Holiday

“Holiday” is the fifth track from American singer and songwriter Madonna and her third self-titled studio album released 1983 through Sire Records. “Holiday” is a dance-pop and post disco track, written by Curtis Hudson and Lisa Stevens from disco group Pure Energy and produced by DJ John “Jellybean” Benitez.

“Holiday” was discovered by Benitez and had originally been offered to Phyliss Hyman and Mary Wilson from the iconic group The Supremes but had been turned down. Speaking to Blogcritics in 2012, Pure Energy spoke about the song in an interview with the publication:

“We knew that the song had that magic to it. Since we weren’t going to be able to record [“Holiday”] ourselves, we were really hoping it would fall into the hands of someone who was going to do it justice. Jellybean was shopping it, and I think he pitched it to Phyllis Hyman and a couple of other artists. We didn’t pitch the songs that much. I was still hoping we could come around to Pure Energy recording it.” In the same interview, Stevens recalled that she had the beginning chords of the song on the keyboard, but was unable to progress further. Hudson then gave Stevens advice, willing her to complete the song as he believed it could be a hit. In a week, Stevens came up with the hook “Holiday, celebrate!”, as well as being inspired by the opening chords of news reports.

There is no official music video for “Holiday”, but the official audio upload on Madonna’s YouTube channel has 1.7 million views and over 11 thousand likes.

Release Date: 7th September 1983

Songwriter/s: Curtis Hudson & Lisa Stevens

Producer: John “Jellybean” Benitez

Label/s: Sire & Warner Bros.

Chart Rankings & Certifications: In its year of release, “Holiday” reached the following chart positions:

– #4 in Australia
– #6 in Belgium
– #32 in Canada
– #37 in France
– #9 in Germany
– #2 in Ireland
– #7, #19 & #24 on various charts in the Netherlands
– #7 in New Zealand
– #20 in Sweden
– #18 in Switzerland
– #6, #2 & #5 on various charts in the UK
– #16 on the US Billboard Hot 100
– #1 on the US Billboard Dance Club Songs
– #25 on the US Billboard Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs
– #1 in Zimbabwe

“Holiday” is certified Gold in South Africa and the UK.

The lyrics to “Holiday” can be read here: LINK

Find Madonna on Apple Music: LINK

Find Madonna on Spotify: LINK