Madonna » Songs » Erotica

Erotica was first single from Madonna's 1992 album of the same name, Erotica. Written by Madonna, Shep Pettibone and Anthony Shimkin and produced by Madonna and Shep Pettibone the single was released in October, 1992.

There were recorded three different versions of Erotica: the original demo, the album version and the song Erotic, which was created especially for the book Sex, 1992. The single was extremely successful; it was called the “monster single”. In the beginning the one can hear scratchy and muffled beat that lasts around eight seconds, before the deep and dark beat creeps in. The peak of the song is at the moment as Madonna screams "I like to a different kind of....aaaah!" The beat then goes down and Madonna intonates "Erotic...a." The album version of Erotica contains a sample of the 1974 hit single Jungle Boogie, performed by Kool and the Gang.

The single Erotica was Madonna’s sexually-charged anthem and the clip for this single performed the same tendency. This music video became one of Madonna's most infamous videos; it was fashion photographer Fabien Baron who directed it. Cause of clip’s highly charged sexual content it became Madonna’s second video to be banned from airing by MTV channel. But eventually the video was ranked #16 on VH1's "100 Greatest videos".

As the most part of Madonna’s songs, Erotica became an international blockbuster and topped the charts worldwide. Erotica charted at number 3 on the Billboard Hot 100. And totally it spent 18 weeks there. It had debuted in the Hot 100 Airplay chart, peaking at position of number two. In other countries the single was very popular too. It reached peak positions and deserved fans’ hearts in Australia, Italy, Japan, Sweden, the United Kingdom and many others. RIAA certified the single Erotica Gold.

Madonna included Erotica in her 1993 tour The Girlie Show as the opening song. It was William Orbit who created a remix of Erotica and later they worked together again on Madonna’s 1998 album Ray of Light. Well after Madonna and Stuart Price composed the remix of Erotica for Madonna's 2006 Confessions Tour. It can be described as a bend of demo chorus and featured musical excerpts from Madonna’s super hit Everybody.

Due to songs’ very candid plot Madonna’s albums suffered along with some critical acclaim. However, with hindsight, it’s evidence that this time was the turning point that changed Madonna's status from that of 80's pop diva to respected icon status.