Holiday (Madonna song)

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

This is an old revision of this page, as edited by Drewcifer3000 (talk | contribs) at 20:19, 22 August 2009 (→‎Charts). The present address (URL) is a permanent link to this revision, which may differ significantly from the current revision.

"Holiday"
Song
B-side"I Know It" (U.S. and Europe)
"Think of Me" (UK, 1983/1985)

"Holiday" is a song by American singer-songwriter Madonna from her self-titled debut album. It was released on September 7, 1983 by Sire Records. The song appeared in a remixed version on the 1987 compilation You Can Dance and the 1990 greatest hits compilation The Immaculate Collection. Written by Curtis Hudgens and Lisa Stevens of Pure Energy, the track was offered to Madonna by her producer John "Jellybean" Benitez when she was looking for a potential hit track to include in her debut album. After accepting the song, she and Jellybean worked on it and altered its composition by the addition of a piano solo developed by their friend, Fred Zarr. It features instrumentation from guitars, electronic handclaps and synthesized string arrangement while talking about the universal sentiment of taking a holiday.

The song was appreciated by reviewers. Commercially, it was Madonna's first hit single when it entered the top twenty of the Billboard Hot 100 while peaking its dance chart. The song was also a crossover success, entering the top ten and top forty of many European countries. A re-release of the song in 1985 saw it peaking at two in the United Kingdom. Madonna has performed "Holiday" in most of her tours. The song is generally included as a part of the encore or as the closing song of the show. Different performances of the song are included in the recorded releases of her tours. Cover versions by a number of artists has been released and it appeared in the soundtrack of sitcoms like Will & Grace.

Background

In 1983, Madonna was recording her eponymous debut album with Warner Bros producer Reggie Lucas, after Sire Records green signaled it when her first single "Everybody" became a club hit.[1] However, she did not have enough material for the album.[2] Lucas brought two new songs to the project and John "Jellybean" Benitez, a DJ at Funhouse disco was called to remix the available tracks. In the meantime, due to conflict of interest, Madonna's collaborater on "Everybody", Steve Bray had sold another song "Ain't No Big Deal" to an act on another label, rendering it unavailable for Madonna's project.[2] It was Benitez who discovered a new song written by Curtis Hudson and Lisa Stevens of the pop group Pure Energy.[3] The song, titled "Holiday", had been turned down by Phyllis Hyman and Mary Wilson, formerly of The Supremes.[4] After the vocals were added by Madonna, Benitez spent four days and tried to enhance the commercial appeal of the track before the April 1983 deadline.[2][4] Just before it was completed, Madonna and Benitez took the tape over to their friend Fred Zarr's apartment in Brooklyn.[4] Zarr added a piano solo in the inetermediate section of the track.[3]

Initially it was decided that "Lucky Star" would be released as a single, instead "Holiday" was released when the later became a dance hit. The original coverart for "Holiday" did not carry Madonna's picture since Sire did not want people to find out that she was not a R&B artist. Instead it carried the picture of a train station and an engine.[2] "Holiday" was later remixed in dub and groove versions for the 1987 remix album You Can Dance[5] It also appeared in her first greatest hits compilation, The Immaculate Collection, in a shortened version.[6] In 2005, during an interview with CBS News Madonna admitted that "Holiday" was her favourite amongst all her songs.[7]

Composition

Madonna "Holiday" (1983)
A sample for "Holiday" where the song makes a repeatitive progression by making use of its chorus.
Problems playing this file? See media help.

