You’re at the first school dance of your life. Mingling with your friends, acting like an idiot and busting out your silliest dance moves, the mood instantly changes when it’s time for the slow dance. Although you’re shy, your buddies goad you into dancing with this fat girl named Heather. As you move back and forth, she redirects your hands so they’re not around her upper back region, but almost on her butt. Somewhat horrified and an equal measure proud of yourself, you manage to complete the dance. Heather looks at you longingly, while you wish that her hot friend April had asked you to dance with her.
I’d imagine a lot of these types of scenarios occurred throughout the country in the spring of ’85 when Crazy for You was a hit. It’s almost tailor made for those romantic clinches and slow dances. Madonna’s voice is tentative, unsure as the song pulses gently. “Two by two, their bodies become one/I see you in the smoky air/Can’t you feel the weight of my stare”. It’s practically cinematic, which I guess makes sense considering it came from a movie-the largely forgotten Vision Quest.
This song marched up the charts in competition with one of Madge’s best known (and ultimately forgettable) hits, Material Girl. Crazy for You won the battle, peaking at #1 to Material Girl‘s#3. It remains one of Madonna’s best vocal performances to this day-the song got her nominated for her first-ever Grammy (she lost to Whitney Houston). More importantly, it was one of the first songs that got the general public thinking that maybe this chick might not be just another run of the mill flash in the pan disco singer.
