Lucky Star (song)
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| “Lucky Star” | |||||
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| Single by Madonna from the album Madonna |
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| B-side | "I Know It" "Everybody" (Japan) |
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| Released | September 1983 (UK) (though did not enter chart until March 1984 with alternative sleeve) August 8, 1984 (Worldwide) August 25, 1984 (Japan) |
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| Format | Vinyl (12") CD Single Vinyl (7") |
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| Recorded | 1983 | ||||
| Genre | Dance, Pop/R&B | ||||
| Length | 5:33 | ||||
| Label | Sire, Warner Bros. | ||||
| Writer(s) | Madonna | ||||
| Producer | Reggie Lucas | ||||
| Madonna singles chronology | |||||
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| Madonna track listing | |||||
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| The Immaculate Collection track listing | |||||
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"Lucky Star" is the fourth single by American singer-songwriter Madonna and was released in September 1983 by Sire Records. It appears on her her 1983 debut studio album, Madonna and on the 1990 hits compilation The Immaculate Collection.
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[edit] Song history
"Lucky Star" was penned by Madonna and produced by Reggie Lucas. The song was released as the last single from her debut album in August 1984; charting in the top ten in multiple countries—ultimately peaking at number four in the United States, becoming Madonna's first top five charting single. The song's chorus is famed for incorporating the famous Mother Goose nursery rhyme "Starlight, star bright, first star I see tonight…"
The song was originally released in September 1983 in the UK, but failed to make an impact on the charts (it debuted on the UK bubbling under chart at #171), though it eventually climbed to #14 on the UK singles chart after being re-promoted following the Top 10 success of "Holiday". The UK 7" single - in a 'Sunglasses' sleeve - is one of Madonna's rarest single releases and sells for around £500, while the 'Sunglasses' 12" is more common but still desirable and sells for £50.
The single's B-side was the album version of "I Know It," a song written by Madonna. On the German 7" vinyl single, the song "Think of Me" was included as the B-side. Again, like "I Know It", "Think of Me" was also originally included on Madonna's debut album. Some maxi-singles also featured "Borderline" as a B-side.
[edit] Music video
The music video was filmed in February 1984 in Los Angeles[citation needed] and was directed by Arthur Pierson. The video showed Madonna dancing around with her backup dancers (her brother Christopher and friend Erica Bell), dressed in black on a white background. [1] The video exploited her "Boy Toy" image and featured Madonna with a wild haircut and dressed in black punky clothes, that she would later describe as 'rags'. Styled by designer Maripol. [2] The video is also famous for showing off her much talked about belly button. [3] Two versions of the video were released commercially: an extended version using an edited remix of the song was released on Madonna's first 1984 video collection Madonna (which also included "Burning Up", "Borderline", and "Like A Virgin"), and a shorter version using the album edit of the song was released on the 1990 compilation The Immaculate Collection.
- Director: Arthur Pierson
- Producer: Glenn Goodwin
- Director of Photography: Wayne Isham
- Art Director: Madonna
- Production Company: Faultline Films
[edit] Trivia
- Madonna re-recorded this song in 1990 for The Immaculate Collection but this version was later abandoned and a remix of the original was used. (This 1990 version has surfaced on the internet - the backing track appears to be the same.)
- Madonna has performed "Lucky Star" during several of her concert tours, including: 1985's The Virgin Tour, 1987's Who's That Girl World Tour, and 2006's Confessions Tour, where performed it in a mashup of her song "Hung Up."
- This video was ranked number fifty on MTV's 100 Greatest Videos Ever Made.
- This song was featured in the movie Running on Empty in the scene where River Phoenix's character is in music class.
- This song was featured twice in the movie "Snatch". First as character Bullet Tooth Tony is shot and second as he assaults another man. Upon hearing this he proclaims "I love this track".
[edit] Personnel
- Vocals by Madonna.
- Arranged by Dean Gant
- Synthesizers by Dean Gant, Programming- Ed Walsh.
- Electric and acoustic pianos by Dean Gant
- Guitars by Reggie Lucas, Ira Siegal and Paul Pesco.
- Drum programming by Reggie Lucas and Leslie Ming.
- Tenor saxophone by Bobby Malach.
- Background vocals by Gwen Guthrie, Norma Jean Wright, Madonna, Brenda White and Chrissy Faith.
[edit] Credits
- Written by Madonna
- Produced by Reggie Lucas.
- Remixed by John "Jellybean" Benitez.
[edit] Chart performance
"Lucky Star" became Madonna's first Top 5 hit on the Billboard Hot 100. More importantly, the single was the first of 16 consecutive Top 5 hits on the chart for her, a feat that surpassed even The Beatles' record. The track also had modest showings on both the Adult Contemporary and R&B charts.
The single debuted on the U.S. Billboard Hot 100 singles chart at #49, the week of August 25, 1984, becoming Madonna's highest debuting single at that time. The single experienced notable strides during its journey up the chart, finally peaking at #4 the week of October 20, 1984. "Lucky Star" remained in the Top 10 for 5 weeks, in the Top 20 for 8 weeks, and in the Top 40 for 12 weeks.
In the UK, the song was a moderate success, peaking within the Top 20 in March 1984. The original release, in Sept 1983, missed the Top 100. "Lucky Star" is one of only six Madonna singles to miss the UK Top 10 (Everybody - 1982, Take A Bow - 1994, Oh Father - 1996, One More Chance - 1996 and Love Profusion - 2003 being the others).
In Australia, the first territory where Madonna had enjoyed immediate chart success, the single was a relative failure, only reaching #36 in November 1984. This can perhaps be attributed to the large Australian sales of the parent album throughout the year and the release of the "Like A Virgin" single within weeks of "Lucky Star"'s chart debut.
| Chart (1984) | Peak Position |
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| U.S. Billboard Hot 100 | 4 |
| U.S. Billboard Hot 100 Airplay | 3 |
| U.S. Billboard Hot 100 Singles Sales | 6 |
| U.S. Billboard Adult Contemporary | 19 |
| U.S. Billboard Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Singles & Tracks | 42 |
| Australia | 36 |
| Canada | 16 |
| Ireland | 19 |
| Rep. of South Africa (re-released May '86) | 4 |
| United Kingdom | 14 |
[edit] Official versions
- Original versions
- Album Version aka Full-Length Version 5:33
- LP Edit 3:44
- Instrumental 4:35
- Hung Up/Lucky Star Confessions Tour Rehearsal 10:10
- Remixes
- New Mix/ U.S. Remix 7:15
- Shep Pettibone/Goh Hotoda Mix (on The Immaculate Collection) 3:36
- Music Video Versions
- Video Edit (same as the LP Edit that appeared on the 7" single) 3:44
- Video of Edit of New Mix 5:04
[edit] Included on
- Madonna
- The Immaculate Collection
- Snatch Original Soundtrack
- The Confessions Tour
[edit] 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.
- Mad-Eyes.net - "Lucky Star" Single Page
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