You Can Dance is the first remix album by American singer and songwriter Madonna. It was released on November 16, 1987, in the UK and November 17, 1987, in the US by Sire Records. The album contains remixes of tracks from her first three studio albums—Madonna (1983), Like a Virgin (1984) and True Blue (1986)—and a new track, "Spotlight". In the 1980s, remixing was still a new concept. The mixes on You Can Dance exhibited a number of typical mixing techniques. Instrumental passages were lengthened to increase the time for dancing and vocal phrases were repeated and subjected to multiple echoes. The album cover denoted Madonna's continuous fascination with Hispanic culture.
After its release, You Can Dance received generally positive reviews from critics, some of whom noted how the already known songs appeared to them in a complete new structure, calling it an essential album to be played at parties. You Can Dance was a commercial success, earning a platinum certification from the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) for shipment of a million copies, and reaching the top twenty of the Billboard 200. It reached the top ten of the album charts of France, Japan, Netherlands, New Zealand, Norway and the United Kingdom.
It went on to sell five million copies worldwide, making it the second best-selling remix album of all time, behind only Blood on the Dance Floor from Michael Jackson. "Spotlight" was the only commercial single released from the album, exclusively in Japan. However, the song was released promotionally in the United States, and due to radio play, the song peaked at number 32 on the US Billboard Hot 100 Airplay chart. You Can Dance has been credited for setting the standard with remix albums afterward, both in terms of concept and commercial success on record charts.
Background In October 1986, Sire Records announced that a 6-track EP called You Can Dance would be released a month or so before Christmas of that year, and would feature the new track "Spotlight" alongside remixes of five other previously released songs. However, the following month, the release was postponed, with Sire opting to continue promotion of Madonna's third studio album True Blue (1986). Billboard reported that the release was "still in the production stages" and that it would likely see a release in the spring of 1987. Billboard also confirmed which remixes would be featured on the release and added that a non-remixed song from Madonna (1983) would also be included, which was "likely" to be "Physical Attraction". The album was finally released in November 1987 by Warner Bros. Records and Sire Records.
You Can Dance was Madonna's first retrospective release and was aimed at the dance segment of her audience. By the mid-eighties, post-disco dance music was extremely popular and the concept of remix was widely regarded as a new direction of music. Improvements in studio technologies meant the possibility of shaping a song in new ways after it had been recorded. A particular vocal phrase could be endlessly copied, repeated, chopped up, transposed up and down in pitch and given more echo, reverberation, treble or bass.
Development
Six of Madonna's previously released tracks were chosen for the release: "Holiday", "Everybody" and "Physical Attraction" from Madonna (1983), "Into the Groove" and "Over and Over" from Like a Virgin (1984), and "Where's the Party" from True Blue (1986). Along with the previously released tracks, the never-before released song "Spotlight" was included as the album's opening track. Written by Madonna, Stephen Bray and Curtis Hudson, "Spotlight" was originally recorded during the True Blue recording sessions. You Can Dance was also the first North American-released Madonna album that contained "Into the Groove", which was only included on international reissues of Like a Virgin in 1985.
Sequencing for the album was provided by Madonna's old friend and producer John "Jellybean" Benitez. Benitez also provided remix production for the songs "Spotlight" and "Holiday". Benitez said that he had always wanted to remix "Holiday". Shep Pettibone remixed "Where's The Party" and "Into the Groove" on You Can Dance and had previously remixed Madonna's 1986 single "True Blue" for its single release. Pettibone said that he was "overjoyed" to have been asked to remix "Into the Groove", noting: "When I was mixing 'True Blue', I was wishing it could be 'Into the Groove'". Of the seven tracks on You Can Dance, "Physical Attraction" was the only song that was not remixed for the release.
The album cover denoted Madonna's continued fascination with Spanish culture and fashion. She wore a female toreador outfit with a lacy bustier, embroidered bolero jacket and a cummerbund with a flouncy bustle. Jeri Heiden, who had worked on the cover art for True Blue, was given the task of editing the photos and making them compatible for appearance in an album cover. Shot by Herb Ritts, the cover showed Madonna again as a platinum blonde. Heiden explained in an interview with Aperture magazine in October 2006 that the cover was not meant to be a tie-in with the True Blue cover. "It was just Madonna's look at the time – Platinum Blonde. And of course the handwriting reappears on that album." The album sleeve included a free poster and the gold wrap-around liner notes contained approximate running time to indicate the difference between the length of the remix and the original track. Brian Chin, a Rolling Stone journalist, wrote the liner notes for the album, explaining the process of remix and why the songs were chosen for the track list.
