Click on the song titles to remind yourself of the original music videos that helped propel Madonna to stardom. The highs and lows of her quarter-century career are charted in the 'Star Power' rating below each entry.

1 Into The Groove (1985)

This Stephen Bray-produced dance track marked the moment that we realised Madonna wasn’t just a pop bimbo writhing around in lycra, but also a hip cultural barometer. It was the key song on the soundtrack of the hit film Desperately Seeking Susan (in which Madonna played herself, a streetwise, free-spirited Aphrodite). The video featured her dancing in the Danceteria, the New York club that made her, surrounded by real downtown clubbers, queen of all she surveyed. It became the record of the summer, staying at No. 1 in the UK for four weeks.

Chart position: UK No. 1/ US Billboard Hot Dance No. 1 Star power: 8

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2 Material Girl (1985)

Although musically one of her more pedestrian numbers, Material Girl has still become synonymous with, well, the Material Girl. It was meant to be an ironic comment on the Yuppie ‘Greed Is Good’ Eighties, but most people took it at face value, probably because Madonna is such a famously ruthless businesswoman. The video drew its inspiration from the movie Gentlemen Prefer Blondes, with Madonna as a modern-day Marilyn Monroe. Beneath the veneer of irony lay her long-held ambition to become a Hollywood movie star. With this hit she moved from being a bouncy downtown Boy Toy to global phenomenon.

Chart position: UK No. 3/ US Billboard No. 2 Star power: 10

3 Papa Don’t Preach (1986)

Described at the time by Madonna as “a message song that everyone is going to take the wrong way”, Papa Don’t Preach is an adolescent girl’s plea to be heard by her disciplinarian dad. She’s pregnant, and wants to keep her baby. With its epic pop sweep, it was like a mini opera, with Madonna singing in a deeper register than usual. By this time she was married to Sean Penn, and fancied herself as a substantial actress. Her first foray into song with social consciousness, Papa Don’t Preach was welcomed by anti-abortion groups, while some criticised it for condoning teenage pregnancy. The dramatic video, in which Madonna sported a sleeker, more gamine cropped-blonde look, and the famous T-shirt emblazoned with the slogan: ‘ITALIANS DO IT BETTER’ was one of her best screen performances.

Chart position: UK No. 1/ US Billboard No 1 Star power: 8

4 Like A Prayer (1989)

Once again, a No. 1 hit inseparable from its video - which in this case featured a field of burning crosses and Madonna kissing a black Christ figure. The provocative video led to Pepsi Cola cancelling a $1 million contract with Madonna - they withdrew the advert they made with her, but she kept the $1 million. At this point she was moving in a more introspective musical direction. Her marriage to Penn had broken down, she was 30 years old, and she had dyed her hair from blonde to dark brown. With Like A Prayer she was exploring her family history and Catholic upbringing, and welding it to a gospel-inspired dance beat. Guy Pratt, who played bass on the song, recalls Johnny Marr saying to him: “Unarguably brilliant record.”

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