Today in Madonna History: June 20, 1998

June 20, 2024 By sonicboy19 in 1998, June Tags: Ray Of Light (Single), William Orbit 1 Comment

On June 20 1998, Madonna’s Ray of Light became the #1 dance single on the Billboard Hot Dance Club Songs chart. The hit single remained #1 for 4 weeks!

Ray of Light was written by Madonna, William Orbit, Clive Muldoon, Dave Curtiss, Christine Leach, and produced by Madonna and Orbit. Ray of Light is based on Curtiss Maldoon’s Sepheryn.

“It took a long time to do the album, months. And it wasn’t like we were slacking. We actually did have to work fast, and there were many times when we had to move on. One of Madonna’s favorite phrases was: ‘Don’t gild the lily.’ In other words, keep it rough, and don’t perfect it too much. It’s a natural urge for computer buffs to perfect everything because they can, and we were very wary of that.”

—William Orbit on working with Madonna; Keyboard magazine

Today in Madonna History: June 19, 2013

June 19, 2024 By sonicboy19 in 2013, June Tags: Danceteria, Debi Mazar, Everybody, Keith Haring, Paradise Garage 1 Comment

june-19-madonna-debi-mazar

On June 19 2013, Debi Mazar talked to The Cut about how she first met Madonna:

I was in Danceteria, working the elevator. She came into my elevator, and a great song was spinning and she goes, ‘Hey, you wanna dance? And I was like, ‘Yeah!’ And I parked the elevator, and we had a great dance together and then later on we danced some more. She wasn’t, like, a big star yet. She was just a girl from Detroit who had a real raw sexuality. From there on we became pals and started dancing and hanging out. I was doing makeup then, and so I did her makeup for years. She was like, ‘I’m gonna be a star one day,’ and I was like, ‘Great!’ We also did videos together. The first one was a song called ‘Everybody,’ and we filmed at the Paradise Garage, and Keith Haring was there. That was the beginning. I was always trying to pluck her eyebrows — they’re caterpillars. At this moment in time I probably wouldn’t pluck them, but it was the eighties, so, you know. Anyway, we remained girlfriends and we still are.

Today in Madonna History: June 18, 2006

June 18, 2024 By sonicboy19 in 2006, June Tags: BBC, Chicago, The Confessions Tour 1 Comment

On June 18 2006, Madonna performed a third sold-out Confessions Tour concert at the United Center in Chicago. In total, Madonna performed four completely sold-out shows for 52,000 adoring fans in Chicago, generating $9.2 million in ticket sales.

Tom Young (BBC) had this to say about The Confessions Tour:

“[The show is] a big fat neon light of a pop-dance explosion. There’s a party going on, and unless you were there in the first place, you’re not invited. Whistles and whoops rarely cease and applause ripples throughout building into regular raptures for a consistently first-class performer. It’s almost enough to make those who weren’t there jealous. Almost.”

Today in Madonna History: June 17, 1990

June 17, 2024 By sonicboy19 in 1990, June Tags: Dick Tracy, Warren Beatty 1 Comment

On June 17 1990, it was announced that Dick Tracy grossed $23 million at the US box-office during its opening weekend.

When was the last time that you watched Dick Tracy? Has the film aged well? Are you a fan of Madonna’s performance in Dick Tracy?

Today in Madonna History: June 16, 2007

June 16, 2024 By sonicboy19 in 2007, June Tags: Canadian Singles Chart, Charts, Hey You, Live Earth, Live Videos 1 Comment

On June 16 2007, Hey You peaked at #57 on Billboard’s Canadian Hot 100 Singles chart.

The charity single, recorded for the Live Earth benefit, was not promoted to radio and appeared on the chart for a single week only. It marked Madonna’s first appearance on the newly created Canadian Hot 100 Singles chart, which replaced the Nielsen Soundscan chart as Canada’s official singles monitor earlier that year.

Hey You was produced by Madonna & Pharrell Williams during the sessions for the Hard Candy album and is credited to Madonna alone.

Today in Madonna History: June 15, 1991

June 15, 2024 By sonicboy19 in 1991, June Tags: Holiday, Into The Groove, The Holiday Collection, The Immaculate Collection 1 Comment

On June 15 1991, Madonna’s Holiday was re-released in the UK to promote both The Immaculate Collection and the limited edition EP, The Holiday Collection.

This was the third release for Holiday in the UK: