Today in Madonna History: February 8, 1993

madonna-dangerous-game-0 madonna-dangerous-game-4 madonna-dangerous-game-2 madonna-dangerous-game-8 madonna-dangerous-game-1 madonna-dangerous-game-7 madonna-dangerous-game-3 madonna-dangerous-game-6

On February 8 1993, Madonna began filming Dangerous Game.  The film co-starred Harvey Keitel and James Russo, directed by Abel Ferrara.

Today in Madonna History: February 7, 2004

On February 7 2004, Nothing Fails lived up to its title when it hit #1 on Billboard’s Hot Dance/Club Play chart in the U.S.

Despite being largely ignored by radio programmers, the single nevertheless received strong support from club DJ’s.

The Nothing Fails maxi-single, which also included remixes of Nobody Knows Me, had previously reached the top of the Hot Dance Singles Sales chart in December 2003 before being overtaken by the Britney Spears/Madonna collaboration, Me Against The Music.

Nobody Knows Me reached a separate peak of #4 on the Hot Dance/Club Play chart in 2003 after it was serviced to DJ’s as a promotional single.

Today in Madonna History: February 3, 1987

On February 3 1987, Madonna’s True Blue album was certified 4x platinum, for sales of 4 million units in the USA.

Today in Madonna History: February 2, 1990

On February 2 1990, the fifth North American single from the Like A Prayer album, Keep It Together, was reviewed in Billboard magazine.

Today in Madonna History: January 27, 1984

madonna hacienda 1984 550hacienda manchester 1984 3 550

On January 27 1984, Madonna performed Burning Up and Holiday on the UK television program, The Tube.  The show was broadcast live from The Hacienda club in Manchester.

Malcolm Gerrie, executive producer of The Tube, has been quoted as saying that the show paid for Madonna to travel to Manchester because Warner Bros. didn’t yet consider her a “priority artist” and were unwilling to cover her travel costs.

Today in Madonna History: January 20, 2001

On January 20 2001, Madonna’s Don’t Tell Me hit #1 on Billboard’s Hot Dance/Club Play chart in the U.S.

The following week the song would slide to #2 in Club Play while the maxi-single would debut at #20 on the Maxi-Single Sales chart.

Today in Madonna History: January 19, 1991

On January 19 1991, Billboard magazine reported on the controversy surrounding Madonna’s use of prose from the Book of Revelations in a remix featured on the maxi-single of Justify My Love, titled The Beast Within. The remix was created by Madonna & Lenny Kravitz during the recording session for Justify My Love.

While The Beast Within would later be featured prominently in 1993’s Girlie Show tour and as the opening sequence of 2004’s Re-Invention tour, in both cases the biblical verse that had sparked the controversy was excluded.

The article also mentions the song’s use of Public Enemy’s Security Of The First World as the basis of Justify My Love‘s rhythm track, with Public Enemy’s co-producer revealing an intent to sue Madonna & Kravitz over its use. Madonna had only received credit for “additional lyrics” on the song, while Kravitz was originally credited as composer and producer.