Everybody (Madonna's song)

In 1980, the 22-year-old Madonna lived in New York and tried to build her musical career. She and her friends, the Gilroy brothers, founded their group Breakfast Club ^[1] . Subsequently, the group changed its name, disintegrated and organized again. The updated line-up of the group already under the name Emmy, in particular, included former Madonna guy from Detroit drummer Stephen Bray ^[2] .

In March 1981, Madonna met the agent of the recording studio Camilla Barbon and signed a contract with her ^[3] . However, due to musical differences and unjustified expectations of Madonna, the contract was broken, and in the spring of 1982, the young singer and drummer Bray left the group ^[4] . Left without a manager, the singer herself had to promote herself.

Madonna and Bray recorded a demo tape on which there were four songs, of which the first two were written by the singer herself: "Everybody", " Burning Up ", "Ain't No Big Deal" and "Stay" ^[5] . It only remained to find a way for the public to hear these recordings.

At that time, Madonna often went to dance in the trendy New York nightclub , where she managed to hand the cassette with her recordings to local DJ ^[6] . At the party, Kamins turned on “Everybody,” and the audience’s reaction was amazing ^[7] . In addition to being a DJ, Kamins also worked for Island Records , owned by Chris Blackwell . Kamins decided to try to sign a contract for Madonna, realizing that if successful, he could become a producer of the single, whom he always dreamed of being ^[6] . He took the demo cassette to Blackwell, who, after listening to her, even made an appointment with Madonna, but the singer was not interested in him ^[8] . Blackwell's failure led to Sire Records asking for help.

Michael Rosenblatt, Sire Records , said:

Madonna is gorgeous. She will do everything to become a star, and this is exactly what I am looking for in an artist - absolute cooperation ... With Madonna, I knew that I had someone in demand and ready to work together, so I planned to build her career with singles, instead of just releasing an album at the risk of failing.

Original text

Madonna is great. She will do anything to be a star, and that's exactly what I look for in an artist: total co-operation ... With Madonna, I knew I had someone hot and co-operative , so I planned to build her career with singles, rather than just put an album out right away and run the risk of disaster.

- Ricky Ruxby. Madonna: The Complete Guide to Her Music ^[6]

Rosenblatt offered Madonna $ 5,000 in advance, plus $ 1,000 for each song written ^[9] . The singer signed two 12-inch singles with Sire Records President ^[10] , who was delighted to hear only “Everybody”; the deal took place right in the hospital, where Stein was recovering from heart surgery ^[9] . Stephen Bray wanted to be a song producer, as he was the one who recorded the demo tape. In turn, Kamins also insisted on this position, because thanks to him Madonna signed a contract. The singer had to make a difficult choice, since both were her lovers, but in the end Mark Kamins won ^[9] .

In the summer of 1982, “Everybody” and “Ain't No Big Deal” were produced by Kamins in Bob Blank's New York Blank Blankes Studio ^[11] . Madonna and Kamins were forced to record at their own expense ^[12] . , a friend of Kamins, introduced him to the work of a music producer and provided the studio with musician , who masterfully played keyboard tracks. Ultimately, playing his parts in each track, Zarr became one of the main musicians involved in recording the album ^[13] . Due to the reduced budget, the recording process was very difficult both for Madonna, who did not agree with the requirements of Kamins, and for Kamins, who was faced with the problems of production for the first time. Therefore, the song “Ain't No Big Deal” on the side of “A” was not as successful as everyone expected ^[14] .

Rosenblatt wanted to release “Ain't No Big Deal” together with “Everybody” on the back, but after listening to the first song he decided that it would not work and placed “Everybody” on both sides of the vinyl record ^[9] . The recording lasted 5:56 minutes on one side and the dub version was 9:23 minutes on the reverse ^[10] .

A commercial version of Madonna’s first single “Everybody” was released on October 6, 1982 ^[15] . The cover of the single, designed by Lou Beach, depicts New York street in hip-hop style. By the time the single was released, due to the ambiguous cover and the rhythms present in the R&B song, it was widely believed that Madonna was a black woman ^[16] . According to Matthew Lindsay of The Quietus magazine, the fact that Madonna was not shown on the cover is an irony that the singer will become “the face of the 80s” ^[16] .

“Everybody” begins mainly with playing the synthesizer and the introductory speech of Madonna, during which she takes deep breaths ^[17] . In the song, Madonna demonstrates her sonorous and ordinary voice for pop music , which was and put into one track ^[17] . The composition is written in a minor key. The melody begins in the key G and rises to the second stage of the sound line on the syllable “bo” in “everybody”, thus highlighting the refrain , which is performed in the sequence of GABA chords ^[18] . Everybody feels the influence of R&B rhythms. Sire Records sold a dance song that, by its nature, was similar to music for a black audience ^[14] , so Madonna spun as an African-American artist, thereby adding “Everybody” to the radio format, where the single could be on the charts. In New York, the song was played on radio, whose audience was African-American ^[19] . Instead of portraying the singer, Sire Records placed a hip-hop style collage of lower Manhattan on the cover of the single, thereby retaining the view that Madonna was African American ^[14] .