Musically, the song is set in a time signature of common time with a medium tempo and metronome of 116 beats per minute.[8] The song is composed in the key of D major and is six minutes seven seconds in length.[8] Madonna's vocal range spans from B3 to C♯5. The song follows in the chord progression of G—A—A—Bm in the first line, when Madonna sings "Holiday!" and changes to G—A—F♯m—G in the second line, when Madonna sings "Celebrate!".[8] According to author Rikky Rooksby, it starts in a chord sequence reminiscent of the Cyndi Lauper song "Time After Time". The four bar sequence of the progression continues and features instrumentation from guitars, electronic handclaps and synthesized string arrangement. A side-by-side repeatitive progression is achieved by making use of the chorus.[9] Towards the end of the song, a change in the arrangement happens, where a piano break is heard. Lyrically the song expresses the universal sentiment that everybody needs a holiday.[9]

Reception

Critical response

Author Rikky Rooksby in his book The Complete Guide to the Music of Madonna commented that "'Holiday' was as infectious as the plague. One listen and you could not get the damn hook out of your mind."[9] Jim Farber of Entertainment Weekly commented that "Holiday" satisfied the musical ear of both the sides of the Atlantic.[10] While reviewing The Immaculate Collection album, David Browne from Entertainment Weekly commented that "Holiday" was a "spunky dance-beat trifle". He also complimented the song's expert production.[11] Mary Cross in her biography of Madonna, described "Holiday" as "a simple song with a fresh appeal and a good mood."[12] Sal Cinquemani of Slant Magazine described the song as airy.[13] Stephen Thomas Erlewine from Allmusic called it effervescent and one of the great songs of the Madonna album.[14] While reviewing The Immaculate Collection, he called it one of her greatest hits.[15] Bill Lamb of About.com described the song, along with "Lucky Star" and "Borderline", as state-of-the-art dance-pop.[16] Don Shewey of Rolling Stone commented that the simple lyrics of the song sound clever.[17]

Chart performance

"Holiday" became Madonna's first hit single and remained on the charts from the timespan of Thanksgiving to Christmas in 1983.[4] It entered the Billboard Hot 100 on the issue dated October 29, 1983 at eighty eight[18] and reached a peak of sixteen by the issue dated February 4, 1984 and was on the chart for eighteen weeks.[19] The song debuted at eight on the Hot Dance Club Play chart on the issue dated November 2, 1983[20] and was Madonna's first number one single on the Hot Dance Club Play chart remaining at the top for five weeks. It was released with "Lucky Star" as a double-A side single.[2] The song also made an entry in the Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs chart and peaked at twenty-five, remaining on the chart for twenty weeks.[21]

In Canada, the song debuted at number forty-eight position of the RPM singles chart on January 21, 1984[22] and peaked at thirty-nine.[23] The song again entered the chart at forty-five on March 1984,[24] and peaked at thirty-two on April 1987.[25] It was on the chart for twelve weeks.[26] In the United Kingdom, "Holiday" was released in 1984 whence it charted and reached a peak of six on the chart.[27] However, a re-release in 1985 with "Think of Me" on the B side, saw the song enter the charts at number thirty-two and reached a new peak of two on the chart, being held off the number one spot by Madonna's own Into the Groove, while being present for ten weeks.[28] Another re-release in 1991 saw the song reach a peak of five on the chart.[29] Across Europe, the song reached the top ten of Belgium, Netherlands, Germany and Ireland[30][31][32][33] while reaching the top forty in France, Italy, Sweden and Switzerland.[34][35][36][37] It was also able to reach the top five in Australia.[38]

Live performances

A combination of four images, showing a blond woman performing onstage. Clockwise from top right - the first image shows the woman in a black dress and performing infront of a pink backdrop. The second image shows the woman in a long ponytail, flanked by two male dancers. All theree of them are wearing polka dotted shirts and white pants. The third image shows the same woman in short, cropped hair. She is facing towards the picture and smiling while being clad in a millitary coat. The last image shows the woman in a Scottish kilt and a sleeveless T-shirt. Behind her stands a bunch of dancers wearing the same garment. The woman is crouched forward and is holding a microphone while singing
Different versions of the performance of Holiday - Clockwise from top left - Madonna performing the song on the Solid Gold TV show (1984), the Blond Ambition World Tour (1990), Re-Invention Tour (2004), and the Girlie Show Tour(1993).

