Holiday (Madonna's song)

In 1983, Madonna began recording her self-titled debut album with producer of Warner Bros. label. Records Reggie Lucas , after her first single “ Everybody ” became a hit and the label Sire Records gave their consent to the recording ^[1] . However, she did not have enough material to write a full album ^[2] . Lucas introduced two new songs to the project, and , a DJ at Funhouse Disco, was invited to remix them. Meanwhile, due to a conflict of interest, co-author of the song “Everybody” Stephen Bray sold the song “Ain't No Big Deal” to another label, thereby making it inaccessible to the Madonna project ^[2] .

It was Benitez who was the one who opened the new song, written by members of the pop group Curtis Hudson and Lisa Stevens ^[3] . Initially, a song called “Holiday” was written for The Supremes , but Phyllis Hyman and Mary Wilson decided to abandon it ^[4] . Benitez and Madonna sent the demo of the song to their mutual friend , who embellished it with arrangements and his magical mastery of the synthesizer. After superimposing Madonna’s vocals on the music, until the end of the recording period in April 1983, Benitez spent four days on the track, trying to change its commercial appeal ^{[2] [4]} . Before the work was completed, Madonna and Benitez met with Zarr at Sigma Sound Studios ^[5] in Manhattan, where Zarr added the now famous piano solo to the end of the song ^[3] .

At first it was decided that the song “ Lucky Star ” would be released as a single, but the decision was changed in favor of “Holiday”, which later became a dance hit in the USA ^[2] . Madonna was not shown on the original cover of the single, as Sire Records did not want people to know that she was not an R&B singer. Instead of Madonna, a steam locomotive was depicted at the station ^[2] . The commercial version of the single was released on September 7, 1983 ^[6] . Later on “Holiday” were made dub and groove (music) remixes, which in 1987 were included in the collection of remixes You Can Dance ^[7] . The song was also included in the first collection of Madonna’s best hits The Immaculate Collection , in an original and stripped-down version ^[8] .

In a 2005 interview with CBS News , Madonna confirmed that, among other songs, Holiday was her favorite ^[9] .

In the UK, Holiday was released as a single three times. In January 1984, the single reached number six; in August 1985, its reprint was released, which reached the second position (at the same time, the single " Into the Groove " took first place). In 1991, the single was re-released with a new cover in support of The Immaculate Collection and the limited edition EP of The Holiday Collection , which included tracks not included in the main edition. This version of Holiday has reached the fifth line. Despite the fact that the song was released to promote the collection of hits, a short remix version of the track was not included in the limited edition, instead the main version from the Madonna album was included in the collection ^[10] . As the cover of the 1991 single, a photograph of was used. Earlier, in February of that year, a photograph was depicted on the cover of Vogue Italy ^[11] .

Musically, Holiday is written in a standard measure with a moderate tempo of 116 beats per minute ^[12] . The song is written in D major , lasting 6:08 minutes, and Madonna’s vocals range from B ₃ to C ♯ ₅ ^[12] . The song consists of a : GAA-Bm in the first line when Madonna sings “Holiday!” And changes to GAF ♯ mG in the second line when Madonna sings “Celebrate!” ^[12] . The four-stroke sequence consists of guitars, electronic , the cowboy played by Madonna ^[5] and a number of synthesizer arrangements. The chorus is made of a repeating sequence of words ^[13] . Toward the end of the song, its arrangement changes - a is added to the piano. The text of the song tells about the universal feeling that everyone needs a holiday ^[13] .

Criticism Reviews

Ricky Ruxby in his book The Complete Guide to Her Music noted that “Holiday” was as contagious as the plague. One audition, and you can no longer get it out of your head ” ^[13] . Entertainment Weekly's Jim Farber said Holiday was delighted with a musical ear on both sides of the Atlantic. ^[14] Looking at The Immaculate Collection , from Entertainment Weekly commented that Holiday was an “attractive, danceable, and rhythmic song.” He also praised the fact that it was performed professionally. ^[15] Mary Cross, in her biographical book on Madonna, describes Holiday as “a simple, fresh song in a good mood.” ^[16] Sal Cinquemani from Slant Magazine described the song as fun and easy ^[17] . Allmusic 's Stephen Thomas Erlevine called the song “sparkling,” as well as one of the best songs on Madonna's album ^[18] . Considering the album The Immaculate Collection , Erlevine called the song one of Madonna’s greatest hits ^[19] . About.com Bill Lamb described “Holiday” along with “ Lucky Star ” and “ Borderline ” as “the latest dance pop ” ^[20] . Don Chevy from Rolling Stone commented that the simple lyrics seemed very talented ^[21] .