Criticism Reviews

Ricky Ruxby, author of Madonna: The Complete Guide to Her Music, noted that the song closes Madonna's album on a fake note. He called the music unnatural, boring and uninspiring ^[17] . Don Chevy from Rolling Stone commented: “At first, it seems like there’s nothing unusual about Everybody. Then you notice its main feature - thin, jerky vocals, to which the singer goes over and over until it starts to damn the listener. Finally, it starts to catch on to you, and you wait for it to sing again with this squeaky voice ” ^[21] . , author of a , noted that the song was rhythmic and encouraged to have fun ^[22] . The author of Madonna's Drowned Worlds, Santiago Fouz-Hernandez praised the chorus of the song, and also noted that “Everybody” and “ Music ” are two singles of Madonna, where her artistic credo is determined, which consists in the fact that music contains a power that can wash away borders, dividing people by race, gender and sex ^[18] . Matthew Lindsay of The Quietus magazine praised the song, calling it “impressive” and “hard to resist”. Lindsay added that “thanks to her pronouncing passages of aspirated and luring to dance the Madonna’s debut single was a reference to which she returned throughout her career” ^[16] . In 2012, Louis Wirtel of The Backlot placed “Everybody” on his list of “100 Madonna's Greatest Songs” at number 2, and commented that this song is an example of Madonna’s undoubted talent. Virtel specified that through the song Madonna shows that she is “the commander, Baryshnikov of pop arrogance, and the rightful empress of the disco” ^[23] .

Commercial Success

The 12-inch single “Everybody” did not hit the Billboard Hot 100 US chart ^[24] . He finished seventh on the Billboard Bubbling Under Hot 100 Singles chart on December 25, 1982 ^{[22] [25]} . Also, the song quickly rose in the dance charts ^[9] and was the first single of Madonna, which reached third place on the Hot Dance Club Songs chart ^[26] . One of the first radio stations to play Everybody was WKTU. On December 11, 1982, publishing the hit parade of the week of November 30, 1982 in the Billboard magazine issue, the station announced the single "a new addition to the list of best songs" ^[27] . Since the single was released, approximately 250,000 copies have been sold. ^[28] Thanks to the song, Madonna took her first photo for the cover of the December issue of magazine, in which Madonna and Jekyll and Hyde were nominated for the highest sales volume award, according to a readership poll ^[29] .

During the promotion of “Everybody,” Sire Records deliberately gave the audience the impression that Madonna was an African-American singer. However, this misconception was dispelled by the release of the music video ^[19] . Regarding the importance of filming the video, Madonna said: “If I didn’t have a video, I don’t think that every child in the midwest would know about me. Video replaces us with tourism. Everyone and everywhere watch it, which is directly related to the success of my album ” ^[30] . She invited Sire Records executives, including Stein and Rosenblatt, to New York nightclub. On the dance floor, Madonna performed "Everybody" in a top hat and tailcoat ^[19] . At a nightly performance, Madonna’s introduced the singer to an audience of 300 people and, after greeting the Madonna, she and her dancers performed the set dances, later described as “a disco-style performance accompanied by avant-garde dances” ^[31] . Seeing the performance, representatives of Sire Records realized that Madonna was a stunning impression. They ordered that the video clip for the song “Everybody” be sent to all the clubs in the country where dance videos are shown ^[19] .

Rosenblatt contacted Rock America's managing director Ed Steinberg and asked him to take a few hours to record a music video for the song “Everybody” during Madonna’s next live performance at Danceteria Club ^[32] . The idea was to play videos in US clubs as advertisements so people would come to see Madonna and her performance. Rosenblatt offered Steinberg $ 1000 to shoot the video, while artists like Duran Duran and Michael Jackson spent six-figure sums on their videos ^[32] . Ultimately, agreeing on an amount of $ 1,500, Steinberg became ^{[33] the} producer of the low-budget ^[34] video. Steinberg suggested making a video at the gay club , instead of filming a live performance at Danceteria. Madonna's girlfriend Debi Maisar , who did makeup, invited background dancers and Bugs Rileise, and also brought several of her friends as a dancing crowd, including African - American graffiti artist ^[32] . Steinberg was impressed by Madonna’s professionalism and helped send out copies of the tape to all nightclubs in America, where music videos were shown to entertain the public. Such an action helped to turn the song from a New York dance hit into a nationwide hit ^[29] .

