits with just the one rather standard new track thrown in as fresh meat and all repackaged just in time for the Christmas market. However, author J. Randy Taraborrelli noted: "You Can Dance made one point clear about Madonna. While she was evolving into a serious pop star, musically she still knew how to host the best party."
At the time it was criticised for being a cynical marketing ploy, a re-hash of old hits with just the one rather standard new track thrown in as fresh meat and all repackaged just in time for the Christmas market. However, author J. Randy Taraborrelli noted: "You Can Dance made one point clear about Madonna. While she was evolving into a serious pop star, musically she still knew how to host the best party."
5. Track Listing
|
No.
1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6. 7. |
Title
Spotlight Holiday Everybody Physical Attraction Over and Over Into the Groove Where's the Party |
Writer(s)
Madonna/Stephen Bray/Curtis Hudson Hudson/Lisa Stevens Madonna Reggie Lucas Madonna/Bray Madonna/ Bray Madonna/Bray/Patrick Leonard |
Producer(s)
Bray/John "Jellybean" Benitez Benitez Mark Kamins /Bruce Forest/ Frank Heller Lucas /Benitez Nile Rodgers /Steve Thompson /Michael Barbiero Madonna/Bray/Shep Pettibone Madonna/Leonard/Bray/Pettibone |
Length
6:23 6:32 6:43 6:20 7:11 8:26 7:16 |
The CD contains three dub mixes for 'Holiday', 'Into The Groove' and 'Where's The Party'
The Cassette contains four dub mixes for 'Holiday', 'Into The Groove', 'Over and Over' and 'Spotlight'
Uniquely for a Madonna album, no singles were released in the UK. The only track suitable for a commercial release was ‘Spotlight’ which was only released in Japan and rather bizarrely, the Philippines. However ‘Spotlight’ was issued in the UK as part of a white label promo-only EP.
The Cassette contains four dub mixes for 'Holiday', 'Into The Groove', 'Over and Over' and 'Spotlight'
Uniquely for a Madonna album, no singles were released in the UK. The only track suitable for a commercial release was ‘Spotlight’ which was only released in Japan and rather bizarrely, the Philippines. However ‘Spotlight’ was issued in the UK as part of a white label promo-only EP.
6. UK Release and Chart Performance
In the United Kingdom, You Can Dance was released on 28 November 1987. It entered the chart at number five which was also its peak position. It was present for a total of 16 weeks on the chart,
7. UK Collectables and Variations
After a dearth of official collectables with both the soundtrack to 'Who's That Girl' and 'True Blue', finally there was a limited edition UK release for the early bird collector which came in the form of a poster edition in a stickered sleeve.
An alternative limited edition poster edition was also made available and it would appear at least some of these came with Irish-pressed labels. However, the record shown here comes with its own alternate label design which is the standard German label but with the distinctive Irish indentation. Another oddity to note with this poster edition is the USA origin of the poster itself. Unlike the UK poster edition, which has a '1987 Sire Records Company' credit in the bottom left hand corner, this version has '1987 Sire Records Company. Made in U.S.A. For promotional use only. Not for sale.' credit. It would appear that a batch of US promo posters were shipped (to Ireland?) for this purpose.
Collectors should note that the UK version is also the same poster that was issued with the 12" limited edition of 'The Look Of Love'. For ease of reference, see also the 'PROMO' tab where both poster versions are shown together.
For the first time it was clear that vinyl was falling out of favour as both the cassette and CD versions - both cheaper to produce - were given the boost of coming with additional, and in some cases exclusive, dub remixes. See 'Track Listing' below for further information. For the collector, the cassette does come in two versions due to an alternative credit 'Brampton Music' / 'Fresh Air Music' credit on track 4. While the era of different plastic top-up cassettes had ended, there is a miss-pressed blank version of the cassette to look out for.
The CD only comes as one standard version although some of them did come with a booklet promoting other WEA releases across Europe at that time.
'You Can Dance' also had a marketing reissue which saw an additional black sticker applied to all three formats. While the circular sticker applied to the LP was plentiful, the two rectangular versions applied to the cassette and CD formats respectively are surprisingly scarce.
The LP format was given a further marketing reissue in 1988 after Madonna was nominated for 'Best International Solo Artist' whereby it appeared with an additional blue 'nominee' sticker while the CD was reissued in 1990 with an additional '7599' prefix to the catalogue number.
The most interesting item for the collector is a so-called promotional picture disc and this is discussed further in the Promo section. While the provenance of the disc is not certain, what is certain is that it is very limited and by far the most collectable item for this release. As if for comparison, a 'genuine' bootleg copy duly appeared with the regular versions of the tracks and a very badly over-saturated image of Madonna.
An alternative limited edition poster edition was also made available and it would appear at least some of these came with Irish-pressed labels. However, the record shown here comes with its own alternate label design which is the standard German label but with the distinctive Irish indentation. Another oddity to note with this poster edition is the USA origin of the poster itself. Unlike the UK poster edition, which has a '1987 Sire Records Company' credit in the bottom left hand corner, this version has '1987 Sire Records Company. Made in U.S.A. For promotional use only. Not for sale.' credit. It would appear that a batch of US promo posters were shipped (to Ireland?) for this purpose.
Collectors should note that the UK version is also the same poster that was issued with the 12" limited edition of 'The Look Of Love'. For ease of reference, see also the 'PROMO' tab where both poster versions are shown together.
For the first time it was clear that vinyl was falling out of favour as both the cassette and CD versions - both cheaper to produce - were given the boost of coming with additional, and in some cases exclusive, dub remixes. See 'Track Listing' below for further information. For the collector, the cassette does come in two versions due to an alternative credit 'Brampton Music' / 'Fresh Air Music' credit on track 4. While the era of different plastic top-up cassettes had ended, there is a miss-pressed blank version of the cassette to look out for.
The CD only comes as one standard version although some of them did come with a booklet promoting other WEA releases across Europe at that time.
'You Can Dance' also had a marketing reissue which saw an additional black sticker applied to all three formats. While the circular sticker applied to the LP was plentiful, the two rectangular versions applied to the cassette and CD formats respectively are surprisingly scarce.
The LP format was given a further marketing reissue in 1988 after Madonna was nominated for 'Best International Solo Artist' whereby it appeared with an additional blue 'nominee' sticker while the CD was reissued in 1990 with an additional '7599' prefix to the catalogue number.
The most interesting item for the collector is a so-called promotional picture disc and this is discussed further in the Promo section. While the provenance of the disc is not certain, what is certain is that it is very limited and by far the most collectable item for this release. As if for comparison, a 'genuine' bootleg copy duly appeared with the regular versions of the tracks and a very badly over-saturated image of Madonna.
LP - Standard Release (German Pressing with no printed inner sleeves)
LP - Limited Edition (with Obi Strip and Promo Poster in Stickered Sleeve)
LP - Limited Edition (with 'USA' Promo Poster in Square Stickered Sleeve and Irish-style indented label)
LP - Irish Pressing
LP - Repressing (with black marketing sticker)
LP - 1988 reissue with 'Nominee' sticker
Cassette - with 'Fresh Air Music' credit on track 4
Cassette - with 'Brampton Music' credit on track 4
Cassette - with 'Fresh Air Music' credit in stickered case
Cassette - mispressed blank cassette with 'Brampton Music' credit
Compact Disc - Standard Release
Compact Disc - with promo booklet
Compact Disc - in stickered sleeve
Compact Disc - 1990 reissue with additional '7599' prefix to the catalogue number
Bootleg LP picture disc
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© madonna-decade 2013
© madonna-decade 2013