Today in Madonna History: December 15, 2005

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On December 15 2005, the second of a two-part interview with Madonna conducted by Molly Meldrum aired on Australian morning show Sunrise on Channel Seven.

Meldrum had been one of the earliest champions of Madonna’s music in the land down under, with his influential music video show Countdown playing a significant role in Burning Up reaching #13 on the Australian singles chart in 1984.

Madonna returned the favour by granting Meldrum exclusive interviews throughout the 80’s and 90’s, culminating with this 2005 interview to promote her album, Confessions On A Dance Floor.

Today in Madonna History: December 14, 2005

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On December 14 2005, Madonna’s Confessions On A Dancefloor was certified Gold and Platinum by the RIAA for sales of 500,000 and 1,000,000 in the USA.

Today in Madonna History: November 20, 2005

On November 20 2005, Madonna’s Confessions On A Dance Floor debuted at #1 on the UK album chart, becoming her ninth UK #1 and her fifth consecutive album to reach the top of the chart. While Confessions took the top spot, Hung Up enjoyed a second week at the top of the singles chart in the UK, ahead of Westlife’s You Raise Me Up (#2) and Black Eyed Peas My Humps (#3).

Today in Madonna History: October 20, 2005

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On October 20 2005, Madonna was dared by David Letterman to get back on a horse – the first time since her fall (in August) which led to three cracked ribs, a broken collarbone and a broken hand.  Madonna accepted the dare to ride again.

When asked why she hadn’t been on a horse since the fall, Madonna explained, “because my record company is not very keen on the idea of me injuring myself.”

Today in Madonna History: October 18, 2005

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On October 18 2005, the lead single for Madonna’s Confessions on a Dance Floor album, Hung Up, was released.

Rolling Stone magazine had this to say about the release:

Going back to disco, as she always does and always should, the queen hustled up a chintzy-sounding Abba sample, a drag queen’s wet dream of a chorus, and Stuart Price’s electrobeats. The result? One of her most captivating hits ever — and thanks to those deceptively hard-hitting lyrics, one of her most personal.

The following tracks were included on the Hung Up CD maxi-single:

Radio Version
SDP Extended Vocal
Tracy Young’s Get Up and Dance Groove Edit
Bill Hamel Remix
Chus & Ceballos Remix
SDP Extended Dub

Today in Madonna History: September 28, 2005

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On September 28 2005, the double-A-sided 12″ promo for Madonna’s Hung Up was released. SDP’s Extended Dub (7:56) was included on both sides of the promo vinyl.

Rolling Stone magazine included Hung Up as one of the 100 Best Songs of the 2000s. Here’s what Rolling Stone had to say:

Going back to disco, as she always does and always should, the queen hustled up a chintzy-sounding Abba sample, a drag queen’s wet dream of a chorus, and Stuart Price’s electrobeats. The result? One of her most captivating hits ever — and thanks to those deceptively hard-hitting lyrics, one of her most personal.

Today in Madonna History: September 21, 2005

On September 21 2005, legendary gossip columnist and longtime Madonna supporter, the late Liz Smith, continued to generate excitement for the release of Madonna’s album Confessions On A Dance Floor in her New York Post column: 

Disc Jockeys from all across the U.S. converged in a small, chic backroom down at 14th Street’s Lotus restaurant last Wednesday afternoon. They were there to listen to three tracks from Madonna’s soon-due ‘Confessions on a Dance Floor’ album, and to meet the CD’s brilliant British producer, Stuart Price. Although it was all very casual, with cocktails and munchies, the music men – and women – listened intently, in their own hectic, head-bobbing way. (And most of them looked like fresh-faced college students!) M’s sound went over big time, and Grammy-winner Price, only 30 years old, was mobbed. There were at least three dozen people in this confined space — Price could hardly move from all the handshaking, shoulder slaps and hearty hugs. He is worshiped in the dance community and uses another name on some work — Jacques Le Cont. He’s produced for No Doubt and many others. Talking about the songs, Price, who also has a very naughty sense of humor, said: ‘When dance music was young, there was a strong vocal, and the beat was underneath. Now, the vocal is not so prominent. Madonna and I wanted to make a dance album for today, which would satisfy everybody — those who want to really hear her voice and those for whom the driving thump-thump is the thing. I think we’ve succeeded.’ Music scribe Maggie Stein, who also writes under the nom de plume Odyssey Jones, said, ‘This is hopeful dance music. It has a positive message, in that it’s fun. Just fun. It’s what Madonna needed to do.’