Burning up

In 1982, Madonna, living in New York , tried to build her musical career ^[1] . She had her own band in which her boyfriend from Detroit Stephen Bray was a drummer. Having stopped playing hard rock , they signed a contract with the record company and started playing in the funk genre. ^[2] Soon they abandoned this venture ^[3] .

Madonna had with the cassettes with recordings of three songs: " Everybody ", "Ain't No Big Deal" and "Burning Up". She introduced “Everybody” to DJ , who, after listening to the song, invited Madonna to Sire Records , where she signed a contract to record a single ^[4] . When Everybody achieved dance hit status, Sire Records was aiming to record an album for Madonna. However, the singer decided that she would not work with either Bray or Kamins, but instead chose the producer from Warner Brothers studio Reggie Lucas . Michael Rosenblatt, the manager at Sire Records, explained this to Kamins so that they were looking for a producer who already has a lot of experience working with singers, so they appointed Lucas to this position ^[5] . He brought Madonna into the big world of pop music and produced for her "Burning Up" and "Physical Attraction" ^[4] .

During the recording, Lucas radically changed the structure of the demo songs. Madonna did not accept these changes, so she invited , who worked as a DJ at the Funhouse Disco club, so that he would remix songs ^[4] . He added several guitar riffs and vocals on Burning Up. ^[4] Sire Records supported the single by organizing a number of live performances with Madonna in New York clubs. They also hired a stylist and jewelry designer , who helped Madonna prepare for a single on the cover of a single ^[6] . The cover for the 12- inch dance single “Burning Up” was designed by Martin Bergoin ^[5] .

The single was released on March 9, 1983 ^[7] .

From a musical point of view, the “Burning Up” arrangement consists entirely of , a single guitar and a drum machine ^[8] . In the early recordings, guitar riffs were missing. The rhythm used in the song tom-tom resembled recordings by singer Phil Collins ^[8] . The composition also used electric guitars and most modern synthesizers of the time ^[9] . The chorus repeats three identical lines of poetry, while the consists of a series of ambiguities regarding the lyrics of the song, which describes what Madonna is ready to do for her lover, and also that she is individual and shameless ^[8] . According to music documents published on Musicnotes.com by , “Burning Up” is written in a standard beat with a dance rate of 138 beats per minute. The song is written in the key of B minor , Madonna’s vocals range from A ₃ to B ₄ . The composition consists of a basic : Bm-Bm-AE ^[10] .

Critic reviews

Ricky Ruxby, author of Madonna: The Complete Guide to Her Music, noted that the song was significantly weaker than other singles, such as Lucky Star and Borderline ^[8] . Sal Sincuemani from Slant Magazine identified the track as annoying and pan-like ^[9] . Stephen Thomas Erlevayn of Allmusic noted that in “Burning Up” and “Physical Attraction” there is gloom and sexual obsession ^[11] . Don Chevy from Rolling Stone called the song “simple stuff,” while praising the track on the “B” side: “Physical Attraction is practically a brief history of high-school revels, while secretly referring to the songs: ” of the group The Association and “ “ Olivia Newton-John ” ^[12] . Robert Christgau called the 12- inch pair of "Burning Up" and "Physical Attraction" electro-pornography ^[13] . Santiago Fuz-Hernandez, author of Madonna's Drowned Worlds, praised the song for its rhythmic dance music ^[14] . Entertainment Weekly 's Jim Farber noted that Madonna can play rock and “Burning Up” has proven it. ^[15]

Commercial success

Like its predecessor, Everybody, the single Burning Up was not included in the Billboard Hot 100 , but this time Burning Up was not included in the Bubbling Under Hot 100 Singles chart ^[16] . However, he managed to reach the third line of the Billboard Hot Dance Club Play chart , as well as hold on for 16 weeks ^[17] . In November 1983, the single reached the bottom lines of the top 100 hits, and in June 1984 hit the top 20 hits of Australia, reaching the 13th line ^[18] . Also, the song was used as background music for one of the scenes of the film “ ” ^[8] .

