Right On Track – Breakfast Club | Top 40 Chart Performance, Story and Song Meaning
Chart Performance: Pop (#7), R&B (#64) and Hot Dance (#7) ; 1987
Story Behind The Song By Ed Osborne
Way before the Breakfast Club’s lone Top 40 single, Madonna played drums for the Manhattan band. The year was 1979 when musicians Dan and Ed Gilroy met Miss Ciccone, a dancer with the Alvin Ailey troupe.
The three, along with another dancer, Angie Smit, were soon living together, and looking to break into show biz. A comedy act created by the Gilroy brothers evolved into the Breakfast Club, with Angie and Madonna laboring on bass and drums.
After a few months, Madonna took off to Europe. Returning a year later, she rejoined an expanded version of the Breakfast Club. Envious of the attention paid to Angie, Madonna lobbied for some center stage singing time.
Her ever-escalating demands eventually met with resistance, and Madonna stepped out on her own. Several years later she was a superstar, a fact which helped pave the way for Breakfast Club’s entry into the spotlight. BC’s 15 minutes fame arrived via a infectious Sly & The Family Stone-influenced track called Right On Time.
This content and all Song Meaning articles were created and written by Top 40 Contributing Editor Ed Osborne. © 2024 Ed Osborne. All Rights Reserved. In addition to these song meaning articles, Ed has written our “Year in Music 1960s-1990s” articles.
Produced by:
- Jimmy Iovine
Lyrics Written by:
- Dan Gilroy
- Stephen Bray
Ed Osborne
Hi. I got my first record at age two and never looked back, spending a decades-long career in radio and the music business. Even after years of reading about and listening to all types of music, I am still fascinated by it. Apart from that, I’m endlessly intrigued by art, nature, and the inner lives of people (and dogs).