O/T: Into The Groove - Madonna

Madonna's Into The Groove was everywhere in the summer of 1985, despite never officially charting.

Brian W. did the following excellent research, found it the "Madonna - The 45 Versions On CD" thread:

Into the Groove – Though not eligible to chart on the Billboard or Cash Box pop charts at the time, because it was only issued as the B-side of the 12-inch single of "Angel," "Into the Groove" nonetheless was a Top Ten hit. It climbed to #6 on the Radio & Records airplay chart (which was virtually interchangeable with Billboard's airplay chart until around 1991), and was #1 for six straight weeks out of all singles, not just 12-inchers, on Variety's almost completely forgotten and completely sales-based singles chart, which ran from Jan. 1976 through Jan. 1986. (It hit #1 in the June 26, 1985 issue.) Variety ranked "Into the Groove" and "Angel" separately, apparently assuming that most people were buying the 12-inch for "Into the Groove." (The 12-inch was certified gold; the 7-inch containing only "Angel" was not.) The single version of "Into the Groove" was actually a demo that was remixed and rush-released as a single, so Madonna had it restructured and remixed again when she included it on her "You Can Dance" collection two years later. The Q-Sound mix on "Immaculate Collection" was a shorter version of that remix. The original mix of the song has been issued on a U.S. BackTrax CD single, coupled with "Dress You Up." It can still be found cheaply (WEA, UPC 075992-18782-4). It has also been issued as a CD single in the UK, which is still in print (WEA, UPC 075992-03522-4), though an older German CD with a different track lineup also exists (WEA UPC 0 7599-21141-2 7). It's also available from Japan on both the "CD Singles" box and the still-in-print 5-inch maxi-single called "Material Girl, Angel and Into the Groove" (catalog WPCP-5063, no UPC on my copy). But it made its very first CD appearance way back in 1985 on the German CD version of the "Like a Virgin" album, sandwiched between "Love Don't Live Here Anymore" and "Dress You Up," Sire 925181-2, UPC 0 7599-25181-2 3.

Here is my question: has anyone compared the sound quality between the various copies of "Into The Groove" referenced above?

I ask because I have the version from the Japanese CD singles box set and while it sounds fine playing the file directly to my loudspeakers, once it runs through my audio processing and then is compressed to 64 kbps AAC+ and then collapsed down to mono on my Amazon Echo Dot, I'd swear I hear phase issues.

I've tried folding down the original file in Adobe Audition and the phase issues (or what sound like phase issues to me) are not audible. It's something about this track + my airchain + data compression + fold down because I never noticed any problems listening to my stream in stereo.

If one of the other sources sounds better... heck, even if it's just a different analog transfer to the digital format... I'd be interested in trying it and seeing if the problems I'm having disappear.

I can only add what SOLD the most in my record store. The best selling CD single was Madonna - Into The Groove
Germany Sire 7599-21141-2. It had, Track 1) Into the Groove 4:40, Track 2) Who's That Girl (Extended Version) 6:27
Track 3) Causing A Commotion (Silver Screen Mix) 6:33 with a copywrite of 1989 WEA Musik. This 4:40 version is the
same one that was released in the U.S. as a Back to Back Hits 45 RPM single (GSRE 0539) with 'Dress You Up' on the
B side. This was released to stores on 4/25/1986. It was discontinued on 11/2/1990. In that time period we sold 117
copies mostly to mobile DJ's and bars that had juke boxes. In very small type it said 'From the Sire 12" Maxi-
single 0-20335'. I would consider the 4:40 version the 'Hit'. -Bill.

Mike, All of our "Oldies" (anything not currently on the
Billboard charts) had the Artist, A-side, B-side, and
stock
number on a 7" X 8" 'Stock' card that we used to keep
track of how many sold and when. This gave us an idea on
how
many to order, etc. We considered 'Dress You Up' as a 'B'
side of a more superior selling 'Into the Groove'. -Bill.

Edited by ChicagoBill

I sometimes forget how red-hot Madonna was at that time.

Material Girl, Crazy For You, Angel and Into The Groove
were all Top 40 radio hits nearly simultaneously!

Paul Haney wrote: I sometimes forget how red-hot Madonna was at that time. Material Girl, Crazy For You, Angel and Into The Groove were all Top 40 radio hits nearly simultaneously!

If I recall Over and Over from the 1984 Like A Virgin album also was played and Dress You Up was also a top 5 hit in the U.S. Like a Virgin got massive airplay and hit #1 in late 1984 and was also huge on radio in early '85!

It still baffles the mind how a guaranteed hit such as Into the Groove is not promoted as a single in 1985 or even early 1986. That and Back In Time by Huey Lewis and The News are MAJOR hits that could have easily been top 10. Not charting these huge hits would never happen in 2021 with the way Billboard has it set up now.

Edited by PopArchivist