Commercial Success

The single “Holiday” was released on September 7, 1983 and became Madonna’s first known hit on the charts from Thanksgiving to Christmas ^[4] . On October 29, 1983, the single was Madonna’s first song on the Billboard Hot 100 , debuting at No. 88. ^[22] On January 28, 1984, the single reached its highest 16th position, lasting 21 weeks on the chart ^[23] . On November 2, 1983, the single debuted from the 8th place on the Hot Dance Club Songs chart and became Madonna's first song to reach first place on this chart, holding this position for five weeks. The single also entered the Hot R & B / Hip-Hop Songs chart and reached the 25th line, having lasted a total of 20 weeks in it.

The release took place in conjunction with the song “ Lucky Star ” on the second side of the single ^{[2] [24]} .

On January 21, 1984, the song debuted at number 48 on the Canadian RPM Singles Chart ^[25] and rose to 39th position ^[26] . In March 1984, Holiday returned to the chart again from the 45th line ^[27] and by April of the same year reached 32nd position ^[28] . In total, the song was on the chart for 12 weeks ^[29] .

In the UK, Holiday was released in 1984, from where it hit the UK Singles Chart and reached 6th place in it, lasting 11 weeks ^[10] . However, the re-release of the single in 1985, with the song “Think of Me” on the “B” side, helped “Holiday” return to the number 32 chart and this time reach the second line ^[10] . At the same time, Madonna's composition “ Into the Groove ” held first place. The reissued song “Holiday” lasted 10 weeks on the chart. ^[10] The re-release of the 1991 single made it possible for the song to reach 5th place on the chart ^[10] . In August 1985, the composition was awarded a gold certificate by the British Association of Phonogram Manufacturers (BPI) ^[30] . According to The Official Charts Company , a total of 770,000 copies of the song were sold. ^[31] In Europe, the song entered the top ten charts of such countries as Belgium ^[32] , the Netherlands ^[33] , Germany ^[34] and Ireland ^[35] , while in France ^[36] , Italy ^[37] , Sweden ^{[ 38]} and Switzerland ^[39] she entered the top 40. In Australia, the song hit the top five hits ^[40] . On New Zealand's chart, the song debuted at number 37 , becoming Madonna's first single in the country. ^[41] “Holiday” reached seventh place on this chart ^[41] .

Madonna performed “Holiday” on almost all of her tours, namely: The Virgin Tour , Who's That Girl , Blond Ambition , The Girlie Show , Drowned World Tour , Re-Invention , Sticky & Sweet Tour , The MDNA Tour and Rebel Heart Tour . In 1984, Madonna performed a song on Dick Clark's American music show American Bandstand. ^[16] She then added it as a second song to the set list of The Virgin Tour in 1985 ^[42] . In July of that year, Madonna performed a song at the Live Aid charity concert in Philadelphia ^[43] .

During the Who's That Girl World Tour in 1987, Madonna performed the energetic version of Holiday as the final composition, thus showing the song’s festive and positive atmosphere ^[44] . She sang the last chorus twice, then, at some concerts, she asked the hairbrush at the hall to straighten her hair and finished the performance ^[45] . During the tour, two concerts were recorded: Ciao Italia: Live from Italy , shot September 4, 1987 at the Olympic Stadium in Turin ( Italy ) ^[45] and Who's That Girl: Live in Japan , shot June 22, 1987 at the in Tokyo ( Japan ) ^[46] .

During the Blond Ambition World Tour in 1990, Madonna said: “I wanted to add some old song to have fun and it seemed to me that“ Holiday “would be the perfect solution because everyone loved it. Moreover, it is one of the outstanding old songs that I recorded, and I can still sing it and not feel that I have outgrown it ” ^[47] . During an encore, Madonna appeared on the stage in a polka-dot blouse and white trousers with frills at the bottom, and her hair was ponytail tailored ^[48] . The costume was designed, similar to the dress from the movie " My Fair Lady ", by Jean-Paul Gaultier . Three different concerts formed the basis of such videos as Blond Ambition World Tour Live ^[49] , Blond Ambition: Japan Tour 90 ^[50] and the documentary film Truth or Dare , also known as “ In Bed with Madonna ”. The performance included in the documentary was used in the commercial for its promotion ^[51] . Holiday's performance was nominated for the 1992 MTV Video Music Awards in four categories: Best Female Video, Best Dance Video, Best Choreography, and Best Cinematography, but won none of them ^{[ 52]} .

In 1993, during the The Girlie Show tour, an alternative version of “Holiday” was performed, the penultimate in the set list ^[53] . The performance was performed in military subjects ^[54] in the middle of which Madonna stopped the song and conducted drill training with dancers and the audience ^[55] . In Puerto Rico, the performance provoked a violent reaction when, during a pause, Madonna rubbed the national Puerto Rican flag between her legs ^[56] . In 2001, at the Drowned World Tour concert, Madonna was wearing a fur coat, a velvety soft felt hat and a Dolce & Gabbana T-shirt with silver inscriptions “Mother” on the front and “F * cker” on the back, which showed her in the image of a ghetto girl ^[57] .

