Today in Madonna History: November 11, 1987

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On November 11 1987, Who’s That Girl, starring Madonna, was released on home video by Warner Bros.

Here’s what Madonna had to say about the performance of the film in North America:

“I think the movie did badly in America because I upstaged it with my tour. People were confused about the connection between the record, the tour and the movie because they all had the same title. I also think there are people who don’t want me to do well in both fields. I had to really fight to get any respect from the music business and now I guess there are some people who feel that I ought to be grateful for that respect and stick to music.”

Here’s what James Foley (Director of Who’s That Girl) had to say about his decision to make the film:

“I was young, I was twenty-eight. So, being given the opportunity to work on a Warner Bros. film with a huge star was attractive to me for all the wrong reasons. Everyone has a bit of Hollywood lust in them. Warner Bros. approached me because they knew I knew Madonna and she had asked for me, and was convinced to do it. At Close Range was a dark film, and going towards comedy was totally the wrong direction. But I didn’t care.”

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Today in Madonna History: April 17, 1986

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On April 17 1986, Madonna and Sean Penn attended the Los Angeles premiere of his film At Close Range at the Bruin Theater.

Sporting a new cropped, platinum blonde hairstyle, Madonna and her notoriously media-shy husband paused to speak with various media outlets as they made their way down the red carpet.

The film, which co-starred Christopher Walken and Mary Stuart Masterson, featured Madonna’s latest single, Live To Tell, along with an original musical score by Patrick Leonard comprising mostly of motifs inspired by Live To Tell‘s minor chord changes. Its director, James Foley, helmed several of Madonna’s music videos for the True Blue album and directed her next film, Who’s That Girl.

Today in Madonna History: October 2, 1986

On October 2 1986, Madonna’s True Blue music video premiered on BBC1-TV’s Top Of The Pops. The video was directed by James Foley and shot in early September (1986) in New York.

Two of Madonna’s closest friends (at the time), Erika Belle and Debi Mazar, appeared in the video.

A second video for True Blue (which does not include Madonna) was shown on MTV in the USA. The second video was the winner of Madonna’s ‘Make My Video’ Contest. The winners (Angel Gracia and Cliff Guest) were flown to MTV’s New York studio where Madonna presented them a $25,000 check live on MTV.

 

Today in Madonna History: May 25, 1985

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On May 25 1985, Madonna performed The Virgin Tour at Cobo Arena in Detroit, Michigan. The show was filmed by Daniel Kleinman, and released by Warner Music Video and Sire Records on November 13 1985.

Here is the dialog from Madonna’s famous Virgin Tour introduction (filmed by James Foley for the video release, it was not present during the concerts):

“I went to New York. I had a dream. I wanted to be a big star, I didn’t know anybody, I wanted to dance, I wanted to sing, I wanted to do all those things, I wanted to make people happy, I wanted to be famous, I wanted everybody to love me. I wanted to be a star. I worked really hard, and my dream came true.”

Madonna Live: The Virgin Tour was an enormous success.  The home video release was the top selling music video cassette of 1986 in the USA, and the video was certified double platinum by the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) for shipment of 100,000 copies.

Today in Madonna History: August 7, 1987

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On August 7 1987, Who’s That Girl (the movie) was released across North America.

Today in Madonna History: November 15, 1986

On November 15 1986, Billboard reported that a 6-track Madonna remix EP titled You Can Dance, initially scheduled for a 1986 pre-Christmas release, would be delayed until the following year to avoid affecting holiday sales of her still red-hot True Blue LP.

The article also mentions Madonna’s upcoming film, Slammer (later retitled Who’s That Girl), her track for Nick Kamen, the video for her next single, Open Your Heart, touring plans and more.

Stay tuned for a third and final installment on the You Can Dance delay…

Today in Madonna History: October 2, 1986

On October 2 1986, Madonna’s True Blue music video premiered on BBC1-TV’s Top Of The Pops. The video was directed by James Foley and shot in early September (1986) in New York.

Two of Madonna’s closest friends (at the time), Erika Belle and Debi Mazar, appeared in the video.

A second video for True Blue (which does not include Madonna) was shown on MTV in the USA. The second video was the winner of Madonna’s ‘Make My Video’ Contest. The winners (Angel Gracia and Cliff Guest) were flown to MTV’s New York studio where Madonna presented them a $25,000 check live on MTV.

 

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