"She's Madonna" | ||||
---|---|---|---|---|
Single by Robbie Williams and Pet Shop Boys | ||||
from the album Rudebox | ||||
B-side | "Never Touch That Switch" | |||
Released | 5 March 2007 | |||
Studio | Sarm West (London, England) | |||
Genre | Synth-pop | |||
Length | 4:16 | |||
Label | ||||
Songwriter(s) | ||||
Producer(s) | Pet Shop Boys | |||
Robbie Williams singles chronology | ||||
| ||||
Pet Shop Boys singles chronology | ||||
| ||||
Music video | ||||
"She's Madonna" on YouTube |
"She's Madonna" is a song by British singer Robbie Williams with the duo Pet Shop Boys,from his seventh studio album, Rudebox (2006). The track was released as its third and final international single on 5 March 2007 by Chrysalis Records. The subject matter of the song is a reference to the conversation Williams had with his ex-girlfriend Tania Strecker,over the reason her former boyfriend Guy Ritchie gave,for leaving her for American singer Madonna. Williams had played the recording to Madonna shortly after writing it,receiving a positive reaction.
Musically,"She's Madonna" was inspired by Kraftwerk's 1983 single,"Tour de France". The composition consists of a "gurgling" electro backing,over which Williams sings the lyrics,talking about his fascination with Madonna. It received positive feedback for its musical aspects and the production by Pet Shop Boys. The song had minor chart placement in Williams' home turf United Kingdom,but reached the top five of the record charts in many European nations,attaining Gold certifications in Denmark and Germany. A music video for the track was released in April 2007,directed by Johan Renck whose main inspiration behind it was to portray the paranoia one faces onstage. It features a plethora of well-known drag queens,and showed Williams himself in full drag queen regalia. The video received mostly negative reception from critics.
"She's Madonna" is a collaboration between Williams and Pet Shop Boys,and served as the fifth and final single from Williams' seventh studio album, Rudebox (2006). By the time the single was supposed to be released,he had just come out from rehab following his addiction problems. "She's Madonna" was inspired by a conversation Williams had with his ex-girlfriend Tania Strecker,who told the story of how her boyfriend,British director Guy Ritchie,left her for American singer Madonna. Strecker quoted Ritchie as saying,"Look,you know I really love you,but she's Madonna." [1] Williams considered the song to be one of Rudebox's lighter moments,clarifying that the track did not have a tongue in cheek connotation about it. Rather it literally spoke about his fantasies for Madonna and he was happy with the song's outcome. [2] According to Contactmusic.com,Williams had played the song to Madonna shortly after writing it,receiving a positive reaction. [3]
Musically,the song was inspired by Kraftwerk's 1983 single,"Tour de France". After playing the track,Williams asked Pet Shop Boys if they can include something inline in "She's Madonna",following which the latter song was composed. [4] The track starts with a "gurgling" electro backing over which Williams sings the lyrics,talking about his fascination with Madonna,"We're having drinks with Kate and Stella,Gwyneth's here and she's brought her fella". [5] Michael Hubbard from musicOMH described the lyrics as a "wannabe anthem/love letter" to Madonna. [6]
According to the sheet music of the song,it is composed in common time with a temp of 124 beats per minute. Williams' vocals range from C4 to G♭5 and the track has a s basic sequence of F–A♭–Gm7–C as the chord progression. [7] "She's Madonna" was the subject of a controversy after actor &singer-songwriter Ashley Hamilton claimed that he came up with part of the song with Williams. [8]
Upon its release in the United Kingdom on 5 March 2007, [9] "She's Madonna" received generally positive reviews from music critics. Nick Levine from Digital Spy awarded it three out of five stars,noting that the track was a kind of "damage control" for Williams' fallen public image following his rehabilitation. "Who'd have guessed he'd sound so comfortable—his most convincing in years,actually—singing about one of the few people in the world who's more famous than him [Madonna]?",Levine concluded. [5] Alexis Petridis from The Guardian described the track as a "brilliant,icy meditation on fame's corrupting power". [10] NME 's Priya Elan listed "She's Madonna" as one of Williams' most "bonkers song ever",along with three other songs from Rudebox:"The 80's","The 90's" and "The Actor". [11] Hubbard explained that the Pet Shop Boys brought an "added spray of sheen to the glacially excellent" song,and working with them brought some "credibility" to it. [6] Julie Broadfoot from BBC Music described "She's Madonna" as a "weird but fun tune". [12] Lauren Murphy from Entertainment website noted that Pet Shop Boys' own musical influence was prevalent in the track,with its "sparse,spacey glow and not least on synth-laden tongue-in-cheek homage" of the song. [13]
