On June 9 1990, Madonna performed her Blond Ambition World Tour at the Capital Centre in Landover, Maryland.
Monthly Archives: June 2020
Today in Madonna History: June 8, 1991
On June 8 1991, Madonna’s Holiday debuted at #12 in the UK. It was the third time that Holiday was released in the UK, this time to promote The Holiday Collection.
The first time the song was released in the UK it peaked at 6. The second time it was released it peaked at number 2, only to be kept away from number 1 by her own Into the Groove. The 1991 released peaked at number 5 during the week of June 15.
Today in Madonna History: June 7, 2004
On June 7 2004, Callaway Arts & Entertainment announced the release of Madonna’s third book for children, Yakov and the Seven Thieves, on June 21, 2004.
Yakov and the Seven Thieves was illustrated by Gennady Spirin, an award winning and internationally revered artist, who had illustrated 33 previous children’s books.
Madonna’s first two children’s books, The English Roses and Mr. Peabody’s Apples, both debuted at No. 1 on the children’s picture book best-seller list of The New York Times, and remained on the list for 18 and 10 weeks, respectively.
Madonna described Yakov and the Seven Thieves as “a story about how all of us have the ability to unlock the gates of heaven-no matter how unworthy we think we are. For when we go against our selfish natures, we make miracles happen, in our lives and in the lives of others.”
Publisher and CEO of Callaway Arts & Entertainment, Nicholas Callaway made this statement about the book: “Yakov and the Seven Thieves again proves the amazing range of Madonna’s storytelling talent. Her first book was set in contemporary England and the second in post-World War II America. Now, she takes us to a completely different cultural milieu-a small 18th-century town in Eastern Europe. We therefore selected a world-renowned Russian artist, Gennady Spirin, to illustrate this book, because his traditional artistic style perfectly complements the old-world setting of the story.
Today in Madonna History: June 6, 1991
On June 6 1991, the live music video for Holiday taken from the film Truth Or Dare premiered on MTV.
Today in Madonna History: June 5, 1993
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, 2015
On June 4 2015, the first batch of remixes for the single Bitch I’m Madonna were released:
- Bitch I’m Madonna (Oscar G 305 Dub) 8:45
- Bitch I’m Madonna (Oscar G Bitch Beats) 8:45
- Bitch I’m Madonna (Rosabel’s Bitch Move Dub) 7:36
- Bitch I’m Madonna (Sander Kleinenberg Club Mix) 5:00
- Bitch I’m Madonna (Rosabel’s Bitch Move Mix) 7:06
Oscar G previously remixed Madonna’s cover of Fever back in 1993. Sander Kleinenberg was commissioned to produce remixes of Hollywood in 2003, although his mixes remained shelved until they surfaced on the internet in 2010. Clearly Madonna was more fond of Kleinenberg’s treatment of Bitch I’m Madonna, as it was featured in her first official remix video since leaving Warner Bros. Records.
Today in Madonna History: June 3, 2012
On June 3 2012, Marine Le Pen threatened to sue Madonna if she included her image with a swastika during her shows in France.
Here’s a snippet of an article that appeared in the Telegraph:
The fleeting image was shown at a concert the US-born singer gave in Tel Aviv last Thursday as part of her MDNA World Tour.
Projected during the song Nobody Knows Me, the film morphed Madonna’s face with a number of famous figures, including Chinese leader Hu Jinatao, US Republican former presidential candidate Sarah Palin and Pope Benedict XVI.
Miss Le Pen’s eyes and forehead then appear for a second before a swastika and the eyes of Adolf Hitler are superimposed onto the FN leader.
Furious, Miss Le Pen threatened to sue the singer if she kept the video unchanged when she performs in Paris on the July 14 national holiday and in Nice in August. “If she does that in France, we’ll be waiting for her,” she told Le Parisien.
Hitting back at Madonna, she was quoted by the newspaper as asking: “By the way, has Madonna given back the children she stole from Africa? Or did she end up buying them?”
Today In Madonna History 