Madonna -- Holiday

 

It took its sweet time but it's finally here...American Thanksgiving! Of course, on behalf of everyone at "Kayo Kyoku Plus" including Kayo Grace and Mr. Calico, I hope everyone down in America is having a Happy Thanksgiving with all of the trimmings. I realize that Kayo and her feline manager/pet are living in Canada and Japan, but heck, they seem to enjoy celebrating holidays all over.

As an appropriate holiday song on the weekly Reminiscings of Youth, I'm going with Madonna's "Holiday" from September 1983. I mentioned this song when I posted about her "Borderline" which came out several months later. And as I said there, it was often the time that my family were in the car driving around Toronto doing errands in the evening so we got to hear the old local radio station CFTR doing the "Top 6 at 6" countdown. Madonna's "Holiday" was often at the top of the list and at the time, I was like the many people who had thought that the late Bobby Caldwell, behind the amazing "What You Won't Do For Love", was black. I had assumed that Madonna herself was black after hearing "Holiday" many times.

So, cue ahead several months, and I would finally get to see Ms. Ciccone performing at what I think is "Top of the Pops" from the UK. I first saw three backup dancers prancing away on the stage and once I heard the singing, I started wondering where Madonna was. And then I find out that the young lady in the middle is singing away, and that was Madonna! Well, count me gobsmacked! That's how I made my first acquaintance with the Material Girl.

"Holiday" was created by Curtis Hudson and Lisa Stevens-Crowder with the producer being Jellybean Benitez as an antidote of sorts to all of the bad news that seemed to be infesting television at that time. Folks need a holiday and certainly we could all use a similar musical antidote right now. The song has always been upbeat and infectiously catchy with Madonna's plaintive vocals begging for that vacation in happier climes. The song reached No. 32 in Canada while in the States, "Holiday" got as high as No. 16. As one website put it, Madonna's classic is one of the most memorable songs of the 1980s up there with Rick Astley and Pet Shop Boys.

Now, what was also being released in the same month as "Holiday"? Well, the first of the three below came out on the same day as Madonna's tune.

Akina Nakamori -- Kinku （禁区）

Naoko Kawai -- Unbalance （ＵＮバランス）

Checkers -- Gizagiza Heart no Komori Uta （ギザギザハートの子守唄）