Albums: Vision Quest (1985), The Immaculate Collection (1990), Something to Remember (1995), Celebration (2009)
Songwriters: John Bettis/Jon Lind
Producer: John “Jellybean” Benitez

Madonna’s one and only power ballad, and thankfully it’s pure class. The first of her many great soundtrack contributions, it was written for the film Vision Quest and in fact recorded before the Like a Virgin album despite its subsequent release. Though there’s a thin line between doe-eyed infatuation and sappiness, Crazy for You is well-written enough to envelop, but never quite overwhelm the senses. Madonna’s vocals (apparently recorded in one take - not sure how that works with the double-tracking) are, for the first time, spectacular - as she’d often do later on, the smoky verses build into a powerful, nearly belted release of a chorus. It’s the ‘80s ballad done to perfection, but more representative of pop in general than her later, far more adventurous efforts.

(above at 0:57 is the song’s occurrence in the film; the music video compiled of clips from the movie is here)

Vision Quest isn’t too bad at all - kind of a romance/coming-of-age film via high school wrestling. With or without the various wrestling scenes, it’s one of the most bizarrely, almost obliviously homoerotic films I’ve ever seen - but thankfully Linda Fiorentino’s pure attitude balances out Matthew Modine’s incredible awkwardness. Madonna plays a nightclub singer, performing Gambler and Crazy for You - and in the film’s setting, the song is absolutely perfect, a vision of intimacy in a crowded room. She’s charismatic as usual, but thankfully doesn’t try to steal the show. The version of the song used in the film is for some reason totally different to every other issue; a tone higher (on my $5 DVD copy), with a rawer sound more befitting the live band vibe. Madonna’s vocals, which may even have been recorded live and not mimed, have little of the familiar, powerful double-tracking; instead she slides into the high notes almost timidly. At the risk of retconning her inability to replicate them live, one could say the song’s reserved performance in the middle of the film blossoms into its more confident, final version as the movie’s theme.

Though a young Madonna filmed and recorded her appearance to piggyback on Vision Quest’s publicity, the tables had already turned by the time of its release - the universal nature of Crazy for You only added to the momentum.