Madonna - Open Your Heart (#TrueBlue30)

Original release date: November 19th 1986 (UK)
UK Chart Peak: Number 4
US Chart Peak: Number 1

Buy Open Your Heart here (Amazon GB)
Read other posts from my #trueblue30 project here
Read my Madonna album anniversary posts here

#TrueBlue30:
Despite the wisdom of my eyes betraying my real age, I wasn't quite at my record buying peak when then/now queen of pop, Madonna, released her epic, enduring and timeless third album, True Blue. Mercifully, despite spending most of the year getting down to Bananarama, Kids from Fame and Janet Jackson, my mum was well ahead of the pop curve and rushed to Woolworths to buy a cassette of True Blue for her car. As soon as I heard it, I was eternally smitten. Time would teach me that this was the album that demonstrated Madonna could mature and grow as an artist, infusing her music with universal themes and melodic charms that have lasted much longer than people at the time might have anticipated. It was and is an album that soundtracked many moments and memories for myself and millions of listeners around the globe; an album that has inspired many an artist since; and an album that stands the test of time as to evidence what smart, enjoyable and meaningful pop music should sound like. That is why I will be revisiting each of the singles on the 30th anniversary of their release - a year long project which starts with the evocative magic of Live To Tell. Do feel free to share your own memories in the comments/social media.

Open Your Heart:
So smitten was I with Madonna's third single, UK chart topper and title track from her True Blue album that I was playing it well into the dark nights of Autumn on a seemingly endless loop. If one song from the aforementioned album could relive my family of this cycle it was the vibrant, hopeful plea of Open Your Heart. It had long been a go-to favourite of mine on the album so I was rather excited when I saw an advert for it, promoting it as her big Christmas era single, in the pages of Smash Hits. In the UK the Christmas charts is a rather big deal. Even if you are not the much ballyhooed Christmas chart topper, sales often peak at ridiculous new heights in December so labels and artists were guaranteed a sizeable return on any top ten hit. The year previously, Madonna had charmed with the seductive vibes of Dress You Up over the festive period in the UK - not a chart topper but a solid performer throughout all of December. I was certain Open Your Heart would at least match that - not least because the UK was getting a remix version rather than the album mix which was released across the Atlantic...

There was something about the remix which just enhanced everything about the original version. There was an explosive, erotic energy to the song which galloped along, always evading containment. It was a dazzling cascade of glittering beats and euphoric refrains. My mum bought me the 12" picture disc of the single and I recall getting very excited about the extended version being almost 11 minutes long (without losing any of its joie de vivre). The week it was released in the UK it was all over the radio stations, dominating playlists at a time when another Madonna penned song was also getting sizeable airplay. Nick Kamen's Each Time You Break My Heart had already been around for a month or so and peaked at number five in the UK (and on the US Club Play charts) the week prior to Open Your Heart's release. It meant that when Open Your Heart debuted at a solid number eight, she ostensibly had two songs in the top ten next to each other (Nick's debut single slipped to number nine that week). Add to this her True Blue album was still a top ten smash and the Madonna mania of 1985 hadn't seemed to dip one iota.

The single climbed to number four in the UK charts, spending 3 weeks at that position all through December. It was actually a remarkably resilient top four for each of those weeks, with the only change being between the number one and number two slots when The Housemartins conceded the Christmas number one to Jackie Wilson and Reet Petite. Across the pond, as they say, the song climbed up the singles charts to become yet another chart topped for the then-crowned Material Girl - and continued her run of each song from True Blue topping either the US Billboard Hot 100 or the UK singles charts (or both in the case of Papa Don't Preach). It meant she got to close out 1986 in spectacular fashion - and while there wasn't the sheer volume of releases as there was in UK in 1985, she certainly cemented herself as the newly crowned Queen of Pop. Little did we know that 1987 was going to bring one final single from the album as well as more chart topping pop from her new celluloid adventure...

UK chart run ~ 8-4-4-4-6-12-31-40-58