Madonna (Madonna album)
Madonna (retitled Madonna: The First Album for the 1985 re-release) is the debut album by American singer Madonna, released on July 27, 1983 by Sire Records. After having established herself as a singer in downtown New York City, Madonna was signed by Sire president Seymour Stein, due to the success of her debut single, "Everybody" (1982). She became the sole writer for most of the album's tracks, and chose Reggie Lucas as its primary producer. Unhappy with Lucas's production outputs, she invited John "Jellybean" Benitez to complete the album, who remixed three tracks and produced "Holiday".
Madonna (entertainer)
The first two projects released simultaneously from the venture were Madonna's fifth studio album, "Erotica", and her coffee table book, "Sex". Consisting of sexually provocative and explicit images, photographed by Steven Meisel, the book received strong negative reaction from the media and the general public, but sold 1.5 million copies at $50 each in a matter of days. The widespread backlash overshadowed "Erotica", which ended up as her lowest selling album at the time. Despite positive reviews, it became her first studio album since her debut album not to score any chart-topper in the U.S. The album entered the "Billboard" 200 at number two and yielded the Hot 100 top-ten hits "Erotica" and "Deeper and Deeper". Madonna continued her provocative imagery in the 1993 erotic thriller, "Body of Evidence", a film which contained scenes of sadomasochism and bondage. It was poorly received by critics. She also starred in the film "Dangerous Game", which was released straight to video in North America. "The New York Times" described the film as "angry and painful, and the pain feels real."
In September 1993, Madonna embarked on The Girlie Show World Tour, in which she dressed as a whip-cracking dominatrix surrounded by topless dancers. In Puerto Rico she rubbed the island's flag between her legs on stage, resulting in outrage among the audience. In March 1994, she appeared as a guest on the "Late Show with David Letterman", using profanity that required censorship on television, and handing Letterman a pair of her panties and asking him to smell it. The releases of her sexually explicit book, album and film, and the aggressive appearance on Letterman all made critics question Madonna as a sexual renegade. Critics and fans reacted negatively, who commented that "she had gone too far" and that her career was over.