Today in Madonna History: March 8, 1988

On March 8 1988, Papa Don’t Preach was released in the CD Video format in the U.S.

The CD Video format, introduced in Japan in 1987, combined the technologies of the standard audio compact disc with LaserDisc video on a 5″ gold-coloured disc.

The Papa Don’t Preach CD Video (which was also released in Japan and in the U.K.) included the song’s 1986 music video together with the 7″ Version, 12″ Version and the U.S. b-side Pretender on the audio portion of the disc. It was Madonna’s only commercial release in the short-lived format.

Today in Madonna History: March 7, 2006

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On March 7 2006, Girl 6 was released on DVD.  Madonna had a cameo role in Girl 6 as the boss of a strip club/phone sex operation.

Today in Madonna History: March 6, 1998

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On March 6 1998, Madonna spent the day in Toronto, Canada conducting a press conference and various print interviews to promote her new album, Ray Of Light, released earlier that week. She ended the day with a live, hour-long interview on Much Music hosted by VJ’s Master T (personally selected by Madonna herself after viewing reels of the station’s on-air personalities) and Geneviève Borne (a self-proclaimed Madonna fan and VJ from Much Music’s French-language sister station, Musique Plus).

The much-hyped event, which marked Madonna’s first and only visit to the Much Music studios, was prefaced by the Canadian music video channel’s second Madonnathon – a day of all-Madonna programming. The first, which featured her 1992 interview with Jonathan Ross and a then-recent press junket interview with The New Music’s Jana Lynne White (and all of her music videos), aired in January of 1993 at the height of the Sex/Erotica/Body Of Evidence backlash.

After the appearance was announced, fans seeking a limited hot spot inside the studio for the interview were asked to call in and were queried a series of Madonna-related trivia questions to prove their worthiness, while others who didn’t make it inside lined the streets of the Queen St W studios on the day of the event to welcome the Queen of Pop to Toronto.

Today in Madonna History: March 5, 1992

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On March 5 1992, Madonna won the title of Best-Dressed Female Artist in Rolling Stone magazine’s 16th annual Readers Poll.

Today in Madonna History: March 4, 1998

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On March 4 1998, Madonna’s Frozen debuted at number eight on the Billboard Hot 100.

The lead single from Ray of Light climbed to number two on April 4 1998, behind the K-Ci & JoJo song All My Life.  Frozen became the sixth single by Madonna to reach the top two position, surpassing Elvis Presley for the most number-two songs.

Today in Madonna History: March 3, 1998

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On March 3 1998, Madonna’s seventh studio album, Ray Of Light, was released in North America. Happy 25th Anniversary! 

Spawning five singles and winning four Grammy awards, it garnered near-universal acclaim upon its release and it is often cited as a high watermark in Madonna’s career as a recording artist.

Ray Of Light was produced by Madonna & William Orbit with additional production by Patrick Leonard & Marius De Vries.

Today in Madonna History: March 2, 1991

On March 2 1991, Madonna’s Rescue Me single was reviewed in Billboard magazine.

Despite Billboard’s predictions, with no music video to promote the release, Rescue Me peaked at #9. However, it was also her highest debut on the Hot 100 at the time, entering at #15 due to early adds for the song on radio playlists.