Author Archives: Jay

Today in Madonna History: November 16, 1994

November 16, 2016 By in 1994, November Tags: , 1 Comment

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On November 16 1994, Madonna began filming Four Rooms in Los Angeles.

Madonna played one of the witches, Elspeth, in the first segment of the film called, The Missing Ingredient, directed by Alison Anders.  Other actresses playing witches in the coven included: Valeria Golino (Athena), Alicia Witt (Kiva), Sammi Davis (Jezebel), Lili Taylor (Raven), Ione Skye (Eva) and Amanda de Cadenet (Diana).

This beautiful illustration of Elspeth is by Sarah Hedlund Design.  Check out Sarah’s Facebook and webpage to see more of her amazing work! We have published Sarah’s version of Elspeth with her permission.

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Today in Madonna History: November 13, 1984

November 13, 2016 By in 1984, November Tags: , 3 Comments

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On November 13 1984, Madonna’s Like A Virgin video premiered on MTV.

Mary Lambert, the director of the video had this to say:

“For Like A Virgin I said ‘Lets do it in Venice!’ The idea of Madonna singing in a gondola was the most outrageous thing I could think of. And Madonna dug it, because she has the whole thing with the Catholic Church and her Italian heritage. It turned into a huge party.”

Madonna had this to say about shooting with the lion:

“The lion didn’t do anything he was supposed to do, and I ended up leaning against this pillar with his head in my crotch… I thought he was going to take a bite out of me so I lifted the veil I was wearing and had a stare-down with him and he opened his mouth and let out this huge roar. I got so frightened my heart fell in my shoe. When he finally walked away, the director yelled ‘Cut’ and I had to take a long breather. But I could really relate to the lion. I feel like in a past life I was a lion or a cat or something.”

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Today in Madonna History: November 11, 1987

November 11, 2016 By in 1987, November Tags: , , 1 Comment

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On November 11 1987, Who’s That Girl, starring Madonna, was released on home video by Warner Bros.

Here’s what Madonna had to say about the performance of the film in North America:

“I think the movie did badly in America because I upstaged it with my tour. People were confused about the connection between the record, the tour and the movie because they all had the same title. I also think there are people who don’t want me to do well in both fields. I had to really fight to get any respect from the music business and now I guess there are some people who feel that I ought to be grateful for that respect and stick to music.”

Here’s what James Foley (Director of Who’s That Girl) had to say about his decision to make the film:

“I was young, I was twenty-eight. So, being given the opportunity to work on a Warner Bros. film with a huge star was attractive to me for all the wrong reasons. Everyone has a bit of Hollywood lust in them. Warner Bros. approached me because they knew I knew Madonna and she had asked for me, and was convinced to do it. At Close Range was a dark film, and going towards comedy was totally the wrong direction. But I didn’t care.”

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Today in Madonna History: November 10, 2005

November 10, 2016 By in 2005, November Tags: , , , , 1 Comment

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On November 10 2005, Madonna made a stop at the NRJ Studios VIP Room in Paris, during the Confessions On A  Dance Floor promotional tour.

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Today in Madonna History: November 9, 1996

November 9, 2016 By in 1996, November Tags: , 1 Comment

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On November 9 1996, Madonna’s You Must Love Me debuted at #24 on the Adult Contemporary Billboard chart in the USA.

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Today in Madonna History: November 8, 2011

November 8, 2016 By in 2011, November Tags: , 1 Comment

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On November 8 2011, the demo version of Madonna’s Give Me All Your Luvin‘ (then titled Give Me All Your Love) was leaked, resulting in the arrest of a 31-year-old man from Spain for copyright violations.

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Today in Madonna History: November 5, 1994

November 5, 2016 By in 1994, November Tags: , 1 Comment

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On November 5 1994, Madonna’s Secret hit #3 on the Billboard Hot 100 in the USA.

Here’s what Larry Flick from Billboard had to say about Secret:

“The lushly layered album mix simmers with a strumming acoustic intro that breaks into a languid funk/R&B beat. As Madonna delivers a solid performance that emphasizes her increasingly strong lower vocal range, a meticulously woven arrangement of quasi-psychedelic colors and raw hip-hop elements percolates. Naturally, the hook is pure pop candy, sticking to the brain after one spin.”

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