The video begins with Madonna and the two dancers behind her dancing in a club amid flashing lights. The following frames show a close-up of the dancing Madonna, dressed in a coat and jewelry. , author of Media Culture: Cultural Studies, Identity, and Politics Between the Modern and the Postmodern , noted that from the first video, Madonna was the trendsetter of sexuality and created an individual image to present herself as a seductive sexy object and as a violator of established norms ^[35] . Fab Freddy recalled that thanks to the video Madonna “attracted those who were more familiar with street life, more savvy people, with a twist” ^[29] .

To promote the single, Madonna and her dancers performed with “Everybody” in the roaming revue cabaret of “No Entiendes” ^[16] . Madonna then performed “Everybody” during her The Virgin Tour in 1985 and in the final of The Girlie Show World Tour in 1993. During The Virgin Tour, Madonna was wearing a blue transparent topic through which her black bra, purple skirt, lace leggings and a bright patterned jacket were visible. She also wore a crucifix in her hair, on her ears, and on her neck ^[36] . When Madonna finished performing “ Into the Groove ”, she picked up a microphone and began to sing “Everybody”, dancing on stage. The performance was included in the Madonna Live: The Virgin Tour home video album ^[37] . Мадонна исполнила строчку «Dance and sing, get up and do your thing» из «Everybody», в песне « Express Yourself », открывающей концерт в туре Blond Ambition World Tour ^{[38] [39]} . Во время тура The Girlie Show World Tour «Everybody» исполнялась как заключительная песня. Мадонна была одета в бледные шорты и простую жёлто-зелёную рубашку с V-образным вырезом, которую она подвязала под бюстгалтером, оголяя тем самым живот ^[40] . Исполнение «Everybody» началось после « Justify My Love ». Начало содержало припев из песни группы Sly & the Family Stone . По мере проигрывания композиции были включены также музыкальные выдержки из , и ^[41] . из The New York Times похвалил выступление, сказав: «окончание шоу совершенно цельное: труппа в джинсах и белых майках приглашает зрителей танцевать под „Everybody“. Это просто отличное времяпрепровождение с песнями и танцами, а вовсе не провокация» ^[42] .

30 апреля 2006 года Мадонна исполнила песню на фестивале музыки и искусств в долине Коачелла в поддержку 10-го студийного альбома Confessions on a Dance Floor ^[43] . Она была одета в майку на лямках и высокие сапоги, с серебряной блестящей полоской вокруг шеи ^[44] . Также песня была исполнена в лондонском клубе ^{[45] [46]} . На Мадонне был ансамбль из фиолетовой одежды: жакет, вельветовые бриджи и сапоги до колена. Прежде чем выступить с «Everybody», она сказала: «Сейчас я чувствую себя не в форме, но я не люблю сбавлять обороты и поэтому исполню ещё одну песню» ^[47] . Во время тура Sticky & Sweet Tour Мадонна предлагала зрителям выбрать одну песню, которую они хотели бы услышать, так 22 ноября 2008 года на концерте в Атлантик-Сити на стадионе Boardwalk Hall по запросу зрителей Мадонна исполнила «Everybody» ^[48] .

6 октября 2012 года в рамках тура The MDNA Tour Мадонна исполнила «Everybody» на концерте в Сан-Хосе в честь 30-летнего юбилея сингла. Она сказала: «Сегодня для меня особенный день. 30 лет назад был впервые выпущен мой первый сингл. Я помню то удивительное чувство, когда я впервые услышала песню на радио». Айдин Вазири из San Francisco Chronicle прокомментировал: «Спустя 30 лет, простая веселящая синтипоп и наивная R&B мелодия до сих пор изумляет. Это незапланированное выступление непреднамеренно стало кульминацией всего шоу» ^[49] .

Notes:

• Великобританские 7- и 12-дюймовые синглы включают ремикс-версию , записанную и Стивом Шортом в студии , которая была выпущена только в Великобритании.
• Разные версии CD-сингла проигрывают вместо инструментальной версии «Everybody» либо альбомную, либо расширенную, длительностью 5:56.

Состав участников взят из буклета к альбому ^[57] :

• Мадонна — вокал , автор песни ;
• — продюсер ;
• — синтезатор ;
• Регги Лукас — гитары, драм программирование ;
• — синтезатор, электропианино и акустическое пианино;
• Дин Гант — электропианино и акустическое пианино;
• Бобби Малах — саксофон ;
• Эд Уолш — синтезатор;
• — бэк-вокал;
• Бренда Уайт — бэк-вокал;
• Крисси Фейт — бэк-вокал.

• Музыкальное видео «Everybody» (рус.) . YouTube Google Inc . Youtube.com (29 октября 2009). Дата обращения 7 июня 2012.
• Текст песни «Everybody» (англ.) . Madonna.com. - Official site. Дата обращения 3 июня 2012. Архивировано 4 сентября 2012 года.