MADONNA. [ HOLIDAY ] (1983)

FROM THE ALBUM " MADONNA"
Released September 7, 1983.
Genre
Dance-poppost-disco.
Songwriter(s)
Curtis HudsonLisa Stevens.

"Holiday" is a song recorded by American singer Madonna for her eponymous debut album, Madonna (1983). Sire Records released it as the album's third single on September 7, 1983. Written by Curtis Hudson and Lisa Stevens of Pure Energy, the track was offered to Madonna by her producer John "Jellybean" Benitez when she was looking for a potential hit track to include on her debut album. After accepting the song, she and Benitez worked on it and altered its composition by the addition of a piano solo performed by their friend, Fred Zarr. "Holiday" features instrumentation from guitars, electronic handclaps, a cowbell, and a synthesized string arrangement, while its lyrics speak about the universal sentiment of taking a holiday.

Receiving highly positive reviews from critics, the song became Madonna's first mainstream hit single in the United States, peaking at number 16 on the Billboard Hot 100 and number one on the Dance Club Songs chart. It also became her first top-ten single in several countries, including Australia, Belgium, West Germany, Ireland, the Netherlands and the United Kingdom. Madonna has performed "Holiday" on most of her tours and it is generally included as a part of the encore. Different performances of the song are included in the recorded releases of her tours. "Holiday" has been covered by several artists and appeared in multiple television shows. In 2003, Q Magazine ranked "Holiday" number 88 in their list of the "1001 Best Songs Ever".
Madonna has performed "Holiday" on almost all of her tours, namely The Virgin Tour, Who's That Girl, Blond Ambition, The Girlie Show, Drowned World, Re-Invention, Sticky & Sweet Tour and Rebel Heart Tour. In 1984, Madonna performed Holiday on the hit dance show American Bandstand with Dick Clark.[ Madonna then added it to the set list of her 1985 Virgin Tour. It was performed as the second song of the tour. The same year she performed the song at the Live Aid benefit concert in Philadelphia in July.
The Who's That Girl World Tour in 1987 had Madonna performing "Holiday" as the last song of the tour. Madonna performed an energetic version of the song, signalling the celebratory and wholesome nature of the song's theme.[ She sang the final chorus twice, and on some dates asked the audience for a comb so that she could fix her hair and finished the performance. Two different performances are found in Ciao Italia: Live from Italy tour video filmed at Stadio Communale in Turin, Italy on September 4, 1987[and the Who's That Girl: Live in Japan tour video filmed at Korakuen Stadium in Tokyo, Japan on June 22, 1987.[51]