Madonna - Crazy For You (1985)

"Crazy for You" is a song recorded by American singer Madonna for the film Vision Quest (1985). It was released on March 2, ...

"Crazy for You" is a song recorded by American singer Madonna for the film Vision Quest (1985). It was released on March 2, 1985 by Geffen Records as the lead single from the film's soundtrack album. Film producers Jon Peters and Peter Guber, along with music director Phil Ramone, decided to use Madonna after listening to her previous recordings, employing John Bettis and Jon Lind to write the song. After reading the script of the film, Bettis and Lind wrote the song about the situation in which the lead characters meet at a nightclub. Initial recording sessions did not impress Bettis and Lind, and they felt that "Crazy for You" would be dropped from the soundtrack. However, a new version was recorded to their liking.

John "Jellybean" Benitez was the record producer of "Crazy for You", and it was a challenge for him, as previously he was associated with recording dance-pop songs only. Initially Warner Bros. Records did not want the song to be released as a single, since they believed that it would take away the attention from Madonna's second studio album Like a Virgin (1984). In the end, Peters and Guber convinced Warner officials to greenlight its release. "Crazy for You" ushered a new musical direction for Madonna, as she had not previously released a ballad as a single. The track features instrumentation from snare drums, harp, bass synthesizer and electric guitar. Lyrically, the song speaks of sexual desire between two lovers and consists of innuendos.

"Crazy for You" received positive response from music critics and earned Madonna her first Grammy Award nomination in the Best Female Pop Vocal Performance category. The song became Madonna's second number-one single on the U.S. Billboard Hot 100, and reached the top of the charts of Australia and Canada. It also peaked at number two in Ireland, New Zealand and the United Kingdom, where it was released twice, in 1985 and 1991. Madonna has performed "Crazy for You" during The Virgin Tour in 1985, Re-Invention World Tour in 2004 and in some dates of Rebel Heart Tour in 2016. The performance from The Virgin Tour was included in the home video release on VHS and LaserDisc. "Crazy for You" has been covered by a number of artists. It later appeared on the compilation albums The Immaculate Collection (1990), Something to Remember (1995), and Celebration (2009).

Chart performance

In the United States, "Crazy for You" became Madonna's second number-one single on the Billboard Hot 100. The song debuted on the chart at number 55 on the issue dated March 2, 1985. After six weeks, the song reached the top of the chart, replacing "We Are the World" by USA for Africa. "Crazy for You" was the second number-one song for Bettis as a songwriter, after "Top of the World" by The Carpenters (1973). With "Crazy for You", Bettis was in doubt whether the song would reach the top, after it was stuck at number two for three weeks, behind "We Are the World". Both he and Lind commented, "If you gotta lose to something, it might as well be 'We Are the World'. Luckily enough, the final week of the upsurge of the record, we topped 'We Are the World', which lets you know how hot the song and how hot the artist [Madonna] was."

"Crazy for You" was certified gold by the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) on July 16, 1985, for shipment of one million copies of the single across United States—the requirement for a gold single prior to 1989. The song reached number two on the Adult Contemporary Singles (behind "Rhythm of the Night" by DeBarge), and 80 on the Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs chart. It placed at nine on the year-end chart for 1985, with Madonna becoming the top pop artist for the year. In Canada, the song debuted at number 70 on the RPM issue dated March 16, 1985. On its eleventh week on the chart, the song reached the top position. It was present on the chart for a total of 25 weeks and was ranked seventh on the RPM Year-end chart for 1985. A music video was released, featuring Madonna singing the song in a night-club. The video was included in Celebration: The Video Collection, released in 2009.

"Crazy for You" reached number one in Australia and displaced another Madonna release, "Angel"/"Into the Groove", from the top spot on the Kent Music Report chart, making Madonna one of the few acts in Australian chart history to replace themselves at the number-one spot. After the song was released in the United Kingdom on June 8, 1985, it debuted at number 25 and peaked at number two. In February 1991, the song was re-released and again reached a peak of number two. "Crazy for You" was certified gold by the British Phonographic Industry (BPI) for shipment of 500,000 copies across United Kingdom. Such was Madonna's popularity that when Vision Quest was released in home video in the UK, it was renamed as Crazy for You, to cash in on her success. According to the Official Charts Company, the song has sold 781,900 copies there as of August 2016. "Crazy for You" was also a number-two hit in Ireland and New Zealand. The song reached the top 20 in Belgium, Europe, Japan, Netherlands, Spain, Sweden and Switzerland and top 40 in Austria, France and Germany.