Today in Madonna History: July 6, 1985

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On July 6 1985, Angel/Into The Groove reached #1 on the Billboard Hot Dance Club Play chart in the U.S., where it spent a single week. It was Madonna’s fourth release to top the Dance chart.

Due to the fact that both sides of the commercial single received a substantial amount of club play, the release charted as Angel/Into The Groove on the Hot Dance Club Play chart. This is despite the fact that Sire/Warner had actually promoted the single to clubs without Into The Groove, as the U.S. club promo 12-inch contained Angel on both sides.

Despite her U.S. label’s apparent attempt to underexpose Into The Groove in order to keep the focus on her Like A Virgin album, its inclusion on the Angel commercial single unquestionably helped to propel the release to the top of the Dance chart. With the video in heavy rotation on MTV, radio DJ’s had to procure the commercial 12″ of Angel in order to appease heavy listener requests for Into The Groove, since radio promo pressings of Angel featured the Remix/Edit on the flip-side instead.

Today in Madonna History: July 5, 2010

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On July 5 2010, principal photography on W.E., Madonna’s directorial feature debut began in the UK.

Madonna had this to say about her decision to direct W.E.:

“I directed Filth & Wisdom to teach myself about filmmaking… and now, with this self-punishing process of being a producer and a writer and a director, I’m taking the next step.”

Today in Madonna History: July 4, 1992

On July 4 1992, Madonna’s This Used To Be My Playground single from the film A League Of Their Own was reviewed by Larry Flick in Billboard magazine.

Today in Madonna History: July 3, 1987

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On July 3, 1987, Madonna accepted a rare Canadian Diamond Award at a press conference in Toronto on the eve of her sold-out concert at CNE Stadium. The certification award was presented by WEA Music Canada president Stan Kulin to mark over one million units sold of the True Blue album in Canada.

Today in Madonna History: July 2, 1990

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On July 2 1990, Madonna was featured on the cover of People Magazine with Warren Beatty to promote Dick Tracy.

“Tell me you want me,” Breathless Mahoney implores to Dick Tracy in the wide-screen moonlight. “Tell me you want it all.”

Today in Madonna History: July 1, 1989

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On July 1 1989, Express Yourself became Madonna’s sixth number one single on the Eurochart Hot 100 Singles chart in Europe. It remained in the chart’s top position for three weeks.

Today in Madonna History: June 30, 1986

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On June 30 1986, Madonna’s True Blue album was released by Sire Records. She worked with Stephen Bray and Patrick Leonard on the album while co-writing and co-producing all the songs.

True Blue was an immediate global success, reaching number one in then record-breaking 28 countries across the world, including Australia, Canada, France, Germany, the United Kingdom and the United States. It spent 34 consecutive weeks at the top of the European Top 100 Albums chart, longer than any other album in history. It became the world’s top-selling album of 1986, as well the biggest selling album of the 1980s by a woman and remains one of the best-selling albums of all time with sales of more than 25 million copies worldwide. All five singles released from the album reached the top five on the Billboard Hot 100, with Live to Tell, Papa Don’t Preach, and Open Your Heart peaking at number one.