'Papa Don't Preach', despite the fact that the video won the 1987 MTV Video Award for 'Best Female Video' and aside from being a major hit cause some major controversy. The song and video cause an uproar in conservative corners for its portrayal of a young woman seeking her fathers love and understand after finding out she was pregnant and un-wed.

As with all of Madonna's songs and videos she was fond of adding the cinmatic flare and pushing everyone's buttons and stepping beyond the bounds of 'normal' behaviour. In the video, 'Open Your Heart', she played a peepshow dancer who befriends a young boy. One of the first signs that Madonna was fond of the 'Hispanic' culture, 'La Isal Bonita' she was portrayed as a devout Catholic Latina woman and her free-spirited alter ego. It was not the first time Madonna had hinted of her sexuality. She would later add religious iconography, gender archetypes and social issues to her work portfolio, which these concepts would follow her for years to come.

Madonna appeared with her husband, Sean Penn, in 1986 in a film called 'Shanghi Surprise' which the critics did their best to destroy. Madonna and Sean soon developed a reputation of hostility directed at the media due in part to increasing media interest and Sean's frequent and violent episodes with thepaparazzi. They were often refered to by the paparazzi as the 'Poison Penns.' Madonna's winning the 'Worst Actress' trophy at the Golden Raspberry Awards two years in a row for her roles in Shanghai and 'Who's That Girl' did not help matters. However I guess you could say every cloud has a silver linning as Madonna was given a Platinum certification for the soundtrack as 'Who's That Girl' was an international hit landing at position 1 and 'Causing A Commotion' position 2 on the charts.

'Who's That Girl Tour' that started in 1987, began Madonna's long association strong backup singers and dancers Donna DeLor, (a singer, dancer, and a backup singer) and Niki Haris (a successful solo performer, singer, dancer, and backing vocalist) which moved her closer to the more elaborately-staged theater-inspired concert shows she would become known for in the 1990's. The tour was a success but marked her first run-in with the Vatican. His holiness, The Pope, didn't do Madonna any favours as he tried depsperately, without success, to convince her Italian fans not to attend her performances while she was in Italy. Despite the Pope's intended demise of her success, she ended 1987 with a bang, releasing yet another Platinum-certified hit entitled, 'You Can Dance', an album which included one new song, 'Spotlight', becoming a Top 40 hit even though it was never released as a single. Again she would have to deal with the wrath of the Vatican regarding their outrage at the unveiling of a racy 13 foot Madonna statue in the Italian town of Pacentro.

Discography