Today in Madonna History: May 13, 1985

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On May 13 1985, Madonna was featured on the cover of People Magazine.

The headline: That Man-Smasher Madonna! On Tour

Once Madonna was expected to fizzle, but with a hit film and a sold-out tour, she’s now the hottest item in showbiz.

Today in Madonna History: May 12, 1984

On May 12 1984, Madonna’s Borderline peaked at #4 on Billboard’s Hot Dance/Club Play chart (then known as the Dance/Disco chart).

The hit song was written and produced by Reggie Lucas.

 

Today in Madonna History: May 11, 1985

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On May 11 1985, Crazy For You hit number-one on the Billboard Hot 100 chart in the U.S. for one week. The track had spent the two previous weeks in the runner-up position behind the all-star single, We Are The World. In Canada, Crazy For You took a few weeks longer but also managed to displace USA For Africa’s charity track to become the county’s number-one single on May 25th.

The song was Madonna’s second chart-topping hit, and her first ballad to be released as a single.

Today in Madonna History: May 10, 2015

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On May 10 2015, Madonna tweeted a lovely tweet to all the Mothers of the world:

“Respect!!!! To the Mothers of the world!!! Happy Mothers Day! 😇👿🙏🏻💘💘!”

Today in Madonna History: May 9, 2020

On May 9 2020, Stephen Bray posted this message in celebration of the 31st anniversary of Madonna’s Express Yourself single:

So many great memories — from recording the demo tracks and vocals at the home studio in Sherman Oaks to all the great players (Pat Leonard, Randy Jackson, and many others) at Pat’s studio in Burbank. Thank you Madonna for bringing so much spirited fire to the lead — and for forcing me to sing the bass part I’d earmarked for Levi Stubbs! The genius of Bill Bottrell raised the ante and it just kept getting better with Shep Pettibone’s amazing remix and David Fincher’s Metropolis music video. Happy 31st Birthday, Express Yourself!

Today in Madonna History: May 8, 2006

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On May 8 2006, Warner Bros. announced that Madonna would be releasing her Jonas Åkerlund-directed documentary I’m Going to Tell You a Secret as a DVD/CD package on June 20.

“It’s sort of a circle around three families: the family of the people I work with, the family that I live with, and the family of man, the world that I live in.”

“It’s about the trials and tribulations of putting a show together, the struggle to balance my life as an entertainer with my life as a mother, and it’s also about the world, my politics, my belief systems, my philosophy, about where I feel my place in the world is.”

Today in Madonna History: May 7, 1990

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On May 7 1990, Madonna graced the cover of People magazine.

The headline: Madonna’s new tour: her most outrageous act yet

A sample of the article by Montgomery Brower and Todd Gold:

After routinely violating almost every taboo about sex, sacrilege and the public display of underwear, what’s a girl to do for new material? Madonna revealed her answer in Japan, where she kicked off a four-month tour that will no doubt delight fans, fetishists, cross-dressers and topic-starved conservative columnists the world over. Mimed masturbation? Madonna’s got it, during “Like a Virgin.” Topless guys in foot-long pointy brassieres? They pop up a third of the way through the show. A hint of discipline? “You may not know the song, but you all know the pleasures of a good spanking,” Madonna cooed after “Hanky Panky,” an ode to the joy of the slap. Granted, there are quieter moments—Madonna as housewife in curlers, Madonna with fish-tailed mermen—but before you know it, there she goes again, confessing in song to a guy dressed as a priest. The 105-minute hullabaloo is amazing for its breadth of controversy. Perhaps even more remarkable is the fact that, so far as can be determined, not one of the show’s seven dancers has been sidelined with a groin injury.

“She said, ‘Let’s break every rule we can,’ ” says choreographer Vince Paterson. “She wanted to make statements about sexuality, cross-sexuality, the church and the like. But the biggest thing we tried to do is change the shape of concerts. Instead of just presenting songs, we wanted to combine fashion, Broadway, rock and performance art.”

Thanks Logan for the New Jersey video streams!