 
I'm Breathless The Immaculate
1990 Collection
1990
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VIDEO by David
Fincher
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1990 was the
year Madonna released a song and video that not only changed America’s perception of silver
screen icons from Hollywood’s gilded age, but also sparked a global dance
revolution. “Vogue”, quite possibly
Madonna’s overall biggest hit ever, was an
infectious pop tribute to such legendary stars as Marilyn Monroe,
Rita Heyworth, and
James Dean. And, although Madonna did
not invent voguing, she is responsible for bringing
the underground gay
dance style to the very forefront of popular culture. In the song, Madonna demanded that
we “get up on the
dance floor” and the masses willingly obeyed, as is indicated by the single’s
amazing chart
performance. “Vogue” quickly climbed to #1 on all major
charts and is also Madonna’s all-time best-selling
single, certified
double platinum for two million copies sold.
The dance became a worldwide phenomenon and
the image of the
Queen of Pop striking a pose is forever etched into the memories of all those
who experienced
the “Vogue” craze.
Being the massive hit it was,
it’s hard to believe that the “Vogue” phenomenon almost never happened. The
song, written by
Madonna and producer Shep Pettibone,
was originally to be released as the B-side for “Keep
It Together”, the final single from Like A Prayer.
However, once the track was presented to Madonna’s record
company, the suits at
Warner Bros. immediately sensed that the song was far too big to be relegated
to a B-side
and decided that the song would be released as
its own single shortly after "Keep It Together" finished running its
course on the
charts. At the same time, Madonna was
promoting her new film Dick Tracy with a soundtrack of
30's-style songs called I’m Breathless,
based on Madonna’s movie character, “Breathless Mahoney”. At the last
minute,
"Vogue" was tacked on to the soundtrack, despite sounding nothing
like the other songs on the album and
having no relevance
to the film. Record executives, aware of
the song’s potential, knew that including “Vogue”
on the soundtrack
would translate to millions of dollars in album sales. Their hunch proved
accurate when I'm
Breathless went on to sell more than
two million copies in the United States alone.
Shot in black and white to enhance the
golden-era feel, the video, her third directed by David Fincher, is one of
Madonna’s most stylish and most remarkably
choreographed to date. The video was
largely inspired by the
works of two of her
favorite artists, Horst P. Horst and Tamara De Lempicka
and featured an extremely sleek,
extremely sexy
version of Madonna vamping it up in various outfits, hairstyles, and sets. In one scene, Madonna
donned a black
see-through blouse with no bra, leading to much debate as to whether or not her
nipples were
visible through the
mesh material. Joining her in the video
were her backup singers Donna Delory and Niki
Harris along with an
entourage of gay dancers heeding to Madonna’s call to “strike a pose”.
“Vogue” became the unofficial theme for
Madonna’s 1990 Blonde Ambition Tour and her rendition of the song
at the 1990 MTV Video Music Awards is
ranked by MTV as her all-time greatest on-stage
performance.
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Late in 1990, viewers tuned in to the MTV Video Music Awards
expecting to see a live performance of Madonna’s same ol’
song and dance. Instead, they were
treated to a night at the theatre.
Decked out in 16th century baroque costuming, Madonna and her
entourage managed to shock the public yet again. Madonna and her backup singers sported
cleavage galore and although they may have looked like ladies, they
certainly did not act like ladies.
Dress lifting, breast fondling, and a male dancer briefly simulating
an oral sex act on Madonna left audiences awestricken.
Despite the deliberate sensational nature of the performance,
this rendition of “Vogue” featured some truly astounding choreography and
has even been rated by MTV as Madonna’s
all-time greatest on-stage performance.
That night, not only did Madonna create yet another piece of pop
culture history, but also added three more moon men to her already
extensive collection. The “Vogue”
video won the awards for best direction, best cinematography, and best
editing.
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