Madonna has performed "Holiday" on almost all of her tours namely, The Virgin Tour, Who's That Girl, Blond Ambition, The Girlie Show, Drowned World, Re-Invention and Sticky & Sweet in 2009. In 1984, the success of "Holiday" prompted Madonna's first televised performance, that on the hit dance show American Bandstand with Dick Clark.[12] Madonna then added it to the set list of her 1985 The Virgin Tour. It was performed as the second song of the tour.[39] The same year she performed the song at the Live Aid benefit concert in Philadelphia in July.[40]

The Who's That Girl World Tour in 1987 had Madonna performing "Holiday" as the last song of the tour. Madonna performed an energetic version of the song, signalling the celebratory and wholesome nature of the song's theme.[41] She sang the final chorus twice, then asked the audience for a comb so that she could fix her hair and finished the performance.[42] Two different performances are found in Ciao, Italia! - Live from Italy tour video filmed at Stadio Communale in Turin, Italy on September 4, 1987[42] and the Who's That Girl - Live in Japan tour video filmed at Korakuen Stadium in Tokyo, Japan on June 22, 1987.[43]

For the Blond Ambition World Tour in 1990, Madonna said, "I wanted to throw an old song for fun, and 'Holiday' seemed to be a universal favourite. In addition to that it's one of the only old songs I've done that I can still sing and not feel I've totally outgrown it."[44] Performing it as a part of the encore, Madonna appeared on the stage in a polka-dotted bluse with matching flounces at the bottom of white trousers and hair in a top knot with a ponytail.[45] The costume was adopted from a My Fair Lady dress. It was designed by Jean-Paul Gaultier. Three different performances are found in the Blond Ambition - Japan Tour 90 VHS, the Live! - Blond Ambition World Tour 90 VHS and the Truth or Dare documentary. The performance included in the documentary was used as a music video to promote it.[46][47][48] The performance received four nominations at the 1992 MTV Video Music Awards, including Best Female Video, Best Dance Video, Best Choreography in Video and Best Cinematography in Video, but did not win any of the categories.[49]

In The Girlie Show in 1993, the song was performed in an alternate version as the second to last song of the tour.[50] It had a military theme to it.[51] Halfway through the performance Madonna paused the song for a military drill with the dancers and the audience.[52] The performance met with strong reaction in Puerto Rico, when Madonna rubbed the Puerto Rican national flag between her legs in between the performance.[53] For the Drowned World Tour in 2001 Madonna wore a fur coat, velvet fedora and a customised Dolce & Gabbana T-shirt which proclaimed 'Mother' in the front and 'F*cker' in the back painted in silver. This demonstrated her ghetto-girl appearance adopted for the song's performance.[54] In the Re-Invention Tour in 2004, the song was again performed as the ending song of the tour.[55] The song was given a tribal feeling with Madonna wearing Scottish kilts during the performance.[56] The performance started with Madonna and her dancers doing a dance routine in front of the stage, then Madonna going on the revolving tiers of the stage to sing the song as confetti fell from above.[55] The performance was included in the I'm Going to Tell You a Secret live album and documentary.[57] Stephen Thomas Erlewine of Allmusic commented that the performance "feels like they could fit the Eurotrash, campy retro-disco feel of Confessions."[58]

The song was added to the second leg of her 2008–09 Sticky & Sweet Tour. It replaced the song "Heartbeat" from Hard Candy and was used as a tribute to singer Michael Jackson who died a week, prior to the start of the second leg of the tour.[59][60] As Madonna sang the song, a picture of a young Jackson appeared on stage, followed by a Jackson impersonator wearing garments in Jackson style.[60] The music then switched to a medley of his songs, like "Billie Jean" and "Wanna Be Startin' Somethin'", and the impersonator worked through his moves, including the moonwalk as well as the spinning and gyrating.[61] Madonna clapped her hands, swayed from side to side and jumped up and down while images of Jackson over the years flashed on a big screen.[61] After the performance, Madonna told the crowd, "Let's give it up for one of the greatest artists the world has ever known," and the crowd applauded.[60]

