Songoftheday 7/16/15 - When you see her say a prayer and kiss your heart goodbye...

"Who's That Girl" - Madonna
from the album Who's That Girl (Original Soundtrack) (1987)
Billboard Hot 100 peak: #1 (one week)
Weeks in the Top-40: 11

Today's SOTD is by Madonna, whose third album True Blue had cemented her place as the most popular female singer of the decade, with five top-5 hits including three #1 singles in "Live To Tell", "Papa Don't Preach", and "Open Your Heart". In 1987, not learning her lesson from the disaster of a film of Shanghai Surprise (with husband Sean Penn no less), Madge went to work on her fifth movie, what would eventually be called Who's That Girl. A comedy where she played a framed ex-con out to get revenge in Philadelphia, the movie was completely silly and tanked at the cinemas, but the soundtrack, which included four songs from its star, made up for it. The title track and first single, "Who's That Girl", was co-written with Patrick Leonard, who worked with her on most of her True Blue album, and sonically was akin to their "La Isla Bonita" groove. And no matter how the movie did Madonna could do no wrong on the radio or with her music fans (like me who gobbled up the cassingle)...

"Who's That Girl" became Madonna's sixth #1 pop hit in American in August of 1987. Tellingly, while the single didn't do so well on the Dance (#44) and R&B (#78) charts in Billboard, the record climbed all the way to #5 on their Adult Contemporary (or "easy listening") radio list. The song also topped the chart in the UK (Britain), Canada, Ireland, Italy, the Netherlands, and Belgium, and top-10 just about anywhere else.

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Madonna named her 1987 tour after the song, which I memorably saw in Chicago...

Up tomorrow: a transformed acid-rock band isn't done yet.