Today in Madonna History: November 30, 2011

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On November 30 2011, Kylie Minogue talked to Billboard magazine about Madonna, an artist she’s a huge fan of:

“I’m a massive Madonna fan, absolutely. I’ve only met her briefly. We have some friends in common and a message will go back and forth. ‘She says hi,’ or ‘I say hi.’ But, obviously how can you not love Madonna?”

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Today in Madonna History: November 29, 1994

On November 29 1994, the second single from Madonna’s Bedtime Stories album, Take A Bow, was released. The song was written and produced by Madonna and Babyface.

In Steve Sullivan’s Encyclopedia of Great Popular Song Recordings Volume 2, he reviews the hit single:

A gorgeous melancholy ballad of unrequited love, with the object of the singer’s affection being someone who hides behind a role playing mask which only she can see. Babyface makes the song virtually a duet with Madonna, echoing her words with his high tenor wafting dreamily behind her, and the song’s minimalist arrangement is impeccably elegant.

Today in Madonna History: November 28, 2006

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On November 28 2006, Jump peaked at #20 on the Austrian Ultratop 40 singles chart. The song was the fourth international single from Confessions On A Dance Floor.

The maxi-single featured remixes by Stuart Price (under the pseudonym Jacques Lu Cont), Axwell and Junior Sanchez; an Extended Album Version and Radio Edit (the US vinyl edition also added the “unmixed” Album Version); and a previously unreleased b-side, History, written and produced by Madonna & Stuart Price.

Recorded during the Confessions On A Dance Floor sessions, the released version of History was in actuality an uncredited Stuart Price remix of the otherwise shelved original production. An alternate version of the Price remix streamed on Madonna’s official website for a brief period but has yet to surface in quality above streaming grade. More of the song’s history came to light when an incomplete clip of the final non-remixed version, as well as several complete demo takes (featuring nixed chorus lyric “I thought that we were related” instead of “Defined by our greed and hatred”), leaked online in 2007 and 2008 respectively.

While the remix of History is a sparse and stripped-down slice of electro-house that recalls some of Stuart Price’s earlier solo work as Les Rythmes Digitales, the pulsating urgency of the original production with its heedfully hopeful bridge make it the more definitive rendering of the song.

Today in Madonna History: November 27, 2005

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On November 27 2005, Confessions Of Madonna – a one-hour interview conducted by Dermot O’Leary which focused mainly on promoting the television broadcast of I’m Going To Tell You A Secret – aired on Channel 4 in the UK.

Today in Madonna History: November 26, 1987

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On November 26 1987, Who’s That Girl – Live In Japan was released on VHS and LaserDisc by Warner-Pioneer Video, exclusively for the Japanese market. Recorded in Tokyo on June 22 1987, the show initially aired as a television special in Japan in conjunction with Madonna’s sponsorship agreement with Mitsubishi. The special was the first ever television broadcast to make use of Dolby Surround Sound technology.

Elements of the Japanese release were also incorporated into the international 1988 release of the Who’s That Girl World Tour, Ciao Italia: Live From Italy, which was also released in Japan on LaserDisc in 1988 and on DVD in 2001. Meanwhile, the complete Live In Japan release has since been deleted from circulation.

Today in Madonna History: November 25, 2000

On November 25 2000, Madonna’s mimed performance of Music recorded for the BBC music series Top Of The Pops aired on RTL in Germany. It would later air on the BBC’s year-end retrospective edition of Top Of The Pops on December 25th.

Madonna was accompanied by long-time back-up singers/dancers Donna De Lory and Niki Harris during the performance.

Today in Madonna History: November 24, 2003

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