"Everybody" | ||||||||
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The 12" single cover of "Everybody"
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Single by Madonna | ||||||||
from the album Madonna | ||||||||
Released | October 6, 1982 | |||||||
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Genre | Post-disco | |||||||
Length | 4:57 | |||||||
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Writer(s) | Madonna | |||||||
Producer(s) | Mark Kamins | |||||||
Madonna singles chronology | ||||||||
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"Everybody" is the debut single by American singer Madonna from her eponymous debut studio album Madonna (1983). It was released on October 6, 1982 by Sire Records as her debut single. Madonna had recorded a demo of the song with Steve Bray. She urged DJ Mark Kamins, who played at her dance club, to play it. He was impressed by the song and took her to Sire Records, who signed her for a two-song deal. However, after the recording of the two singles was over, Sire executive Michael Rosenblatt was not impressed with the production of the other song and decided to release only "Everybody".
By incorporating R&B infused beats in the music and not including her image on the cover artwork, marketing for the song gave the impression of Madonna as a black artist. That impression did not last long as Madonna would later convince Sire executives to shoot a music video for the song. The low-budget video directed by Ed Steinberg showed Madonna and her friends in a club singing and dancing to the song. The video helped to further promote the song and Madonna as an artist.
Critically, "Everybody" did not receive any acclaim and failed to enter the official Billboard Hot 100 chart. It did, however, appear on the dance charts. The song helped Madonna achieve her first appearance in a dance magazine. She has performed "Everybody" live a number of times. It was first performed during The Virgin Tour, then as the final song of The Girlie Show World Tour, later on The MDNA Tour and most recently on the Rebel Heart Tour. The song was included in a remixed form on Madonna's 1987 remix album, You Can Dance, and on the deluxe edition of her 2009 compilation album, Celebration.
In 1982, the 24-year-old Madonna was living in New York and trying to set up her music career. She was joined by her boyfriend from Detroit, Steve Bray, who became the drummer of her band, The Breakfast Club, which generally played hard-rock music. After that, however, they abandoned playing songs in the hard-rock genre and got signed by a music management company called Gotham Records with the plan of pursuing a new musical direction. They decided to pursue the funk genre but the record company was not happy with their musical abilities, hence they were dropped, and Madonna and Bray left the band. Meanwhile, Madonna had written and developed some songs on her own. She carried rough tapes of three of the songs, namely "Everybody", "Ain't No Big Deal" and "Burning Up". At that time, she frequented the Danceteria nightclub in New York. It was there that Madonna convinced the DJ Mark Kamins to play "Everybody" for the crowd, and the song received a positive reaction. Kamins offered to get her a record deal with the understanding that he would produce the single. Kamins presented Madonna to his boss, Chris Blackwell who was the owner of Island Records, but Blackwell rejected her. Madonna finally went to Sire Records in 1982. Michael Rosenblatt, who worked at the artists and repertoire department of Sire, commented that,