The Styrous® Viewfinder: Michael Jackson

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October 31, 2025

Halloweenies

photos by Styrous® except where noted

photo by Minoo Hamzavi

photo by Hilda Tremonto

Halloween in Sweden - 2017

photo by Kaj Bjurman

Viewfinder links:

Halloween articles/mentions

Minoo Hamzavi

Youtube links:

Addams Family Theme song

Alice Cooper ~ Welcome To My Nightmare

Brian Sisters ~ The Boogie Woogie Man

Michael Jackson ~ Thriller

Bobby Pickett ~ Monster Mash

Rockey Horror Picture Show ~ Time Warp

Warren Zevon ~ Werewolves of London

downloaded from the Net

Styrous® ~ Friday, October 31, 2025.

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April 30, 2024

45 RPMs 81: Madonna ~ La Isla Bonita

Madonna ~ La Isla Bonita

45 rpm front cover

front cover photo by Herb Ritts

On April 30, 1987, the song La Isla Bonita by Madonna, became her 11th consecutive top five single. I don't usually write about top 40 pop songs but this is one of the very best ones there is. I absolutely love this tune; I think it's the most musically interesting song ever recorded by her.

Madonna ~ La Isla Bonita

45 rpm front cover

photo by Herb Ritts

Isla is from her third studio album True Blue released in 1986; she came up with the title for the song and added the lyrics to the music, written by Patrick Leonard and Bruce Gaitsch, which has Latin influences. Its instrumentation features flamenco guitar, Latin percussion, maracas, and includes four lines sung in Spanish. The lyrics talk about an island named San Pedro, whose location has been debated. Madonna said the song was her tribute to Latin Americans.

Isla was her eleventh top five hit on the Billboard Hot 100, and second Adult Contemporary number one. It topped the charts in Canada and several countries in Europe, including the United Kingdom―where it became Madonna's fourth number one―France, West Germany, and Austria.

La Isla Bonita was first offered to Michael Jackson, "The King of Pop," however, Jackson turned it down for some reason.

In the music video, directed by Mary Lambert, for the song (link below), Madonna portrays two opposite characters: a young Catholic woman, and a flamenco dancer.

La Isla Bonita - 2016

video still

La Isla Bonita

[Intro]
¿Cómo puede ser verdad?

[Verse 1]
Last night I dreamt of San Pedro
Just like I'd never gone, I knew the song
Young girl with eyes like the desert
It all seems like yesterday, not far away

[Chorus]
Tropical the island breeze, all of nature wild and free
(Ah-ah, ah-ah, ah-ah)
This is where I long to be, La Isla Bonita
And when the samba played, the sun would set so high
(Ah-ah, ah-ah, ah-ah)
Ring through my ears and sting my eyes, your Spanish lullaby

[Verse 2]
I fell in love with San Pedro
Warm wind carried on the sea, he called to me
Te dijo, "Te amo"
I prayed that the days would last, they went so fast

[Chorus]
Tropical the island breeze, all of nature wild and free
(Ah-ah, ah-ah, ah-ah)
This is where I long to be, La Isla Bonita
And when the samba played, the sun would set so high
(Ah-ah, ah-ah, ah-ah)
Ring through my ears and sting my eyes, your Spanish lullaby

[Bridge]
I want to be where the sun warms the sky
When it's time for siesta, you can watch them go by
Beautiful faces, no cares in this world
Where a girl loves a boy, and a boy loves a girl

[Pre-Chorus]
Last night I dreamt of San Pedro
It all seems like yesterday, not far away

[Chorus]
Tropical the island breeze, all of nature wild and free
(Ah-ah, ah-ah, ah-ah)
This is where I long to be, La Isla Bonita
And when the samba played, the sun would set so high
(Ah-ah, ah-ah, ah-ah)
Ring through my ears and sting my eyes, your Spanish lullaby
(Pa-pa-pa-pa-pa)
Tropical the island breeze, all of nature wild and free
(Ah-ah, ah-ah, ah-ah)
This is where I long to be, La Isla Bonita
And when the samba played, the sun would set so high
(Ah-ah, ah-ah, ah-ah)
Ring through my ears and sting my eyes, your Spanish lullaby

[Outro]
La-la-la-la-la-la-la
Te dijo, te amo
La-la-la-la-la-la-la
Él dijo que te ama
Pa-pa-pa-pa-pa-pa-pa-pa (Ah-ah, ah-ah, ah-ah)
La Isla Bonita
Ah-ah, ah-ah, ah-ah
Spanish lullaby

Madonna ~ La Isla Bonita

45 rpm, sides 1 & 2

Tracklist:

Side 1:

A - La Isla Bonita, written by Bruce Gaitsch, Madonna, Pat Leonard* - 4:01

Side 2:

B - La Isla Bonita (Instrumental Remix), written by Bruce Gaitsch, Madonna, Pat Leonard* - 4:20

Companies, etc.

