Song · Malcolm McLaren
“Madame Butterfly” by Malcolm McLaren
“Madame Butterfly” by Malcolm McLaren appears on 8 radio countdowns from 4 stations between 1984 and 1994. Its best result is #43 on the Live 105 Top 500 Songs of All-Time (Memorial Day 1988). In the combined RockLists rankings it is the #159 alternative song of 1984 and #2,544 alternative song of all time.
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"Madam Butterfly (Un bel dì vedremo)" finds Malcolm McLaren in 1984 dragging Puccini onto the dance floor, an electronic makeover of the Madama Butterfly aria "Un bel dì vedremo", released as a single off his second album, Fans. Grand opera, recast as cool, glossy pop.
It climbed to 13 in Britain and 19 on the US Hot Dance/Disco chart, but its longest shadow was cast by its producer. Stephen Hague gave the record its sheen, and the Pet Shop Boys have pointed to it as the reason they hired him to rework "West End Girls", turning Bobby Orlando's original 1984 version into something more cinematic, and then kept him around as producer on their debut album, Please.
Written with AI assistance from RockLists chart data, MusicBrainz and Wikipedia.
RockLists rankings
Alternative & Modern Rock
All Rock Formats
Year-end countdowns
| Year | # | Station | Countdown | of |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1984 | 73 | 91X San Diego, CA / Tijuana | 91X Top 91 Songs of 1984 | 91 |
All-time and decade countdowns
| Year | # | Station | Countdown | of |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1988 | 43 | Live 105 | Live 105 Top 500 Songs of All-Time (Memorial Day 1988) | 501 |
| 1988 | 173 | WLIR / WDRE | WLIR Top 200 Songs of All-Time (1988) | 200 |
| 1990 | 94 | Live 105 | Live 105 Top 300 Songs of All-Time (Memorial Day 1990) | 299 |
| 1991 | 183 | Live 105 | Live 105 Top 300 Songs of All-Time (Memorial Day 1991) | 302 |
| 1991 | 926 | CFNY 102.1 The Edge | CFNY Top 1002 Songs of All-Time (1991 Edition) | 1002 |
| 1992 | 126 | Live 105 | Live 105 Top 300 Songs of All-Time (Memorial Day 1992) | 299 |
| 1994 | 333 | Live 105 | Live 105 Revolutionary 500 (July 1994) | 500 |
Also listed as: Madam Butterfly.
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