Vogue
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"Vogue" is a chart-topping single by American pop singer Madonna, released from her 1990 soundtrack to the film Dick Tracy, titled I'm Breathless.
Contents |
[edit] About
After Madonna's multi-platinum 1989 album Like a Prayer spawned three top-two US hits - the title track, "Express Yourself", and "Cherish" - as well as the top-five European single "Dear Jessie", "Oh Father", the album's fourth US single, stalled at number twenty in the charts. Perhaps to ensure that the album's final US single release, "Keep It Together", would fare better in the charts, Madonna collaborated with Shep Pettibone to create a B-side, "Vogue", which was partly inspired by a dance of the same name performed by gay men in New York clubs in which dancers used a series of complex hand gestures to imitate their favorite Hollywood stars.
After Madonna and Pettibone presented the song to Warner Bros. executives, all parties involved decided that the song was too good to be "wasted" on a B-side, and should have its own single release. Despite being of a different genre altogether, "Vogue" was included as the last track on Madonna's album I'm Breathless, which contained songs from and inspired by the '40s environment of the film Dick Tracy.
One of the most famous sections of the song is the spoken part in the middle of the song, in which Madonna refers to several Hollywood stars. They are, in this order: Greta Garbo, Marilyn Monroe, Marlene Dietrich, Joe DiMaggio, Marlon Brando, James Dean, Grace Kelly, Jean Harlow, Gene Kelly, Fred Astaire, Ginger Rogers, Rita Hayworth, Lauren Bacall, Katharine Hepburn, Lana Turner, and Bette Davis.
Madonna performed "Vogue" three times while on tour: in 1990's Blond Ambition Tour, 1993's The Girlie Show Tour, and 2004's The Re-Invention Tour. Madonna also performed the song at the 1990 MTV Video Music Awards with a staging similar to that on the Blond Ambition Tour, though the VMA performance had an 18th-century France, with Madonna bearing a resemblance to the executed French Queen Marie Antoinette. The risqué performance had Madonna and her dancers flashing their undergarments to the crowd; Madonna also pushed the faces of two male dancers into her breasts at one point. Nonetheless, the performance proved to be so popular that it was included, alongside the original music video, on Madonna's first collection of music videos, The Immaculate Collection.
[edit] Awards & Certifications
[edit] Awards
- The music video for "Vogue" won Best Direction, Best Editing, and Best Cinematography at the 1990 MTV Video Music Awards. It had also been nominated for, among other things, Video of the Year, Best Dance Video, Best Female Video, and Viewer's Choice.
- In 1993, Rolling Stone ranked "Vogue" as 28 on its list of the Top 100 Music Videos.
- In 1999, MTV ranked "Vogue" as number two on its list of the 100 Greatest Music Videos Ever Made.
- In 2000, VH1 ranked "Vogue" as number four on its list of the 100 Greatest Dance Songs.
[edit] Certifications
| Country | Certification |
|---|---|
| France | Silver |
| UK | Gold |
| USA | 2x Platinum |
[edit] Charts
| Chart | Position |
|---|---|
| Australia (ARIA) | 1 |
| Austria | 7 |
| Canada | 1 |
| France | 9 |
| Germany | 4 |
| Ireland | 1 |
| Italy | 1 |
| Japan | 1 |
| Spain | 1 |
| Sweden | 1 |
| Switzerland | 2 |
| UK | 1 |
| US Billboard Hot 100 | 1 |
| US Hot Dance Music/Club Play | 1 |
| US Rhythmic Top 40 | 1 |
| US Billboard Hip Hop & R&B tracks | 10 |
| US Adult Contemporary | 23 |
[edit] Music Video
The "Vogue" music video, which is widely considered to be one of Madonna's best, marked the third time that she had collaborated with director David Fincher (the first two times being on "Express Yourself" and "Oh Father", both in 1989; Fincher also directed 1993's "Bad Girl").
Filmed in black-and-white, the video recalls the look of 1930s Hollywood films with the use of artwork by the Art Deco artist Tamara de Lempicka and an Art Deco set design. Many of the scenes are recreations of photographs taken by noted photographer Horst P. Horst. Some of the close-up poses recreate noted portraits of such stars as Veronica Lake and Marlene Dietrich.
There was some controversy surrounding the video due to a scene in which Madonna's breasts (though not her nipples) can be seen through her sheer blouse, as seen in the above picture. MTV wanted to remove this scene, but Madonna refused, and the video aired with the shot intact.
The video features the dancers and back-up vocalists for Madonna's then-upcoming Blond Ambition Tour.
[edit] Trivia
- The song edit from The Immaculate Collection is featured on the soundtrack of The Devil Wears Prada. It is used over the montage in which Anne Hathaway's character starts dressing in fashionable clothing rather than the conservative preppy look she had hitherto been sporting. The song is also included on its soundtrack, rather than "Jump", which also appears in the movie. The song was played when Streep went up to receive her Golden Globe Award for best actress in the role of the title character.
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[edit] External Links
"Vogue" music video "Vogue" performance from the 1990 MTV Video Music Awards "Vogue" performance from 1990's Blond Ambition Tour "Vogue" performance from 1993's The Girlie Show Tour "Vogue" performance from 2004's Re-Invention Tour
