Today in Madonna History: May 6, 1995

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On May 6 1995, the first of a two-day shoot for the music video for Human Nature took place at Raleigh Studios in Hollywood, California.

The video was directed by Jean-Baptiste Mondino while the work of S&M comic artist Eric Stanton provided inspiration.

Mondino found this book by this illustrator named Stanton who did kinda S&M drawings and stuff, but we didn’t want to go with the straight S&M; we wanted to have it be more about making fun of it.” – Madonna

All I know is…my main problem is I don’t like videos when somebody’s dancing, that the camera is moving a lot. I’m more like an old-time, classic guy, because I remember most of the video you had shot with the crane, some Steadicam, plus some panning. So you have about five different cameras shooting a performance, and after they edit like crazy. It gives you a lot of freedom, but I feel very frustrated because I like to see somebody dancing. I hate when there’s too much editing. I like the steadiness of the performance because then you can really enjoy the movement of the body. You see the skill. I like to shrink — as much as I can — the stage because I can grab her. If not, everyone is running around and I’m not good with this. So I came up with the boxes [laughs] and I knew that with the boxes I had to do with something quite un-expect-able because there’s not too much stage to dance in. So there’s something beautiful about it and they looked like bees or something. And the rest of it was how to create some kind of choreography and some graphic imagery with the S&M outfits, but with humor. So she has a little dog and she has some funny moments where she drops down, there’s some Charlie Chaplin-esque moments into in it. Because S&M is a game, you know? It’s dark, it looks dark, but I think people have fun. When you wear rubber like this, you better have fun. If not, you stop using it for sex and you become a diver, you know?” – Jean-Baptiste Mondino

Today in Madonna History: January 26, 1998

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On January 26 1998, Madonna was interviewed by Ian “Molly” Meldrum in Los Angeles, California as part of the promotional campaign for her upcoming album, Ray Of Light.

The interview aired in early March as an Australian television special sponsored by Warner Music Australia.

Today in Madonna History: January 14, 1993

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On January 14 1993, Madonna was featured in a 2-part interview with Bryant Gumbel on NBC-TV’s Today to promote the film Body of Evidence.

Madonna seemed quite fond of Gumbel. If they were to get any closer she’d be sitting on his knee. And note the conspicuously missing gap between her teeth. Hmmm. On second thought, it may have had something to do with the filming of her next movie, Dangerous Game…what do you think?

Today in Madonna History: January 3, 2003

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On January 3 2003, Madonna.com announced: “Madonna’s next album is scheduled to be released in April, and there is no title as of yet. The video for the first single will be shot in February and will be directed by Jonas Akerlund. The album cover will be shot next week by Craig McDean (he also did the Vanity Fair Madonna cover). ”

Today in Madonna History: December 18, 2001

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On December 18 2001, the first of a two-part interview with Matt Lauer to promote GHV2 aired on the Today show in North America. The second part aired the following day.

Coming off a busy year for Madonna, her involvement in promoting the retrospective was limited, with this being her only television interview that tied in with its release.

Today in Madonna History: November 29, 2005

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On November 29 2005, Andrew G’s spirited interview with Madonna aired on pay-TV Channel [V] in Australia. The interview was recorded in London during a press junket to promote Confessions On A Dance Floor.

Madonna had hoped to bring her 2006 Confessions Tour to Australia during its final leg, which saw her perform her first full concerts in Japan since 1993. Shows in Australia, however, did not materialize during the tour.

Today in Madonna History: November 22, 1995

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On November 22 1995, Madonna was featured on VH1’s television series VH1 To One in a previously recorded interview with Jane Pratt. The appearance was part of Madonna’s promotional activities for the ballads compilation, Something To Remember.

The interview was conducted in London, where Madonna had recently begun recording the soundtrack to Evita.