writing songs together and they recorded a four-song demo tape in November 1980, but soon after, Madonna decided to promote herself as a solo artist. In 1981, Madonna got signed by a music management company called Gotham Records. During that time, Madonna wrote and developed some songs on her own. She carried rough tapes of three of the songs, "Everybody", "Ain't No Big Deal" and "Burning Up". She frequented nightclubs such as Danceteria where she convinced DJ Mark Kamins to play "Everybody". The song was received positively by the crowd, and Kamins decided that he should get Madonna a record deal. Kamins, who also worked as an A&R man for Island Records, played her demo tape for the label's founder Chris Blackwell, but Blackwell refused to sign her so Kamins sent the tape to Sire Records. The President of Sire, Seymour Stein was impressed by her demo and met Madonna while he was admitted to Lenox Hill Hospital. She was ultimately signed for a deal for a total of three singles with an option for an album. Michael Rosenblatt, who worked in the A&R department of Sire, offered Madonna $15,000 in advance per single, plus a publishing deal for an advance of $2,500 for each song she wrote. Development The 12" single for "Everybody" was produced by Mark Kamins at Blank Tapes Studios in New York, who took over the production work from Stephen Bray. The new recording ran 5:56 on one side and 9:23 for the dub version on the reverse side. Madonna and Kamins had to record the single at their own cost. Arthur Baker, a friend of Kamins, guided him through the role of a music producer and provided him with studio musician Fred Zarr who played keyboards on the track. Zarr became one of the common musical threads on the album by eventually performing on every track. Due to restrained budget the recording was done hurriedly. Madonna and Kamins had difficulty in understanding each other's inputs for the sessions. Rosenblatt wanted to release "Everybody" with "Ain't No Big Deal" on the other side, but later changed his mind and put "Everybody" on both sides of the vinyl record after hearing the recorded version of "Ain't No Big Deal". The single was commercially released in October 1982 and became a dance hit in the United States. Shortly after its release, Sire Records gave the green light to