In an overall negative review for Rudebox,Ed Power from Hot Press magazine wrote that it was not until as the "album lurches towards its midpoint does some calm descend. 'She's Madonna',coasting on a glossy Pet Shop Boys production job,is a misty eyed ballad in the tradition of Williams' finest—i.e. slushiest—work". [14] The song received further negative feedback from David Hutchison of Attitude magazine,during a retrospective review for the album. He theorized that Williams' random choice of cover version of songs gave it a feeling of being an old mixtape. This was vividly noticeable in the "outrageous break-up fantasy played out over icy synths and euphoric hand-claps" of "She's Madonna". [15]
In the United Kingdom,"She's Madonna" debuted outside the top 10 of the UK Singles Chart,at number 16. It was Williams' lowest-peaking single since "Sin Sin Sin" (2006) peaked at number 22. "She's Madonna" quickly descended down the charts,being present only for three weeks in total. [9] It had a better chart placement in Scotland,where it entered the top 10 at number 9. [16] In Ireland it debuted at number 38 and was present only for one week on the chart. [17]
Across Europe,the song had better chart placements,and reached the top five of the charts in Belgium (Flanders),Denmark,Germany,Italy,Netherlands and Spain,remaining on the charts for multiple weeks. [18] It received Gold certifications from Denmark and Germany,for shipment of 15,000 and 150,000 copies of the single,respectively. [19] [20] Although the song was not released in the United States,promotional CDs were sent to DJs and hence it charted on Billboard 's Dance Club Songs,reaching a peak of number 12. [21]
The music video features Williams as a professional drag queen in full regalia,as well as performing with drag queens in a nightclub,dressed in a white jacket. His hairstyle and the wig was compared to those of Lily Allen and Uma Thurman's wig in the film Pulp Fiction (1994). [22] Alexis Arquette appeared as one of the drag queens,along with RuPaul's Drag Race contestant Tammie Brown. [23] The video was directed by Johan Renck. Despite media speculation,Williams did not imitate Madonna in the video,nor did she appear in it. [24] Renck explained that the main inspiration behind the video was to portray the paranoia one faces onstage.
With a past as a musician,I remember sometimes feeling like the audience was against me while I was on stage [...] Even if that wasn't noticeable in any way,I still felt as if they all disliked me,or at least,misunderstood me,deep inside. That paranoia was kind of firmly rooted inside of me—the fear of being the wrong artist in front of the wrong audience. Thus,the idea for 'She's Madonna' deals with that. [25]
The video opens with an interview with Williams,where he is asked about his real persona and his stage one. Then it cuts to him dressing up in a suit and going onstage to sing the song in front of an audience of drag queens. Thomas Rogers from Salon criticized the video for portraying drag queens like "patients in a mental ward" as well as the interview sequence,which he felt equated drag queens as people with multiple personality disorder. [26] A writer for Metro questioned "Is Robbie trying to send us a message? Or has he just got extremely carried away playing dress up in his mother's wardrobe." [22]
|
|
Credits are adapted from the Rudebox album booklet. [27]
Studios
Personnel
Weekly charts
| Year-end charts
|
Region | Certification | Certified units/sales |
---|---|---|
Denmark (IFPI Danmark) [19] | Gold | 7,500^ |
Germany (BVMI) [20] | Gold | 150,000^ |
Italy (FIMI) | — | 15,000 [62] |
^ Shipments figures based on certification alone. |
Robert Peter Williams is an English singer and songwriter. He found fame as a member of the pop group Take That from 1990 to 1995, launching a solo career in 1996. His debut studio album, Life thru a Lens, was released in 1997, and included his best-selling single "Angels". His second album, I've Been Expecting You, featured the songs "Millennium" and "She's the One", his first number one singles. His discography includes seven UK No. 1 singles, and all but one of his 14 studio albums have reached No. 1 in the UK. Six of his albums are among the top 100 biggest-selling albums in the UK, with two of them in the top 60, and he gained a Guinness World Record in 2006 for selling 1.6 million tickets in a single day during his Close Encounters Tour.
