Madonna Mega Best Remix Song

These are my top 5 Madonna songs of all time which are not only performed but also WRITTEN by Madonna. There are several songs not listed that are great, but I required that 'The Queen of Pop' penned (writing credit) the song to acquire a spot on this list.

It was hard to narrow down, but here goes:

5. Hung Up (2005) "Time goes by so slowly for those who wait" - OF COURSE, so let's get up and dance already. "Hung Up" features a sampling from ABBA's hit song "Gimme! Gimme! Gimme!" Take a listen for yourself. Hey, did you know that this song peaked at the top of the charts in more than 45 countries? Jeez. Other people like to dance too:)

4. Take a Bow (1994) If you have EVER had a broken heart, doesn't it feel the whole affair was a 'masquerade' or people were just playing roles? I love the theatrical slant with the tragic love story of bullfighting. In the video, Madonna plays the matador's neglected lover. The strings on the track make it truly gorgeous.

3. Oh Father (1989) This song is definitely under-rated. I think the music video for "Oh Father" is as a compelling reason to put this track on any top list as the song itself. The imagery and details were unrivaled when the video first aired. Not to mention, the subject matter is very serious (the death of her mother) and yet human. Shot entirely in black-and-white, the video is said to have taken stylistic inspiration from the Orson Welles film "Citizen Kane". It's been a while since it's release, but take another listen/view of this one.

2. Like a Prayer (1989) The opening line: "Life is a mystery, everyone must stand alone" is such an earnest and forthright statement...yet for most people, this is something kept in the back of your mind. "Like a Prayer" became one of Madonna's highest-selling singles in her career, selling over 5 million copies worldwide at the time of its release. Now down to the highly controversial video, only Madonna could pull this off - it is stormy, violent, exciting, innovative and refreshingly emotionally candid.

1. Ray of Light (1998) / Live To Tell (1986) - Ray of Light has received critical acclaim and lauded as a musical masterpiece, so why a tie for 1st place? Specifically, Ray of LIght is 'inspired' or tightly mimics Curtiss Maldoon's "Sepheryn". The vocals and twisting melody take me for a ride on what Madonna called her "most adventurous" record. - Live to Tell is flat out hauntingly beautiful. What really makes this song phenomenal, in my opinion, is the chord structure and the moody anticipation. Madonna's delivery marked a mature woman compared to her earlier material. It stands the test of time and begs the questions 'Will I grow old? How will they hear, when will they learn, how will they know?'

So, there you go - My top 5 Madonna Songs Of All Time - And Why. So what are your favorite Madonna songs? Why? Whether you love or loathe pop music,

She's been a pop sensation ever since her appearance in 1984 with Holiday - a UK number 6 hit. But then, according to the statistics, she went a bit quiet for the rest of that year until the November release of Like a Virgin (peaking at number 3). In fact she hadn't gone quiet, it's just that Lucky Star and Borderline didn't quite make it - getting to number 14 and number 56 respectively.

In total, including Holiday and Dear Jessie, our Madge had 22 UK single releases in the 80's, scoring 6 number 1 singles - Into The Groove; Papa Don't Preach; True Blue; La Isla Bonita; Who's That Girl and Like A Prayer plus an additional 15 top ten hits (Holiday counts twice - it reached number 6 in 84 and then number 2 in 85 - only prevented from getting to number 1 by Into The Groove!) In fact the only single that didn't make it to the UK top ten was Lucky Star. Borderline originally a flop, only number 56 in 1984, re-entered the chart and made it to number 2 in 1986.

I was a big fan of Madonna and it was Like A Virgin which pulled me in. Of course at the time I was a spotty teenager - just going on 15 and exactly Madonna's target audience. Using the power of MTV to get herself and her song known (although we didn't have MTV in our house) her provocative prancing on gondolas and running around in a wedding dress was just lapped up by me and countless other spotty oiks on TOTP.

Her follow up to Like A Virgin was Material Girl, with Madonna's video paying homage to Marilyn Monroe in Gentleman Prefer Blondes. I've read that Material Girl isn't one of Madonna's favourite songs - it was the eighties of course, a time of material excesses and Material Girl did become her nickname. Similarly to Like A Virgin, Material Girl was a top 3 hit in the UK singles chart.

Crazy For You went one better and reached number 3 in the UK. It was taken from the soundtrack from the 1985 film Vision Quest and had a different B side depending upon where it was released. In the UK, we were treated to Sammy Hagar with his own composition I'll Fall In Love Again. Crazy For You is perhaps my favourite Madonna song - 'Swaying room as the music starts/ Strangers making the most of the dark', it just didn't get any better for spotty adolescents like me. John Bettis and Jon Lind (the writers), we salute you!

The next single was taken from her own film, the criminally under-rated Desperately Seeking Susan. Perhaps Madonna herself wasn't too keen on this song as it was only released as a B side to Angel in the US and Australia. But in the UK we were treated to Into The Groove as a stand-alone A side and we treated it extremely well, making it Madonna's first UK number 1 single. What were you doing on 3 August 1985? I was buying this single - I do hope that you put your time to such good use!

Next up in the UK was the release of Angel (in other parts of the world, Angel came before Into The Groove). I coughed up my hard earned in October 1985, and although it didn't repeat the success of Into The Groove, number 5 was still a respectable chart position - although the song isn't as well remembered as others.

Dress You Up was next. Like Angel it made number 5 in the UK singles chart. In the UK Dress You Up was released in October 1985 a little after its release date in other countries. It acquired notoriety in the US as one of the PMRC's Filthy Fifteen, a group of songs which the group perceived as being most objectionable. Now we know that Madonna is quite a minx, but quite how she could feature on a list with the likes of Judas Priest, AC/DC, Motley Crue and Black Sabbath is a little beyond me. But then she was also joined by Sheena Easton (with Sugar Walls - written by Prince) and Cyndi Lauper (She Bop), so what do I know?