Covers and media appearance

British synthpop band Heaven 17 recorded a cover for the 1999 compilation Virgin Voices Vol. 1: A Tribute To Madonna.[62] In 2002, Mad'House recorded a Club[63] cover of the song for their album Absolutely Mad.[64] Girl Authority covered the song in 2007 for their album, Road Trip.[65] French singer and adult film star, Quentin Elias has also covered the song in live performances.[66] In 1986, Dutch rap duo MC Miker G & DJ Sven released "Holiday Rap", a song which sampled the tune and chorus of Madonna's "Holiday". It achieved commercial success by peaking the charts in countries like France, Netherlands and Switzerland and going the top ten of Austria, Norway and Sweden.[67] The bassline of the song was sampled by The Avalanches for their 2000 album Since I Left You. It was used on the songs "Stay Another Season" and "Little Journey".[68]

The song was redone by the Will & Grace cast as "He's Hot" for the sitcom's soundtrack in 2004 and even includes vocal samples from Madonna herself. Almost all of the instrumental part of the song "He's Hot!" uses samples from the original song.[69] The popular Canadian teen drama Degrassi: The Next Generation, which is known for naming each episode after an 80s hit song, named a two-part episode after this song.[70][71] The song appears on the 2008 video game Karaoke Revolution Presents: American Idol Encore.[72]

Track listings and formats

Credits

  • Writer: Curtis Hudson and Lisa Stevens
  • Producer: John "Jellybean" Benitez
  • Drums, moog bass, synthesizer, fender rhodes and acoustic piano: Fred Zarr
  • Guitar: Curtis Hudson
  • Bass:Raymond Hudson
  • Percussion: Bashiri Johnson
  • Cowbell: Madonna
  • Background vocals: Madonna, Tina B., Norma Jean Wright

Charts

Chart (1984–1985) Peak
position
Australia Kent Music Report[38] 4
Belgium VRT Top 30[30] 8
Canadian RPM Singles Chart[25] 32
Dutch Top 40[31] 7
French SNEP Singles Chart[34] 37
German Singles Chart[32] 9
Irish Singles Chart[33] 2
Italian Singles Chart[35] 26
Swedish Singles Chart[36] 20
Swiss Singles Chart[37] 18
UK Singles Chart[28] 21
U.S. Billboard Hot 100[19] 16
Preceded by U.S. Billboard Hot Dance Music/Club Play number-one single
September 24, 1983 - November 22, 1983 		Succeeded by
  • 1: 1985 re-release

Notes

  1. ^ Rooksby, p. 9
  2. ^ a b c d e Rooksby, p. 10
  3. ^ a b Cross, p. 26
  4. ^ a b c d Morton, p. 158
  5. ^ Erlewine, Stephen Thomas (August 4, 1987). "allmusic ((( You Can Dance > Overview )))". Allmusic. Rovi Corporation. Retrieved 2009-07-03.
  6. ^ Rooksby, p. 11
  7. ^ Dakss, Brian (December 13, 2005). "Madonna, Elvis Alike In Key Way". CBS News. CBS Interactive. Retrieved 2009-07-03.
  8. ^ a b c "Digital Sheet Music - Madonna - Holiday". MusicNotes.com. Alfred Publishing. Retrieved 2009-07-03.
  9. ^ a b c Rooksby, p. 13
  10. ^ Farber, Jim (July 27, 2001). "The Girl Material". Entertainment Weekly. Time Inc. Retrieved 2009-07-03.
  11. ^ Browne, David (December 14, 1990). "Madonna: The Immaculate Collection". Entertainment Weekly. Time Inc. Retrieved 2009-03-11.
  12. ^ a b Cross, p. 27
  13. ^ Cinquemani, Sal (September 9, 2001). "Madonna (Remastered): Review". Slant Magazine. Retrieved 2009-07-03.
  14. ^ Erlewine, Stephen Thomas (June 10, 1983). "allmusic ((( Madonna > Overview )))". Allmusic. Rovi Corporation. Retrieved 2009-07-03.
  15. ^ Erlewine, Stephen Thomas (December 12, 1990). "allmusic ((( The Immaculate Collection > Overview )))". Allmusic. Rovi Corporation. Retrieved 2009-07-03.
  16. ^ Lamb, Bill (June 5, 2008). "Madonna Discography: Annotated list of Madonna's albums". About.com. The New York Times Company. Retrieved 2009-07-06.
  17. ^ Shewey, Don (September 29, 1983). "Madonna: Madonna album review". Rolling Stone. Jann Wenner. Retrieved 2009-07-08.
  18. ^ "Madonna - Holiday - The Billboard Hot 100". Billboard. Nielsen Business Media, Inc. October 29, 1983. Retrieved 2009-07-03.
  19. ^ a b "Madonna - Holiday - The Billboard Hot 100". Billboard. Nielsen Business Media, Inc. February 4, 2009. Retrieved 2009-07-03.
  20. ^ "Madonna - Holiday/Lucky Star - Hot Dance Club Play". Billboard. Nielsen Business Media, Inc. November 12, 1983. Retrieved 2009-07-03.
  21. ^ "Madonna - Holiday - Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs". Billboard. Nielsen Business Media, Inc. November 19, 1983. Retrieved 2009-07-03.
  22. ^ "Top Singles - Volume 39, No. 20, January 21 1984". RPM. RPM Publishing Inc. January 21, 1984. Retrieved 2009-07-03.
  23. ^ "Top Singles - Volume 39, No. 25, February 25 1984". RPM. RPM Publising Inc. February 25, 1984. Retrieved 2009-07-03.
  24. ^ "Top Singles - Volume 40, No. 2, March 17 1984". RPM. RPM Publishing Inc. March 17, 1984. Retrieved 2009-07-03.
  25. ^ a b "Top Singles - Volume 40, No. 5, April 07 1984". RPM. RPM Publishing Inc. April 7, 1984. Retrieved 2009-07-03.
  26. ^ "Top Singles - Volume 40, No. 7, April 21 1984". RPM. RPM Publishing Inc. April 21, 1984. Retrieved 2009-07-03.
  27. ^ "Madonna - Holiday (1984)". The Official Charts Company. Chartstats.com. Retrieved 2009-07-03.
  28. ^ a b "Madonna - Holiday (1985)". The Official Charts Company. Chartstats.com. Retrieved 2009-07-03.
  29. ^ "Madonna - Holiday (1991)". The Official Charts Company. Chartstats.com. Retrieved 2009-07-03.
  30. ^ a b "Radio 2 - Top 30 van zaterdag 05 mei 1984". VRT Top 30 (in Dutch). May 5, 1984. Retrieved 2009-07-20.
  31. ^ a b "Madonna - Holiday". MegaCharts. Dutchcharts.nl. May 3, 1984. Retrieved 2009-07-06.
  32. ^ a b "Cnartverfurlong - Madonna - Holiday". Media Control Charts. Musicline.de. April 9, 1984. Retrieved 2009-07-03.
  33. ^ a b "The Irish Charts - All There Is To Know". Irish Recorded Music Association. Irishcharts.com. January 22, 1984. Retrieved 2009-07-03.
  34. ^ a b "Madonna - Holiday (1991)". Syndicat National de l'Édition Phonographique. Lescharts.com. November 21, 1991. Retrieved 2009-07-06.
