This was the fourth and final single from Like A Virgin, and the song helped establish Madonna as a sex symbol and fashion icon. With lyrics about "velvet kisses" and "the silky touch of my caresses," it was a harmlessly coy, radio-friendly single packaged nicely by producer Nile Rodgers, who also played the guitar solo.
Despite the rather benign lyrical content, the Parents Music Resource Center named this as one of their "Filthy 15" songs with objectionable content (sex). The PMRC was an organization formed by the wives of some powerful US politicians in 1985 who led the effort to put labels on music that is sold with sexual or violent content. Madonna in particular was a target for one of the founders of the group, Susan Baker, who was married to Treasury Secretary James Baker. She was aghast when her 7-year-old daughter asked her what a virgin was after listening to "Like A Virgin," which prompted Baker to take action.
This song was written by a very obscure songwriting tandem: Andrea LaRusso and Peggy Stanziale. They were living in the suburbs of New Jersey (Caldwell and Llewellyn Park, respectively) when they wrote this song and pitched it to Madonna's record label. This tactic rarely works, but somehow Madonna heard the song and decided to record it. Caldwell, who wrote the music, and Stanziale, the lyricist, were both raising kids while writing songs together. They were shocked when Madonna herself called with the good news. The pair wrote other songs, but very few were recorded. The pop singer Alisha did their song "Boys Will Be Boys," also in 1985.
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