    Record Company – Sire Records Company
    Copyright © – Sire Records Company
    Copyright © – WEA International Inc.
    Phonographic Copyright ℗ – Sire Records Company
    Phonographic Copyright ℗ – WEA International Inc.
    Marketed By – Warner Bros. Records Inc.
    Published By – Wb Music Corp.
    Published By – Bleu Disque Music Co., Inc.
    Published By – Webo Girl Publishing, Inc.
    Published By – Johnny Yuma Music
    Published By – Edge Of Fluke Music
    Mastered At – Future Disc
    Pressed By – Specialty Records Corporation

Credits:

Photography By – Herb Ritts
Producer [Produced By] – Madonna, Patrick Leonard
Remix – Chris Lord-Alge (tracks: B)

Notes:

Back cover:
From the Madonna album True Blue. Available on the Sire LP, cassette and Compact Disc (1/4/2-25442).
© 1987 Sire Records Company for the U.S. & WEA International Inc. for the world outside of the U.S.
℗ 1986 Sire Records Company for the U.S. & WEA International Inc. for the world outside of the U.S.
Made in U.S.A.

Labels A/B:
WB Music Corp./Bleu Disque Music Co., Inc./Webo Girl Publishing, Inc. Adm. by WB Music Corp. ASCAP/Johnny Yuma Music BMI/Edge Of Fluke Music ASCAP
℗ 1986 Sire Records Company
Sire Records Company • Marketed by Warner Bros. Records Inc. • 3300 Warner Blvd. Burbank, Calif. 91510 • Made in U.S.A.

Label A:
From the Madonna album TRUE BLUE on Sire Records (1-25442)

Label B:
Original version available on the Madonna album TRUE BLUE on Sire Records (1-25442)

Barcode and Other Identifiers

    Barcode (Text): 0 7599-28425-7
    Barcode (Scanned): 075992842570
    Rights Society: ASCAP
    Rights Society: BMI
    Matrix / Runout (Label side A): 7-28425-A
    Matrix / Runout (Label side B): 7-28425-B
    Matrix / Runout (Runout side A, etched - variant 1): 7-28425A-SR-3 Future Disc
    Matrix / Runout (Runout side B, etched - variant 1): 7-28425B-SR-3
    Matrix / Runout (Runout side A, etched - variant 2): 7-28425A-SR-1 Future Disc I - I
    Matrix / Runout (Runout side B, etched - variant 2): 7-28425B-SR-3 I - I
    Matrix / Runout (Runout side A, etched - variant 3): SP 7-28425A-SR-1 Future Disc I - I
    Matrix / Runout (Runout side B, etched - variant 3): 7-28425B-SR-3 I - 2
    Matrix / Runout (Runout side A, etched - variant 4): 7-28425A-SR-2 I - 1 Future Disc
    Matrix / Runout (Runout side B, etched - variant 4): 7-28425B SR-1 1 - 2
    Matrix / Runout (Runout side A, etched - variant 5): 7-28425A-SR-1 FuTuRE DISC 1-1 SP
    Matrix / Runout (Runout side B, etched - variant 5): 7-28425B SR-3 1-2 SRC
    Pressing Plant ID ('Specialty Records Corporation' logo in runouts): SRC

Madonna – La Isla Bonita
Label:    Sire – 9 28425-7, Sire – 7-28425
Format:    Vinyl, 7", 45 RPM, Single, SRC Pressing
Country: US
Released: 1987
Genre:    Electronic, Pop
Style:    Latin, Synth-pop

Viewfinder links:

Bruce Gaitsch

Michael Jackson

Patrick Leonard

Madonna
Herb Ritts

Net links:

American Songwriter ~ The Meaning of La Isla Bonita by Madonna

Billboard ~ Madonna’s Enduring Love Affair With Latin Culture

Madonnapedia ~ La Isla Bonita (song)

Repeating Islands ~ La Isla Bonita Tribute to Belize and San Pedro

Set-Jetter ~ Madonna: La Isla Bonita

Smooth Radio ~ The Story of... La Isla Bonita by Madonna

Songfacts ~ La Isla Bonita

YouTube links:

La Isla Bonita

"Spanish in another life!"

