Into the Groove

Into the Groove is a song by Madonna, written and produced by her and Stephen Bray. It was released in November 1984 on the album Like a Virgin. It was released as the fourth single from it on July 23, 1985. It is also part of the soundtrack to the film Susan ... Desperately Wanted and is considered one of the most important "disco anthems" of the 1980s, as well as one of Madonna's best-known songs to date.

History

To write the song, Madonna was reportedly inspired by a Puerto Rican-born man she saw from a balcony. She originally intended to give the song to her then-boyfriend, DJ Mark Kamins. However, in late 1984, she recorded the hit at Sigma Studios for her European reissue of the album Like a Virgin. In the United States, Into the Groove was released exclusively on the B-side of Angel, so that two tracks of hers would not compete with each other on the charts. On July 23, 1985, Into the Groove was released as a stand-alone single A-side in Europe.

In the spring of 1985, Madonna had two major sales successes with the singles Material Girl and with Crazy for You. In April, the song Into the Groove was released in the USA on the B-side of Angel, the title reached number five in the singles charts and stayed 17 weeks in the Hot 100. In the airplay charts, the single reached number four. The single was awarded a gold record in the US.

Into the Groove reached number one on the US Dance chart and number 19 on the US Hot Black Singles chart. In addition to the UK, the hit song also made it to the top of the charts of Ireland, Australia, New Zealand, Netherlands, Belgium, Italy and Spain. The opening quote of the song's lyrics later served as the model for the title of Madonna's remix album You Can Dance.

Music

The song combines dance and synth pop with elements of what would later be called post-disco. The track is based on a mechanically throbbing, extremely danceable drum computer beat and an equally mechanical synthesizer bass track. Layered over this - typical of the post-disco sound of the time - are a variety of different synthesizer sounds and Madonna's vocals, some of which are polyphonic and have reverb effects. The instrumental of the song is, like most of Madonna's songs and typical for the synth-pop of the mid-80s, purely synthetically produced, so acoustic instruments are not used at all.