TRUE BLUE - 1986

1. Papa Don't Preach*
2. Open Your Heart
3. White Heat
4. Live To Tell
5. Where's The Party**
6. La Isla Bonita
7. True Blue*
8. Jimmy Jimmy*
9. Love Makes The World Go Round

Produced by Madonna and Patrick Leonard
* Produced by Madonna and Stephen Bray
** Produced by Madonna, Patrick Leonard and Stephen Bray

Selling over 19 million copies worldwide, TRUE BLUE is a fan favorite. Its starts with the powerful number 1 hit Papa Don't Preach and finishes off with the much maligned (but I like it anyway) Love Makes The World Go Round. In between are highlights like Open Your Heart (starts off weak and longing, finishes with "I'll make you love me"), the hauntingly beautiful La Isla Bonita and Live To Tell, widely considered to be Madonnas very best musical statement and I agree. Jimmy Jimmy and True Blue aren't exactly gems but the album was Madonna's first shot at producing so you can't win them all.

Papa Don't Preach - Madona's first self-produced album opens with this stunner about a young girl pregnant and intent on keeping her baby. Madonna impersonates the neediness and ignorance of this girl (it will be all right because "We are in love!") so well that people thought she was advocating the lifestyle, not describing one. One of her strongest vocals, Papa Don't Preach blasted onto the charts and had enough editorials written about it to keep it at #1 for 2 weeks. The video, directed by James Foley (Who's That Girl movie) is a mini masterpiece with Madonna playing a teenager very well and Danny Aiello as "Papa". In between she dances in front of a black backdrop showing off her new, super-trim physique and rumor has it that when she arches her back you can see some nipple (if you need to see some that bad you can pause your VCR or save time and look at the Secret single cover. Your choice.)

Open Your Heart- The fourth single (and third to hit #1) from TRUE BLUE , Open Your Heart is a dance song that starts out needy and weak, but soon we realize that Madonna will "make" us love her. Strong vocals elevate an average set of lyrics. The video by Jean Baptiste Mondino (Justify My Love) was super-controversial: a young boy is in love with a stripper (Madonna) and copies her moves. When she finishes she changes into androgynous street clothes and pecks the boy on the cheek and they skip off into the sunset. Its not pedophilic at all, and its obvious that the boy doesn't see her as a sex object but as an object of affection. Its all charming and innocent and is such a non-issue that we're moving on.
White Heat - The b-side for Open Your Heart and Who's That Girl, White Heat has silly Jimmy Cagney samples, but the song itself is a fun predecessor to Express Yourself.

Live To Tell - Madonna's very best song was the first single off TRUE BLUE and went straight to #1. A soulful, vulnerable, sweeping ballad about the elusive secret learned in a romantic encounter, Live To Tell was a then out-of-the-ordinary treat from Madonna, back when her backbone was dance. This new track showcased her growing talent for depth in her writing, singing and producing. The lush pauses and gorgeous strings help make this her strongest song yet. There are dance mixes of this song, but why mess with perfection? A simple, unextraordinary video from James Foley (True Blue) was a clipfest from Sean Penn's At Close Range, a movie where Live To Tell was the theme. In between clips are simple shots of an ultra-feminine, surprisingly still Madonna. fdkajfdkljfdsaklj
Where's The Party - Madonna has grown up and is disappointed. It aint as much fun as she had hoped and now she just wants to get down; and this energetic dance track makes us want to be right there with her! "We can make it all right/We can make you dance/We can make the party last all night!"

True Blue - NOT Not my first choice as a single, this girl-group sounding #3 hit (#1 in the UK) was described by Rolling Stone as an unsuccessful marriage of Heaven Must Have Sent You and Chapel Of Love. Its cute to a point, but nothing enduring. The non-domestic video is one of her very worst. James Foley and Madonna really fumbled with this one where its obvious that both had better things to do and it shows as Madonna camps it up with a group of girls in a blue cadillac. Look for Madonna pal Debbie Mazar (Girl 6)in the background.

La Isla Bonita - The first song I ever really loved. I heard it in grade three and was hooked forever. A sinple latin beat beautifullly aranged and performed with so much feeling that you too will dream of San Pedro. A classic, it "only" reached #4 in the US (#1 in the UK), but it is definitely one of her biggest international hits. The video directed by Mary Lambert (Like A Prayer) has Madonna as a boyish woman who remembers her love affair and prays. She is then transformed into a mesmerizing flammenco dancer and dances down the street to the admiring eyes of everyone, including the viewers.
Jimmy Jimmy - Why oh why oh why oh why oh why oh why oh why did Madonna include this silly ode to her slacker boyfriend (Sean Penn?) on her producing debut? Filler at its worst. A similarly frantic beat was later used for different reasons and to amazing effect on Till Death Do Us Part about an abusive husband (Sean Penn?).
Love Makes The World Go Round - A solo We Are The World scores points for its exciting beat and music, positive message that moves through the cliches ("Don't judge a man/Till you've been standing in his shoes") with more original sentiments ("Its easy to forget/If you don't hear the sound/Of pain and predjudice/Love makes the world go round!").

Go ahead to WHO'S THAT GIRL-1987

Go back to LIKE A VIRGIN-1984

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