On November 25 2000, Madonna’s mimed performance of Music recorded for the BBC music series Top Of The Pops aired on RTL in Germany. It would later air on the BBC’s year-end retrospective edition of Top Of The Pops on December 25th.
Madonna was accompanied by long-time back-up singers/dancers Donna De Lory and Niki Harris during the performance.
On November 24 1984, Madonna’s Like A Virgin album was reviewed in Billboard magazine.
Check out Malcolm Middleton’s excellent cover of Stay, a pre-fame Madonna & Stephen Bray collaboration that later became the closing track on Like A Virgin:
On November 17 1984, Madonna’s Like A Virgin single was reviewed in Billboard magazine.
Also in the same issue, dance music columnist Brian Chin highlighted Jellybean Benitez’ remix of the track.
On November 15 1986, Billboard reported that a 6-track Madonna remix EP titled You Can Dance, initially scheduled for a 1986 pre-Christmas release, would be delayed until the following year to avoid affecting holiday sales of her still red-hot True Blue LP.
The article also mentions Madonna’s upcoming film, Slammer (later retitled Who’s That Girl), her track for Nick Kamen, the video for her next single, Open Your Heart, touring plans and more.
Stay tuned for a third and final installment on the You Can Dance delay…
On November 10 1984, Billboard magazine reported that Madonna’s Like A Virgin music video had been added to MTV’s playlist, immediately earning heavy rotation status on the network.
Filmed in Venice, Italy, the video marked Madonna’s second collaboration with director Mary Lambert. Lambert later recalled of the shoot:
“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.”
On November 7 1998, The Power of Good-Bye advanced one position to #13 in what would be its final bulleted week on the Billboard Hot 100 in the U.S. The single would nonetheless manage to sneak its way up to #11 on November 28th, sans bullet. It is worth noting that one of the most significant changes to eligibility rules in the Hot 100’s history at the time took effect during the single’s initially rapid ascent, causing an immediate rush of non-commercially released radio hits to storm the chart and seemingly disrupt the ballad’s momentum.
A decision by Warner Bros. to withhold a maxi-single release for The Power Of Good-Bye in the U.S., compounded by the lack of any non-album content on the standard single despite earlier reports, suggests that the changes to the Hot 100 may have created a larger ripple than Warner had anticipated. Including the Oprah performance of Little Star, as previously reported in Billboard, or even the Dallas Austin remix of The Power Of Good-Bye on the b-side certainly would have given fans more incentive to pick up the 2-track single in the U.S.
It’s difficult to fully frown on Warner’s seemingly uncontainable enthusiasm for the brilliant remixes of Ray Of Light‘s fourth single, Nothing Really Matters, however, despite its unconventional timing.
On November 4 1995, Madonna’s You’ll See was reviewed by Billboard magazine’s Larry Flick. Written & produced by Madonna & David Foster, the song of self-empowerment served as the lead single from her collection of ballads, Something To Remember.
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