Were you watching the MTV Video Music Awards in 1984? You’d remember. It was the year a newly famous Madonna scandalized the world by slinking around an enormous prop wedding cake and humping the stage in a lacy bridal gown while singing “Like a Virgin,” a hit that turned 30 years old this week. 30! Compared to the Mileys and Beyoncés and Katys of today, Madonna’s performance seems downright tame—nary a nipple or crotch shot in sight—but it made heads explode in the uber-conservative ’80s, and without it, and the rest of her entertainingly calculated button-pushing, Miley wouldn’t have a platform sneaker to stand on. Since her first self-titled record came out in 1983, Madonna has become the fourth best-selling act in the world—behind only The Beatles, Elvis, and Michael Jackson—and if we had any doubt that this would be her trajectory after Madonna debuted, “Like a Virgin” laid those to rest. Seeing this performance of it again, three decades later, is like watching for the very first time.

via Throwback Thursday: “Like a Virgin” by Madonna on its 30th Anniversary | Dame Magazine.