Today in Madonna History: June 4, 1983

burning up australia 12'' back 550physical attraction u.s. promo

On June 4 1983, Burning Up/Physical Attraction spent its third and final week at its peak position of number-three on Billboard’s Hot Dance Music/Club Play chart in the U.S.

Available only on 12″ single in the U.S., the release charted as a double A-side single. Its run on the Dance/Club chart spanned a total of sixteen weeks, seven of which were spent in the top-five. In a rather strange marketing twist, a music video was produced for Burning Up while only Physical Attraction was promoted to radio – with an edited version of the latter being featured on both sides of the rare 7″ promo.

To further confuse matters, the version of Burning Up that was featured on the 12″ was in actuality not a remix, but rather the original Reggie Lucas production of the song. Instead, the two distinct versions of the song that later turned up at separate times on her debut album were in fact remixes by John “Jellybean” Benitez. Physical Attraction was also remixed by Benitez, although his version appears on both the single and the album.

Today in Madonna History: May 25, 1985

Madonna Japan Laserdisc 1 550 Madonna Japan Laserdisc Insert 550 Madonna Japan Laserdisc Back 550

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.

Today in Madonna History: May 11, 1985

crazy for you sheet music 550 Vision Quest (1) 550 Vision Quest (7) 550 Vision Quest (4) 550

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: April 3, 1993

fever uk cds fever uk cds inner

On April 3 1993, Fever entered the UK Singles Chart at its peak position of number-six. Without the support of a proper music video at the time of its release (Warner UK instead issued a rarely seen compilation video of previous clips), the single spent only six weeks on the UK charts, dropping to number-seven the following week.

Strangely, Madonna did eventually decide to film a video for the song in late April  – nearly a month after its release in Europe. By the time the video premiered during the second week of May, Fever was spending its final week on the UK Singles Chart.

In North America the remixes for Fever had been issued commercially on Madonna’s previous international single, Bad Girl. Fever was also serviced to clubs as a promotional single in its own right, but it was not promoted to radio despite the video being added to into rotation on MTV and MuchMusic. While the release of the music video managed to coincide with Fever’s single week atop the Hot Dance/Club Play chart, its number-one status had already been confirmed several days prior to the clip’s debut, making the video’s intended purpose and the timing of its release all the more puzzling.

Today in Madonna History: March 31, 1990

keep it together us cassette single

On March 31 1990, Keep It Together hit its peak position of number-eight on the Billboard Hot 100.

While it is possible that it reached its natural peak on the charts, some have speculated that the single’s ascent may have been prematurely interrupted by the sudden release of Madonna’s next single, Vogue.

Today in Madonna History: March 3, 2000

American Pie Canadian CDMS Cover American Pie Canadian CDMS Inside Cover

On March 3 2000, American Pie was released as a single in the UK. The cover of the Don McLean classic would hit number-one on the UK singles chart the following week.

A huge international hit, American Pie also topped the charts in Canada, Australia, Switzerland, Italy, Germany, Austria and Finland. In the U.S. the track was not released commercially in a strategic move designed to maximize sales of The Next Best Thing soundtrack, however it managed to reach number twenty-nine on the Hot 100 based on the strength of airplay alone.

Today in Madonna History: February 7, 1987

Open Your Heart 12'' Cover 2 Open Your Heart 12'' Back open your heart sheet music

On February 7 1987, Open Your Heart hit number-one on the Billboard Hot 100 in the U.S. The track was the 4th international single release from the True Blue album.

While the song has kept a relatively high-profile amongst Madonna’s hits through the years – having been included on the set-lists of four of her world tours (including her most recent MDNA Tour) and two of her greatest hits albums – the single attained only moderate success on the charts (by Madonna’s own standards) in most countries outside the U.S.

Open Your Heart peaked at number-eight in Canada; at number-six in Australia, Italy, Belgium and The Netherlands; and landed outside the top-ten in France (twenty-four), Switzerland (eleven), Germany (seventeen) and Austria (eighteen). It fared better in the UK, hitting number-four – and it achieved its highest European placement in Ireland, topping out at number-two.