Development
"I had some very specific ideas in mind, music that would stand on its own as well as support and enhance what was happening on screen and the only way to make that a reality was to have a hand in writing the tunes myself... The songs aren't necessarily about Nikki or written to be sung by someone like her, but there's a spirit to this music that captures both what the film and the characters are about, I think."
—Madonna talking about the music of the film.Having some specific ideas in her mind about the music of the film, Madonna contacted Patrick Leonard and Stephen Bray, who had helped to write and produce her third studio album True Blue in 1986. Madonna explained to them that she needed an uptempo song and a downtempo song. As per her demands, Leonard developed the uptempo song. Madonna came to the recording studio one Thursday, and Leonard handed her a cassette of a recording of the chorus, which he had just finished working on. Madonna went to the backroom and completed the melody and the lyrics of the song, while Leonard worked on the other parts of it. After finishing the lyrics, Madonna decided to name the song "Who's That Girl", and changed the title of Slammer to the same, considering it to be a better name. In Fred Bronson's book The Billboard Book of Number 1 Hits, Leonard explained that the song was recorded in one day with Madonna recording her vocals only once. Additional guitar and percussion tracks were added later by Leonard and Bray.
The downtempo song was developed on the following day, with Madonna writing the lyrics and Leonard composing the melody. Named "The Look of Love", the song contains the line "No where to run, no place to hide. From the look of love, from the eyes of pride". After "The Look of Love", Madonna went on to develop two further songs with Bray as the producer. The first was called "Causing a Commotion", and was inspired by Penn and the couple's often tumultuous relationship. Madonna felt that her marriage to Penn was on the verge of breaking-up, due to Penn's abusive and violent nature. In a Rolling Stone article dated September 10, 1987, Madonna spoke about Penn's impact on her life and the song: "I don't like violence. I never condone hitting anyone, and I never thought that any violence should have taken place. But on the other hand, I understood Sean's anger and believe me, I have wanted to hit him many times. I never would you know, because I realize that it would just make things worse. I felt like he was 'Causing a Commotion' to purposefully distract me. I wrote this song and vented my frustration in it." The last song developed was "Can't Stop", a track inspired by Sixties Motown and the group Martha and the Vandellas. In addition to this, the album also included tracks by some acts on Warner Bros. Records, namely Club Nouveau, Scritti Politti and Michael Davidson. Commercially unsuccessful and unknown in the US, these groups needed a platform to project their songs, and including them in a Madonna album seemed like the right thing to do for Warner. Two tracks by Duncan Faure and Coati Mundi were included on the soundtrack at the request of Madonna since they were her friends.
Read more about this topic: Who's That Girl (soundtrack)
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