On April 4 1998, Madonna’s Frozen hit #2 on the Billboard Hot 100 in the USA.
Frozen was the first single released from Ray of Light.
Tag Archives: Ray Of Light (Album)
Today in Madonna History: March 14, 1998
On March 14 1998, Madonna’s Ray of Light album was reviewed in Billboard magazine.
The Ray of Light album would debut at #2 in the U.S. the following week, being held back from the top spot by the blockbuster soundtrack for the film, Titanic.
Meanwhile in Canada, the album would enter the chart at #1, pushing Titanic into the runner-up position.
Today in Madonna History: March 13, 1999
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.
Today in Madonna History: March 6, 1998
On March 6 1998, Madonna spent the day in Toronto, Canada conducting a press conference and various print interviews to promote her new album, Ray Of Light, released earlier that week. She ended the day with a live, hour-long interview on Much Music hosted by VJ’s Master T (personally selected by Madonna herself after viewing reels of the station’s on-air personalities) and Geneviève Borne (a self-proclaimed Madonna fan and VJ from Much Music’s French-language sister station, Musique Plus).
The much-hyped event, which marked Madonna’s first and only visit to the Much Music studios, was prefaced by the Canadian music video channel’s second Madonnathon – a day of all-Madonna programming. The first, which featured her 1992 interview with Jonathan Ross and a then-recent press junket interview with The New Music’s Jana Lynne White (and all of her music videos), aired in January of 1993 at the height of the Sex/Erotica/Body Of Evidence backlash.
After the appearance was announced, fans seeking a limited hot spot inside the studio for the interview were asked to call in and were queried a series of Madonna-related trivia questions to prove their worthiness, while others who didn’t make it inside lined the streets of the Queen St W studios on the day of the event to welcome the Queen of Pop to Toronto.
Today In Madonna History: February 21, 1998
On February 21 1998, Madonna performed Frozen on BBC1-TV’s National Lottery Show in London, England.
Today in Madonna History: February 14, 1998
On February 14 1998, performed a three-song mini-set to promote the release of her upcoming album Ray Of Light at The Roxy nightclub in New York City. The exclusive event marked Madonna’s first club show in fourteen years and featured performances of Sky Fits Heaven, Shanti/Ashtangi and a ten-minute version of Ray Of Light.
Today in Madonna History: February 10, 1998
On February 10 1998, Madonna appeared on the March cover of Vanity Fair, with incredible photos by Mario Testino.
Today In Madonna History 