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Madonna : Biography

In 1980 Madonna formed 'Emmy' with her former boyfriend, Stephen Bray whom she later broke up with to write and produce a number of solo disco and dance songs that would bring her local fame in New York dance clubs, especially Danceteria, (a specific notable nightclub located in New York City which operated from 1982 until 1986. It was located at 30 West 21st Street.) and Kansas Kansas.
Mark Kamins (a popular NY DJ/Producer) came across Madonna's demo and passed it on to Sire Records. It was during this time that Madonna landed her first starring film role, (a part in a low-budget independent film, 'A Certain Sacrifice' which would later prove as another skeleton to haunt her further down the road.)

Finally in 1982 Madonna signed with Sire records for a single deal, paying her $5,000. The name of her first single was, 'Everybody', which was produced by Mark Kamins. 'Everybody' peaked at number 3 on the Billboard Dance chart as well as gaining recognition on R&B radio station. This lead caused some people to assume that Madonna was an African American artist. Sire Records were concerned if they revealed that she was white, they would loose her 'black' audience (which was huge at the time) so there were no pictures of her on the sleeve of the records.

Madonna's second single, 'Burning Up' also reached number 3 on the Billboard Hot Dance/Club Play Chart, however she would not establish herself until the release of her third single, 'Holiday' which was released in July 1983. 'Holiday' would later hit number 16 on the Billboard Hot 100 chart in January 1984 and would become her first top hit single in several countries.

In July, 1983, at long last, Madonna released her first album, 'Madonna' (produced by Reggie Lucas and John 'Jellybean' Benitez of whom Madonna had a brief affair) which peaked at number 8 on the Billboard Top 200 Albums chart and received five platinum certifications from the RIAA. 'Madonna' was composed of her first three singles as well as the future top 10 hits, 'Borderline' and 'Lucky Star'. At first, 'Madonna' did not look like it was going to be a big hit but got some big boosts from her music videos which would reward her with nationwide exposure. MTV was a new cable channel and they played her videos over and over.

Recognizing a good thing when they saw it, MTV aggressively marketed Madonna's image as a playful, sexy combination of punk and pop. She and her 'elaborate music videos' soon became permanent features on the music channels.

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