| "Holiday" | |||||
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| Single by Madonna from the album Madonna |
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| B-side | "I Know It" | ||||
| Released | September 7, 1983 (Worldwide)
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| Format | Vinyl (12") CD Single Vinyl (7") Cassette Single CD Maxi-Single Holiday Collection EP |
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| Recorded | 1983 | ||||
| Genre | Pop | ||||
| Length | 6:11 | ||||
| Label | Sire, Warner Bros. | ||||
| Writer | Curtis Hudson Lisa Stevens |
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| Producer | John "Jellybean" Benitez | ||||
| Madonna singles chronology | |||||
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| Madonna UK chronology | |||||
| "Rescue Me" (1991) |
"Holiday (UK re-issue)" (1991) |
"This Used to Be My Playground" (1992) |
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"Holiday" is the third single by pop singer Madonna, released on September 7, 1983 by Sire Records. It appears on her 1983 debut studio album, Madonna. The single has been released in the UK market three times; in January 1984 (no.6), August 1985 (no.2, only kept off the top spot by her own single "Into the Groove") and June 1991 (no.5) with an EP accompanying the single release, entitled "The Holiday Collection". It also appears on the 1987 remix compilation You Can Dance and the greatest hits release The Immaculate Collection.
Contents |
History
The song was originally offered to, but turned down by, Mary Wilson. Madonna had performed "Holiday" on each of her tours (The Virgin Tour, Who's That Girl, Blond Ambition, The Girlie Show, Drowned World, and Re-Invention) up until 2006's Confessions Tour. (A snippet of the song was included in the introduction to "Music Inferno", however.) It is considered to be one of her signature songs. In 2005, she revealed that the song is one of her favorites.[1] Madonna also performed "Holiday" at the 1985 Live Aid concert in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.
Commercial Releases
"Holiday" has been released several times in several different formats. The song was originally released worldwide on September 7, 1983, but has since re-entered the UK chart on two separate occasions (in 1985 following the success of the Like a Virgin album, and in 1991 having been re-released to promote the Immaculate Collection compilation album). The song was released again in Japan in 1999 as part of the promotion for the soundtrack "The Wedding Singer Vol. 2.".
Music videos
A music video for "Holiday" was created featuring Madonna dancing in front of a pink background, but it was reportedly so bad that it was never released and very few people have actually seen the original video. Instead, recordings of television performances from American Bandstand, Solid Gold and Top of the Pops were used as music videos in the US, UK, Europe and Canada. The Top of the Pops performance was released on the promotional-only video compilation It's That Girl. It was after the aforementioned performance of "Holiday" on American Bandstand that Madonna replied to host Dick Clark's inquiry of what her future plans were: "To rule the world!" There are also two live videos of "Holiday":
Truth or Dare version
The live performance of "Holiday" from the Blond Ambition Tour in Paris, France was released as a music video in 1991 to promote the documentary film Truth or Dare. This version was nominated for four MTV Video Music Awards: Best Female Video, Best Dance Video, Best Choreography and Best Cinematography.
- Director: Alek Keshishian
- Producers: Tim Clawson, Lisa Hollingshead, Jay Roewe
- Director of Photography: Toby Phillips
- Editor: John Murray
- Production Company: Propaganda Films
Drowned World Tour montage
Another live video of "Holiday", this time a montage of clips from the Drowned World Tour in 2001, was released to promote the live DVD at the end of that year. Although the clips were taken from the DVD and were from the second Detroit performance (August 26), the audio was taken from the previous night's performance and is noticeably different from the audio on the DVD.
- Director: Hamish Hamilton
- Producer: Marty Callner
- Director of Photography: Toby Phillips
- Editor: Guy Harding
- Production Company: Cream Cheese Films/Tadpole Films Inc.
