On May 14 1993, the 1000th episode of The Arsenio Hall Show aired, featuring Madonna as the headline act.
The 1000th episode was an AIDS benefit concert and it was filmed at the Hollywood Bowl.
Madonna performed Fever as well as The Lady Is A Tramp with Anthony Keidis from the Red Hot Chilli Peppers.
On May 13 1989, Madonna’s Like A Prayer single peaked at #4 on Billboard’s Hot Adult Contemporary chart in the USA. The hit single also peaked on the Hot R&B Single Sales at #18 and the Hot R&B Singles & Tracks chart at #20 during the same week.
On May 12 2008, Madonna’s Hard Candy album was released in the UK in a Limited Collector’s Edition Candy Box.
The Candy Box included a 14-track edition of the hit album (containing the standard version of the album and two bonus 4 Minutes remixes), a bag of Starlite Mint candies and a 16-page booklet.
The exact same version was released in North America on April 29 2008.
Track listing:
1. Candy Store
2. 4 Minutes
3. Give It 2 Me
4. Heartbeat
5. Miles Away
6. Shes Not Me
7. Incredible
8. Beat Goes On
9. Dance 2Night
10. Spanish Lesson
11. Devil Wouldn’t Recognize You
12. Voices
Bonus tracks:
13. 4 Minutes – Tracy Young House Edit
14. 4 Minutes – Rebirth Remix Edit
On May 11 1987, Madonna and Griffin Dunne were featured on the cover of People Magazine with a photo taken from the then-forthcoming film, Who’s That Girl.
In May 2014, Griffin was asked the following question by Melissa Parker (Smashing Interviews Magazine):
Was Madonna difficult to work with in Who’s That Girl?
Griffin Dunne: No, not at all. She was very funny. We actually had a lot of laughs making that movie. She was just enormously famous. I think all of our scenes that were shot outdoors had to be re-recorded because the sky was just filled with helicopters, and photographers followed her everywhere she went. But she had a real sense of humor about it. She enjoyed all that, I thought, in a pretty healthy way.
On May 10 2003, Madonna’s American Life album reached #1 on the Billboard 200 Albums Chart in the USA.
In 2008, Sal Cinquemani had this to say about American Life in Slant magazine:
In hindsight, American Life isn’t the masterpiece that Erotica so quickly revealed itself to be. It’s frequently self-indulgent, misguided, unpleasant, difficult to listen to, silly yet somehow humorless, but it’s also consistent, uncompromising, and unapologetic. The album is a testament to the artist’s willingness to take risks and her refusal to stay inside her comfort zone. In the grand scheme of things, the album might rank as one of the weakest in Madonna’s extensive catalog, and the ones that followed have been as good, if not better, but American Life stands as the last time Madonna seemed to make music without the primary objective of scoring a hit. It’s interesting to imagine what Madonna’s career would look like today had American Life been a success: For better or worse, that pink leotard and Justin duet might never have existed.
On May 9 1987, Nick Kamen’s self-titled debut album – featuring the Madonna/Steve Bray written & produced track, Each Time You Break My Heart – was reviewed in Billboard.
Madonna’s opinion of Nick Kamen in 1986? “I said, ‘wow, this guy’s got everything’,” she told the BBC’s Simon Bates in December that year. “He [Stein] sent me a tape of four of his songs and the Levi commercial and a demo video that he [Kamen] had done,” Madonna told Bates. “You know, he’s got so much charm and charisma and there’s something there in the eyes…”
Kamen’s debut single, Each Time You Break My Heart, on which Madonna also performed backing vocals – was an international hit in the autumn of 1986. “I called Seymour up and said ‘how about if I produce the record because if I don’t…they might change the character of it…and I want it to be really good…and he said, ‘I would have asked you but, I mean, I didn’t think you’d have the time’, but I figured it was only one song so it would only take about a week if we really organize ourselves.”
The video for the single had other Madonna connections, as it was directed by Jean-Baptiste Mondino and featured her Open Your Heart video co-star, Felix Howard, while the U.S. maxi-single was remixed by future Madonna collaborator, Shep Pettibone.
Each Time You Break My Heart was originally demoed during the sessions for Madonna’s True Blue album but sadly did not make the final cut. Kamen’s version featured the same musicians and backing vocalists (including Siedah Garrett & Edie Lehmann) from those sessions. A low-quality recording of Madonna’s original demo leaked to the internet in the early 2000’s.
Madonna fans would certainly welcome a deluxe edition of the True Blue album featuring Madonna’s version of this excellent cut and other outtakes of the era!
On May 7 1919, Eva Maria Duarte de Perón, Argentinian actress and the 25th First Lady of Argentina was born. Eva was the wife of Argentine President Juan Perón from 1946 until she died of cervical cancer on July 26 1952.
Madonna portrayed Eva in the musical film version of EVITA, directed by Alan Parker.
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