On October 4 1993, Madonna performed The Girlie Show in Israel, despite protests by Jewish groups to cancel her show. The sold-out concert was performed at Hayarkon Park in Tel Aviv, in front of 80,000 adoring fans.
Today in Madonna History: October 3, 1985
On October 3 1985, Madonna’s second single from the motion picture Vision Quest, Gambler was released by Geffen Records in select markets.
Gambler was entirely self-written by Madonna and produced by John “Jellybean” Benitez.
Gambler was never released in the United States, but it went to #4 in the UK. The single also reached the top-ten in the charts of Australia, Belgium, Ireland, Ireland, Netherlands and Norway.
The music video for the song is an excerpt from the film.
Madonna has performed the song only once, on her Virgin Tour in 1985.
Alex Henderson from Allmusic called the song “an ultra-infectious gem that, unfortunately, isn’t on any of the Material Girl’s CDs” and felt that Gambler should have been a big hit.
Would you like to see Madonna perform “Gambler” on a future concert tour?
Today in Madonna History: October 2, 1995
On October 2 1995, the music video for I Want You made its world premiere on VH1 in the U.S.
Shot on August 5th and 6th in Long Island City, New York by director Earle Sebastien, the video was inspired by the short story A Telephone Call – A Terrible Day Tomorrow by American author, Dorothy Parker.
Today in Madonna History: October 1, 1990
On October 1 1990, Madonna was named the top-earning female entertainer of 1990 by Forbes magazine with an annual income of $39 million.
Here’s an excerpt from this issue:
By Matthew Schifrin with Peter Newcomb
October 1, 1990
SHE HAS JUST FINISHED a rigorous song and dance routine in Nice, France. Madonna Ciccone, the 32-year-old bleached-blonde pop star, walks across the stage and pretends to rough up her background vocalists. Clad in an ivory-colored bustier and trousers from a business suit, Madonna then looks out at the crowd of 35,000 fans, grabs her crotch, raises her fist and yells, “I’m the boss around here.” The crowd roars.
This routine was repeated at almost every Madonna performance this summer, but it’s more than play-acting. She is the boss. She is the president and sole owner of a multi-million-dollar corporate organization that in peak season has hundreds of employees and operates through nearly half a dozen entities, including Boy Toy Inc., Siren Films and Slutco.
Congratulations, Madonna. The critics may attack you, but you are one heck of a moneymaker. The nation’s top-earning female entertainer for 1990, Madonna brought in an estimated $39 million in pretax earnings. She has staying power, too. While performers like Whitney Houston and Cyndi Lauper rise fast and fade fast, Madonna has stayed near the top for all five years FORBES has compiled its list of America’s highest-earning entertainers. Since 1986 Madonna has earned at least $125 million.
Today in Madonna History: September 30, 2012
On September 30 2012, Madonna performed the second sold out MDNA Tour stop at the Rogers Arena in Vancouver, British Columbia.
Madonna had this to say to the audience of just over 14,000 die-hard fans:
“Come on Vancouver, you stoned motherfuckers!“
Today in Madonna History: September 29, 1992
On September 29 1992, Madonna’s Erotica single was released to radio. Originally credited to Madonna & Shep Pettibone, Pettibone’s partner Tony Shimkin was later granted co-writing credit for nearly all of the Pettibone collaborations on the album, including Erotica. The debut release to feature the imprint of Maverick Records, the song was produced by Madonna & Pettibone.
As several leaked demo versions of the song can now attest, the track had gone through numerous incarnations before Madonna settled on lyrics that positioned her in the perspective of Dita – the alter-ego she had created for her Sex book. The song’s original chorus (“You thrill me…”) was reincorporated into the song when Madonna performed it during her 2006 Confessions Tour. Alternate verses were also used to create the track Erotic, which was included with the Sex book – these lyrics were also featured in a William Orbit remix that was included on the Erotica maxi-single.
French art director and photographer Fabien Baron designed the artwork for the single, the album and the Sex book. He also directed the Erotica music video, which included footage he had shot on Super 8mm during the making of the book. Baron recalled his first meeting with Madonna to discuss their potential collaboration in a 2009 interview with Hint Fashion Magazine:
“I met Madonna at her home on Central Park West to talk about working on her Sex book. It was very comfortable but very uncomfortable at the same time, which is a very interesting feeling. She’s very imposing and knows what she wants. She’s very informed and opinionated, which makes her genius. She takes you in and swallows you up — and you don’t mind it – you actually enjoy it. There’s an unspoken seduction that goes on. I was young…she was young, too – and beautiful. That was an unforgettable era. She put that book out at the best moment. She timed it very well…she knows what she’s doing. And such drive. Some people want to lift stones to see what’s under them. She’ll be on a beach with millions of stones and want to lift every one of them.”
Today in Madonna History: September 28, 1983
On September 28 1983, Billboard magazine reported that the music video for Madonna’s second single, Burning Up, had been added into MTV rotation during the preceding week. The video marked Madonna’s introduction to MTV audiences, as the channel had not previously aired the low-budget clip produced for Everybody.
Although the Burning Up/Physical Attraction single had already been out for six months by the time a video finally surfaced, it featured a new mix of the song (which differed from both the 12″ single and from the version that appeared on original vinyl pressings of the album) and was seemingly intended to promote her debut album as a whole rather than the song itself, given that Burning Up had not been actively promoted to radio by her label. Just weeks before the video’s release, Sire/Warner had issued promotional 12-inch copies of Lucky Star/Holiday to gauge public interest for her next single release, and were apparently caught off guard by the swift success of the latter track, as no video or remixes had been readied to promote it.
Indeed, the label’s somewhat haphazard early steps in marketing the album gave very little indication of its impending success.
Today In Madonna History 