Today in Madonna History: April 17, 2001

April 17, 2024 By in 2001, April Tags: , , , , , , 1 Comment

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On April 17 2001, Madonna’s What It Feels Like for a Girl – the third single from Music was released by Maverick Records. The song was written by Madonna, Guy Sigsworth and David Torn, who was credited later, while production was handled by Madonna, Guy Sigsworth and Mark Stent. The spoken intro, recited by Charlotte Gainsbourg, is an excerpt from the 1993 film The Cement Garden.

Lyrics:

Girls can wear jeans
And cut their hair short
Wear shirts and boots
Cause it’s okay to be a boy
But for a boy to look like a girl is degrading
Cause you think being a girl is degrading
But secretly
You’d love to know what it’s like
Wouldn’t you?
What it feels like for a girl

Silky smooth
Lips as sweet as candy, baby
Tight blue jeans
Skin that shows in patches

Strong inside but you don’t know it
Good little girls they never show it
When you open up your mouth to speak
Could you be a little weak

Do you know what it feels like for a girl
Do you know what it feels like in this world for a girl

Hair that twirls on finger tips so gently, baby
Hands that rest on jutting hips repenting
Hurt that’s not supposed to show and
Tears that fall when no one knows
When you’re trying hard to be your best
Could you be a little less

Do you know what it feels like for a girl
Do you know what it feels like in this world for a girl
Do you know what it feels like for a girl
Do you know what it feels like in this world
What it feels like for a girl

Strong inside but you don’t know it
Good little girls they never show it
When you open up your mouth to speak
Could you be a little weak

Do you know what it feels like for a girl
Do you know what it feels like in this world for a girl
Do you know what it feels like for a girl
Do you know what it feels like in this world for a girl

In this world
Do you know
Do you know
Do you know what it feels like for a girl
What it feels like in this world

Today in Madonna History: April 16, 1993

April 16, 2024 By in 1993, April Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , 1 Comment

On April 16 1993, Body Of Evidence (starring Madonna) opened in cinemas across the U.K.

Roger Ebert had this to say about the film:

I’ve seen comedies with fewer laughs than Body of Evidence, and this is a movie that isn’t even trying to be funny. It’s an excruciatingly incompetent entry in the Basic Instinct genre, filled with lines that only a screenwriter could love, and burdened with a plot that confuses mystery with confusion.

The movie stars Madonna, who after Bloodhounds of Broadway, Shanghai Surprise and Who’s That Girl? now nails down her title as the queen of movies that were bad ideas right from the beginning. She plays a kinky dominatrix involved in ingenious and hazardous sex with an aging millionaire who has a bad heart. He dies after an evening’s entertainment, and Madonna is charged with his murder.

Today in Madonna History: April 15, 1991

April 15, 2024 By in 1991, April Tags: , , , , , , , 1 Comment

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On April 15 1991, Madonna and Michael Jackson were featured on the cover of People magazine as The Oddest Couple.

Here’s an excerpt from the article:

It may have been just a one-night stand, but when Pop’s Billion Dollar Boy and the Queen of Steam strutted their stuff at the Oscars, they were, for one brief moment, the brightest star couple of all.

As anyone burdened with stardom knows, finding a date for the Oscars can be an enormo pain. After all, really famous folk simply can’t be seen with some sweet nobody who waves “Hi Mom” at the camera and spends the evening worrying about credit-card approval at Spago.

And so it was, when Madonna and Michael Jackson, Earth’s top pop stars, faced the who-is-famous-enough-to-be-seen-with-me quandary, they hit on the perfect solution. Since they were already planning a duet for Michael’s upcoming album, Dangerous, and since they both happened to be on all Hollywood’s collagen-enhanced lips anyway—he for his ballyhooed “billion-dollar” contract with Sony, she for her upcoming, already controversial self-ploitation film, Truth or Dare-why not date…each other?

Big dates can also become big disasters, however. So a week before the Oscars, the couple met at L.A.’s Ivy restaurant to plan and, perhaps, trade makeup tips. By Oscar night, all was ready. Michael looked positively legendary in gold-tipped cowboy boots, a blinding diamond brooch and—in a dramatic sartorial departure—two gloves. Madonna, awash in peroxide and pluck, diverted at least some of the attention from her low-cut, pearl-encrusted Bob Mackie gown with $20 million in diamonds, on loan from jeweler Harry Winston. They entered L.A.’s Shrine Auditorium and promptly collected their well-deserved Best Seat honors—front row, two on the aisle.

Today in Madonna History: April 14, 2012

April 14, 2024 By in 2012, April Tags: , , , 1 Comment

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On April 14, 2012, Madonna’s MDNA ranked as the number-one electronic album on the Billboard Dance/Electronic Albums chart in the USA.

MDNA remained number-one for the issues dated April 21, 28, and May 5.

Today in Madonna History: April 13, 1995

April 13, 2024 By in 1995, April Tags: , , , , , , 1 Comment

On April 13 1995, Bedtime Story was released by Maverick/Sire as the third single from the album Bedtime Stories in North America. The song was written by Björk, Nellee Hooper & Marius DeVries and produced by Madonna & Nellee Hooper. In both the U.S. and Canada the single and CD maxi-single were backed by the album opener, Survival.

The commercial maxi-single featured remixes by Junior Vasquez and Orbital. Additional promo-only remixes by Mark Picchiotti & Teri Bristol were also later serviced promotionally to clubs.

Bedtime Story was released in the UK in February following a poor reception to the album’s second single, Take A Bow.

It was the opposite situation in North America, where the third single was delayed for several months due to the prolonged chart-topping reign of Bow. Bedtime Story‘s more experimental, minimalist sound failed to gain traction on U.S. radio but did earn Madonna another #1 hit on the Hot Dance/Club chart.

Today in Madonna History: April 12, 2008

April 12, 2024 By in 2008, April Tags: , 1 Comment

On April 12 2008, Madonna’s 4 Minutes spent the first of nine (non-consecutive) weeks at #1 on Billboard’s Canadian Hot 100 Singles chart.

Today in Madonna History: April 11, 1998

April 11, 2024 By in 1998, April Tags: , , , 1 Comment

On April 11 1998, Madonna appeared on the cover of TV Guide.

In the issue, Madonna explains the relationship she had with Lourdes’ father, Carlos Leon:

“I was in love with him. A lot of people think I walked out on the street and looked at him and said, `You’re going to be my sperm donor. I had a relationship with him. I still have a relationship with him. We are really good friends. . . . the last thing I want my daughter to do is grow up without a father. I grew up without a parent.”