Like a Virgin (album)

Like a virgin
Studio album by Madonna
Publication (s)	November 12, 1984 (USA)
Label (s)	Sire / Warner Brothers Records
Format (s)	CD, LP, MC
Genre (s)	pop
Title (number)	9/10/11
running time	43m: 10s
production	Nile Rodgers
chronology Madonna (1983) Like a virgin True Blue (1986)
Single releases November 6, 1984 Like a virgin January 30, 1985 Material girl April 10, 1985 fishing rod July 23, 1985 Into the groove July 24, 1985 Dress you up

Like a Virgin is Madonna's second music album from 1984. It is named after the song of the same name, Like a Virgin .

background

After Madonna's first album had become a huge success, she chose Nile Rodgers as the new producer, as he was responsible for some of the most successful albums of the period ( David Bowie , Michael Jackson , Duran Duran ).

The sound of this album should be very poppy and danceable and the instrumentation should be rockier than the debut. The critics were not very enthusiastic about the album and mostly dismissed Madonna as a " one-hit wonder ". Although she was nominated for many music awards, she received nothing in all categories (except for the audience awards). Today, the album is regularly on music magazines (such as Rolling Stone and Melody Maker ) lists of the best pop albums.

Like a Virgin became a worldwide sales hit and established Madonna as a pop icon of the 1980s. The released singles became classics of pop culture. It has sold more than 21 million copies to date, making it one of the 100 best-selling albums of all time. Like a Virgin created her image as a “material girl” and a provocative “virgin”: Even the cover shows her in her wedding dress - but the belt buckle says “Boy Toy” - the name she later used for her own merchandising company . Madonna also presented herself in this dress at the MTV Music Awards and her successful “ Virgin Tour ” in 1985. To this day, Madonna fights against this image: In contrast to the first album, she doesn’t like to sing songs from this album live - and if she does, then mostly as an ironically modified version. She herself dedicated the album to "all the virgins of the world".

Elaborate videos were shot for the singles, which were formative for the 1980s. They established Madonna as a media star who creates a new image for each release - especially Like a Virgin (shot in Venice in 1984), in which Madonna presents herself as a sinful virgin and Material Girl , an homage to the Marilyn Monroe classic, prefers blondes .

The first edition of the album contained nine tracks. A year later, the successful single Into the Groove was added to the European-Asian edition. The song was previously used in the hit film Susan ... Desperately Wanted , in which Madonna played Arquette alongside Rosanna . For legal reasons it was never included on the North American edition.

The song Love Don't Live Here Anmore was an international hit back in 1979 in a version by the US soul, funk and disco band Rose Royce .

On the new edition from 2001, the "Remastered Version", Into the Groove was removed again and replaced by the two maxi versions of Like a Virgin and Material Girl .

In 2006 the album was named one of Capital Gold's All-Time Top 500 on the UK charts.

Track list

1. Material Girl (Brown, Rans) - 4:00
2. Angel (Bray, Madonna) - 3:56
3. Like a Virgin (Tom Kelly, Billy Steinberg) - 3:38
4. Over and Over (Bray, Madonna) - 4:12
5. Love Don't Live Here Anymore (Gregory) - 4:47
6. Into the Groove - 4:43
7. Dress You Up (LaRusso, Stanziale) - 4:01
8. Shoo-Bee-Doo (Madonna) - 5:16
9. Pretender (Bray, Madonna) - 4:30
10. Stay (Bray, Madonna) - 4:07

• Into the Groove (Bray, Madonna) - 6.47 (was included on the European / Asian re-release from 1985-2001)
• Like A Virgin (Extended Dance Remix) (on the remastered version since 2001 )
• Material Girl (Extended Dance Mix) (since 2001 on the remastered version )

Charts

album

Charts	Top ranking	Weeks
Chart placements
Germany (GfK)	1 (63 weeks)	63
Austria (Ö3)	3 (34 weeks)	34
Switzerland (IFPI)	3 (24 weeks)	24
United Kingdom (OCC)	1 (152 weeks)	152
United States (Billboard)	1 (109 weeks)	109

Singles

year	Title album	Top ranking, total weeks / months, awardChart placementsChart placements (Year, title, album , rankings, weeks / months, awards, notes)					Remarks
		DE	AT	CH	UK	US
1984	Like a Virgin Like a Virgin	DE4 (17 weeks) DE	AT8 (3½ months) AT	CH9 (13 weeks) CH	UK3 (18 weeks) UK	US1 (19 weeks) US	First published: October 31, 1984 Sales: + 2,072,000; Video: Mary Lambert
1985	Material Girl Like a Virgin	DE13 (11 weeks) DE	AT8 (2½ months) AT	CH15 (10 weeks) CH	UK3 (10 weeks) UK	US2 (17 weeks) US	First published: Jan 23, 1985 Sales: + 717,000; Video: Mary Lambert
	Angel like a virgin	DE31 (17 weeks) DE	-	CH17 (7 weeks) CH	UK5 (12 weeks) UK	US5 (17 weeks) US	First published: April 10, 1985 Sales: + 1,000,000; Mix video
	Into the groove like a virgin	DE3 (16 weeks) DE	AT6 (2 months) AT	CH2 (13 weeks) CH	UK1 (17 weeks) UK	-	First published: Jul 23, 1985 Sales: + 2,677,000; Video: Susan Seidelman
	Dress you up like a virgin	DE20 (9 weeks) DE	-	CH20 (5 weeks) CH	UK5 (13 weeks) UK	US5 (16 weeks) US	First published: July 31, 1985 Sales: + 250,000; Video: live performance

• Into the Groove was not available as a standalone single in the US, Australia and Canada, but was included on the B-side of Angel .
• Love Don't Live Here Anymore was released as a vinyl maxi in Japan.
• Over and Over was released as a vinyl maxi in Italy and the Philippines.

Sales figures and awards

Country / Region	Award	Sales
Awards for music sales (country / region, Award, Sales)
Australia (ARIA)	7 × platinum	490,000
Germany (BVMI)	3 × gold	750,000
Finland (IFPI)	gold	35,398
France (SNEP)	2 × platinum	600,000
Hong Kong (IFPI / HKRIA)	platinum	20,000
Italy (FIMI)	6 × platinum	600,000
Japan (RIAJ)	gold	100,000
Canada (MC)	diamond	1,000,000
New Zealand (RMNZ)	5 × platinum	75,000
Switzerland (IFPI)	2 × platinum	100,000
Spain (Promusicae)	platinum	100,000
United States (RIAA)	diamond	10,000,000
United Kingdom (BPI)	3 × platinum	900,000
All in all	3 × gold 29 × platinum 2 × diamond	14,770,398

Main article: Madonna (artist) / Awards for music sales

Web links

• Like a virgin . Allmusic
• Like a virgin . Simfy
• Lea Wolpert: Like a Virgin . Song dictionary , accessed April 12, 2014.

Individual evidence

1. ↑ ^{a b c d e} Chart sources: DE AT CH UK US