Today in Madonna History: January 23, 1994

On January 23 1994, Bye Bye Baby re-entered the New Zealand singles chart, ultimately peaking at #43. The track had initially charted in the country for a single week in late November of 1993.

Today in Madonna History: January 21, 1984

 

On January 21 1984, Madonna earned her very first Canadian chart entry as Holiday entered RPM’s Canadian Top 50 Singles chart at #48.

Madonna would go on to collect a total of 25 #1 singles to date in Canada  – the most for any solo artist in Canadian chart history. She has also racked up a staggering 68 Top 40 singles in Canada – 51 of which ascended into the Top 10.

 

Today in Madonna History: January 16, 1988

On January 16 1988, Spotlight entered Billboard’s Airplay chart at #37. The track would reach a peak of #32 three weeks later before falling to #40 in its final week.

Although Spotlight was not actively promoted to radio by Warner Bros. in the North America, radio’s eagerness to spin the cut regardless serves as a good indication that it likely would have continued Madonna’s hit streak at the time if it had been granted a proper single release.

Today in Madonna History: January 13, 2010

On January 13 2010, a press release by powerHouse books announced the book Madonna: Sticky & Sweet, featuring photography by Guy Oseary:

Madonna’s legendary Sticky & Sweet Tour, the most successful tour by a solo artist in history, has been chronicled by her longtime manager Guy Oseary and the resulting book, Madonna: Sticky & Sweet is being published by powerHouse Books (February 2010). The glossy retrospective includes 500 extraordinary photographs taken on and off stage during the course of the 58 show tour which circled the globe in 2008 and was seen by over 2 1/2 million fans. Oseary’s discerning eye along with his unprecedented access to Madonna before, during and after each show gives the viewer a unique insight into the journey of a lifetime. The Sticky & Sweet photo book feature the four segments of the concert experience including the opening “Pimp” section, and Old School salute to early NYC dance roots, onto Romani music influences and escalating in a rave finale. Oseary previously released the critically acclaimed Madonna: Confessions photo book, also published by powerHouse Books which covered her previous tour. Guy Oseary is the CEO of Maverick and Madonna’s manager. He has worked closely with Madonna for almost two decades, and was the only individual permitted to take photographs both on and backstage on the landmark Sticky & Sweet Tour. Oseary’s first book, Madonna: Confessions, was published by powerHouse in 2008.

Today in Madonna History: January 7, 1998

On January 7 1998, filming began for Madonna’s Frozen music video in the California desert with director Chris Cunningham.

Cunningham recalled the initial concept for the video in his book, Directors Label:

“The original treatment was, like, massive piles of bodies in the desert. All these figurative sculptures made up of bodies that were all multiple Madonnas. They were all going to split and break up and change into ravens and then change into dogs. Just a performance video, but a really elaborate one using her, her clothes, and any shapes that would come out of her clothes.”

Today in Madonna History: January 6, 1996

On January 6 1996, You’ll See peaked at #10 on Billboard’s Latin Pop Airplay chart in the U.S.

With the help of the single’s Spanish version, Verás, the song would also reach #21 in Billboard’s Hot Latin Tracks chart several weeks later, on January 20th.

Today in Madonna History: December 27, 2003

On December 27 2003, Nothing Fails peaked at #1 on Billboard’s Hot Singles Sales chart.

Unfortunately this chart position owed more to the disappearing physical singles market in the U.S. at the time than it did to the song’s overall popularity. Despite the remixes being relatively well-received (the maxi-single included club mixes of Nobody Knows Me), with no accompanying music video and a complete lack of radio support Nothing Fails failed to crack the Hot 100 singles chart. This marked the first time in Billboard’s history that a single topped the Singles Sales chart in the U.S. without making an appearance on the Hot 100.

In more reassuring chart news, Billboard announced in the same issue that Madonna was being crowned Top Dance Singles Sales Artist for 2003. Madonna had previously achieved this honour in 1985 and 1987, and held the runner-up position in 2000 and 2001.