Today in Madonna History: October 20, 1984

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On October 20 1984, Madonna’s Lucky Star hit #4 the Billboard Hot 100 Singles chart in the USA.

Jellybean Benitez said this of the Lucky Star recording session:

“She was unhappy with the whole damn thing, so I went in and sweetened up a lot of music for her, adding some guitars to Lucky Star, some voices, some magic.  I just wanted to do the best job I could do for her. When we would play back Holiday or Lucky Star, you could see that she was overwhelmed by how great it all sounded. You wanted to help her, you know? As much as she could be a bitch, when you were in the groove with her, it was very cool, very creative.”

Today in Madonna History: October 19, 2002

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On October 19 2002, Madonna’s Die Another Day debuted at #41 on the Billboard Hot 100 in the USA.  The hit single spent 17 weeks on the chart, eventually peaking at #8 on November 9.

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: October 17, 2009

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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, 2002

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On October 16 2002, Billboard released their review of Madonna’s Die Another Day:

The theme to the latest James Bond instalment, Die Another Day, is certainly a far cry from the melodic musings of Shirley Bassey, Nancy Sinatra, Paul McCartney, and even Duran Duran. Die Another Day in many ways picks up on the heels of Madonna’s inventive, experimental Music — thanks to her reunion with writer/producer Mirwais Ahmadzai — with a predominance of squiggly blips and zaps and enough effects on Madonna’s vocal to render it practically non-human. It’s an odd number, somewhat disjointed, a bit nonsensical, and not so much melodic as a highly stylized jam — but one must never underestimate the motivations of the long-and-lasting Madonna; and sure enough, with repeated listening, there are enough clever goings on and a hook that sinks into the consciousness to make this a captivating journey. James Bond purists may find themselves fitful that the traditional melodrama that marks such theme songs is remiss here, but radio jumped on the track weeks ahead of its official release, which will certainly fan the flames of publicity for the upcoming flick, out Nov. 22 in the U.S. On the horizon: an onslaught of remixes. Score another bull’s-eye for Madonna.

Today in Madonna History: October 15, 1994

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On October 15 1994, newswires shared photos of Madonna participating in Jean-Paul Gaultier’s spring/summer 1995 ready-to-wear collection fashion show in Paris, France (the show took place October 14). The show focused on 30’s, 40’s and 50’s fashion.

This is what Jean-Paul had to say about his approach to the show:

“I tried to capture a synthesis of each period: the silhouette that was the most important, the print, the fabrics. It’s a mix of the periods I love and admire, what I remember most about each of them. But it wasn’t pretentious. I’m not trying to make it better than they did then, because it’s impossible to make it better.”

Today in Madonna History: October 14, 2009

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On October 14 2009, Madonna appeared on the cover of Rolling Stone magazine, with a classic shot by Herb Ritts.

Inside the magazine, Madonna was asked about how she felt when she first heard Material Girl and Like A Virgin:

I liked them both because they were ironic and provocative at the same time but also unlike me. I am not a materialistic person and I certainly wasn’t a virgin, and, by the way, how can you be like a virgin? I liked the play on words, I thought they were clever. They’re so geeky, they’re cool.

When asked if she could predict whether a song would be a hit or not:

I’ve never been a good judge of what things are going to be huge or not. The songs that I think are the most retarded songs I’ve written, like Cherish and Sorry, a pretty big hit off my last album, end up being the biggest hits. Into The Groove is another song I feel retarded singing, but everybody seems to like it.