Category Archives: 1989

Today in Madonna History: May 9, 1989

May 9, 2024 By in 1989, May Tags: , 1 Comment

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On May 9 1989, Madonna released Express Yourself, the second single from her Like A Prayer album.

Lyrics:

Come on girls
Do you believe in love?
‘Cause I got something to say about it
And it goes something like this

Don’t go for second best baby
Put your love to the test
You know, you know, you’ve got to
Make him express how he feels
And maybe then you’ll know your love is real

You don’t need diamond rings
Or eighteen karat gold
Fancy cars that go very fast
You know they never last, no, no

What you need is a big strong hand
To lift you to your higher ground
Make you feel like a queen on a throne
Make him love you till you can’t come down
(You’ll never come down)

Don’t go for second best baby
Put your love to the test
You know, you know, you’ve got to
Make him express how he feels
And maybe then you’ll know your love is real

Long stem roses are the way to your heart
But he needs to start with your head
Satin sheets are very romantic
What happens when you’re not in bed

You deserve the best in life
So if the time isn’t right then move on
Second best is never enough
You’ll do much better baby on your own
(Baby on your own)

Don’t go for second best baby
Put your love to the test
You know, you know, you’ve got to
Make him express how he feels
And maybe then you’ll know your love is real

Express yourself
(You’ve got to make him)
Express himself
Hey, hey, hey, hey
So if you want it right now, make him show you how
Express what he’s got, oh baby ready or not

And when you’re gone he might regret it
Think about the love he once had
Try to carry on, but he just won’t get it
He’ll be back on his knees

To express himself
(You’ve got to make him)
Express himself
Hey hey

What you need is a big strong hand
To lift you to your higher ground
Make you feel like a queen on a throne
Make him love you till you can’t come down
(You’ll never come down)

And when you’re gone he might regret it
Think about the love he once had
Try to carry on, but he just won’t get it
He’ll be back on his knees

So please

Don’t go for second best baby
Put your love to the test
You know, you know, you’ve got to
Make him express how he feels
And maybe then you’ll know your love is real

Express yourself
(You’ve got to make him)
Express himself
Hey, hey, hey, hey
So if you want it right now, make him show you how
Express what he’s got, oh baby ready or not

Express yourself
(You’ve got to make him)
So you can respect yourself
Hey, hey
So if you want it right now, then make him show you how
Express what he’s got, oh baby ready or not

Today in Madonna History: April 22, 1989

April 22, 2024 By in 1989, April Tags: , , , 1 Comment

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Starting April 22 1989, and continuing for the weeks of April 29, May 6, May 13, May 20 and May 27, Madonna’s Like A Prayer album became and remained the number-one album in Canada!

Today in Madonna History: March 19, 1989

March 19, 2024 By in 1989, March Tags: , , , 1 Comment

On March 19 1989, Madonna was the featured artist in the Arts section of the New York Times in an article and interview by Stephen Holden.

Like a Prayer, said Madonna, “is the song of a passionate young girl so in love with God that it is almost as though He were the male figure in her life. From around 8 to 12 years old, I had the same feelings. I really wanted to be a nun.”

What follows is a description in Madonna’s own words of what happens in the video:

“A girl on the street witnesses an assault on a young woman. Afraid to get involved because she might get hurt, she is frozen in fear. A black man walking down the street also sees the incident and decides to help the woman. But just then, the police arrive and arrest him. As they take him away, she looks up and sees one of the gang members who assaulted the girl. He gives her a look that says she’ll be dead if she tells. The girl runs, not knowing where to go until she sees a church. She goes in and sees a saint in a cage who looks very much like the black man on the street, and says a prayer to help her make the right decision. He seems to be crying, but she is not sure. She lies down on a pew and falls into a dream in which she begins to tumble in space with no one to break her fall. Suddenly she is caught by a woman who represents earth and emotional strength and who tosses her back up and tells her to do the right thing. Still dreaming, she returns to the saint, and her religious and erotic feelings begin to stir. The saint becomes a man. She picks up a knife and cuts her hands. That’s the guilt in Catholicism that if you do something that feels good you will be punished. As the choir sings, she reaches an orgasmic crescendo of sexual fulfillment intertwined with her love of God. She knows that nothing’s going to happen to her if she does what she believes is right. She wakes up, goes to the jail, tells the police the man is innocent, and he is freed. Then everybody takes a bow as if to say we all play a part in this little scenario.”

