Madonna in the 1980s

Madonna burst into the scene in the early 1980s with her infectious sound and music and a very highly marketable persona. Her ideas and image were refreshing but often it courted scandal and danger but more than often she would come out of it all ok.

Her ambition stemmed from her admiration of Marilyn Monroe and her early look was dressed in white lace but with an edgier look drawing on the punk theme that had just faded. She was able to combine the look and make the sound more pop and mainstream.

There is much more to Madonna than a image, she could write songs, produce, dance and act in major films and an all round entertainer. She has been confirmed as the best selling female artist of all time and dubbed the queen of pop.

She released her self titled album and the record saw three singles that made huge strides in the chart with 'Holiday', 'borderline' and 'lucky star', the record was a disco sound and very much based on electronic sound with mixing by Jellybean but the next album was to catapult her into conscious of the many.

1984 saw the release of 'Like a Virgin' and the single made huge sales but not without controversy particularly the video and the premise that it encouraged pre marital sex etc.. the puritans were not in favour but the vast majority were still buying the record. The record saw 5 singles released along with the title there was also 'material girl', 'angel', 'into the groove' and 'dress you up'. The record was produced by Nile Rogers of Chic fame so the disco theme still continued but with more natural instruments.

1985 saw her star in the film 'desperately seeking susan' which contained the lead song she composed and sung 'crazy for you' and in a whirlwind romance she met and married actor Sean Penn, not content with that she embarked on a tour to promote her work and that year she starred in Live Aid in America to much acclaim and the world was truly warming to the queen of pop.

1986 saw the release of True Blue and once again the album was a huge success both sides of the pond. It spawned 5 singles and again the self titled song along with 'live to tell', 'papa don't preach', 'open your heart' and 'la isla bonita'. In her spare time she fitted in a couple of film roles with 'Shangai Surprise' and 'Who's that Girl' to the latter she also composed most of the score for the film. Inevitably a world tour followed including a 130,000 plus crowd for a concert in Paris!.

Towards the end of the 1980s she incurred the wrath of the Vatican with her video portrayal of 'Like a Prayer' which depicted Stigmata and burning crosses. Such was the animosity that her main sponsor Pepsi fearing a backlash dropped there links with her. The album included 'Express yourself', 'Cherish' and 'Oh Jessie'. A divorce from Sean Penn followed but the 1980s saw her as one of the most influential artists of her time. She was brave to take on institutions and break down barriers and her image as always remained a positive one.

During the 1980s she released four studio albums with three of them going number one in the UK and American charts, only the debut album failed to reach the top spot. She released a staggering 26 singles with 22 of them going into the top 10 in the UK singles chart with six going to number one. he record 'into the groove' was her first UK number one single.