Pioneers of the music video may have nursed MTV from its infancy, but by 1989, the very vehicle that helped transport many to chart summits threatened to desert them for refusing to evolve with the art form into the next decade.
And while some protested prioritizing the maturing medium, Madonna – a video virtuoso who’d pushed the visual needle forward faster and farther than any of her female contemporaries – had become its gold standard. Barring King of Pop Michael Jackson, no other artist had taken command of the platform quite like she had – elevating musical clips from mere performance cuts to full-on short films.
As 1990 approached, the diva, albeit at the most untouchable phase of her superstardom, was still 30-something in an increasingly ageist music industry. The harsh reality of that (and the changing musical tide around her) made morphing that much more of a necessity for Pop’s top chameleon.
Her answer to the challenge? The Shep Pettibone-produced ‘Vogue.’
