OPEN POST: Madonna's "True Blue" Is 38 Years Old This Month!

Did you know? Madonna's single, "True Blue," from the album of the same title, was released in US markets this month in 1986, which means it's almost middle-aged at 38 years-old. I wasn't born yet, of course (oh, let me have this one!), but I hear that Madonna was married at the time to Sean Penn, an actor-turned-dried-up-7-11-sausage-left-on-a-grill-roller-for-at-least-5-decades. In fact, all the albums songs are said to be "inspired" by her l'amour for Penn. 

 

1986 was also the same year Madonna and Penn starred in "Shanghai Surprise," a movie many rented on VHS - after its blessedly brief theatrical release - and stopped watching after 15 minutes, then returned it to the video store, not bothering to rewind it. I know this because when I rented it, it started at the 15 minute mark. I rewound it, started it at the beginning and 15 minutes in, I thanked the previous renter, since I agreed that 15 minutes was more than enough time to spend with this painfully awful train wreck. 

Speaking of painfully awful train wrecks, just a few years later in 1989, Madonna and Penn divorced. Rumors swirled that he physically abused her during their marriage, and that one time, he tied her to a chair and threatened her with a baseball bat. Allegedly, she managed to escape, called the police, and soon after paid off the LAPD and the DA's office to keep it hush-hush, all of which Madonna vehemently denies. Years later, Penn told reporters that during their marriage, "I still had a lot of demon doors to go through.” Which...okay? 

"True Blue," by the way, is a phrase Madonna claimed Penn came up with to describe their "perfect love." Make of this what you will. The album's biggest hit was "Papa Don't Preach" by songwriter Brian Elliott. Most now-adult straight men remember this song only because of its music video which they swore featured Madonna having a nip slip. Now it's a GIF. Time marches on. So did she or didn't she? 38 years later, I'm pretty confident that I can see a quickie flash of areola, but what's your verdict?