You WILL Dance!! (You Can Dance - Madonna)

Member Name: josh_debbarman

Product:	You Can Dance - Madonna
Date:	09/05/02 (66 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: several early classics revisted, Non-stop party mood

Disadvantages: tracklist a bit repetitive, Dub remixes disappointing

This is essentially a remix album with the previously unreleased song 'Spotlight'. Not being an original studio album, it will not be at the top of many people's buying lists, but it is a party album that successfully summed up the mood of the time. An indication of this is the way the songs run on from each other without stopping.

Spotlight is the only totally new song on the album, and it happily encourages everyone to get up and go into the spotlight, because "Everybody is a star, everyone is special in their own way...". Held over from Madonna's first early albums and mixed by 'Jellybean' Benitez, it has a similar chord sequence to that of 'Holiday', which might explain its early rejection. The usual arrangement of drums, bass and higher synth is present, but there are also vocal harmonies, a piano section and some violin section. Infectiously enthusiastic, this is one of Madonna's finest songs of the period. Her attitude comes through perfectly "Don't be afraid to try" and "Don't be afraid to fall". Quite apart from the message, this song shows off Madonna's voice well and the verses and chorus compliment each other.

What can you say about Holiday? It is one of the most famous songs ever. It has charted three times, doing well every time. It may come as a surprise to people who weren't around at the time, but Holiday wasn't Madonna's first song, though it was her first big hit. Fresh, with a supremely catchy and uplifting tune, you couldn't get away from this song for a few months in 1984. A huge huge hook ensures that this song is as infectious as the plague and this is emphasised by the fact that this track has no structure - it is in effect a prolonged chorus. The song starts with a chord sequence which is reminiscent of Cyndi Lauper's 'Time After Time' and most of it is based on a four-bar sequence which just keeps moving around. A C
hic-guitar flickers away in the background, accompanied by electronic handclaps and synthesised strings, which adds just the right touch of glamour to the melody. The only thing that changes in the music is the arrangement, like the piano break that comes towards the end. A massive hit, Mary Wilson (formerly of The Supremes) must be kicking herself for turning this song down prior to Madonna and then boyfriend John 'Jellybean' Benitez taking it and reworking it. A six-minute monster of a chorus, this song is sheer genius. Apparently, this is the mix that 'Jellybean' Benitez wanted to do in the first place, with the guitar more to the front and with a clearer sound. There is also a piano break and a middle section with drums and echoed voice.

Everybody was actually Madonna's first single, where she urges everyone to "come on, dance and sing, everybody get up and do your thing". People seemed to have taken it to heart as they are still dancing to Madonna today, and it was certainly a great club hit when (according to the Madonna legend) DJ Mark Kamins played an early version of it at the Danceteria Club in New York. It's a great feel-good song and especially good when sung on stage. A heavily synthesised intro and a spoken introduction with a loud intake of breath, constantly repeated invites you to dance, and Madonna's voice is wonderfully controlled and double-tracked for extra effect. There are a few spoken lines here too, but overlapped in a style she would use in her 1992 song 'Rain'. What a lot of people don't know is that it is a re-worked remnant from Madonna's career before she was signed up to her record company. The mix on this album starts with four repetitions of the vocal hook and then moves into a stark rhythm-centred arrangement. As expected, the middle section features the standard 'beatbreak' and a skeletal synth tune. Games are played with the word 'dance', which is echo
ed and slowed down. At the very end of the song, the drums are pulled, leaved Madonna repeating the "get up and do your thing" phrase which hovers over the intro to the next song.

Physical Attraction is a lovely little song where Madonna gets all girly and she is head-over-heels in love. Yay! A medium-paced track with synth bass right to the fore, a Chic-style guitar line and a few synth brass flourishes. Interest is added with a few Collins-style drum fills panned across the stereo field. Madonna sings in her shrillest voice about a suitor and his magnetism...ok it wasn't magnetism, "it's a physical attraction, it's a chemical reaction" - aww, sweeeeet! While the verses are quite repetitive, they are sung with an earnestness which is endearing and there is another interesting pointer to the future, where Madonna adds a talking section, a technique Madonna would use heavily in her career (especially in her 1992 album 'Erotica'). The song is rounded off with some scat-singing. Again, in this mix, the guitar seems more to the front and the sound is clearer. It has a more varied arrangement than the original.

