On June 15 1985, Madonna’s Angel peaked at #5 on the Canadian Top 100 Singles Chart (RPM magazine).
Angel was written by Madonna and Stephen Bray and produced by Nile Rodgers for the Like A Virgin album.
Tag Archives: Canada
Today in Madonna History: May 28, 1990
On May 28 1990, Madonna played the second of a three show run at the Skydome in Toronto, Canada during her Blond Ambition Tour.
As the story goes, the concert on May 28th was attended by a Toronto police detective who became uncomfortable with Madonna’s simulated sexual theatrics. The detective complained to the Crown attorney, who became convinced–based on how it had been described–that the show on the 29th should not be permitted to proceed with similar content.
Supt. Frank Bergen was one of the constables sent to follow up on the complaint on May 29th, which was subsequently captured in Madonna’s film Truth Or Dare. Bergen recalled the events in a recent interview with The Canadian Press:
What I was struggling with was how do you go to the microphone and tell everyone the show is cancelled? My role and my position was we were not going to shut the show down. We were portrayed as being real knobs, if you will [in the documentary]. I don’t think we were…I don’t think we ever got to the (point), nor would we have, where we walked up onto the stage – and onto her bed – and handcuffed her. Then we would’ve been part of a different history.”
It took a year before the officer would hear about his cinematic debut in Truth or Dare, when one afternoon his teenage neighbour excitedly shouted across the backyard that he’d spotted him on the big screen.
Bergen said he respects concerns over obscenity but concedes it would’ve been difficult to satisfy a “loose interpretation of the Criminal Code.”
Today In Madonna History: March 29, 1999
On March 29 1999, Nothing Really Matters peaked at #7 on the Canadian Top 100 Singles chart (RPM).
Warner Music Canada issued Nothing Really Matters as a CD maxi-single and as a two-track CD single featuring the b-side, To Have And Not Hold. While their U.S. counterparts were housed in “FLP” and “draw pack” sleeves, in Canada standard jewel cases with inserts were used for both configurations.
Today in Madonna History: February 17, 2001
On February 17 2001, Don’t Tell Me hit #1 on the SoundScan Canadian Singles chart, spending a single week at the top.
After the long-running Canadian music industry publication RPM folded in late 2000, Nielsen SoundScan (which had tracked music sales across Canada since 1996) became the country’s recognized national singles chart publisher until the introduction of Billboard’s Canadian Hot 100 in 2007. Don’t Tell Me was Madonna’s first single to reach its peak during the SoundScan Canadian chart era.
Today in Madonna History: September 18, 1993
On September 18 1993, Madonna’s Rain peaked at #2 on the Canadian Top 100 Singles Chart, matching Deeper & Deeper as the highest charting single in Canada from the Erotica album.
Today in Madonna History: September 2, 1991
On September 2 1991, Madonna had three releases on the Canadian Top 10 Long Form Music Videos chart: Justify My Love (#1), Immaculate Collection (#2) and Ciao Italia (#8).
Today in Madonna History: July 18, 2004
On July 18 2004, Madonna played the first of three sold-out dates at Toronto’s Air Canada Centre during her Re-Invention Tour. Playing to a combined total of over 52,000 fans, the shows were the only Canadian stop on the tour and marked her first concerts in Canada in eleven years.
During the second show Madonna proclaimed to those in attendance that they were the best audience of the tour thus far, while the final Toronto date saw Madonna in an uncharacteristically playful mood. Interrupting the show’s normally swift progression between Papa Don’t Preach and Crazy For You, she joked about the infamous 1990 threats of arrest and whipped the audience into a cheering frenzy with her self-described “unprofessional” behavior.
Clearly the audience (myself included) didn’t mind one bit! 🙂
Today In Madonna History 