Maps of Music

True Blue (1986)

Where the lyrics of True Blue take you, and where it was really made.

The inner sleeve of True Blue has no photographs at all, only production credits and song lyrics.

Key places

Recording site linked to True Blue (1986)

Recording site Channel (Los Angeles) — Recording location linked to True Blue in records. Madonna recorded the album in 1985 and 1986. Google Maps · Apple Maps

How to get there: See the map for directions.

Album story

Overview

• True Blue: third studio album by Madonna
• Released 30 June 1986 by Sire Records
• Madonna had greater creative control over this album than over Like a Virgin
• Aimed at a broader, more mature audience than her earlier records
• Madonna co-wrote and co-produced every track, a first in her career
• Main themes: love, romance, marriage, and devotion, partly drawn from her marriage to Sean Penn

Background

• Preceded by Like a Virgin (1984), which gave her her first number-one album in the US and several other countries
• Met Sean Penn on the set of the 'Material Girl' video; they began dating in February 1985
• Married Penn on her twenty-seventh birthday, 16 August, after about six months of casual dating
• Newlyweds co-starred in Shanghai Surprise (1986), which was a critical and commercial failure
• Met Patrick Leonard during the 1985 Virgin Tour, where he was musical director

Recording

• Recorded in 1985 and 1986 with Patrick Leonard and Stephen Bray
• Development began in December 1985 and was complete by April 1986
• Madonna worked separately with Leonard and Bray, except once when all three wrote 'Where's the Party' together
• Process was informal: Leonard usually developed a piano idea, and Madonna wrote and sang the lyrics
• The pair often completed one song per day

Cover

• Photographed by Herb Ritts, who had earlier worked with Madonna on the Desperately Seeking Susan poster
• Singer shown in profile against a sky-blue background
• Jeri Heiden made the final blue-toned, hand-tinted version from a black-and-white photograph
• Title named after one of Penn's favorite expressions

Sources: en.wikipedia.org

Tracklist

Sources: musicbrainz.org

Artist

Formation

• Madonna Louise Ciccone, born August 16, 1958, in Bay City, Michigan, is an American singer, songwriter, record producer, and actress.
• Raised in the Detroit suburbs of Pontiac and Avon Township; moved to New York City in 1978 to pursue dance.
• Performed as a drummer, guitarist, and vocalist in the rock bands Breakfast Club and Emmy before signing with Sire Records.
• Debut album Madonna (1983) brought her fame.

Career

• Like a Virgin (1984), True Blue (1986), and The Immaculate Collection (1990) are among the best-selling albums of all time.
• Rolling Stone ranked Like a Prayer (1989), Ray of Light (1998), and Music (2000) among the greatest albums of all time.
• Known for continual reinvention and for works addressing social, political, sexual, and religious themes.
• Acting credits include Desperately Seeking Susan (1985), Dick Tracy (1990), A League of Their Own (1992), and Evita (1996), for which she won a Golden Globe.
• Founded the entertainment company Maverick (1992–2009), including Maverick Records.
• Is the best-selling female music artist of all time and the first female performer to accumulate US$1 billion from concerts.
• Inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 2008, in her first year of eligibility.

Sources: en.wikipedia.org

Reception

At release

• Music critics acclaimed the album on release, especially for Madonna's maturity as a vocalist, songwriter, and producer
• Billboard: said she had progressed as both a writer and a producer
• Robert Hilburn in the Los Angeles Times: said it was not revolutionary, but her voice had matured
• Alan Niester in The Globe and Mail: described her vocals as huskier and more full-bodied
• Bill Henderson in the Orlando Sentinel: said the album overshadowed Like a Virgin with its mature, timeless sound
• Stephen Holden in The New York Times: critiqued the lack of sleek surfaces, but found her singing had more heart
• Wayne Robbins in Newsday: described it as a record with terrific tunes and no filler
• Don McLeese in the Chicago Sun-Times: called it a valiant attempt to expand her range, but less fun than her earlier records
• Jim Zebora in the Record-Journal: praised 'Live to Tell' but called the rest barely competent post-disco
• Ken Tucker in The Philadelphia Inquirer: called it boring and disappointing, singling out 'Papa Don't Preach'

Reappraisal

• Stephen Thomas Erlewine in AllMusic: said it was one of the great dance-pop albums
• El Hunt in the Evening Standard: called it the most polished of her first three albums
• Al Shipley in Spin: said the singles suggested her effort to be taken more seriously, but the album was the least fun of her 1980s releases
• Robert Christgau in his Record Guide (1990): described it as an uneven product
• Mary Von Aue in Stereogum: said the singles were well executed while the rest of the album sounded disjointed
• Jim Farber in Entertainment Weekly (2001): praised 'La Isla Bonita' and called 'Live to Tell' her best ballad to date

Records

• US Billboard 200: debuted at number 29, then reached number one in its fifth week
• Stayed at number one for five consecutive weeks
• RIAA: septuple platinum, shipments over seven million copies
• Topped the albums chart in 28 countries, a record at the time
• Best-selling album of 1986 worldwide and best-selling album of the 1980s by a female artist
• UK Albums Chart: first album by an American artist to debut at number one, six weeks at number one
• Sales exceeding 25 million copies worldwide
• Brazil: over one million copies sold overall

Sources: en.wikipedia.org

Trivia

• The title came from one of Sean Penn's favorite expressions, which Madonna described as representing a 'very pure vision of love'
• The inner sleeve has no photographs, showing only production credits and song lyrics
• 'Live to Tell' began as an instrumental for the score of Paramount's Fire with Fire (1986); after Paramount rejected it, Patrick Leonard asked Madonna to write lyrics
• 'Open Your Heart' was first titled 'Follow Your Heart' and intended for Cyndi Lauper; The Temptations declined it after hearing Madonna was interested
• 'Spotlight' was recorded but left off the final track list, and later appeared on the remix album You Can Dance (1987)
• The 2021 thirty-fifth anniversary edition was the first release in Madonna's 'Silver Collection' reissue series

Sources: en.wikipedia.org

Maps of Ages ↗ (mapsofages.com)

Privacy · Contact