Today in Madonna History: June 6, 1995

June 6, 2015 By Jay in 1995, June Tags: Bedtime Stories, Bettina Rheims, Human Nature, Sanctuary 1 Comment

On June 6 1995, Madonna’s Human Nature single was released in physical formats.

Human Nature was the fourth single to be released from her Bedtime Stories album. The song was written and produced by Madonna and Dave Hall.

The b-side for Human Nature was Sanctuary (on the CD and cassette single).

The Human Nature CD maxi-single released in Australia, Canada and the USA contained the following remixes:

Human Nature (Radio Edit of the Human Club Mix) – 4:09
Human Nature (Runway Club Mix Radio Edit) – 3:58
Human Nature (Runway Club Mix) – 8:18
Human Nature (I’m Not Your Bitch Mix) – 8:10
Human Nature (Howie Tee Remix) – 4:47
Human Nature (Howie Tee Clean Remix) – 4:46
Human Nature (Radio Version) – 4:30
Human Nature (Bottom Heavy Dub) – 8:08
Human Nature (Love is the Nature Mix)

What is your favourite remix of Human Nature?

Today in Madonna History: June 5, 1993

June 5, 2015 By sonicboy19 in 1993, June Tags: Charts, Donna De Lory, Interview Videos, Just A Dream, Patrick Leonard 1 Comment

On June 5 1993, Just A Dream, written and produced by Madonna & Patrick Leonard and performed by Madonna’s long-time backing singer/dancer Donna De Lory, peaked at number-ten on Billboard’s Dance/Club chart. The song was released as the second single from De Lory’s self-titled 1992 album for MCA Records.

Just A Dream had originally been written and recorded during the Like A Prayer sessions. Although Madonna had clearly intended that the album move beyond the boundaries of pure dance/pop and crossover into other styles, she reportedly felt that including Just A Dream would have tipped the balance too far in the direction of rock. When De Lory approached Madonna a few years later about the possibility of providing a song for her first album, Madonna offered Just A Dream, sensing that the song’s rock-edge would be better suited to Donna’s vocal style than her own. Madonna did, however, allow the use of her own vocals on the track, which can be heard blending with Donna’s in the song’s chorus, bridge and, most prominently, during its fadeout.

While unconfirmed, it is assumed that no new production-work – aside from the addition of De Lory’s lead vocal – took place on the released album version of Just A Dream, with the the original Like A Prayer session tracks carried over to Donna’s version and Madonna’s original lead vocal being mixed down to background vocals. The original cut, featuring Madonna’s complete lead vocal track, has yet to surface.

Check out the video for Donna’s version of Just A Dream at the 13:00 minute mark in the following video interview compilation featuring Donna discussing our favorite topic – Madonna:

Today in Madonna History: June 4, 1983

June 4, 2015 By sonicboy19 in 1983, June Tags: Burning Up, Charts, Hot Dance Club Play, Physical Attraction, Remix Videos 1 Comment

On June 4 1983, Burning Up/Physical Attraction spent its third and final week at its peak position of number-three on Billboard’s Hot Dance Music/Club Play chart in the U.S.

Available only on 12″ single in the U.S., the release charted as a double A-side single. Its run on the Dance/Club chart spanned a total of sixteen weeks, seven of which were spent in the top-five. In a rather strange marketing twist, a music video was produced for Burning Up while only Physical Attraction was promoted to radio – with an edited version of the latter being featured on both sides of the rare 7″ promo.

To further confuse matters, the version of Burning Up that was featured on the 12″ was in actuality not a remix, but rather the original Reggie Lucas production of the song. Instead, the two distinct versions of the song that later turned up at separate times on her debut album were in fact remixes by John “Jellybean” Benitez. Physical Attraction was also remixed by Benitez, although his version appears on both the single and the album.

Today in Madonna History: June 3, 1989

June 3, 2015 By Jay in 1989, June Tags: Like A Prayer (Single), Number One 1 Comment

On June 3 1989, Madonna’s Like A Prayer earned its 11th week at #1, and its 12th week in the Top 10 of the United World Chart (tracks).

Today in Madonna History: June 2, 2005

June 2, 2015 By sonicboy19 in 2005, June Tags: Benefit Concert, Like A Prayer (Single), Live 8, Live Videos, Music (Single), Ray Of Light (Single), TV Performance 1 Comment

On June 2 2005, Madonna.com confirmed Madonna’s participation of Live 8:

“Sir Bob Geldof confirmed in a press conference yesterday the details and confirmed the artists featuring in Live 8 – a series of five live shows in London, Paris, Philadelphia, Rome and Berlin on Saturday July 2nd. The concerts have been organized by Bob Geldof and Midge Ure as part of a campaign to force the world’s richest nations to relieve poverty in the third world. The concerts – which will be free – are aimed at raising awareness of poverty just before leaders of the Group of Eight industrialized nations meet in Scotland…”

Madonna went on to perform a three-song set from London’s Hyde Park consisting of Like A Prayer, Ray Of Light & Music.

Today in Madonna History: June 1, 1990

June 1, 2015 By Jay in 1990, June Tags: Blond Ambition World Tour, Controversy, Dick Tracy, Express Yourself, Herb Ritts, Interview Magazine, Like A Prayer (Single), Like A Virgin (Single), On the Cover of a Magazine, Sooner or Later 1 Comment

On June 1 1990, Madonna was controversially featured grabbing her crotch and breast on the cover of Interview magazine.

Madonna was interviewed by Glenn O’Brien at the Disney Studios, where she was rehearsing the Blond Ambition Tour. Here’s a snippet from the interview:

Glenn: Let’s talk about your show.

Madonna: Let’s not. Today was a horrible day. That was the worst rehearsal.

Glenn: Well, I liked it, but I haven’t seen it when you thought it was good. I loved the number where you’re lying on the piano singing a torch song.

Madonna: You saw only one segment of the show. I’ve created five different worlds, and the set is all based on hydraulics. One is going down and another is coming up. The world changes completely. I think of it more as a musical than as a rock concert. There is a straightforward Metropolis section, like my Express Yourself video – that set with all the gears and machinery; it’s very hard and metallic. That’s the heavy-duty dance music. Then the set changes and it’s like a church. We call it the temple ruins. It’s all these columns, trays of votive candles, a cross. I do Like a Virgin on a bed, but we changed the arrangement, so it sounds Indian. Then I’m being punished for masturbation on this bed, which is, as you know, what happens. Then we do the more serious, religious-type material – Like a Prayer, Papa Don’t Preach… Then it changes to what you saw, this Art Deco ’50s-musical set. That’s when we do three songs from Dick Tracy, and then after that we do what I call the camp section. Then it gets really serious again and we go into our Clockwork Orange cabaret set.