My name is Dita
I’ll be your mistress tonight
I’d like to put you in a trance
Was it so erotic or even that rude? Back in 1992, it turned a few heads and caused some to pour scorn upon its creator. It could only be “Erotica”. The lead single from Madonna’s fifth studio album of the same name was finally unveiled at the end of September having spent over a year on its production and with just one single (“This Used To Be My Playground”) since her humongous selling greatest hits album, “The Immaculate Collection“, Madonna furnished us with a concept album as the opener to the next chapter in her career. Now extensively and almost exclusively working with Shep Pettibone, the pair sought to elaborate on their earlier collaboration, “Justify My Love”, and produced a full album of ooh’s and ahh’s.
The album that became “Erotica” is not as ‘dirty’ or as controversial as many had feared. There were any number of non-sex related songs to hump and bump to. Take the sublime and magnificent down-tempo “Rain”, surely one of Madonna’s best moments since “Live To Tell” or “Crazy For You”? The dancefloor filler “Deeper And Deeper”, a natural offspring of both “Vogue” and “Express Yourself”. But it all kicked off with the most shocking revelation of them all. Madonna assumes the identity of Dita Parlo, a German film actress of the 1930’s, who caused a stir revealing more of herself than was acceptable back then. To accompany the “Erotica” album, Madonna also went one step further in producing a coffee table book called Sex. A few tastefully exposed pictures, some featuring chart topper Vanilla Ice, as Madonna herself paid homage to and personified Ms. Parlo throughout.
Two versions of the video for “Erotica” were filmed, one for general consumption and one for late night lovers of soft porn. With her gold tooth and black eye mask, Madonna/Dita entices you into a world of sin, debauchery and lust set against Pettibone’s soundtrack of sexual beats and the constant scratching of the record grooves. Erotica is romance and romance is erotica, either way it will put you in a trance. That’s the hope anyway. Until now, Madonna had done her best to create a swirl and gain attention. Her first album was light and fluffy but with “Like A Virgin”, Madonna’s confidence that she could command the limelight was brutal. She followed this edict with “Papa Don’t Preach” and “Like A Prayer”, all 80’s classics and amazing but with each turn, there were bound to be some who found each experience far, far too much. Having dipped her toe in the water (and in other things) with “Justify My Love”, Madonna and Shep now turned up the heat and grabbed the throat by the jugular.
As with so many concept songs, “Erotica” is best enjoyed with the full album version that runs to over five minutes in length. The single edit does the track no justice at all. Whether Madonna was looking for a massive smash hit or not with her ‘comeback’ tune is debatable. “Erotica” was a hit, if not the number one her previous lead singles had all achieved. Released on 29th September 1992, “Erotica” hit the charts throughout October and would peak at No.3 in both the UK and the US as well as achieving a top ten spot in most other countries. It did top the chart in Finland and Italy as well as the US Club chart although sales were also much lower than previous singles had attained. While concept albums and their singles gain critical and industry adulation, they often miss the attention of the masses and more often than not, come in for much heavier scrutiny and jeering. For Madonna’s eternally faithful fans, this was the natural progression. For those who enjoyed the odd earlier release, this was the end.
Madonna paraded “Erotica” and most of the album‘s bedfellows on her Girlie Show world tour of 1993, and despite all the misgivings from those non-believers, over a million ticket holders were treated to her biggest and best spectacular yet. The Girlie Show grossed over $70m in revenue, which for 1992 made it an enormous success. In the years since, Madonna has only rarely treated us to the song itself, most notably and most interestingly, aspects of “Erotica” were incorporated into the unreleased track “You Thrill Me” for her Confessions tour of 2005. “Erotica” also surfaced, in part, during the MDNA tour of 2012 when it was paired with Kelley Polar’s “Ashamed Of Myself” for the Candy Shop section. In 2022, in celebration of this ‘iconic’ song, Madonna released a picture disc version of the single using the toe sucking picture from her Sex book and the rear cover of the album. While another Madonna era registers another landmark age, this one will only matter to those who did believe from the start and still rank “Erotica” among her finest work.
Eroti…ca
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