Category Archives: 1998

Today in Madonna History: January 7, 1998

January 7, 2020 By in 1998, January Tags: , , , , , 2 Comments

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: November 20, 1998

November 20, 2019 By in 1998, November Tags: , , 4 Comments

johnny-vaughan-madonna-1998-600-315 johnny-vaughan-madonna-1998-2-600-x-740

On November 20 1998, the U.K.’s Channel 4 aired a Madonna interview conducted by Johnny Vaughan. The special was titled Johnny Meets Madonna and was part of Madonna’s European promotional campaign for The Power Of Good-Bye and the Ray Of Light album.

Today in Madonna History: September 22, 1998

September 22, 2019 By in 1998, September Tags: , , , , , , , 1 Comment

tpog sleeve 550

On September 22 1998, The Power of Good-Bye was released as the third North American single from the Ray Of Light album. It was the fourth single in international markets that opted to release Drowned World/Substitute For Love as the album’s third single.

In the UK, the release was promoted as a double A-side single with Little Star.

The Power Of Good-Bye was written by Madonna & Rick Nowels and was produced by Madonna, William Orbit & Patrick Leonard. An earlier demo version of the track, believed to have been produced by Madonna & Leonard prior to Orbit’s involvement in the project, leaked in 2002.

Today in Madonna History: July 9, 1998

July 9, 2019 By in 1998, July Tags: , , 1 Comment

madonna-rolling-stone-98-1 madonna-rolling-stone-98-2

madonna-rolling-stone-98-3

madonna-rolling-stone-98-6

madonna-rolling-stone-98-5

madonna-rolling-stone-98-4

madonna-rolling-stone-98-7

madonna-rolling-stone-98-10 madonna-rolling-stone-98-9

madonna-rolling-stone-98-8

On July 9 1998, Madonna was featured on the cover of Rolling Stone magazine.

David LaChapelle was the photographer for the photo shoot.

Today in Madonna History: June 29, 1998

June 29, 2019 By in 1998, June Tags: , , , , , 1 Comment

Ray of Light Canadian CD Single cover insert back Ray of Light Canadian CD Single tray insertRay of Light Canadian CD Single disc

On June 29 1998, Madonna’s Ray of Light single peaked at #3 on RPM’s Top 100 Canadian Singles chart.

As with all the Canadian singles from the Ray of Light album, the title track was issued by Warner Music Canada as a 2-track CD single and as a CD maxi-single. In the U.S., the album’s CD singles were issued in cardboard sleeves with “draw pack” trays and the CD maxi-singles in “FLP digipak” cases, while in Canada the two configurations for each of the album’s four domestic singles were packaged in standard CD jewel cases with printed inserts.

Today in Madonna History: June 20, 1998

June 20, 2019 By in 1998, June Tags: , 1 Comment

rayoflight_single1

On June 20 1998, Madonna’s Ray of Light became the #1 dance single on the Billboard Hot Dance Club Songs chart. The hit single remained #1 for 4 weeks!

Ray of Light was written by Madonna, William Orbit, Clive Muldoon, Dave Curtiss, Christine Leach, and produced by Madonna and Orbit.  Ray of Light is based on Curtiss Maldoon’s Sepheryn.

“It took a long time to do the album, months. And it wasn’t like we were slacking. We actually did have to work fast, and there were many times when we had to move on. One of Madonna’s favorite phrases was: ‘Don’t gild the lily.’ In other words, keep it rough, and don’t perfect it too much. It’s a natural urge for computer buffs to perfect everything because they can, and we were very wary of that.”

—William Orbit on working with Madonna; Keyboard magazine

Today in Madonna History: May 29, 1998

May 29, 2019 By in 1998, May Tags: , , , 1 Comment

ray of light oprah 2 550

On May 29 1998, Madonna visited The Oprah Winfrey Show to promote her album, Ray Of Light.

Madonna sat down for a lengthy interview and performed two songs from her new album, the title track, Ray Of Light, and Little Star – both for the first time on television.

The episode marked Madonna’s second visit to Oprah, following a 1996 appearance to promote her film, Evita.

%d bloggers like this: