Madonna - Who's That Girl (Anniversary Celebration)

UK release date: July 21st 1987
UK album chart peak: #4
US album chart peak: #7

Buy the Who's That Girl soundtrack here (Amazon UK)
Read all my Madonna album anniversary posts here

Quien es esa nina, who's that girl. No question mark. Thirty years ago this week, arguably the world's biggest pop star at the time - Madonna - released her first proper soundtrack. Sure, she had a couple of excellent songs on Vision Quest (Gambler, you are so underrated) and showed us all how to get into the groove as Desperately Seeking Susan, but the Who's That Girl soundtrack was the first collection to be (somewhat audaciously) marketed as a Madonna album. There is no doubt the accompanying film was a Madonna film. And the success of the lead off single (and title track) certainly made it feel like a Madonna project. The album, however, 'only' contains four Madonna songs, padded out by a selection of dance-pop numbers by other artists. Think The Bodyguard soundtrack but with less Whitney. It sounds like I'm complaining - I'm really not. I'm just capturing the sense I had when I stared at the tracklisting of an album, at 13 years old, wondering why my hard earned £10.00 note had only got me four Madonna songs. Wanting to get value for my money though, I played those songs as often as I could - adding them to my home made cassette compilation of the True Blue album (and associated remixes). I also fell hard for two non-Madonna tracks (more on those later). It is interesting that in contemporary times, these four tracks may well have been considered for a True Blue special edition album rather than a soundtrack - they certainly flowed well with the musical style of that album; a good stopgap for fans before the epic Like A Prayer would arrive nearly two years later.

I'm not going to concentrate too much on the film here. I will note that it was allegedly initially called Slammer, before Madonna teamed up with Stephen Bray and Patrick Leonard to write Who's That Girl and changed history forever. There was no way this wasn't going to be the first single. Coming only a few months after the global success of True Blue single five, La Isla Bonita, the Spanish vibes flowed effortlessly into this new track like delicious fruit floating in Sangria. It epitomised Madonna's interest with Spanish culture in a way that paid due deference to those that had inspired her. What worked well about the song is that it encapsulated the character of Nikki for those who had seen the film, whilst working as a stand alone entity; a song about the type of woman who comes into your world like a whirling dervish, beguiling you with her charms and wiles. The Bonnie making you Clyde. Madonna's vocal is seductive yet with an element of caution to it, warning you with her enchanting words. The mid-tempo rhythms shimmer with that frisson of unexpected danger that is weirdly so alluring in the pursuit of romance. The music matches this, hypnotising you with mesmerising melange of sounds - the trumpets in verse two, the gorgeous middle 8 and God only knows she was inspired by the Beach Boys for those intertwined vocals that close the song. No wonder it sashayed its way to the top of the charts all around the globe. It paved the way for a more up-tempo single number two, the frenetic Causing A Commotion. If Who's That Girl was lyrically about Madonna's character Nikki, then Causing A Commotion was the musical rendering of her million-miles-per-hour personality. It was apparently personal in nature too, indicative of the stormy relationship Madonna had with Sean Penn. Regardless of its background, there is a lot to love about a song that starts with the chorus (and what a hook it was) - its like an icy blast of cold water on a hot summer day, revitalising you with a slap and a kiss. I remember being giddy with excitement (ah youth) that she referenced Into The Groove part way through the song (a trick she's gone on to repeat, most notably referencing Vogue on Deeper and Deeper). This was straight up pop and I was down for every glorious second of it. The bassline and staccato chords had me twirling around with delight - and everyone else too; it gave Madonna another top five smash (2 in USA, 4 in UK). At least one of person other than me remembers it as fondly - the excellent Bright Light Bright Light recently did a jolly splendid cover version of it (see here)...

Releasing a third single from her contribution of four set a precedent for Whitney to milk The Bodyguard for five (out of six) singles. Always the trendsetter! Madonna ballads had been a rarity amongst her singles at this point, and I think that is why they performed so well. They showcased the softer side of the ballsy, no-regrets chanteuse. The Look of Love felt like it was geared more towards the British Christmas Charts rather than a worldwide release - us Brits love a smoochy as the winter nights roll in. Perhaps that is why it never got an official US release. Too bad. It is a rather aching, slow burn ballad that allows the music to breathe alongside Madonna's yearning, expressive vocals. It encapsulates that feeling of brooding, intense emotion but never really peaks - a bold move that leaves the listener longing for more (note, I think Darren Hayes could do a lovely version of this song). Perhaps that is why it was her first single to miss the top five in the UK since Lucky Star (plus the Christmas singles market was hyper competitive at that time so even higher sales led to lower peaks). Probably not wanting to break her string of UK top ten hits, the fourth Madonna track, Can't Stop, was not released as a single. It is not the strongest of Madonna tracks but has some undeniable appeal to it - she has always been able to turn sass into salacious dance grooves and this is no exception. I love that a lot of her songs are tailored for dance audiences - over four minutes gives people something to really get into; hovering around the three minute mark shows more favour to pop radio. Not one to pander to anyone, all of these contributions to Who's That Girl lingered at four minutes or more (with Can't Stop not stopping until 4m45s).

Now, when you buy a soundtrack for songs by a specific artist you like, it can be hit and miss as to whether there is anything else that catches your fancy. Michael Davidson certainly caught the eye of the questioning-my-sexuality-thirsty-thirteen year old - plus, it was a Stock, Aitken and Waterman production so what was not to love? He was exactly the type of chiselled, devilishly good looking man candy I yearned after, and that he sang such an addictive hi-nrg song with Turn It Up was just the icing on the cake. It definitely fit the sound of the UK chart at the time, standing alongside songs like Who's Leaving Who, I Want You Back and London Nights. Bold synths and percolating percussion, as well as the relentless energy in the video, meant you were slave to the rhythm - spinning around like your life depended on it. The other track to catchy my attention was Club Nouveau's Step By Step. Fresh from their chart topping success of Lean on Me (top 3 in the UK) it was odd that they didn't release this funky gem as a single in its own right. It is the genesis of the En Vogue sound that Club Nouveau members (and future En Vogue collaborators) Thomas McElroy and Denzil Foster excelled. The "step by step" refrain with female backing vocals and a down 'n' dirty repeated lower register ad-lib was all too hard to resist - as was the magnificent piano/sax party in the middle 8. Two forgotten classics on an oft-overlooked soundtrack (not one song made The Immaculate Collection, though the accompanying CD Singles in the UK did include a silver screen mix of Causing A Commotion. Phew).