In the 2004 Re-Invention Tour, “Holiday” was performed in the finale ^[58] . The song was given an ethnic sound - during the performance of Madonna and dancers were dressed in Scottish kilt ^[59] . The performance begins with the dances of the Madonna and her troupe in the central part of the stage. Then the singer rises to a mobile additional scene, where she continues to sing, while confetti fall on top ^[58] . This performance was included in Madonna’s live album and documentary I'm Going to Tell You a Secret ^[60] . Steven Thomas Erlevine from Allmusic noted that “judging by this performance, they could well have come under the definition of Eurotrash, with the vulgar atmosphere of a retro disco , as is the case with Confessions ” ^[61] .

In 2009, the song was added to the Sticky & Sweet Tour track list and replaced the song “Heartbeat” from Hard Candy . "Holiday" was performed as a tribute to singer Michael Jackson , who died a week before the start of the second part of the tour ^{[62] [63]} . When Madonna was singing a song, a portrait of a young Jackson appeared on the screen, and an actor appeared on the stage depicting him and dressed in a similar style ^[63] . The performance of the actor, whose dances included the “ moonwalk ”, rotation and spiraling, was accompanied by a mixture of some of Jackson's songs, such as “ Billie Jean ” and “ Wanna Be Startin 'Somethin' ” ^[64] . At this time, Madonna bouncing clapping her hands above her head, and photographs of young Jackson appeared on a huge screen ^[64] . After the actor’s performance, Madonna told the audience: “Let's dedicate this song to one of the greatest artists the world has ever known”; the hall began to applaud ^[63] .

On September 8, 2012, during the second concert at ( USA ) as part of The MDNA Tour, Madonna sang a mini version of “Holiday” after “ Open Your Heart ” ^[65] .

In 2015 she was included in the Rebel Heart Tour as a final composition.

British syntypop band Heaven 17 has recorded a cover of Holiday for Virgin Voices Vol. 1: A Tribute To Madonna , released in 1999 ^[66] . In 2002, Mad'House recorded a club cover version of the song for their album Absolutely Mad ^[67] . In 2007, the American band released a cover for their album ^[68] . French singer and adult movie star, performed a cover version during a live performance ^[69] . In 1986, the Dutch rap duo released the single “ Holiday Rap ”, which used a sample of the melody and chorus of Madonna’s song. Their song was a commercial success, reaching first places on the charts of countries such as France, the Netherlands, Switzerland, and getting into the top ten in Austria, Norway and Sweden ^[70] . The song's baseline was used by for their album , released in 2000. The sample was used in the songs “Stay Another Season” and “Little Journey” ^[71] .

The song was redesigned for the comedy television series " Will and Grace " and in 2004 became his soundtrack called "He's Hot." The song included vocal fragments from the original version performed by Madonna, and almost the entire instrumental part of the song “He's Hot” consisted of samples of “Holiday” ^[72] . The Canadian youth drama , known for each of its series was named after a hit of the 80s , was called two episodes in honor of "Holiday" ^{[73] [74]} . In 2006, critics noticed a strong similarity between "Holiday" and the single of American singer Jessica Simpson " A Public Affair " ^{[75] [76]} . Criticized for being unoriginal, Simpson commented in an interview with MTV : “I believe that people are ready to hear something that Madonna used to do. We all need to hear this from time to time. My song was not patterned and I was not even going to do it, but the Madonna really inspired me and continues to inspire so far ” ^[77] . In 2008, “Holiday” was used in the video game ^[78] . Singer Kelis during live performances often performed a mixture of her own single “ ” with “Holiday” ^[79] . In 2003, a fragment of the song was used in the movie “ ” when families embark on a sea voyage ^[80] .

The composition of the participants is taken from the booklet to the album ^[5] :

• Madonna - vocals , cowbell ;
• Curtis Hudson - songwriter , guitar ;
• Lisa Stevens - songwriter;
• - producer ;
• - drum programming , bass, synthesizer, acoustic piano;
• Raymond Hudson -
• Bashiri Johnson - drums ;
• Tina B. - backing vocals;
• Norma Jean Wright - backing vocals.

Note:

• The UK chart shows the position of the reissued single in August 1985, which reached second place. The single originally reached sixth place in 1984, and also fifth place in 1991.

Predecessors and Successors

• Текст песни «Holiday» (англ.) . Madonna.com. — Официальный сайт. Дата обращения 21 февраля 2013. Архивировано 28 октября 2012 года.