Madonna – La Isla Bonita

“La Isla Bonita” – Single by Madonna from the album True Blue. Released February 25, 1987.

“La Isla Bonita” means “The Beautiful Island” in Spanish. In the song, Madonna sings about the beautiful island of San Pedro, where she longs to be. San Pedro is not a real island. In a 2009 interview with Rolling Stone, Madonna said, “I don’t know where that came from. I don’t know where San Pedro is. At that point, I wasn’t a person who went on holidays to beautiful islands. I may have been on the way to the studio and seen an exit ramp for San Pedro.”

Songwriter and producer Patrick Leonard wrote this for Michael Jackson, but Jackson claimed he didn’t like the title and turned down the song. Leonard then offered it to Madonna, who rewrote some of the lyrics in her style.

On March 21, 1987, “La Isla Bonita” debuted at number 49 on the Billboard Hot 100, becoming Madonna’s 11th consecutive single to be named the week’s top new entry, a streak that began in 1984 with “Lucky Star”; it was also one of the most added songs on radio stations.] By April 25, the song became Madonna’s 12th consecutive top ten hit, a record shared with Michael Jackson; “La Isla Bonita” was the fifth top ten hit from True Blue, making it the second album by a female artist to score five top ten hits―the first being Janet Jackson’s Control (1986). On May 2, the song reached its peak at number 4, becoming Madonna’s 11th top five hit, a feat surpassed at the time only by the Beatles and Elvis Presley.

On the Adult Contemporary chart, the single debuted at number 31 on the week of April 4, peaking at number one more than a month later. It was Madonna’s second Adult Contemporary chart-topper after “Live to Tell”. “La Isla Bonita” also reached number one on the Hot Dance Singles Sales chart. Billboard reported that 75,000 copies of the 12-inch single had been sold by July 1987. “La Isla Bonita” came in at number 58 on Billboard’s Hot 100 year-end chart for 1987, and at 34 of the Adult Contemporary year-end chart.

The music video for “La Isla Bonita” was directed by Mary Lambert, who had previously worked with Madonna in the videos for “Borderline” and “Like a Virgin” (1984). Filming took place in downtown Los Angeles in March 1987, and lasted four days; over 500 extras of Hispanic descent, including a then-unknown Benicio Del Toro, who was paid $150, participated in the shooting. According to Sharon Oreck, in her book, Video Slut (2010), it was a very simple shooting. In the visual, Madonna plays two characters: a short-haired Catholic woman and a “flamboyant” flamenco dancer. As the flamenco dancer, she is dressed in a voluminous red Andalusian-style dress; for the shy, pious Catholic character, she dons a simple white dress.

Chart 1987

Canada Top Singles (RPM) – No.1
Germany (Official German Charts) – No.1
US Billboard Hot 100 – No.4

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