HOLIDAY

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"Holiday" is a song by American singer Madonna from her self-titled debut album. Released on September 7, 1983 by Sire Records, it later appeared remixed on the 1987 remix compilation You Can Dance and the 1990 greatest hits compilation The Immaculate Collection, and in its original form on the 2009 greatest hits album Celebration. Written by Curtis Hudson and Lisa Stevens ofPure Energy, the track was offered to Madonna by her producer John "Jellybean" Benitez when she was looking for a potential hit track to include in her debut album. After accepting the song, she and Jellybean worked on it and altered its composition by the addition of a piano solo performed by their friend, Fred Zarr.

"Holiday" features instrumentation from guitars, electronic handclaps, cowbell, and a synthesized string arrangement while talking about the universal sentiment of taking a holiday. Universally revered by critics, commercially, the song was Madonna's first hit single when it entered the top 20 of the Billboard Hot 100 while topping its dance chart. The song was also a crossover success, entering the top ten and top 40 of many European countries.

Madonna has performed "Holiday" on most of her tours—most recently at the 2009 leg of theSticky & Sweet Tour. The song is generally included as a part of the encore or as the closing song of the show. Different performances of the song are included in the recorded releases of her tours. Cover versions by a number of artists have been released, and it has also appeared in the soundtrack of sitcoms like Will & Grace.

In the United Kingdom, "Holiday" has been released three times as a single; in January 1984, reaching number six, re-issued in August 1985 reaching number 2 (only being kept from number one by her own "Into the Groove" single). It was re-released with new artwork in 1991 to promoteThe Immaculate Collection with a limited edition EP titled The Holiday Collection, which contained tracks omitted from the compilation; this version reached number five.

In 1983, Madonna was recording her eponymous debut album with Warner Bros producer Reggie Lucas, after Sire Records green signaled it when her first single "Everybody" became a club hit.[2]However, she did not have enough material for the album.[3] Lucas brought two new songs to the project and John "Jellybean" Benitez, a DJ at Funhouse disco was called to remix the available tracks. In the meantime, due to conflict of interest, Madonna's collaborator on "Everybody", Steve Bray had sold another song "Ain't No Big Deal" to an act on another label, rendering it unavailable for Madonna's project.[3] It was Benitez who discovered a new song written by Curtis Hudson andLisa Stevens of the pop group Pure Energy.[4] The song, titled "Holiday", had been turned down by Phyllis Hyman and Mary Wilson, formerly of The Supremes.[5] Jellybean and Madonna sent the demo to their friend, Fred Zarr so he could embellish the arrangement and program the song with his synthesizer magic. After the vocals were added by Madonna, Benitez spent four days and tried to enhance the commercial appeal of the track before the April 1983 deadline.[3][5] Just before it was completed, Madonna and Benitez met Fred Zarr at Sigma Sound in Manhattan [1] where Zarr added the now familiar piano solo towards the end of the track.[4]

Initially it was decided that "Lucky Star" would be released as a single; instead "Holiday" was released in the US when the latter became a dance hit.[3] The original coverart for "Holiday" did not carry Madonna's picture since Sire did not want people to find out that she was not a R&B artist. Instead it carried the picture of a train station and an engine.[3] "Holiday" was later remixed in duband groove versions for the 1987 remix album You Can Dance[6] It also appeared in her first greatest hits compilation, The Immaculate Collection, in a remixed and shortened form.[7] In 2005, during an interview with CBS News, Madonna admitted that "Holiday" was her favourite among all her songs.[8]