Chart performance
"Holiday" was Madonna's first hit song. The single became a top twenty hit on the Billboard Hot 100 in the U.S. and also reached the top forty on the R&B chart. It went on to become the first on a long list of Madonna singles to reach #1 on the Club Play Singles chart. The song, released with Lucky Star as a double-A side single, spent five weeks at number 1 on the dance chart and a total of seventeen weeks on that chart, tying with Music and Like a Virgin as the songs to have spent the most time at number one on the dance chart. "Holiday" was a huge hit in Australia in April 1984, reaching #4. This song has hit the UK top ten on three separate occasions. When it was originally released in the U.K. in 1984, the track peaked at #6. The next year, the song re-entered the chart, peaking at #2 in the summer of 1985 [it was blocked from the #1 spot by Madonna's latest release, "Into the Groove"). Only The Beatles and Frankie Goes to Hollywood had previously managed this feat. When the song was re-released in the U.K. in 1991 as part of "The Holiday Collection", it charted at #5.
Charts
| Chart (1983/1991) | Peak position |
|---|---|
| Australia AMR Sales Chart | 4 |
| Brazil | 3 |
| Canada | 34 |
| Eurochart Hot 100 Singles Sales | 13 |
| France IFOP Singles Sales | 24 |
| Germany (Media Control Sales) | 9 |
| Japan (ChartJapan) | 10 |
| Swedish Singles Chart | 20 |
| UK Singles Chart | 6 |
| UK Singles Chart (1985 re-entry) | 2 |
| UK Singles Chart (1991 re-release) | 5 |
| U.S. Billboard Hot 100 | 16 |
| U.S. Billboard Hot Dance/Club Play Chart | 1* |
| U.S. Billboard Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Singles & Tracks | 25 |
- * Released and charted as the Double-A side Holiday/Lucky Star
Certifications
| Country | Certification |
|---|---|
| France | Silver |
| UK | Silver |
| UK | Silver (re-release) |
Credits
- Written by Curtis Hudson and Lisa Stevens
- Produced by John "Jellybean" Benitez
- Drums, moog bass, synthesizer, fender rhodes and acoustic piano by Fred Zarr
- Guitars by Curtis Hudson
- Bass by Raymond Hudson
- Percussion by Bashiri Johnson
- Cowbell by Madonna
- Background vocals by Madonna, Tina B., Norma Jean Wright
For You Can Dance:
- Additional production and remix by John "Jellybean" Benitez
Official versions
Original versions
- Album Version 6:11
Remixes
- Dub Version 6:58
- Radio Edit 4:04
- Extended Remix [Mixed - YCD] 6:32
- Extended Remix [Unmixed - YCD] 6:58
- Q-Sound Remix/Immaculate Version 4:06
- Single Edit of Album Remix [YCD] 4:14
- Live Version from I'm Going To Tell You A Secret 5:45
- Re-Invention Tour Studio Demo 4:54
Included on
- Madonna
- You Can Dance
- The Immaculate Collection
- The Holiday Collection EP
- I'm Going to Tell You a Secret (album)
Cover Versions and Remixes
In 1986, Dutch rap duo MC Miker G & DJ Sven released a remix of Holiday, which achieved success in several countries. In 1998, an unidentified DJ created a remix of Holiday which combined Madonna's vocals with the backing music from Stardust's Music Sounds Better with You. This version of the song was used as the basis for the live arrangements of Holiday in both the Drowned World Tour and the Re-Invention Tour. The bassline of the song was sampled by The Avalanches for their 2000 album Since I Left You. It was used on the songs "Stay Another Season" and "Little Journey". In 2002, Mad'House covered the song. Girl Authority also covered the song in 2007 for their album, Road Trip. Almost all the instrumentatal part of the song "He's hot!" uses samples of "Holiday". The song was recorded by the "Will & Grace" cast especially for the sit-com soundtrack in 2004 and even includes vocal samples from Madonna herself.
Legacy
The popular Canadian teen drama Degrassi: The Next Generation, which is known for named each episode after an 80s hit song, named a two part episode after this song.
References
- "Chart Performance of Madonna Records - A Compiled History" (2004). MLVC.ORG: Charts. Retrieved from http://charts.mlvc.org/CHThist.php on December 9, 2005.
- "Holiday" (2004). Madonna: Single Summaries. Retrieved from http://www.madonnanation.com/charts/ on December 9, 2005.
- "Charts". (20050. Mad-Eyes Discography. Retrieved from http://www.mad-eyes.net/disco/charts.htm on December 18, 2005.
1. http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2005/12/13/earlyshow/leisure/celebspot/main1121578.shtml
