On July 13 1985, Madonna performed Into The Groove, Holiday, Love Makes The World Go Round and joins The Thompson Twins for a rendition of The Beatles’ Revolution at the Live Aid benefit concert at JFK Stadium, Philadelphia, PA.
Author Archives: sonicboy19
Today in Madonna History: July 8, 1991
On July 8, 1991, Madonna began filming A League Of Their Own, starring Tom Hanks and Geena Davis, directed by Penny Marshall.
Today in Madonna History: July 3, 1987
On July 3, 1987, Madonna accepted a rare Canadian Diamond Award at a press conference in Toronto on the eve of her sold-out concert at CNE Stadium. The certification award was presented by WEA Music Canada president Stan Kulin to mark over one million units sold of the True Blue album in Canada.
Today in Madonna History: June 8, 1992
On June 8 1992, Madonna began recording sessions for the Erotica album at Soundworks, in New York.
While the writing and recording of Madonna’s previous albums had typically unfolded rather quickly, Erotica marked a change of pace in the creation of a Madonna record. Songwriting sessions for the set had occurred sporadically throughout the previous year with co-producers Shep Pettibone and Andre Betts, in between movie projects and photo shoots for her upcoming coffee table book, Sex.
In contrast to the slick production qualities of the albums that preceded it, Madonna wanted Erotica to feature a darker, more gritty and less polished sound. This led to the decision to carry over many of the original demo vocals recorded during the songwriting process at Shep’s home studio to the final versions, with mainly lyrical additions/changes, musical overdubs, background vocals and final mixing taking place during the sessions at Soundworks.
One notable change that did occur in these final recording sessions was Madonna’s decision to swap her original lyrics for the song Goodbye To Innocence (which had gone through various incarnations in an attempt to keep the track off the cutting room floor) with the lyrics of the torch classic, Fever. An earlier arrangement of Goodbye To Innocence with lyrics intact was later featured on the pro-choice compilation album Just Say Roe, while a dub version of the same arrangement was retitled Up Down Suite when it appeared as a b-side on the Rain maxi-single. Another rough demo of the same track (streaming above), which is referred to as the “Straight Pass” mix on its original submission for copyright registration, leaked to file sharing services in February, 2008.
Today in Madonna History: May 24, 1988
On May 24 1988, Madonna – Ciao Italia: Live From Italy was released on home video and laserdisc.
The release featured a combination of footage from her Who’s That Girl World Tour shows in Turin, Italy (September 4 1987), the tour’s final date in Florence, Italy (September 6 1987), along with additional clips from an earlier show in Tokyo (June 22 1987). The full Turin concert had been previously broadcast in Europe, while the complete Tokyo performance was issued exclusively in Japan on VHS and laserdisc six months prior to the release of Madonna – Ciao Italia: Live From Italy.
Today in Madonna History: May 16, 1994
On May 16, 1994, Madonna’s I’ll Remember (Theme From With Honors) became the number-one single in Canada. The song remained at the top of the Canadian singles chart for five weeks before finally being dislodged on June 20th by All-4-One’s hit, I Swear. Incidentally, it was the same song that blocked I’ll Remember from reaching the top spot on the Billboard Hot 100 in the U.S., where it spent four weeks in its peak position of number-two.