I didn't buy Gambler, Madonna's next offering to the UK market. This made it to number 4 in the UK singles chart and was followed by Live To Tell, the last Madonna single that I bought. I don't know why I stopped, I probably had my eyes opened by something else. Anyway, that's enough about me, what of Live To Tell? It was released in the UK on 21 April 1986 as an accompaniment to her then husband Sean Penn's film, At Close Range. It's a gorgeous ballad, telling the tale of (Madonna's) relationship(s) with (her) parents, of deceit and mistrust. It was written by Madonna and Patrick Leonard, a long time collaborator with Madonna and amongst others Bon Jovi, Julian Lennon and Nick Kamen.

Madonna Louise Ciccone was born in Bay City, Michigan, in 1958. One of six children, Madonna learned, at an early age, about responsibility and being strong, when her mother died of breast cancer at the age of 30 in 1963.

Madonna attended the University of Michigan on a dance scholarship. In 1977, Madonna dropped out of college and, with only thirty-five dollars in her pocket, she headed for New York City. She worked as a waitress at a Dunkin' Donuts and with some dance troupes.

In 1979, she founded her first rock band, The Breakfast Club, where she sang, played drums and guitar. In 1980, Madonna founded the band, Emmy, with drummer Stephen Bray. The music of Emmy came to attention of Sire Records founder, Seymour Stein, who signed Madonna to a contract and released her first single, "Everybody" in 1982 which didn't crack Billboard's Top 100 chart. Neither did her second single, "Burning Up." But her third single, "Holiday" went Top 20 and there was no looking back.

On the charts, as of this date, Madonna has made it to Billboard's Weekly Top 40 Charts 48 times and she's topped the charts 13 times, placing her third behind The Beatles (20) and Elvis Presley (18) with the most number one singles.

Here's a look at Madonna's twenty biggest hits, according to Billboard's Weekly Top 40 Charts:

1. Take A Bow - 1995 - Madonna's biggest single topped the charts for seven weeks, was co-written by Babyface and came from her album "Bedtime Stories."

2. Like A Virgin - 1984 - her first number one single caused much controversy, but Madonna maintains that the title is ambiguous and that she was singing about how something made her feel a certain way, fresh and brand new.

3. Vogue - 1990 - from the "Dick Tracy Soundtrack", as was the follow up single, "Hanky Panky" which went Top 10.

4. Like A Prayer - 1989 - Pepsi Cola paid Madonna five million dollars to appear in a commercial debuting the single, but after Pepsi viewed the controversial spot, they pulled the commercial after only two showings.

5. Music - 2000 - from her eighth studio album, Madonna received two Grammy nominations for this single.

6. Papa Don't Preach - 1986 - another controversial song, this one, from her "True Blue" album, deals with teen pregnancy and abortion.

7. Justify My Love - 1991 - controversy surrounded the music video of this song, from "The Immaculate Collection" album, which was sexually explicit and banned by MTV.

8. Crazy For You - 1985 - from the film "Vision Quest" starring Matthew Modine.

9. Open Your Heart - 1987 - originally titled "Follow Your Heart" and written for Cyndi Lauper, this song also came from the "True Blue" album, which garnered three number one singles.

10. Live To Tell - 1986 - from the film "At Close Range" starring her husband at the time, Sean Penn.

11. Who's That Girl - 1987 - from the film of the same title starring Madonna.

12. This Used To Be My Playground - 1992 - more Madonna movie music, this time from "A League Of Their Own", she has never performed this song in any of her concerts.

13. I'll Remember - 1994 - the theme from the film "With Honors" this song received a Grammy Award nomination and a nomination for a Golden Globe.

14. Causing A Commotion - 1987 - also from the "Who's That Girl" album and movie, Madonna wrote this song which was inspired by the abusive and violent nature of her husband, Sean Penn.

15. Material Girl - 1985 - the only other single from the "Like A Virgin" album, this song has also been covered by Brittany Spears and Hilary Duff.

16. Cherish - 1989 - the third of four singles to go top 20 from the "Like A Prayer" album.

17. Express Yourself - 1989 - also from the "Like A Prayer" album, the music video of this song cost five million to dollars to produce, making it the most expensive music video at the time.

18. Frozen - 1998 - from the "Ray Of Light" album, the music video was shot in the Mojave Desert. The song was also pulled from Belgian radio and TV stations after a judge ruled that the first four bars of the song were plagiarized.

19. True Blue - 1986 - the title cut from her third studio album, this was another song, written by Madonna, reflecting her feelings for husband Sean Penn.

20. Erotica - 1992 - more controversy, this time, because of it's sexually suggestive lyrics, Madonna was banned from The Vatican and the album, "Erotica", was banned in Lebanon.

Madonna furthered her career as an actress by appearing in the films, "Desperately Seeking Susan", "Shanghai Surprise", "Bloodhounds Of Broadway", "Dick Tracy", "A League Of Their Own", "The Next Best Thing" among others. She also gained critical acclaim with her portrayal of Evita Peron in the film version, "Evita." Madonna also appeared on Broadway in "Speed The Plow."

Always controversial, always reinventing herself, Madonna has been named the world's top-selling female recording artist and most successful female recording artist of all time, according to the Guinness World Records. Billboard has ranked her as the most successful solo artist and on the Billboard's Hot 100 All-Time Top Artists list released in 2008, she came in second, behind The Beatles.

In 2008, in her first year of eligibility, Madonna was inducted into the Rock And Roll Hall Of Fame.