Album: Who’s That Girl (1987)
Songwriters/producers: Madonna/Stephen Bray

In2 the Groove. It has to be said - in the same key, with the referential “and get into the groove” lyrics, you can even sing one over the other and they’ll fit together perfectly. The thinly veiled calculation behind Madonna and Stephen Bray essentially rewriting the vastly successful Into the Groove is arguably not as odd as the fact that an entire album, with its more mature sound and image, came between the two songs. Causing a Commotion subsequently feels more like a regression than a sequel - which is perhaps true of the Who’s That Girl era as a whole, but at least the other two singles, though slightly subpar, treaded new ground. With that said, Causing a Commotion is not a bad song at all - but its sheer similarities to Into the Groove mean it’ll always be rightfully heard as the inferior.

(and thankfully it’d seem Madonna learned something from this - Vogue and Deeper and Deeper share a similar relationship, but are far more distinct)

Ironically, Causing a Commotion did lead the way in one aspect - its bassline shares a remarkable similarity to both Vogue and the Shep Pettibone remix of Express Yourself (featured on the video, the Immaculate Collection and Celebration).

(Causing a Commotion opens part 1 of, erm, the entire film - how else are you going to watch it?)

It’s easy to forget the song’s role as the opening theme of Who’s That Girl - and at least in context, it does a great job soundtracking Nikki Finn’s cartoon backstory. It never had an official music video, but the extended, far more energetic live version from Ciao Italia - Live From Italy was used in place.