While the rest of the States burned under Reagan, New York, forever that island unto itself, merrily fiddled. Queen Of Pop, Madonna, is hopefully releasing new music this year so let’s take this opportunity to look back at Madge’s awesome career. Disco didn't die with the mass record burning at Chicago's Comiskey Park in 1979. Madonna came to New York in the late 70s from Rochester, Michigan. Here and elsewhere, Zarr's electro-shock synths, full of zest and sparkle, a day-glo approximation of Soft Cell, fuse with these rootsy motifs to create sensuous nu-disco. Enter your email address to follow this blog and receive notifications of new posts by email. The decade's hyperactive mingling of styles even produced a Quasimodo variant, known as Mutant (Quango Quango, ESG, The Contortions). It wasn't just a musical makeover. Far from being merely the 4/4 'one stroke' caress George Clinton reduced it to, disco had, from its very inception, contained multitudes. Her new instructor had got Madonna a coat check job at The Russian Tea Rooms (across the pond, fellow 80s icon-to-be Boy George was doing the same at Blitz). Read the choicest cuts from the Quietus archive: reviews, features and opinion, Zomby Blasts Reynolds For 'Wonky'/Ketamine Link, Beth Orton Tells The Untold Story Of The Birth Of Trailer Park, Madonna Collaborates With Sunn O))) In Manchester, The Hideous Ecstasy Of Fear: Diamond Dogs 40 Years On, A World That's Gone: Suede's Dog Man Star 25 Years On, Sex Music For Gargoyles: Soft Cell's The Art Of Falling Apart, Lucky Star: Madonna's Debut Album, 35 Years On, Wrapped Up: Eurythmics' Sweet Dreams, 30 Years On, Been Around The World: The Magical Odyssey Of The Avalanches' Since I Left You, Fear Factory's Demanufacture And The Strange Rebirth Of Industrial Metal, Too Much Too Soon: Menswear's Nuisance Revisited, Time Would Come To An End: Pet Shop Boys’ Behaviour at 30, And The Heat Goes On: Talking Heads' Remain In Light At 40. It showed her "another side of life", and both the gay subculture and club-life would prove vital to her later success. Again Madonna clashed with him, finding him unresponsive to her ideas and too "busy" with the arrangements. Eventually her tape fell into the lap of Danceteria's Mark Kamins, who played it to a receptive crowd. Just before 'Everybody' hits the chorus, a deft dab of reverb on her vocal sucks the listener into the nursery rhyme-like ode to clubbing. Like all the songs on her debut, 'Holiday' is best heard in the original album version rather than the Immaculate Collection edit. It sits happily alongside the post disco crème de la crème: the same year's Evelyn 'Champagne' King album Get Loose , Nona Hendryx' 'B-Boys' and Cheryl Lynn's 'Got To Be Real'. But it was third single 'Holiday' that was her crossover in to the mainstream charts. It was incorporated once more by soul/R&B (the Chic-produced Ross album Diana, Michael Jackson's Thriller). Where going out itself was a work of art. I’m Steve and live in a village called Alford (home of Emeli Sande & birthplace of the Aberdeen Angus cow) in Aberdeenshire, Scotland. Larry Levan was one of New York's most committed disco descendants, both as a DJ at The Paradise Garage and as part of proto-house combo, The Peech Boys. Lucas, again, lacked the edge she was after. Arthur Baker, a helping hand to Kamins, brought in synth maestro Fred Zarr to enliven the sessions. 'Ain't No Big Deal', the other song mooted for the single, was shelved in favour of an extended dub version of the main event. There's even an occasional tenor sax break (courtesy of Bobby Malach), that 80s trademark, recently revived by Lady Gaga/Katy Perry. But by the late 70s everything from weddings and soundtracks to Ethel Merman was getting discofied. Disco may have still been dominated by male master-minds such as Moroder, Cerrone and Tom Moulton but Donna Summer's 'Love To Love You Baby' had aestheticised female desire with its multiple, orgasmic moans (former porn star Andrea True Connection would do likewise with 'More, More, More'). The two came housed in a sleeve by friend/de facto manager Martin Burgoyne, an 80s twist on Warhol/Liechtenstein cartoon pop art. Phil Collins was using similar instrumentation as was Stevie Nicks on the exquisite Prince-assisted, 'Little Red Corvette'-influenced 'Stand Back'. Undeterred, he made contact at Sire, the boutique imprint of Warner Bros. Even Queen were going disco, releasing Hot Space in May 1982. The downtown elite fraternised with young artists from Harlem and The Bronx. Kamins was also an Island A&R man but Chris Blackwell's label passed. Streaming Forward, Powered By The Past – if you love 80s music, new music, Eurovision, cheesy pop and awesome playlists then let's get this pop party started! Kris Needs found her "gorgeously perky" while Peter Hook, recalling her brisk "fuck off" to Rob Gretton at The Hacienda in 1984, dubbed her "a black widow spider sucking the life out of everything". Madonna was at the epicentre of this new scene, frequenting the clubs (she claimed people threw drinks at her as she danced to the Human League's 'Don't You Want Me' at Danceteria). Similarly her dancing seemed lunging and graceless compared to the eye-popping feats of Jackson (surprisingly so for such a gifted student). Soon she realised that this was the pulse where her finger should be. 'Holiday' was an irresistible confection, bubbling with joie de vie, emphasised by its cascading synth strings, meaty Moog bass and Nile Rogers-style chicken scratch guitar, and a lyric that neatly paired it with Kool & the Gang's 'Celebration'. Another brazen manifesto, 'Burning Up' conflates sex with ambition. Everything was up for grabs, as disco, punk & hip-hop all merged. I currently work in the IT industry (yawn) but I do create the best playlists ever and pump them out constantly. Ciccone went to Paris as a back-up dancer for Patrick Hernandez. By now, Madonna had sought out a new manager, Freddy DeMann, who played her the as yet unreleased promo for 'Beat It' by his current charge, Michael Jackson. New Order finally exorcised Curtis' ghost at the club, discovering Ecstasy, dance music and teaming up with Arthur Baker.