On November 23 1996, Madonna’s You Must Love Me hit #18 in the USA on the Billboard Hot 100.
Monthly Archives: November 2024
Today in Madonna History: November 22, 2002
On November 22 2002, the twentieth James Bond film, Die Another Day, was released by MGM. Die Another Day was the fourth and last film to star Pierce Brosnan as James Bond.
Die Another Day was directed by Lee Tamahori. The film marks the James Bond franchise’s 40th anniversary. The series began in 1962 with Sean Connery.
The title song for Die Another Day was written and produced by Madonna & Mirwais. Madonna also had a cameo in the film as Verity, a fencing instructor.
Today in Madonna History: November 21, 2000
On November 21 2000, the second single from Madonna’s Music album, Don’t Tell Me, was released by Maverick Records. The b-side for Don’t Tell Me was Cyber-Raga.
During an interview for Interview Magazine, in March 2001, Madonna discussed the lyrics for Don’t Tell Me:
“To me it is a romantic song. Just, you know, rip my skin off, do not tell me who I should love, or how I should love. Don’t tell me to give up. To me, in a way it’s like that Frank Sinatra song, ‘If I can make it there, I’ll make it anywhere’.”
The North American CD maxi-single included the following versions of Don’t Tell Me:
Don’t Tell Me – (Timo Maas Mix) – 6:55
Don’t Tell Me – (Tracy Young Club Mix) – 11:01
Don’t Tell Me – (Vission Remix) – 7:52
Don’t Tell Me – (Thunderpuss’ 2001 Hands in the Air Anthem) – 10:20
Don’t Tell Me – (Victor Calderone Sensory Mix) – 6:48
Don’t Tell Me – (Vission Radio Mix) – 3:38
Don’t Tell Me – (Thunderpuss’ 2001 Hands in the Air Radio) – 4:26
Don’t Tell Me – (Music Video)
Today in Madonna History: November 20, 2005
On November 20 2005, Madonna’s Confessions On A Dance Floor debuted at #1 on the UK album chart, becoming her ninth UK #1 and her fifth consecutive album to reach the top of the chart. While Confessions took the top spot, Hung Up enjoyed a second week at the top of the singles chart in the UK, ahead of Westlife’s You Raise Me Up (#2) and Black Eyed Peas My Humps (#3).
Today in Madonna History: November 19, 1993
On November 19 1993, the movie Dangerous Game premiered in New York City. Madonna shared top-billing with co-stars Harvey Keitel & James Russo in director Abel Ferrara’s gritty and experimental film about film-making. It was one of the first productions by Maverick Pictures, the film arm of Madonna’s multimedia company that was born in partnership with Warner Bros. the previous year. In some countries, the film was released under its original title, Snake Eyes, which could not be used in the U.S. due to a previous trademark on the name.
Given Maverick’s production involvement, it is perhaps unsurprising that the film’s credits include some names that should be familiar to many Madonna fans:
- Madonna’s longtime manager and founding partner in Maverick, Freddy DeMann, as executive producer
- Madonna’s assistant at the time, Missy Coggiola
- her frequent costume designer, Marlene Stewart
- her stylist, Hiram Ortiz–who not only styled her for the film but also appears as her stylist onscreen
- Madonna’s then-future manager, now the late Caresse Henry–at the time an assistant to DeMann
- songs by Maverick-signed music groups Proper Grounds & UNV
- Madonna’s eldest brother, Anthony Ciccone, as locations production assistant
Unhappy with Ferrara’s final cut of the film–which was reported to have been drastically altered from the movie that had been pitched to the actors–Madonna did not attend the premiere and, in Ferrara’s view, killed the movie’s shot at achieving wider distribution after badmouthing it in the press. Ironically, Ferrara noted, the reviews of Madonna’s strong performance in the film (which was certainly more natural, raw & vulnerable than any of her previous big-screen appearances) are among the best she had received as an actress at the time.
Dangerous Game was re-released on Blu-ray in North America on November 17, 2015 by Olive Films. It includes both the theatrical and the “unrated” versions of the movie.
(Note: the clips used in the short preview above are from a low-resolution, compressed rip from DVD and do not represent the superior quality of the new high definition Blu-ray edition of the film.)
Today in Madonna History: November 18, 1986
On November 18 1986, Madonna’s True Blue album was certified 3x platinum, for sales of 3 million units in the United States. The album was released on June 30 1986.
Here’s what Madonna had to say about the album track, Where’s The Party?
“It’s my ultimate statement about what it’s like to be in the middle of this Press stuff with everybody on my back, my world about to cave in. Whenever I feel like that – and it does get to me sometimes – I say ‘Wait a minute, I’m supposed to be having a good time here, so where’s the party?’ It doesn’t have to be this way. I can still enjoy life.”
Today In Madonna History: November 17, 2001
On November 17 2001, the promo-only remixes for Impressive Instant by Peter Rauhofer climbed to number-one on the Billboard Hot Dance Club Play chart in the US. It remained in the top spot for the week of November 24th.
Today In Madonna History 