The track has the curious distinction of being one of her most popular songs, even though it was never released as a single in its own right. Apart from being featured in her film debut, Desperately Seeking Susan, the song was released only as the B-side of the "Angel" 12" single here in the U.S. And as radio-ready as "Angel" was, it's not even in the same galaxy as the immediate, bass-heavy electro-pop of "Into the Groove"—a song that always felt like a (not so distant) cousin to Shannon's "Let the Music Play." Main difference between the two songs: whereas the timid Shannon passively waits for her man to come back to her on the dance floor, Madonna goes and gets what she wants because she's tired of "dancing by herself." (Make of that what you will.)
She wrote "Into the Groove" with producer Stephen Bray, an ex-boyfriend from her days at the University of Michigan. Bray created the song's signature bassline, hook, and rhythm track, while Madonna penned the lyrics. Supposedly, she wrote the bulk of the words, sitting on the fire escape of her walk-up on the Lower East Side. She did kind of a rush job because she was more interested in getting a date with a guy who was flirting with her from his own balcony across the street than finishing the song. As she admitted to Rolling Stone in 2009, she feels a little silly singing "In the Groove" today because she considers it one of her weaker compositions.
"I've never been a good judge of what [songs] are going to be huge or not."
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