Who is Madonna? The answer comes easy to tens of thousands of East Coast dance fans. Madonna
is the name behind the music of the runaway dance /R&B sensation of
the season. It’s safe to say that there isn’t a music-and-motion fan on
the Seaboard who isn’t familiar with the distinctive vocal stylings of
this remarkable new talent.
It’s more than a little fitting that Madonna,
her debut album on Sire Records should be a dancer’s delight. Dancing
was, after all, this Detroit native’s first artistic love. Trained in
the art from pre-high school days, she enrolled at the University of
Michigan to further her terpsichorean pursuits. She studied ballet,
modern and jazz dancing and performed with the college’s famed dance
company. Relocating to New Yorkin the late Seventies, she performed for a
two year period with both the Pearl Lange and Alvin Ailey Dance Troupes
before deciding to branch out artistically to find a medium more suited
to her concept of a total performer. With no real idea of what that direction might be, Madonna tried several different avenues, including acting, before setting her considerable talents to music. She was almost immediately singled out by the managers of international singing star Patrick Hernandez, perhaps best known for his world-wide hit, “Born To Be Alive.” Asked to move to Paris to take singing lessons, Madonna learned the music industry ropes as part of Hernadez’ touring entourage. Feeling events moving too slowly for her taste, however, she moved back to New York and began a lenghty apprendiceship performing in a number of local bands, teaching herself to play drums and later guitar and keyboards. It was during this period that Madonna also began writing her own material. Her experience on the New York club scene was less than totally satisfying. [...]
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