On May 25 1985, Madonna’s self-titled video collection hit number-one on Billboard’s Top Music Videos chart in the U.S.
Released on VHS, Beta and 8″ LaserDisc, the “video ep” included four of her earliest music videos (while it excluded the low-budget and rarely seen video for Everybody, it included a previously unreleased extended version of the Lucky Star video). It marked Madonna’s first foray into the home video market.
On May 23 1987, La Isla Bonita hit #1 on Billboard’s Hot Adult Contemporary chart where it ruled for a single week.
It was Madonna’s second Hot AC chart topper after Live To Tell‘s three-week stint at #1 the previous year.
Both releases achieved similar longevity on AC radio playlists, with La Isla‘s seventeen-week Hot AC chart run nearly living up to Tell‘s eighteen weeks.
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.
On March 13 1999, Nothing Really Matters spent the first of two weeks at #1 on Billboard’s Hot Dance/Club Play chart in the U.S.
Despite being a successful club hit, many have cited Warner’s unusual marketing choices for the single as the primary reason for its poor placement on the Hot 100, where its peak of #93 remains the lowest of her charting singles.
The delayed release of the commercial single – which came long after the song had peaked at radio – was clearly a blunder, while other aspects of the song’s promotion seemingly started too early. After declining to release the experimental remixes for The Power Of Good-Bye in the U.S. (the remixes were issued commercially in Canada & abroad), Warner jumped the gun by beginning to service remixes of Nothing Really Matters promotionally to clubs as early as September of 1998 – over six months ahead of the maxi-single release.
An alternative might have been to service the Sky Fits Heaven remixes promotionally in the U.S. during the interim, considering that it managed to enter the Dance/Club Play chart based solely on spins from the imported Drowned World/Substitute For Love single, with no push from the label domestically.
Chart positions and marketing decisions aside, the maxi-single for Nothing Really Matters, with its wonderfully varied set of remixes by Peter Rauhofer, Kruder & Dorfmeister and Talvin Singh, remains one of Madonna’s best, in our opinion. Together with its visually stunning music video, the single marked an artistically pleasing closing chapter to the epic Ray Of Light era.
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.
On February 2 1985, Sidewalk Talk peaked at #1 on the Billboard Hot Dance/Club Play chart. The song was written by Madonna, who also contributed vocals on the chorus and bridge while the verses were performed by Catherine Buchanan. Madonna gifted the song to producer/remixer/DJ/boyfriend Jellybean Benitez for use on his debut EP, Wotupskii!!?! and it was promoted to clubs by EMI Records in October, 1984. It was eventually issued as a commercial single, peaking at #18 on the Billboard Hot 100 on February 1st, 1986.
Sidewalk Talk was arranged by Stephen Bray & Benitez with vocal arrangement by Madonna, according to the album’s liner notes. Madonna’s lyrics to the song recall her early years in New York and some of the challenges she encountered adjusting to big city life and how she empowered herself to overcome them.
On January 4 1987, Open Your Heart spent its third and final consecutive week at its peak position of #4 on the UK Singles chart.
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