Madonna "Like A Virgin" Isolated Vocal

Madonna has become an iconic artist with hits across 4 decades, but one of the songs that broke her globally was "Like A Virgin," the single from her album of the same title.

The song was recorded at the old Power Station (now Avatar Recording) in New York City, was produced by Nile Rogers, Steven Bray and Madonna, and was also one of the first to use the then-new Sony 3324 digital recorder.

The song also featured the Chic rhythm section of Tony Thompson on drums, Bernard Edwards on bass, and Rogers on guitar. Here's what to listen for (the vocal starts at 0:12).

1. As with many other hits, the vocal is doubled on the last line of the verse, the chorus and the bridge for power.

2. There's a medium length delayed reverb that's very prominent on the vocal.

3. If you're listening on headphones, you can hear the low frequency breath pops from some of the plosives on the B's Madonna sings. I also think that some of them came from the mic stand being accidentally hit, but that's just speculation.

4. The vocal performance is very strong and surprisingly consistent. You might not think of Madonna as a particularly great singer, but here she does a fine job.

5. If you listen loudly with headphones you can hear the song count off at the beginning.

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Top 12 Highest Earning Musicians

Here’s the the Top Twelve highest earning singer/musician list for the period spanning from June 2008 to June 2009:

1. Madonna: $110 million
2. Celine Dion: $100 million
3. Beyonce Knowles: $87 million
4. Bruce Springsteen: $70 million
5. Kenny Chesney: $65 million
6-8. Rascal Flatts: $60 million
6-8. Coldplay: $60 million
6-8. AC/DC: $60 million
9. Eagles: $55 million
10. Toby Keith: $52 million
11. Bon Jovi: $50 million
12. Dave Matthews Band: $45 million

I expect that the year-end totals will be substantially different, since it'll take into account the summer touring season, which the above list does not. Still, it's pretty interesting that the same names keep popping up year and year.

50 Top Selling Albums of 2008

Here are the global top 50 best selling albums for 2008, according to MusicWeek.

1 Coldplay Viva La Vida Or Death And All His Friends - EMI Music

2 AC/DC Black Ice - Sony Music

3 Various Artists Mamma Mia! The Movie Soundtrack  - Universal Music

4 Duffy Rockferry - Universal Music

5 Metallica Death Magnetic - Warner Music/Universal Music

6 Leona Lewis Spirit - Sony Music

7 Amy Winehouse Back To Black - Universal Music

8 Various Artists High School Musical 3: Senior Year  - Walt Disney Records/Universal Music/EMI Music

9 Lil Wayne Tha Carter III - Universal Music

10 Rihanna Good Girl Gone Bad - Universal Music

11 Madonna Hard Candy - Warner Music

12 Beyonce I Am... Sasha Fierce - Sony Music

13 P!nk Funhouse - Sony Music

14 Guns N' Roses Chinese Democracy  - Universal Music

15 Britney Spears Circus - Sony Music

16 Jack Johnson Sleep Through The Static - Universal Music

17 Il Divo The Promise - Sony Music

18 Taylor Swift Fearless - Big Machine/Universal Music

19 Jonas Brothers A Little Bit Longer - Hollywood Records/Universal Music

20 Various Artists Camp Rock - OST Walt Disney Records/Universal Music/EMI Music

21 Kings Of Leon Only By The Night - Sony Music

22 Nickelback Dark Horse - Warner Music/EMI Music

23 Miley Cyrus Breakout - Walt Disney Records/Universal Music

24 Kid Rock Rock N Roll Jesus - Warner Music

25 Enya And Winter Came - Warner Music

26 Mariah Carey E=MC2 - Universal Music

27 Take That The Circus - Universal Music

28 The Killers Day & Age - Universal Music

29 Usher Here I Stand - Sony Music

30 T.I. Paper Trail - Warner Music

31 Kanye West 808’s & Heartbreak - Universal Music

32 Michael Jackson Thriller (25th Anniversary Edition) - Sony Music

33 Katy Perry One Of The Boys - EMI Music

34 Exile Exile Ballad Best - Avex Marketing Inc.

35 Ne-Yo Year Of The Gentleman - Universal Music

36 Amy Macdonald This Is The Life - Universal Music

37 Abba Gold  - Universal Music

38 Namie Amuro Best Fiction - Avex Marketing Inc.

39 Jonas Brothers Jonas Brothers  - Hollywood Records/Universal Music

40 Seal Soul  - Warner Music

41 Sugarland Love On The Inside - Universal Music

42 Celine Dion My Love Essential Collection  - Sony Music

43 Exile Exile Catchy Best  - Avex Marketing Inc.

44 Dido Safe Trip Home - Sony Music

45 Taylor Swift Taylor Swift  -Big Machine/Universal Music

46 Chris Brown Exclusive - Sony Music

47 Twilight Twilight - OST Warner Music

48 Jason Mraz We Sing. We Dance. We Steal Things. - Warner Music

49 OneRepublic Dreaming Out Loud - Universal Music

50 Various Artists Now Thats What I Call Music Vol. 71 - EMI Music

After looking at this list, a few observations come to mind:

1) Despite everything we hear about the Internet age and the new artist, if you're not on a major label you're not going to be a big seller.

2) Female artists dominated the charts, with 17 entries.

3) Rap and Hip-Hop, while still a presence, was down from previous years.

4) 15 albums were from artists who've had careers of at least 10 years.

5) Only 3 entries were from country music, and two of those from Taylor Swift.

6) There were four "Various Artists" compilations.

7) For better or for worse, Abba is alive and well, years after they've actively stopped making records. Like them or not, it's a testament to great songwriting and production.