Category Archives: January

Today in Madonna History: January 7, 1998

January 7, 2015 By in 1998, January Tags: , , 2 Comments

filming-frozen-madonna-1 filming-frozen-madonna-2 filming-frozen-madonna-3 filming-frozen-madonna-4

On January 7 1998, Madonna traveled to the Indian Wells Valley of the Mojave Desert in California to film the Frozen music video.  Shooting lasted from January 7 to January 10, directed by Chris Cunningham.

Madonna thought of filming the video in Iceland (or somewhere with snow), but decided against the idea.  She thought:

“You know what, I’m going to be freezing. I’m going to be miserable, I’ll be complaining all day, I’ll be sorry that I ever chose a cold place. So I said, ‘Let’s do it in the desert, it’ll be warm,’ and it would be sort of the opposite, because even though you think of deserts as being hot, they’re still sort of frozen in terms of there’s no vegetation and they’re very desolate. I thought that that would still work as a visual, but then we got there and it was like 20 degrees below zero, it was bitterly cold, and I was barefoot. I was barefoot for the entire video, and then it started pouring rain and everyone got really sick, and it just actually turned out to be a really miserable experience.”

Today in Madonna History: January 6, 1990

January 6, 2015 By in 1990, January Tags: , 1 Comment

oh-father-madonna-vinyl

On January 6 1990, Madonna’s Oh Father single peaked at #20 on the Billboard Hot 100 and completed her run of 16 consecutive Top 5 singles in USA.

Two years after her mother’s death, her father married the family’s housekeeper, Joan Gustafson. At this point, Madonna began to express unresolved feelings of anger towards her father that lasted for decades, and developed a rebellious attitude. She explained in the May 1989 issue of Interview magazine:

That rebellious attitude really came, I think, when my father remarried. Because for the three years before he married, I clung to him. It was like, OK, now you’re mine, and you’re not going anywhere. Like all young girls, I was in love with my father and I didn’t want to lose him. I lost my mother, but then I was the mother, my father was mine. Then he got taken away from me when he married my stepmother. It was then that I said, OK I don’t need anybody. No one’s going to break my heart again. I’m not going to need anybody. I can stand on my own and be my own person and not belong to anyone.

 

Today in Madonna History: January 5, 1991

January 5, 2015 By in 1991, January Tags: , , 1 Comment

madonna-justify-my-love-number-one

On January 5 1991, Madonna’s Justify My Love single hit #1 on the Billboard Hot 100 chart.

I’m open and ready
For you to justify my love
To justify my love
Wanting, to justify
Waiting, to justify my love
Praying, to justify
To justify my love
I’m open, to justify my love

Today in Madonna History: January 4, 1991

January 4, 2015 By in 1991, January Tags: , , , , , 1 Comment

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On January 4 1991, Madonna responded to a Rabbi’s accusation of anti-semitism for the song lyrics in the remix of Justify My Love, called The Beast Within.

Rabbi Abraham Cooper, associate dean of the Simon Wiesenthal Center for Holocaust Studies, accused Madonna of insulting Jews by using this Bible reference:

“I know your tribulation and your poverty and the slander of those who say that they are Jews, but they are not, they are a synagogue of Satan.”

In a letter sent to Madonna’s manager, Freddy DeMann, Rabbi Cooper said the Wiesenthal Center was outraged and wanted the quotation withdrawn. “The imagery of ‘Jew as Devil’ has led to untold violence against the Jewish people and slander against Judaism over the course of the last 2,000 years,” the rabbi wrote.

He charged that the phrase could “contribute to those who seek to promote anti-Semitism” and said that neo-Nazi groups had used such imagery to promote racist ideology among youth.

Madonna responded with this statement:

“I certainly did not have any anti-Semitic intent when I included a passage from the Bible on my record. It was a commentary on evil in general. My message, if any, is pro-tolerance and anti-hate. The song is, after all, about love.”

Rabbi Cooper said he took Madonna at her word.

“She was direct to the issue, she responded quickly and we’re relieved that she did so,” the rabbi said.

How did you feel about The Beast Within the first time you heard it? 

Today in Madonna History: January 3, 2014

January 3, 2015 By in 2014, January Tags: , , , 1 Comment

madonna-hard-candy-gym

On January 3 2014, it was announced that Hard Candy Fitness, the global luxury fitness brand in partnership with Madonna and New Evolution Ventures, would open a new facility in Toronto on February 11, 2014.

Are you a member of a Hard Candy gym? Any gym?

Today in Madonna History: January 2, 1999

January 2, 2015 By in 1999, January Tags: , 1 Comment

madonna-power-of-goodbye-clean

On January 2 1999, Madonna’s The Power Of Good-Bye single peaked at #14 on the Billboard Adult Contemporary chart in the USA.

Your heart is not open so I must go
The spell has been broken, I loved you so
Freedom comes when you learn to let go
Creation comes when you learn to say no

You were my lesson I had to learn
I was your fortress you had to burn
Pain is a warning that something’s wrong
I pray to God that it won’t be long
Do ya wanna go higher?

Today in Madonna History: January 1, 1993

January 1, 2015 By in 1993, January Tags: , , , , 1 Comment

madonna-comic-book-jan-1

On January 1 1993, the Madonna Special #1 comic book was released by Revolutionary Comics.

Revolutionary Comics (1989–1994) was a U.S. comic book publisher best known for the series Rock ‘N’ Roll Comics, launched in 1989. Founded by publisher Todd Loren, the line featured unlicensed biographies of rock stars, told in comic book form but geared for adults, often with very adult situations (nudity, drug use, violence, etc.).