Pet Shop Boys are an English synth-pop duo formed in London in 1981. Consisting of primary vocalist Neil Tennant and keyboardist Chris Lowe, they have sold more than 100 million records worldwide, and were listed as the most successful duo in UK music history in the 1999 edition of The Guinness Book of Records.
Neil Francis Tennant is an English singer, songwriter and music journalist, and co-founder of the synth-pop duo the Pet Shop Boys, which he formed with Chris Lowe in 1981. He was a journalist for Smash Hits, and assistant editor for the magazine in the mid-1980s.
"Always on My Mind" is a ballad written by Wayne Carson, Johnny Christopher, and Mark James, first recorded by Brenda Lee and first released by Gwen McCrae in March 1972. Lee's version was released three months later in June 1972. The song has been a crossover hit, charting in both the country and western and pop categories. Elvis Presley's recording was the first commercially successful version of the song.
"Music" is a song recorded by American singer Madonna as the title track for her eighth studio album (2000). It was released as the lead single from the album to radio on August 1, 2000, by Maverick and Warner Bros. Records and commercially released on August 21. "Music" was inspired by a Sting concert Madonna attended and was written and produced by her with Mirwais Ahmadzaï. It is a electropop, disco, electro-funk and dance-pop song in a static key of G minor. Madonna's vocals are electronically manipulated in the track, with the lyrics having political and social undertones and reiterating the uniting power of music.
Stuart David Price is an English electronic musician, DJ, songwriter, and record producer. His acts include his own band Zoot Woman, Les Rythmes Digitales, Paper Faces, Man with Guitar, Thin White Duke, and the parodic French moniker Jacques Lu Cont.
"Sorry" is a song by American singer Madonna from her tenth studio album, Confessions on a Dance Floor (2005). The song was written and produced by both Madonna and Stuart Price. It was released to hot adult contemporary radio stations in the United States as the second single from the album on February 6, 2006, by Warner Bros. Records. The song was later included on Madonna's compilation album, Celebration (2009). One of the first tracks developed for the album, it is a dance-pop and disco song, and lyrically talks about personal empowerment and self-sufficiency. For the single release, remixers such as Pet Shop Boys, Green Velvet, and Paul Oakenfold were enlisted to conceive remixes for the song.
English synth-pop duo Pet Shop Boys have released 15 studio albums, five live albums, nine compilation albums, four remix albums, five soundtrack albums, four extended plays and over seventy singles. The duo's debut single, "West End Girls", was first released in 1984 but failed to chart in most regions. However, the song was entirely re-recorded in late 1985, and this newly recorded version became their first number-one single, topping the UK Singles Chart, Billboard Hot 100 and Canadian Singles Chart. Parlophone released the duo's debut album, Please, in the United Kingdom in March 1986. It peaked at number three on the UK Albums Chart and was certified platinum by the British Phonographic Industry (BPI). It also peaked at number seven on the Billboard 200 in the United States and was certified platinum by the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA). The following summer they released "It's a Sin", the lead single from their second album, Actually. The single became another UK number one and also reached number nine in the US. This was followed by "What Have I Done to Deserve This?", with Dusty Springfield, which peaked at number two in both the UK and US. In the summer of 1987, the Pet Shop Boys recorded a cover of Brenda Lee's song "Always on My Mind", which became their third UK number-one single over Christmas 1987. This was followed by another UK number one, "Heart", in spring 1988. The album Actually was released in September 1987, peaked at number two in the UK and was certified three-times platinum by the BPI.
The discography of Robbie Williams, an English singer-songwriter, consists of twelve studio albums, one live album, ten compilation albums, one extended play, ten video albums, sixty-two singles, six promotional singles and fifty-six music videos. Williams originally found success in the male pop group Take That, which he joined in 1990 following a successful audition: they released a series of UK number-one singles, including "Pray", "Relight My Fire", "Babe" and "Back for Good". Williams left Take That in 1995 to pursue a solo career; the group disbanded the following year.
