On April 29 1996, Madonna appeared on the cover of People Magazine, with the headline: Maternal Girl: Madonna’s with child.
Category Archives: 1996
Today in Madonna History: April 6, 1996
On April 6 1996, Larry Flick’s review of the single release of Madonna’s Love Don’t Live Here Anymore was featured in Billboard magazine.
Today in Madonna History: March 22, 1996
On March 22 1996, Girl 6 was released in the US.
Girl 6 is an American film by director Spike Lee about a phone sex operator. Madonna has a cameo in the film, as a strip club/phone sex owner.
Girl 6 earned mostly mixed-to-negative reviews during its release.
The film was not a box office success.
Today in Madonna History: March 4, 1996
On March 4 1996, Madonna’s Love Don’t Live Here Anymore music video was shot at the Confitería El Molino in Buenos Aires, Argentina, during her day off from filming Evita.
The music video was directed by Jean-Baptiste Mondino, who worked with Madonna on her videos for Open Your Heart, Justify My Love and Human Nature.
Love Don’t Live Here Anymore was released as the fourth single from the Something to Remember ballads collection.
In her Evita diaries, published by Vanity Fair magazine in 1996, Madonna made reference to the video shoot:
“There are no words to describe the weariness I feel today. I have not slept well in days, and when I do, there is no comfort. My dreams are violent and full of betrayal. Like my life, there’s no escape. I feel the responsibility of this film. I cannot talk about Evita and her life without defending myself … Dear God, what have I gotten myself into? What is happening to me? Today we went to shoot a music video for my next song. But I kept forgetting the lyrics, and felt like crying each and every time I did it. It was so frustrating. It’s my own song!”
Today In Madonna History: February 24, 1996
On February 24 1996, Madonna was at the centre of a controversy when animal-rights group PETA placed a full-page ad in Billboard magazine as an attack on her for promoting bullfighting in the Take A Bow and You’ll See music videos.
Today in Madonna History: February 17, 1996
On February 17 1996, the maxi-single for You’ll See spent its final week on the Maxi-Single Sales chart in Billboard magazine at #40.
The release had a notably short run on the Maxi-Single Sales chart (by Madonna’s typically high standards), spending only three weeks on the proper chart, after debuting on the Bubbling Under chart at #52. It peaked at #18 on February 3rd.
There are several potential reasons that could explain the low sales of its maxi-single. Ballads, unless heavily and successfully remixed, naturally generated less interest with this format, which was primarily geared towards attracting dance music listeners. Many of Madonna’s ballads were not released in the format for this reason. You’ll See was not given an officially released remix treatment but instead featured a Spanish-sung version of the song, an instrumental version, and a live version of another previous ballad hit, Live To Tell.
Further reducing any incentive to buy the maxi-single was the fact that standard U.S. CD and cassette single inexplicably included three of the four cuts featured on the maxi-single, leaving only the Spanish version as an exclusive track on the latter. One wonders if the inclusion of the live version of Live To Tell on the normally two-track standard single was possibly due to a pressing error that they decided to go ahead and release, since it is not listed on the sleeve but is instead promoted as a nameless bonus track on an outer label affixed to the CD and cassette single cellophane (its inclusion is noted on the physical disc and cassette).
Only one Madonna maxi-single issued in the U.S. had both a shorter run and a lower peak on the Maxi-Single Sales chart, and it was another hit ballad. I’ll Remember spent only two weeks on the chart (plus its first week on the Bubbling Under chart), peaking at #30 on May 21, 1994. Similarly, it was also padded with a live cut. However, it also included some creative reworkings of the track by William Orbit, making the reason for its dismal placement on the chart more perplexing. In terms of contents value, it easily outshines the You’ll See maxi-single.
In Canada, You’ll See was only issued as a CD maxi-single, with no standard single being issued on cassette or CD.
Today in Madonna History: January 20, 1996
On January 20 1996, Madonna’s You’ll See re-entered the Billboard Hot 100 Top 10 at #10.
The lead single from Madonna’s Something To Remember ballads collection debuted at #8 on December 8, peaked at #6 on December 16, and in the following weeks fell to #9, #11, #12, #11 and then climbed back to #10.
Larry Flick had this to say about You’ll See:
Foster’s flair for musical melodrama inspires Madonna to turn in what is easily her most assured and full-bodied vocal performance to date. Amid a swirl of strings and Spanish guitars, she spews the song’s declaration of romantic independence with a theatrical verve that perfectly matches the stagey, potentially overpowering tone of Foster’s arrangement without flying over the heads of her youthful top 40 following. A stunning effort that could easily become the ‘I Will Survive’ of this generation.
Today In Madonna History 