Today in Madonna History: May 21, 1983

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On May 21 1983, Madonna’s Burning Up/Physical Attraction hit #3 on USA Hot Dance Music/Club Play chart.

Burning Up was written by Madonna and Physical Attraction was written by Reggie Lucas. Both were produced by Lucas with additional remixing by Jellybean Benitez on the latter.

Interestingly, the original copyright claim filed for the song Physical Attraction, which remains on file at the U.S. Library Of Congress, lists Madonna as its sole writer and Only Child Music (who handled Madonna’s songwriting publishing prior to the creation of Webo Girl) as its publisher, with no mention of Lucas or his publishing company, Likasa Music.

Burning Up went through several incarnations both before and after its official release. The earliest recording of the song to have surfaced is a live performance by Madonna with her band Emmy, likely from 1980. Although the lyrics underwent only minor revisions in later years, its initial guitar-driven arrangement and melody were relatively loose – if not underdeveloped. A more focused beat-driven version was recorded by Madonna with Stephen Bray in early 1982 and was featured on the four-track demo tape that brought her to the attention of Sire Records. In addition to the originally released version that appeared on the 12″ single, there are also two noticeably different album mixes of Burning Up. Early vinyl pressings of her debut LP featured a longer version with alternate guitar and synth parts and more prominently mixed backing vocals. This alternate album mix resurfaced in 1985 as the b-side to the Angel single in the UK, but it has never been officially released in digital or CD format.

Today in Madonna History: May 13, 1989

On May 13 1989, Madonna’s Like A Prayer single peaked at #4 on Billboard’s Hot Adult Contemporary chart in the USA. The hit single also peaked on the Hot R&B Single Sales at #18 and the Hot R&B Singles & Tracks chart at #20 during the same week.

 

Today in Madonna History: May 12, 1998

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On May 12 1998, Madonna’s Ray of Light music video premiered on MTV Live.

The video was directed by Jonas Åkerlund. Madonna’s scenes were shot in early April 1998 at MTV’s Times Square studios in New York and Los Angeles. The background images were shot in various cities, such as Los Angeles, New York, London, Las Vegas, and Stockholm.

Today in Madonna History: May 11, 1993

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On May 11 1993, the music video for Fever premiered on MTV. The video was directed by Stéphane Sednaoui.

Today in Madonna History: May 10, 1989

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On May 10 1989, Madonna’s Express Yourself video premiered on MTV. The video was filmed on a $5 million budget – the highest in music video history (at the time).  The video was directed by David Fincher.

Today in Madonna History: May 9, 1985

On May 9 1985, Madonna and Rosanna Arquette appeared on the cover of Rolling Stone magazine, promoting their film, Desperately Seeking Susan, with photos by Herb Ritts.

Here’s a snippet from the interview featured in the magazine:

Rosanna has expressed resentment over the insertion into the movie of a Madonna song backing a quickly rewritten scene in which the Susan character gyrates around a New York club. A video clip using the unreleased tune, “Into the Groove,” spotlights Madonna. “It does take things out of context a bit,” says Madonna, “kinda calls attention to another facet, but…” What that “but” means is, it sells tickets, chumps. Still, it’s become an issue…

“Yeah, really?” says Madonna. “Who’s it become an issue with – besides Rosanna?” Her laugh is quick and not unkind. Insiders say the song found its way into the film on its own virtues. “Susan Seidelman was not out to make a pandering rock & roll movie,” says executive producer Michael Peyser, 31, who worked on Susan after serving as associate producer on Woody Allen’s film The Purple Rose of Cairo. One of the music coordinators, Danny Goldberg, had no time to compile a soundtrack LP when the film’s release date was pushed up, but in talks with MTV execs, he paved the way for “Into the Groove” to air, even though the song might never show up on vinyl.

Madonna is not naive about the studio’s gambit: “I have a big audience of kids for my music, and you know how they use soundtracks to push movies – I think they’re using me in the same way, and it’s really a drag, because I’m trying to establish myself as an actress, not as a singer making movies. But I’ll be happy if it becomes a commercial success, simply because it’s a different kind of movie than most of what’s out now. There are a few formulas people have been using the past five years, with Flashdance and Breakin’ and all that stuff; this movie is like a return to those simple, straightforward caper comedies Claudette Colbert and Carole Lombard made in the Thirties. They give you a taste of real life, some poignance, and leave you feeling up at the end – none of that adolescent-fantasy bullshit.”

Today in Madonna History: May 8, 2015

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On May 8 2015, Madonna replied by saying “um, thanks” to Marilyn Manson’s tweet that he’d like to fornicate with her:

I’m kind of interested in this Madonna record.  She looks hotter than ever.  I’d also like to let it be known that I still have a crush on Madonna and I would definitely fornicate with her.