Credits

Written by Madonna, Patrick Leonard and Bruce Gaitsch
Produced by Madonna and Patrick Leonard
Keyboards and drum programming by Patrick Leonard
Guitars by Bruce Gaitsch
Percussion by Paulinho da Costa
Background vocals by Madonna, Siedah Garrett and Edie Lehmann

La Isla Bonita was first offered to Madonna's greatest rival at that time, Michael Jackson by Patrick Leonard (who wrote the music with Bruce Gaitsch), but he turned it down, so the track was given to Madonna who wrote the lyrics.

Album

True Blue

The Immaculate Collection

Something To Remember (Japanese version)

Single

Video

Mary Lambert directed the hot-blooded video that suited the song perfectly. Madonna shows off a complete Spanish image, dressed in a full-red flamenco dress, dancing around and crawling on the floor between lots of candles. However, when she looks out of the window you see she's not really on an exotic island but in Spanish Harlem, where Spanish artists dance between the garbage. She longs to dance with them and finally no longer resists the temptation and goes out to join them. On a sidenote: try locating a young Benicio Del Toro.

Tour

La Isla Bonita was performed live for the first time as encore on the Who's That Girl Tour. While the guitarists and percussionists created the Spanish vibe, Madonna appeared in a great red dress. She gave a great vocal performance, backed up by Niki, Donna and Debra, and did some latino-dancing with Angel Ferreira.

During the Girlie Show the Spanish vibe was already created a bit for I'm Going Bananas. Madonna finishes that song with some Spanish words and when the tones of La Isla Bonita start, she gets out her Spanish moves too. Madonna is dressed in a blue and white striped shirt; Niki and Donna have a smilar one but in black and red. While one of the musicians walks around bare chest playing the acoustic guitar, Madonna is joined on stage by 4 of her sexy male dancers for another great latino dance.

One of the very few classics on the Drowned World Tour was La Isla Bonita, as part of the Spanish-Latin part of the show. Madonna picked up the acoustic guitar and just stood in between the other musicians, surrounding a Flamenco dancer. She encouraged the public to start clapping and singing 'olé ola'. Of course this song was dedicated to and much appreciated by the Spanish audience when the tour opened in Barcelona.

Surprisingly, La Isla Bonita was performed again, as part of the Confessions Tour setlist. But it was a new sped-up version with tribal beats, fitting for the hedonistic Disco segment of the show. Madonna tells fans to wear their "dancing shoes", inviting them to a tropical island (with beautiful imagery on the screens) and the dancers join her for a great choreography. Several fans got confused because of the change of tempo and with Madonna taking breaks between lines of the chorus, though. For some, it seemed too much like a 'rushed through' performance...

Obviously one of Madonna's tour favourites, La Isla Bonita also made it in the Sticky & Sweet Tour setlist in 2008. The Gypsy rendition was combined with the Romani-Gypsy folk song 'Lela Pala Tute' which debuted a year earlier on Live Earth. This time not Gogol Bordello, but the Arkady Gips band is supporting her onstage. This energetic performance featuring the dancers in a catchy choreography proves to be a crowd pleaser. It's followed by 'Doli Doli', another Gypsy song performed by Arkady Gips. This allows Madonna to catch her breath and to sit down next to sexy Paul who offers her a drink.