On June 9 1990, Madonna performed her Blond Ambition World Tour at the Capital Centre in Landover, Maryland.
Monthly Archives: June 2025
Today in Madonna History: June 8, 1992
On June 8 1992, Madonna began recording sessions for the Erotica album at Soundworks, in New York.
While the writing and recording of Madonna’s previous albums had typically unfolded rather quickly, Erotica marked a change of pace in the creation of a Madonna record. Songwriting sessions for the set had occurred sporadically throughout the previous year with Shep Pettibone, Tony Shimkin and Andre Betts, in between movie projects and photo shoots for her upcoming coffee table book, Sex.
In contrast to the slick production qualities of the albums that preceded it, Madonna wanted Erotica to feature a darker, more gritty and less polished sound. This led to the decision to carry over many of the original demo vocals recorded during the songwriting process at Shep’s home studio to the final versions, with mainly lyrical additions/changes, musical overdubs, background vocals and final mixing taking place during the sessions at Soundworks.
One notable change that did occur in these final recording sessions was Madonna’s decision to swap her original lyrics for the song Goodbye To Innocence (which had gone through various incarnations in an attempt to keep the track off the cutting room floor) with the lyrics of the torch classic, Fever. An earlier arrangement of Goodbye To Innocence with lyrics intact was later featured on the pro-choice compilation album, Just Say Roe, while a dub version of the same arrangement was retitled Up Down Suite when it appeared as a b-side on the Rain maxi-single. Another rough demo of the same track (streaming above), which is referred to as the “Straight Pass” mix on its original submission for copyright registration (which indicates that mixing of the track had not been finalized and that it is not mastered), leaked to file sharing services in February, 2008.
The “Straight Pass” mix bears some similarity to another unreleased track that was discarded early in the recording sessions, You Are The One. Aside from the lyrical paradox (with “You are the one” flipped to “I am the one”), both feature samples from Arabic singer Fairuz that would be reworked into the released version of the Erotica album’s title track and lead single.
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, 2006
On June 6 2006, Get Together was released as the third international single from the Confessions On A Dance Floor album on Warner Bros. Records.
The initial marketing for Confessions On A Dance Floor revealed plans to release Jump as the album’s third single. This was later revised after Get Together proved to be the third most popular digital download from the album after its first two singles, Hung Up and Sorry, warranting its release ahead of Jump, which became the fourth and final single.
Get Together was written by Madonna, Anders Bagge, Peer Åström & Stuart Price with production by Madonna & Price. The final version also includes a small sampling of string elements from the song’s original production (which only became evident once the original demos leaked to the internet several years later), hence the unusual “Original Production by Bagge & Åström” credit inclusion in the liner notes of the album and single.
Today in Madonna History: June 5, 2017
On June 5 2017, Madonna showed support to her friend Ariana Grande for organizing the One Love Manchester Benefit concert to raise money for the victims of the terrorist attack on her concert in May.
Congratulation to my brave and beautiful friend Ariana 🏅 for organizing the benefit concert in Manchester! Last night 🙏🏻. Gathering so many great artists and bringing everyone together in the spirit of ❤️ and Peace and not bowing down to F.E.A.R. Im so Proud of you! 💘💕and I would like to make a donation along with my manager Guy Oseary and encourage others to do the same!! 😂🎉💯♥️🙏🏻 We ♥️Manchester Www.Welovemcrcharity.org
We encourage all of our readers to make a donation for this great cause, thank you.
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, 1989
On June 3 1989, Madonna’s Like A Prayer earned its 11th week at #1, and its 12th week in the Top 10 of the United World Chart (tracks).
Today In Madonna History 