Composition
According to Rikky Rooksby, author of The Complete Guide to the Music of Madonna, "Improvements in studio technology meant that possibilities for shaping the sound after it has been recorded are almost limitless." The mixes on You Can Dance exhibited a number of typical mixing techniques. Instrumental passages were lengthened to increase the time for dancing, which undermined the tighter structure of the original pop song. Vocal phrases were repeated and subjected to multiple echoes, panned across the stereophonic sound outlets. At certain points, almost no music is heard except the drums and at others, the drums are removed with only the hi-hat left to keep time. The first song on the album is "Spotlight" which begins with the sound of drums, bass synths and handclaps, followed by Madonna uttering the words "Spotlight, shine bright". After the first verse, the sound of keyboard is heard during the chorus. It continues like this through the second verse, which is followed by an interlude featuring vocal echoes, a piano segment and violin phrases. Madonna follows the music played by the piano and utters the words "Pa-da-pa-da-pappa pappa pa pa" in the same melody. The lyrics deal with Madonna making the listener remember that "everybody is a star" and that if one wants to be famous and be under the "spotlight", the person should sing about it and reality may catch up with him or her. According to the sheet music for the song, is set in the time signature of common time, with a tempo of 100 beats per minute. It is set in the key of F major with Madonna's voice spanning from the notes of C5 to B5. "Spotlight" has a basic sequence of Am–C–Am–C–G–F as its chord progression.
The second track is "Holiday", which Benitez said that he always wanted to remix, commenting "There are new sounds on the 1987 remix [of 'Holiday'], but it had a groove that needed no improvement." The sound of the guitar is brought to the front in the remix, with a piano break and a middle section consisting of drum beats. The mix for "Everybody" starts with four repetitions of the vocal hook and then moves into a rhythm centered arrangement. Like "Holiday", the middle section of "Everybody" features a drum break, with a synth tune backing it up. The word "dance" is echoed and slowed-down continuously through the break, gradually changing into the intermedia verse. At the very end, the drums are pulled out, leaving Madonna repeating the "get up and do your thing" phrase, which hovers over to the intro of the next song "Physical Attraction". In the "Into the Groove" remix, overdubs are present with the continuous repetition of the phrase "c'mon". The first verse does not start until about ninety seconds into the remix. After the first "Now I know you're mine" line is sung, there is a percussion break, and repetition of the phrases "step to the beat" and "c'mon". The last verse incorporates echoing on the vocals, causing overlap of the phrases. The remix ends with instrumentation from congas, whistles and timbales, giving it a Mexican-influenced ending.
Promotion Compared to her previous releases, Madonna did not heavily promote You Can Dance. Radio-friendly edits of each song were issued promotionally on a release titled You Can Dance (Single Edits of Album Remixes). This release remained promotional-only until it received a commercial digital release in 2022. "Spotlight" was released as the album's only commercial single on April 25, 1988, exclusively in Japan. "Spotlight" peaked at number 68 on the Oricon weekly singles chart, remaining on the chart for five weeks. It also charted on the Oricon international singles chart, reaching a peak of three on May 19, 1988, staying on the chart for ten weeks.
"Spotlight" was not released as a commercial single in the United States, therefore it was not eligible at the time to appear on Billboards Hot 100. However, it was released as a promotional single, paired with "Where's The Party". "Spotlight" managed to garner enough airplay to appear on the publication's Hot 100 Airplay chart in early 1988. It debuted on the chart at 37 on the issue dated January 16, 1988. After three weeks, "Spotlight" reached a peak of 32 and fell to 40 the next week before exiting the chart. It also appeared on the Hot Crossover 30 chart beginning on the issue dated December 12, 1987, peaking at 15 for two consecutive weeks beginning January 9, 1988 and spending eight weeks on the chart.
Critical reception
You Can Dance received generally positive reviews from music critics. In The Village Voice, Robert Christgau considered that "the effects, repeats, breaks, and segues added by a star crew of remixers [...] amount to new music—this time the songs don't surface, they reach out and grab you". He also argued that You Can Dance reminded the audience that before MTV, they "loved the way she sounded". Many reviewers described the compilation as a being a good fit for playing at parties. Author J. Randy Taraborrelli noted that "You Can Dance made one point clear about Madonna. While she was evolving into a serious pop star, musically she still knew how to host the best party." Richard Harrington from The Washington Post called the album "an energetic collection of extended dance remixes, that will surely be the highlight of the party crowds flocking around the town." John Milward from USA Today felt that "although the remixes sound a little exhaustive, its nevertheless party time with Madonna's album." Jan DeKnock from the Chicago Tribune predicted that the album would be "one of the big stars of the upcoming holiday party season".