~ Madonna

Styrous® ~ Tuesday, April 30, 2024

45 RPMs Archive
MAIN MENU - Blog Articles
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March 21, 2024

Modest Mussorgsky ~ Pictures at an Exhibition

Modest Mussorgsky ~ Pictures at an Exhibition - 1886

English: The cover of the first edition of Mussorgsky's Picture at the Exhibition (edited by Rimsky-Korsakov).

Русский: Обложка первого издания «Картинок с выставки» М. П. Мусоргского (под редакцией Н. А. Римского-Корсакова).

Deutsch: Das Titelblatt der ersten Ausgabe von Modest Mussorgskis „Bilder einer Ausstellung“ (bearbeitet von Rimski-Korsakoff). Die Aufschrift lautet:

Владиміру Васльевичу Стасову
Картинки съ выставки
Десять пьесъ для фортепіано
Модеста Мусоргскаго

A Monsieur Wladimir Stassoff
„Tableaux d’une exposition“
Série de dix pièces
POUR PIANO
PAR
MODESTE MOUSSORGSKY

Today, March 21, is the birthday of Russian composer, librettist, director, and playwright Modest Mussorgsky who was born in 1839. He was one of a group known as "The Five" and an innovator of Russian music in the Romantic period. He strove to achieve a uniquely Russian musical identity, often in deliberate defiance of the established conventions of Western music.

Modest Mussorgsky
date & photographer unknown

Many of his works were inspired by Russian folklore, history and other national themes some of which include the opera Boris Godunov, the orchestral tone poem Night on Bald Mountain and the piano suite Pictures at an Exhibition.

Pictures at an Exhibition is based on paintings in an exhibition at the Imperial Academy of Arts in Saint Petersburg by the artist, architect, and designer Viktor Hartmann who with Mussorgsky, was devoted to the cause of an intrinsically Russian art. Each movement of the suite is based on an individual work from that exhibition.

Viktor Hartmann

date & photographer unknown

As with most of Mussorgsky's works, Pictures at an Exhibition has a complicated publication history. Although composed very rapidly, during June 1874, the work did not appear in print until 1886, five years after the composer's death, when an edition by the composer's friend and colleague Nikolai Rimsky-Korsakov was published. This edition, however, was not a completely accurate representation of Mussorgsky's score but presented a revised text that contained a number of errors and misreadings.

In 1922, Maurice Ravel wrote an adaptation for orchestra and it is the most recorded and performed. There have been dozens of interpretations of Pictures by world renown classical music conductors as well as popular musicians over the years.

Maurice Ravel

photo by Vera Prasilova Scott

The suite has inspired covers in a broad range of popular musical styles. The Emerson, Lake & Palmer version incorporated elements of progressive rock, jazz and folk music. An electronic music adaptation by Isao Tomita was done in 1975 and in 2005, Animusic 2 created an amazing animation that included a track entitled Cathedral Pictures, which used only the first Promenade and the final two movements from the suite arranged by Tomita. On the topic of animation, one unforgettable endeavor was the 1940 Walt Disney animation Fantasia which used Night on Bald Mountain. I remember when I was a little kid I loved Fantasia but this segment totally creeped me out!

In 1984 the metal band, Armored Saint, utilised the Great Gate of Kyiv theme as an introduction for the track March of the Saint in the album of the same name. In 1990 a heavy metal arrangement of the entire suite was released by the German band Mekong Delta; In 2002, electronic musician-composer Amon Tobin paraphrased Gnomus for the track Back From Space on his album Out from Out Where. In 2003 guitarist-composer Trevor Rabin released an electric guitar adaptation of the Promenade that was originally intended for the Yes album Big Generator but later included on his compilation album, 90124. The Michael Jackson song HIStory samples a short section of The Great Gate of Kiev.

Viewfinder links:

Viktor Hartmann

Michael Jackson ~ HIStory

Modest Mussorgsky

Trevor Rabin

Maurice Ravel

Nikolai Rimsky-Korsakov

Amon Tobin

Isao Tomita

Net links:

Animusic 2

YouTube links: