Today in Madonna History: July 12, 1986

On July 12 1986, Madonna’s third album, True Blue, debuted at #1 on the UK Albums Chart.

Here’s the AllMusic review of True Blue by Stephen Thomas Erlewine:

True Blue is the album where Madonna truly became Madonna the Superstar — the endlessly ambitious, fearlessly provocative entertainer that knew how to outrage, spark debates, get good reviews — and make good music while she’s at it. To complain that True Blue is calculated is to not get Madonna — that’s a large part of what she does, and she is exceptional at it, but she also makes fine music. What’s brilliant about True Blue is that she does both here, using the music to hook in critics just as she’s baiting a mass audience with such masterstrokes as “Papa Don’t Preach,” where she defiantly states she’s keeping her baby. It’s easy to position anti-abortionism as feminism, but what’s tricky is to transcend your status as a dance-pop diva by consciously recalling classic girl-group pop (“True Blue,” “Jimmy Jimmy”) to snag the critics, while deepening the dance grooves (“Open Your Heart,” “Where’s the Party”), touching on Latin rhythms (“La Isla Bonita”), making a plea for world peace (“Love Makes the World Go Round”), and delivering a tremendous ballad that rewrites the rules of adult contemporary crossover (“Live to Tell”). It’s even harder to have the entire album play as an organic, cohesive work. Certainly, there’s some calculation behind the entire thing, but what matters is the end result, one of the great dance-pop albums, a record that demonstrates Madonna’s true skills as a songwriter, record-maker, provocateur, and entertainer through its wide reach, accomplishment, and sheer sense of fun.

Today in Madonna History: July 11, 1987

On July 11 1987, Madonna’s Who’s That Girl made its U.S. chart debut at #43 on the Billboard Hot 100. The single entered the Hot 100 Airplay chart at #32 in the same issue.

Today in Madonna History: July 10, 1985

madonna_playboy

Madonna I'm Not Ashamed

On July 10 1985, The Playboy magazine issue of nude Madonna photos was released.

Today in Madonna History: July 9, 1987

wtg_tour_passes

On July 9 1987, Madonna performed her Who’s That Girl World Tour to a sold out crowd of approximately 60,000 fans at the Sullivan Stadium in Foxborough, Massachusetts.

Today in Madonna History: July 8, 1993

girlie-show-rehearsals-1 girlie-show-rehearsals-2 girlie-show-rehearsals-3 girlie-show-rehearsals-4 girlie-show-rehearsals-5 girlie-show-rehearsals-6

On July 8 1993, Madonna began rehearsals for The Girlie Show World Tour.

The original rehearsed set list included the following songs:

Erotica
Fever
Vogue
Rain
True Blue
Express Yourself
Deeper and Deeper
Why’s It So Hard
In This Life
The Beast Within
Like A Virgin
Bye Bye Baby
Live to Tell
La Isla Bonita
Holiday

Today in Madonna History: July 7, 1984

On July 7 1984, Warner Bros. Records took out a full-page ad in Billboard magazine to congratulate Madonna on the Gold certification of her self-titled debut album.

The ad featured the first look at a new photo shoot Madonna had recently completed with Steven Meisel. This image would later appear on the back cover of her next album, Like A Virgin.

Today in Madonna History: July 6, 1985

angel UK sheet music Angel Promo Label - 550

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.