Albums: Like a Virgin (1984), Celebration (2009)
Songwriters: Andrea LaRusso/Peggy Stanziale
Producer: Nile Rodgers

Proving once again that the outside contributions were, somewhat unfortunately, Like a Virgin’s best tracks, Dress You Up is - as any true Madonna fan will tell you - an overlooked classic. It sounds like the aural equivalent to Madonna’s onstage costumes for the Virgin Tour - playful, colourful, alluring, but very surface-level. But as with most pop music, to point out a lack of deeper meaning is to risk missing the point - the lush synths, alluring vocal melodies and Nile Rodgers’ blistering Prince-esque guitar solo are enjoyable and classy enough for it not to matter. Dress You Up’s lyrics are an especially perfect fit for Madonna’s image at the time (as with Like a Virgin and Material Girl - particularly impressive considering neither of those songs were originally written for her) - highlighting style and a taking a merely hinting approach to sexuality.

Yeah, the overall vibe I get is rather stylish and classy - but once upon a time, it was considered vulgar, even threatening. Dress You Up was included on the Parents Music Resource Center’s “Filthy Fifteen” list after future second lady Tipper Gore heard her daughter listening to what she considered overtly sexual lyrics. Which, like the entire PMRC series of events, sounds like a complete joke in hindsight. Compared to the inclusion of Prince’s far blunter (but equally, probably more brilliant) Darling Nikki on the list, it’s nothing - a far cry from Erotica, and it’s clear the entire endeavour was misguided anyway. Madonna’s inclusion and praise by Al Gore for the Live Earth concerts in 2007 was something of an amusing concession for the few paying attention who even recalled the PMRC’s existence. Just another case of Madonna outlasting a controversy and coming back even stronger for it.

Dress You Up is likely Madonna’s single most representative moment - certainly not of herself as an overall artist, but as a public figure whose adulation was driven largely by fans who could identify with her. In 1984 to 1985, particularly as she reached vast audiences on the Virgin Tour, she was, music aside, the popstar who’d created a comparatively streetwise, inexpensive yet highly individual style all her own. The end result was a myriad number of girls - never wearing the exact same clothing, but all looking identifiably “Madonna” without ever breaking the bank. When she sang “gonna dress you up in my love”, she might as well have been singing about the fashion results of being a Madonna fan.

But such a state of affairs could never last. As Madonna the idol toned down her overaccessorised, girlish image and made a very deliberate transition into a more timeless look, she would become Madonna the Icon - far more admired than imitated. Dress You Up marked the end of the beginning, with bigger things to follow.

There was never an official video, but a live version from the Virgin Tour was widely used as a promo. Even if it is a typical overdone ’80s stage production, it’s actually great - even as she struts around onstage, Madonna’s vocals are strong, no weaker than the studio recordings. However, the rather overdone costume - and the imitations by all the fans at the start - make it even clearer why she’d soon discard her early style.

…oh, and the recent Sticky & Sweet Tour version’s great too.