Not one of Madonna's best films, in Who's That Girl, Madonna played a comic role with outrageous dress sense and hairstyles. The songs from the film are by Madonna and other artists.
Songs
- Who's That Girl (Madonna)*
- Causing A Commotion (Madonna)*
- The Look Of Love (Madonna)
- 24 Hours (Duncan Faure)
- Step by Step (Club Nouveau)
- Turn It Up (Michael Davidson)
- Best Thing Ever (Scritti Politti)
- Can't Stop (Madonna)
- El Coco Loco [So So Bad] (Coati Mundi)
Who's That Girl fits well within the film, as it's about a girl who will make you love her, no matter what you do. The song is delightful and bouncy with a strong latin theme. Apparently, this song changed the title of the film, originally supposed to called 'Slammer' but Madonna couldn't find anything to rhyme with that, so she used 'Who's That Girl', so they had to change the film title too! This one of Madonna's best takes on her original music style - drum machine, bubbling bass synth line and distant string sound - yet this is one of the first upbeat Madonna songs where the chorus has a haunting quality. Each part of the song is equally strong, and a Hispanic flavour is added by a twist of trumpets, an instrumental break and with the Spanish phrases sung in the chorus. Like the later 'Cherish' this song marvellously contains several vocal hooks entwined using multiple vocal lines.
Causing A Commotion is more reminscent of the Madonna of the early '80s. The song is carried by the uptempo dance groove, and the beckoning lyrics: "I've got the moves baby, you've got the motion, if we got together, we'd be causing a commotion". Again, the theme of Madonna 'hunting' down a reluctant man. The track wastes no time by getting straight into a chorus. The verse is carried by a four-note descending bass line and staccato chords punching in. It's a good song, but not quite in the same class as the title track.
The Love Of Love provides a good contrast. It is more of a lamenting ballad. It has a haunting sound to it, with the background of complex instruments and regular, wide-spaced drumbeat compliment Madonna's voice nicely. Starting with a low bass synth line and an atmospheric backing that gives a sense of space; light percussion and a high register note that contrasts with the deep bass. The last verse has an attractive acoustic guitar figure and the last chorus thickens up the sound by adding a chorused guitar. The lyrics "all the books I read, and the things I know, never taught me to live, never taught me, to let go" and "nowhere to run, nowhere to hide, from the look of love" and Madonna's simple but poignant delivery are beautiful and make the song enjoyable. This gem possibly should have made it into Madonna greatest ballads collection, 'Something To Remember', as it is similarly expressive and yet understated as the songs on that album.
24 Hours by Duncan Faure, is more clearly an '80s song (though it's sung with a more Beatles style).
Step by Step by Club Nouveau is a more arty production, more influenced by black culture and jazz.
Turn It Up by Michael Davidson is another typical '80s song and is capably performed.
Best Thing Ever by Scritti Politti has the sound of a George Michael song, and the singer definitely sounds like him.
Can't Stop is the last Madonna track on this album, and though the music and beat sounds like those of the first two songs, the lyrics are recited rather than sung and are about how Madonna is head-over-heads in love and she wants to convince her man to love her. This bright and breezy song has stabbed chords all around and there is a slight touch of Motown - at a pinch, it could be a Four Tops or Martha Reeves and The Vandellas track. The instrumental break is really a chorus with a synth line over the top. A couple of nice effects are used, like the robotic interjections of "can't stop" and the use of synthesisers which sound almost as if they've gone AWOL from a Prince record.
El Coco Loco (So So Bad) by Coati Mundi is another latin song, but it has the singer singing "I'm bad, so so bad - you know it - funnily enough, this is a contemporary of Michael Jackson's 'Bad' - a co-incidence or a 'Mikey'-taking exercise? However, any further comparisons would be over-flattering to Coati Mundi. Having said that, this is a very humourous track, and rounds off the album nicely.
RatingFor Madonna purists, this album will always rate lower as she only has four songs on it. There are two Madonna classics on her, 'Who's That Girl' and 'The Look of Love', which with 'Causing A Commotion' were hit singles. The other singers and groups do a capable job and don't drag her down too much. However, there is little that is very radical about this album, probably because it comes from a film, so it does not rate as highly as some of Madonna's other albums of the same period. A qualified 6/10.
� Josh Deb Barman, Topman, Rikky Rooksby 2000