Over and Over is possibly the first song Madonna ever had a hand in writing (it may have originated in 1979 when she was being to play the guitar by then-boyfriend Dan Gilroy) has a super little beat and really gets you into the song. It's about overcoming disappointments and trying again to succeed (more weight to my theory about its origin, as the time period in question was not easy for Madonna). Engaging rather than classy, it has an endearing innocence about it ("it doesn't matter who you are, it's what you do that takes you far"), yet there is a hint of rebellion ("I'm not afraid to say I hear a different beat, oh, when I go out in the street, yeah"). The production includes drums, synths and Rogers on a silk-chorused guitar. This reworked version is much longer a
nd better than the original, more assured and confident as well with an updated, more dramatic score. This was achieved by replacing the drum machine with the drummer Jimmy Maelen. Engineers Steve Thompson and Michael Barbiero reworked the song, with keyboard sections being played by Jack Waldman. There are a lot of rhythm-only sections, which nearly doubles the length of the track. New vocal phrases are added, some of them sounding like Enya being mugged in a Euro disco! But this does nothing to prevent this song sounded fresher.

From the film 'Desperately Seeking Susan', this song is superb; a dancefloor classic that is pop at its best. The bridge "live out your fantasy here with me" has a delicious harmony in which Madonna adds a lower register voice to the main one. At its simplest level, this song is encouraging people to get up and dance, however like the title track there is a subtle sexual undertone manifested in the form of a lyrical hook for shy girls to get and do their thing "at night I lock the doors so no-one else can see". Apparently the song was inspired by a gorgeous Puerto Rican boy sitting across from Madonna in a fourth-floor walk-up on Avenue B in New York whom she wanted to ask out on a date. With this kind of song, it matters not whether you get the boy/girl as you hover uncertain on the edge of the dancefloor - you just feel great either way. This is the song that finally and irrevocably hooked me to Madonna, as she encourages the listener to dance with her. She says "...boy, you gotta prove your love to me..." - I'm still dancing all these years on. This version is much longer than the original, taking a lot longer to get going, as Madonna's "c'mon" at the start is sampled and used repetitively as percussion. There are some pretty drastic-sounding percussion breaks with a lot of sampled sound and repetition of phrases like "step to the beat" and "c'mon&q
uot;. There is more vocal echo on this mix, leading more overlap between adjacent phrases. There is also a touch of Bruce Hornsby-like piano, and the song closes with congas, whistles and timbale, giving it a Mexican feel!


Where's The Party is a song with a theme of staying young, despite working for a living, by partying. Madonna said this song was inspired by a her statement 'where's the party?' which she used to say when she felt that work, The Press and life in general was getting too stressful and she remembered that she was supposed to be having a good time. It is nice and bouncy, but routine (with a standard Madonna arrangement of drum machine, synth and clattering rhythm), until the last part, where Madonna trots out with, "we can make it all right, we can make you dance, we can make a party last all night" at high speed and repeated, which adds a really nice touch to the song, and there is a final twist of humour right at the end - something Madonna does nowadays quite often. This is not one for listening to too closely. If you've having a party, and want to dance, well you know what to do! The original was and bouncy, but routine, until the last part, where Madonna trots out with, "we can make it all right, we can make you dance, we can make a party last all night" at high speed and repeated, which adds a really nice touch to the song, and there is a final twist of humour right at the end - something Madonna does nowadays quite often. This reworked version has addressed all the slight reservations I initially had about this song without losing any of the good bits of the original. The backing vocals sound as if they just came from a party and this improves the authenticity of the song. Madonna's performace increases in power and the mixing is quite superb. The result is a funkier, edgier, dancier song which engages you for the full seven-minute duration.

Holiday (Dub Version) is more danc
e-oriented, with less vocals and more effects. In this version, we hear the line "we have got to come together..." and this is a nice touch. I'm not sure this is as good as the original, but then again it's hard to imagine how you could improve on the original - I don't think I would know where to start!

Into The Groove (Dub Version) again uses voice-alteration and has much fewer vocals and is more dancey. The beat is sustained well and Madonna's voice, when it appears properly, fits into the reworked structure of the song well.

Where's The Party (Dub Version) is a subtly remastered dance version of the song earlier in the album and loses none of its enthusiasm. So where's the party? Well, right here, of course, you've just missed it!

This album is a great collection of Madonna's early dance music, some of which has been remixed - mostly to great effect. As there's only one new song on the album, listen out for the updated sections of some of the songs

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