Sire Records has commissioned to shoot a music video. Madonna's debut Debye Mazar was hired as a makeup artist, was a stylist, and Madonna's boyfriend Ken Compton played a lover in the video. By the time the video was released, the MTV channel began broadcasting music videos, which made the success of the video “Burning Up” not so significant on this channel ^[19] . In the video, Madonna sings a song dressed in a white dress, announcing her unrestrained passion for her lover ^[20] . She wore her famous rubber bracelets, which were actually straps from the typewriter ^[8] . Love for a guy depicts her as a helpless victim, similar to the multitude of female characters in silent movies. In one of the episodes, the video Madonna knocks down the car, which is driven by a young man, played by Compton ^[19] . Then, at the end of the video, Madonna sits behind the wheel of a car with a satisfied and triumphant smile on her face, throwing the boy to the side of the road herself, thereby making it clear that she is not a victim, and the culprit is a topic that runs through all her work ^[19] . Despite the fact that the lyrics of the song depicts female helplessness, as in the line “Do you want to see me kneeling? ”, The actions in the video contradict this ^[20] . After this line Madonna sits on her knees on the road in front of the approaching car. She throws back her head, showing a bare throat with a gesture of obedience. However, the tonality of the voice, her gaze turned to the camera, demonstrate rigidity and neglect, which contradict the submission expressed by her body, which turns the question in the text into a challenge for the beloved ^[20] . During the filming, a 1962 Amphicar floating car was used ^[21] .

Writer in his notes that this was the first video introducing Madonna’s sexual behavior to America ^[19] . Robert Clyde Allen in his book Channels of Discourse compared the video "Burning Up" with the video " Material Girl ". According to his comparison, both videos produce a shocking effect. Madonna, matching her style, builds a series of puns in them and brings the situation to parody hyperbolicity ^[20] . The video includes themes of sex and religion. Madonna, kneeling and singing about how “burns of love”, demonstrates the traditional ideological foundations of Christianity - the subordination and defenselessness of a woman, inherent submission to her in a patriarchal society ^[20] . Georges-Claude Gilbert in the book Madonna as postmodern myth writes that in the video the presentation of the male image becomes inappropriate, since the Madonna in it undermines the very fact of male sexuality ^[22] . Her statement “no shame” ( Russian, no shame ) was interpreted by James Twitterkell in his book For Shame , as an attempt to distinguish themselves from modern singers of the time ^[23] .

Before the release of the single Madonna promoted the song, speaking with her in the clubs of New York ^[6] . By that time, she was already a professional and worked together with dancers and Bugs Rylaise ^[19] . After playing in numerous clubs and pubs in New York, Madonna went to promote the single to London, to clubs such as , , Beatroot Club and Haçienda in Manchester. However, these speeches were not universally recognized by the British audience ^[24] . The song was performed on The Virgin Tour in 1985, but was not included on Madonna Live: The Virgin Tour , released by ^[25] . of The New York Times believed that Madonna, during the performance of the song, was posing as Marilyn Monroe ^[26] . Michael Longoria from The Dallas Morning News called the show “fresh and energetic.” ^[27]

Madonna included the song on the 2004 set of the Re-Invention World Tour in a set on a military theme. During the performance she was dressed in military clothes and played the electric guitar . When she sang a song, the background depicted scenes of war and sex, which were processed in such a way that it looked like they were filmed on an amateur camera. from The New York Times described the performance and background video as a reminder of the prison in Abu Ghraib ^[28] . Sal Sinueemani from Slant Magazine commented: “The performance was awesome! You had to see how she plays the electric guitar and sings the classic “Burning Up” ” ^[29] .

During the introduction of Madonna into the hall of fame of rock and roll in 2008, the punk rock band The Stooges performed "Burning Up" together with " Ray of Light " ^[30] . In 2010, Jonathan Groff recited a song for the American television series " Choir ." His version was included in the mini-album Glee: The Music, The Power of Madonna , and was also released as a bonus track in the iTunes Store ^[31] . Singer Britney Spears performed "Burning Up" on some select shows of the Femme Fatale Tour in 2011 ^[32] . During the performance, she sat astride a huge shiny guitar, about 3 meters high and 6 meters long. Barry Walters of Rolling Stone , believed that the cover version , which Spears performed during the show, lacks the "credibility of the Madonna" ^[33] . On June 10, 2011, a cover-version of a studio recording was merged into the Internet, which Sarah Malaya from Billboard magazine described as “rounded, without a hint of the 80s ” ^[34] . On April 5, 2012, the duet presented their cover version of the song on the blog ^[35] .

The list of participants is taken from the booklet to the album ^[43] :

• Madonna - vocals , songwriter ;
• Reggie Lucas - producer , guitars, drum programming ;
• is a synthesizer ;
• - remix ;
• - synthesizer, electric piano and acoustic piano;
• Dean Gant - electric piano and acoustic piano;
• Bobby Malach - saxophone ;
• Ed Walsh - synthesizer;
• - backing vocals;
• Brenda White - backing vocals;
• Chrissy Faith - backing vocals.

• Music video "Burning Up" (rus.) . YouTube . Google inc . Youtube.com (September 26, 2009). The appeal date is February 21, 2013
• Lyrics for Burning Up (English) . Madonna.com. - Official site. The appeal date is February 21, 2013. Archived on September 4, 2012.