"Miracles" is a song by English synth-pop duo Pet Shop Boys from their greatest hits album, PopArt: The Hits (2003). It was released on 17 November 2003 as the album's lead single. The song was co-written by drum and bass musicians Adam F and Fresh. "Miracles" achieved moderate airplay on the radio and peaked at number 10 on the UK Singles Chart.
"Heart" is a song by English synth-pop duo Pet Shop Boys from their second studio album, Actually (1987). It was released as the album's fourth and final single on 21 March 1988 by Parlophone. The song topped the UK Singles Chart for three weeks in April 1988, becoming the duo's fourth and final chart-topper to date in the United Kingdom. Its music video was directed by Jack Bond and filmed in Yugoslavia. The group had initially written the song for Madonna, though they never asked her to record it, instead keeping it for themselves.
"Lovelight" is a song written and originally performed by Lewis Taylor for his 2002 album, Stoned, Part I. In 2006, the song was covered by British singer Robbie Williams. His version was produced by Mark Ronson and was released as the second single from his seventh solo album, Rudebox, on 13 November 2006. Williams' version reached number eight on the UK Singles Chart and became a top-10 hit in five other European countries.
"Close My Eyes" is an electronic song from Dutch techno and trance music DJ and producer Sander van Doorn. The song features Robbie Williams and production by Pet Shop Boys and Chris Zippel. The remix is of the original version of the song called "We're the Pet Shop Boys", a track recorded by Robbie Williams, featuring Pet Shop Boys, from his album Rudebox. The track peaked at number five on the U.S. Billboard Hot Dance Club Songs chart. An official music video exists.
Reality Killed the Video Star is the eighth solo studio album by English singer-songwriter Robbie Williams, released in November 2009. The album was produced by Trevor Horn and recorded between September 2008 and August 2009 in London and Los Angeles. It debuted in the top ten of 22 national album charts worldwide, and has received varying reviews from music critics. It incorporates elements of pop rock, dance-rock, alternative rock and adult contemporary music. Reality Killed the Video Star was viewed by critics and fans as being Williams' "comeback album" after the relative failure of his 2006 release, Rudebox.
"Bodies" is a song by English recording artist Robbie Williams. It was released on 12 October 2009 by EMI as the lead single from his eighth studio album Reality Killed the Video Star (2009). It received its premiere on The Chris Moyles Show on BBC Radio 1 after an interview with Williams on 4 September 2009 at 8 am. It is Williams' first single release as a solo artist since "She's Madonna" in March 2007.
Rudebox is the seventh studio album by English singer-songwriter Robbie Williams, released on 23 October 2006 in the United Kingdom. It features two guest appearances from the Pet Shop Boys. The album was produced by a variety of producers including: Mark Ronson, Soul Mekanik, Pet Shop Boys and Jerry Meehan.
"Rudebox" is song by English musician Robbie Williams from his seventh studio album of the same name (2006). It interpolates the 1987 song "Boops " by Sly and Robbie. The single was released on 4 September 2006, although download purchases allowed it to reach number 30 on the UK Singles Chart on 3 September. After the release of the CD single, it ascended 26 places to number four, selling 24,821 copies.
"Vocal" is a song by English synth-pop duo Pet Shop Boys from their twelfth studio album, Electric (2013). It was released on 3 June 2013 as the album's second single.
"Thursday" is a song by English synth-pop duo Pet Shop Boys, featuring vocals from English singer and rapper Example. It was released on 4 November 2013 as the fourth single from the Pet Shop Boys' twelfth studio album, Electric (2013). The song reached number 61 on the UK Singles Chart and is the highest-charting single from the album. The accompanying music video was filmed in Shanghai, China.
Super is the thirteenth studio album by English synth-pop duo Pet Shop Boys. It was released on 1 April 2016 on the band's own label, x2, through Kobalt Label Services. It was released digitally and on physical formats including vinyl and compact disc. The album debuted at number three on the UK Albums Chart. Lead single "The Pop Kids" reached number one on the UK Physical Singles Chart and narrowly missed out on the top 100 of the main chart.
{{cite AV media notes}}
: CS1 maint: others in cite AV media (notes) (link)