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You Can Dance
You Can Dance is the first remix album by American singer and songwriter Madonna. It was released on November 16, 1987 in the UK and November 17, 1987 in the US by Sire Records. The album contains remixes of tracks from her first three studio albums—Madonna (1983), Like a Virgin (1984) and True Blue (1986)—and a new track, "Spotlight". In the 1980s, remixing was still a new concept. The mixes on You Can Dance exhibited a number of typical mixing techniques. Instrumental passages were lengthened to increase the time for dancing and vocal phrases were repeated and subjected to multiple echoes. The album cover denoted Madonna's continuous fascination with Hispanic culture.
After its release, You Can Dance received generally positive reviews from critics, some of whom noted how the already known songs appeared to them in a complete new structure, calling it an essential album to be played at parties. You Can Dance was a commercial success, earning a platinum certification from the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) for shipment of a million copies, and reaching the top twenty of the Billboard 200. It reached the top ten of the album charts of France, Japan, Netherlands, New Zealand, Norway and the United Kingdom.
It went on to sell five million copies worldwide, making it the second best-selling remix album of all time, behind only Blood on the Dance Floor from Michael Jackson. "Spotlight" was the only commercial single released from the album, exclusively in Japan. However, the song was released promotionally in the United States, and due to radio play, the song peaked at number 32 on the US Billboard Hot 100 Airplay chart. You Can Dance has been credited for setting the standard with remix albums afterward, both in terms of concept and commercial success on record charts.
In October 1986, Sire Records announced that a 6-track EP called You Can Dance would be released a month or so before Christmas of that year, and would feature the new track "Spotlight" alongside remixes of five other previously released songs. However, the following month, the release was postponed, with Sire opting to continue promotion of Madonna's third studio album True Blue (1986). Billboard reported that the release was "still in the production stages" and that it would likely see a release in the spring of 1987. Billboard also confirmed which remixes would be featured on the release and added that a non-remixed song from Madonna (1983) would also be included, which was "likely" to be "Physical Attraction". The album was finally released in November 1987 by Warner Bros. Records and Sire Records.
You Can Dance was Madonna's first retrospective release and was aimed at the dance segment of her audience. By the mid-eighties, post-disco dance music was extremely popular and the concept of remix was widely regarded as a new direction of music. Improvements in studio technologies meant the possibility of shaping a song in new ways after it had been recorded. A particular vocal phrase could be endlessly copied, repeated, chopped up, transposed up and down in pitch and given more echo, reverberation, treble or bass.
"The first mix I did for her was 'True Blue.' [...] A month or two months later, Craig Kostich (then-Head of Dance Music at Warner Bros. Records) called and said, 'How would you like to mix 'Into the Groove' for You Can Dance?' I was, like, jumping-up-and-down excited for that."
Six of Madonna's previously released tracks were chosen for the release: "Holiday", "Everybody" and "Physical Attraction" from Madonna (1983), "Into the Groove" and "Over and Over" from Like a Virgin (1984), and "Where's the Party" from True Blue (1986). Along with the previously released tracks, the never-before released song "Spotlight" was included as the album's opening track. Written by Madonna, Stephen Bray and Curtis Hudson, "Spotlight" was originally recorded during the True Blue recording sessions. You Can Dance was also the first North American-released Madonna album that contained "Into the Groove", which was only included on international reissues of Like a Virgin in 1985.
Sequencing for the album was provided by Madonna's old friend and producer John "Jellybean" Benitez. Benitez also provided remix production for the songs "Spotlight" and "Holiday". Benitez said that he had always wanted to remix "Holiday". Shep Pettibone remixed "Where's The Party" and "Into the Groove" on You Can Dance and had previously remixed Madonna's 1986 single "True Blue" for its single release. Pettibone said that he was "overjoyed" to have been asked to remix "Into the Groove", noting: "When I was mixing 'True Blue', I was wishing it could be 'Into the Groove'". Of the seven tracks on You Can Dance, "Physical Attraction" was the only song that was not remixed for the release.
