Today in Madonna History: October 22, 1990

rock-the-vote-1 rock-the-vote-2 rock-the-vote-3 rock-the-vote-4 rock-the-vote-5 rock-the-vote-6

On October 22 1990, Madonna was featured in a public service announcement on MTV’s Rock The Vote in which she was wrapped in the US flag and urged young people to register and vote; the ad caused a controversy with US Veterans of Foreign Wars who were enraged by Madonna’s provocative use of the American flag and said that it bordered on desecration.

Today in Madonna History: October 21, 1992

sex-book-1 sex-book-2 sex-book-2b sex-book-3 sex-book-4

On October 21 1992, Madonna’s Sex book was released by Warner Books, Maverick and Callaway Books.

The 128-page coffee table book of erotica and sexual fantasies was written by Madonna, with photographs taken by Steven Meisel and film frames shot by Fabien Baron.  The book was edited by Glenn O’Brien.

The spiral-bound, metal-covered book was wrapped in a silver mylar bag and included a copy of the Erotic CD single (an exclusive version of the Erotica song).  The package also included an 8-page comic book and it was priced at $49.95 US.

How old were you when you first bought or read through Madonna’s Sex book?

Today in Madonna History: October 20, 1992

erotica-lp-1 erotica-lp-2 erotica-lp-3 erotica-lp-4 erotica-lp-7 erotica-lp-8 erotica-lp-5 erotica-lp-6 erotica-lp-9 erotica-lp-10 erotica-lp-11

On October 20 1992, Madonna’s fifth studio album, Erotica was released by Maverick Records.

Music critic Sal Cinquemani commented on the album’s impact:

By 1992, Madonna was an icon—untouchable, literally and figuratively—and Erotica was the first time the artist’s music took on a decidedly combative, even threatening tone, and most people didn’t want to hear it. Erotica’s irrefutable un-sexiness probably says more about the sex=death mentality of the early ’90s than any other musical document of its time. This is not Madonna at her creative zenith. This is Madonna at her most important, at her most relevant. No one else in the mainstream at that time dared to talk about sex, love, and death with such frankness and fearlessness.

Today in Madonna History: October 19, 1995

On October 19 1995, Madonna’s I Want You video was featured on the MTV documentary Inner City Blues: The Music Of Marvin Gaye. The documentary was assembled to promote the release of the accompanying tribute album.’

Today in Madonna History: October 18, 1986

On October 18 1986, Madonna appeared on the cover NO.1 magazine (UK), to promote Shanghai Surprise.

Today in Madonna History: October 17, 2009

celebration-mug-1 celebration-mug-3 celebration-mug-2

On October 17 2009, Madonna’s Celebration collection debuted at #7 on the Billboard Top 200 with sales of 72,000 in USA.

Eric Henderson of Slant Magazine gave the compilation four out of five stars and commented that “functionally, what Madonna and fans are really celebrating with the release of Celebration is the hard proof that Madonna’s back catalogue is now so immense and so varied that she can release a behemoth, two-disc greatest hits package that shoehorns in 36 songs and still manages to significantly short-change the singer’s legacy.”

Are there songs that are missing from this collection? Are there songs that do not belong on Celebration? Share your thoughts..

Today in Madonna History: October 16, 1990

UKRO tm-fashion-show-2 tm-fashion-show-3 tm-fashion-show-4

On October 16 1990, Madonna attended a fashion show by Thierry Mugler in Paris.