Today in Madonna History: November 11, 1989

November 11, 2023 By in 1989, November Tags: , , , , , , 1 Comment

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On November 11 1989, the music video for Oh Father premiered on MTV in the US. Filmed at Culver Studios, California in late October, 1989 by director David Fincher, the black & white clip drew cinematic influence from the 1941 Orson Welles film, Citizen Kane. Its narrative expanded on darker elements from Madonna’s life – focusing on the death of her mother, her relationship with her father and the recurring effects of childhood trauma in her adult life. The clip’s icily detached symbolism and heavy subject matter are counter-balanced by overarching themes of forgiveness and inner-strength.

In a 2009 interview with The Guardian, Fincher recalled:

“I had kinda talked Madonna into releasing Oh Father as a single and we did this video and were very happy with the video – but nobody ever saw it because the song wasn’t a hit.”

Although the video was put into rotation on MTV, the channel had requested that Madonna remove a scene that displayed a close-up of the deceased mother’s lips sewn shut – a request that she refused to consider. Compounded by a tepid response to the song from radio, where its bleak overtones clashed with playlists of the day, the single stalled at number twenty in the US – her lowest peak on the Hot 100 at the time (excluding her first two singles, neither of which broke into the Hot 100). In Canada the video was put into heavy rotation and the release fared slightly better on the charts, peaking at number fourteen.

Despite its relative lack of commercial appeal, the song and video are frequently cited as a creative triumph for Madonna by fans and critics alike.

Today in Madonna History: November 3, 1989

November 3, 2023 By in 1989, November Tags: 1 Comment

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On November 3 1989, Bloodhounds of Broadway was released in New York.

Here is the review summary by Hal Erickson of the New York Times:

Produced for theatrical released by PBS’ American Playhouse, Bloodhounds of Broadway is not exactly a remake of the 1952 film of the same name, though both pictures use the same Damon Runyon stories as inspiration. The scene is Broadway: the time is New Year’s Eve, 1928. Madonna plays small town girl-turned-hoofer Hortense Hathaway, who loves gambler Feet Samuels (Randy Quaid) more than somewhat. Since it is known far and wide that Feet has not a penny to his name, he must find some way to pay off his debts in a hurry. So he offers to sell his huge feet to a demented-an operation which will, alas, cost Feet the use of his life. Upon waking up to the fact that Hortense loves him, Feet decides that he prefers breathing to pushing up daisies. Meanwhile, a society doll named Harriet MacKyle (Julie Hagerty) turns on the spigots when her pet parrot is laid low by a clumsy gunman. And while all this is transpiring, high-roller Regret (Matt Dillon) has to beat a murder rap. Even while Regret is sweating it out, “The Brain” (Rutger Hauer), who is bleeding profusely after confronting the business end of a shiv, searches high and low for someone willing to donate blood to save his life. If you can, keep an eye out for author William Burroughs as a butler. Bloodhounds of Broadway was the first non-documentary effort of filmmaker Howard Brookner-and the last, since he died before the film was released. To gloss over the film’s plot holes, the distributors added a Winchell-like narrator to the proceedings, courtesy of actor Joseph Sommer.

Today in Madonna History: October 9, 1989

October 9, 2023 By in 1989, October Tags: , , 1 Comment

cherish

On October 9 1989, Madonna’s Cherish spent the first of two weeks at #1 on Canada’s Top 100 Singles chart.

Today in Madonna History: October 7, 1989

October 7, 2023 By in 1989, October Tags: , , , , 1 Comment

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On October 7 1989, Cherish, the third single from Madonna’s incredible Like A Prayer album started the first of a two-week run at #1 on Billboard’s Hot Adult Contemporary chart in the USA.

Cherish was Madonna’s third single to top the A.C. chart, following the 1986 ballad hit Live To Tell (3 weeks at #1) and 1987’s La Isla Bonita (also 1 week at #1).

Here’s what Madonna biographer J. Randy Taraborrelli (Madonna: An Intimate Biography) had to say about the single:

Cherish was a particular triumph for the Madonna/Patrick Leonard partnership. A delightful confection of radio-ready proportions, the song had it all—strong, positive, remarkably dysfunction-free lyrics about love, a memorable, singalong vocal melody, and a tight, pungent rhythm arrangement. It remains, quite simply, one of the best songs Madonna has ever written; sweet and happy, but by no means corny, it’s a perfectly constructed pop song which Madonna delivered beautifully, and with undeniably sassy charm. Indeed, if Cherish had been released in the Sixties, it would have most likely emanated from Detroit’s Motown or the New York song writing Mecca, the Brill Building.

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