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You Can Dance
You Can Dance is the first remix album by American singer and songwriter Madonna. It was released on November 16, 1987 in the UK and November 17, 1987 in the US by Sire Records. The album contains remixes of tracks from her first three studio albums—Madonna (1983), Like a Virgin (1984) and True Blue (1986)—and a new track, "Spotlight". In the 1980s, remixing was still a new concept. The mixes on You Can Dance exhibited a number of typical mixing techniques. Instrumental passages were lengthened to increase the time for dancing and vocal phrases were repeated and subjected to multiple echoes. The album cover denoted Madonna's continuous fascination with Hispanic culture.
After its release, You Can Dance received generally positive reviews from critics, some of whom noted how the already known songs appeared to them in a complete new structure, calling it an essential album to be played at parties. You Can Dance was a commercial success, earning a platinum certification from the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) for shipment of a million copies, and reaching the top twenty of the Billboard 200. It reached the top ten of the album charts of France, Japan, Netherlands, New Zealand, Norway and the United Kingdom.
It went on to sell five million copies worldwide, making it the second best-selling remix album of all time, behind only Blood on the Dance Floor from Michael Jackson. "Spotlight" was the only commercial single released from the album, exclusively in Japan. However, the song was released promotionally in the United States, and due to radio play, the song peaked at number 32 on the US Billboard Hot 100 Airplay chart. You Can Dance has been credited for setting the standard with remix albums afterward, both in terms of concept and commercial success on record charts.
In October 1986, Sire Records announced that a 6-track EP called You Can Dance would be released a month or so before Christmas of that year, and would feature the new track "Spotlight" alongside remixes of five other previously released songs. However, the following month, the release was postponed, with Sire opting to continue promotion of Madonna's third studio album True Blue (1986). Billboard reported that the release was "still in the production stages" and that it would likely see a release in the spring of 1987. Billboard also confirmed which remixes would be featured on the release and added that a non-remixed song from Madonna (1983) would also be included, which was "likely" to be "Physical Attraction". The album was finally released in November 1987 by Warner Bros. Records and Sire Records.
You Can Dance was Madonna's first retrospective release and was aimed at the dance segment of her audience. By the mid-eighties, post-disco dance music was extremely popular and the concept of remix was widely regarded as a new direction of music. Improvements in studio technologies meant the possibility of shaping a song in new ways after it had been recorded. A particular vocal phrase could be endlessly copied, repeated, chopped up, transposed up and down in pitch and given more echo, reverberation, treble or bass.
"The first mix I did for her was 'True Blue.' [...] A month or two months later, Craig Kostich (then-Head of Dance Music at Warner Bros. Records) called and said, 'How would you like to mix 'Into the Groove' for You Can Dance?' I was, like, jumping-up-and-down excited for that."
Six of Madonna's previously released tracks were chosen for the release: "Holiday", "Everybody" and "Physical Attraction" from Madonna (1983), "Into the Groove" and "Over and Over" from Like a Virgin (1984), and "Where's the Party" from True Blue (1986). Along with the previously released tracks, the never-before released song "Spotlight" was included as the album's opening track. Written by Madonna, Stephen Bray and Curtis Hudson, "Spotlight" was originally recorded during the True Blue recording sessions. You Can Dance was also the first North American-released Madonna album that contained "Into the Groove", which was only included on international reissues of Like a Virgin in 1985.
Sequencing for the album was provided by Madonna's old friend and producer John "Jellybean" Benitez. Benitez also provided remix production for the songs "Spotlight" and "Holiday". Benitez said that he had always wanted to remix "Holiday". Shep Pettibone remixed "Where's The Party" and "Into the Groove" on You Can Dance and had previously remixed Madonna's 1986 single "True Blue" for its single release. Pettibone said that he was "overjoyed" to have been asked to remix "Into the Groove", noting: "When I was mixing 'True Blue', I was wishing it could be 'Into the Groove'". Of the seven tracks on You Can Dance, "Physical Attraction" was the only song that was not remixed for the release.