On January 9 1988, Spotlight peaked at #15 on Billboard’s Hot Crossover Singles chart in the U.S.
Despite not being released as a single commercially outside Japan and receiving no direct promotion in the U.S., Spotlight managed to garner enough airplay for an eight-week run on the Crossover chart. It also appeared on the Hot 100 Airplay chart for five weeks, peaking at #32 in February, 1988.
Spotlight-and Madonna herself-will shine bright forever!
I remember hearing it on the radio quite a bit in late ’87 – early ’88. It was a fun song and should’ve been on the True Blue album!
I don’t know why Warner North America didn’t release “Spotlight” as a single. It surely would have hit the top 10 maybe top 5, and it would’ve definitely became a #1 dance single. I remember dancing to it as a small kid. I read she recorded it for album True Blue, but shelved it and the You can Dance album was supposed to come out in November 1986, but was pushed back to 1987. In the late 80s Madonna was a powerhouse in pop music, but her record company has always did things weird. After Spotlight in January and February 1988, the rest of 1988 was very calm for Madonna, and no new music would come until she wrote Like a Prayer which came a year later in 1989.
Should have been a single. It was a great track from that era