Borderline by Madonna
The 1980s had a very different entertainment landscape to what we have now. Madonna appeared in 1983 when the UK had just started a fourth TV channel. We had a video recorder, but blank tapes were not cheap. Being a teenager meant that my music collection was small (some LPs and cassettes taped from friends – remember how home taping was killing music?) so the radio was on a lot. On Saturday afternoons Paul Gambaccini had a slot playing American hits that included a top 30 countdown of the American charts. A very different line up from the UK charts so you were always liable to find tracks that may not be hits in the UK for ages, or even never make it at all.
He played Madonna Ciccone, who was having hits on the American dance charts. This was before her UK breakthrough in 1984. This track actually bombed first time around in the UK. I saw Desperately Seeking Susan at the cinema twice – once with my friends from Brightlingsea and then on the second day back at university with my mates from there, it’s a fun film. There are other Madonna tracks I really like (Ray of Light, Dear Jessie, Into the Groove, Papa Don’t Preach), though she is hardly a ground-breaking artist, she is incredibly good at finding collaborators. There was no movement she could not jump on – Voguing, William Orbit, mash ups, but genius steals I guess. This is my favourite Madonna track – Borderline, and doesn’t she look young….
Five Miles Out 