Category Archives: 1984

Today in Madonna History: February 12, 1984

February 12, 2022 By in 1984, February Tags: , , , , 2 Comments

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On February 12 1984, Madonna was featured on The Dance Show, a syndicated American television variety show.

She appeared in a segment from New York performing Holiday and Borderline, followed by a brief interview in which she introduced her brother and backup dancer, Christopher. Borderline was also included in a second episode that aired a few months later on April 25th, as the single was climbing the charts.

Despite an extensive list of promotional appearances for her first album, this was Madonna’s only known television studio performance of Borderline until she revisited the song during a 2016 appearance on The Tonight Show with Jimmy Fallon.

Today in Madonna History: January 21, 1984

January 21, 2022 By in 1984, January Tags: , , , , 1 Comment

 

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: November 13, 1984

November 13, 2021 By in 1984, November Tags: , 1 Comment

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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 6, 1984

November 6, 2021 By in 1984, November Tags: , , 3 Comments

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On November 6 1984, Madonna’s Like A Virgin was released as the lead single from the album of the same name.  The b-side for Like A Virgin was Stay.

Billy Steinberg reflected on the recording process and commented that:

“When Madonna recorded it, even as our demo faded out, on the fade you could hear Tom (Kelly) saying, “When your heart beats, and you hold me, and you love me…” That was the last thing you heard as our demo faded. Madonna must have listened to it very, very carefully because her record ends with the exact same little ad-libs that our demo did. That rarely happens that someone studies your demo so carefully that they use all that stuff. We were sort of flattered how carefully she followed our demo on that.“

Today in Madonna History: October 20, 1984

October 20, 2021 By in 1984, October Tags: 1 Comment

On October 20 1984, Madonna’s debut album, Madonna, hit #8 on the Billboard 200 albums chart in the USA. It took the album over a year to reach its peak (it debuted on the Billboard 200 at #190 on September 3 1983), and went on to sell 10-million copies worldwide (5-million in the USA).

The artwork for Madonna was shot by photographer Gary Heery. Heery had this to say about the shoot:

“Madonna arrived at my Broadway studio in New York with a small bag of clothes and jewellery, and no entourage. Then, in front of the camera she was explosive, like a great model, but with her own unique style. She came over the next day to see some prints and the proofs, and there was shot after shot to choose from. We agreed on every choice and whittled it down to the album cover images. I had no idea what I had just been a party to.”

 

Today in Madonna History: June 16, 1984

June 16, 2021 By in 1984, June Tags: , , 2 Comments

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On June 16 1984, Borderline became Madonna’s first Top 10 hit when the single peaked at #10 on the Billboard Hot 100 in the U.S.

Thanks to Rex!

Today in Madonna History: January 27, 1984

January 27, 2021 By in 1984, January Tags: , , , , , 1 Comment

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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.