Madonna’s Sticky & Sweet tour got underway Saturday in Cardiff, Wales (opening night review here). Since “Into The Groove” did make it onto the S&S setlist, I felt it apropos to extend Friday’s rearview examination of the song by sharing two very different takes on the dancefloor classic.

First up, Ciccone Youth, a Sonic Youth side project that added Minutemen/fIREHOSE bassist Mike Watt. Paying homage to Madonna by appropriating her surname, the band covered both “Burning Up” and “Into The Groove.” The songs first surfaced on a three-song EP released in 1986, issued again as part of 1988’s full-length The Whitey Album. That disc also included a cover of Robert Palmer’s “Addicted To Love.”

Featuring a deadpan delivery from Sonic Youth frontman Thurston Moore, the reverb-heavy “Into The Groove(y)” incorporates samples of the Madonna track, making the end result more tribute than trash. Hear here:

Purchase “Into The Groove(y)” and more from The Whitey Album via Amazon, iTunes.

Fast forwarding to present day (and sticking with the male vocal theme), today’s second take on “Into The Groove” comes from techno/power pop group The Medic Droid.

If you’d ever wondered what emo outfit Metro Station (“Shake It”) might sound like if they were inextricably tangled up with a vocoder, well that just about sums up this Phoenix, Arizona trio. And for the four minutes of The Medic Droid’s cover of “Into The Groove” (featured on their debut, What’s Your Medium), that combination just about works. Hear here:

Purchase The Medic Droid’s version of “Into The Groove” via Amazon, iTunes.