  35. ^ a b "Indice per Interprete: M". Federation of the Italian Music Industry. HitparadeItalia.com. Retrieved 2009-07-03.
  36. ^ a b "Madonna - Holiday (Sweden)". Sverigetopplistan. Swedishcharts.com. April 23, 1984. Retrieved 2009-07-06.
  37. ^ a b "Madonna Holiday (1985)". Swiss Music Charts. Hitparade.ch. August 15, 1984. Retrieved 2009-07-06.
  38. ^ a b Kent, David (1993). Australian Chart Book 1970–1992. Australian Chart Book, St Ives, N.S.W. ISBN 0-646-11917-6. {{cite book}}: |access-date= requires |url= (help); |format= requires |url= (help)
  39. ^ Clerk, p. 42
  40. ^ Voller, p. 56
  41. ^ Kellner, p. 276
  42. ^ a b Madonna Ciao, Italia! - Live from Italy [VHS] Warner Home Video (1988)
  43. ^ Madonna Who's That Girl - Live in Japan [VHS] Warner Home Video (1987)
  44. ^ Michael, p. 52
  45. ^ Clerk, p. 84
  46. ^ Madonna Blond Ambition - Japan Tour 90 [VHS] Warner Home Video (1990)
  47. ^ Madonna Live! - Blond Ambition World Tour 90 [VHS] Warner Home Video (1990)
  48. ^ Goodlum, Jeff (December 4, 2000). "Truth or Dare". Rolling Stone. Jann S. Wenner. Retrieved 2009-07-06.
  49. ^ "MTV Video Music Awards - 1992 - Highlights, Winners, Performers". MTV. Retrieved 2009-07-22.
  50. ^ Madonna The Girlie Show - Live Down Under [DVD] Warner Home Video (1993)
  51. ^ Clerk, p. 139
  52. ^ Lull, p. 250
  53. ^ Smith, Neil (May 24, 2004). "Show-stealer Madonna on tour". BBC. BBC Online. Retrieved 2009-07-06.
  54. ^ Clerk, p. 174
  55. ^ a b Timmerman, p. 47
  56. ^ Reporter, Staff (April 3, 2004). "Madonna's Wardrobe Ready for Reinvention". People. Time Inc. Retrieved 2009-07-08.
  57. ^ Madonna I'm Going to Tell You a Secret [DVD] Warner Home Video (2005)
  58. ^ Erlewine, Stephen Thomas (September 9, 2006). "allmusic ((( I'm Going to Tell You a Secret > Overview )))". Allmusic. Rovi Corporation. Retrieved 2009-07-08.
  59. ^ "Madonna's Emotional Onstage Tribute to Jackson". Hollywood.com. WENN.com. Retrieved 2009-07-05.
  60. ^ a b c Saad, Nardeen (July 5, 2009). "Madonna pays tribute to Michael Jackson in concert". The Associated Press. Google News. Retrieved 2009-07-06.
  61. ^ a b Rodriquez, Jason (July 5, 2009). "Madonna Salutes Michael Jackson At London's O2 Arena". MTV. MTV Networks. Retrieved 2009-07-06.
  62. ^ Ankeny, Jason (October 28, 1999). "allmusic ((( Heaven 17 > Overview )))". Allmusic. Macrovision Corporation. Retrieved 2009-07-08.
  63. ^ "allmusic ((( Absolutely Mad > Overview )))". Allmusic. Rovi Corporation. Retrieved August 9, 2009.
  64. ^ "Madhouse - Absolutely Mad - Radikal Album". Yahoo! Music. Retrieved 2009-07-08.
  65. ^ "Girl Authoriy - Roadtrip". HMV Group. Retrieved 2009-07-08.
  66. ^ "Quentin Elias performing Holiday". Yahoo! Music. Retrieved 2009-07-08.
  67. ^ "M.C. Miker and Deejay Sven - Holiday Rap". Ultratop 50. Retrieved 2009-07-08.
  68. ^ Hseigh, Christine (November 6, 2001). "The Avalanches: Since I Left You < Reviews". PopMatters.com. Retrieved 2009-07-08.
  69. ^ Hay, Carla (July 17, 2004). "'Will & Grace' Compilation Album in Works". Yahoo! Music. Yahoo! Music Canada. Retrieved 2009-07-08.
  70. ^ "Degrassi: The Next Generation: Holiday (1)". TV.com. Retrieved 2009-07-08.
  71. ^ "Degrassi: The Next Generation: Holiday (2)". TV.com. Retrieved 2009-07-08.
  72. ^ Miller, Jonathan (November 14, 2005). "Karaoke Revolution Party: Good times never seemed so good". IGN. Retrieved 2009-07-08.

References

External links

Retrieved from "https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Holiday_(Madonna_song)&oldid=309479964"