Today in Madonna History: July 25, 1998

July 25, 2021 By sonicboy19 in 1998, July Tags: Drowned World, Liz Rosenberg, Music Videos, Princess Diana, Remix Videos, Substitute For Love, Walter Stern 1 Comment

On July 25 1998, the music video for Drowned World/Substitute For Love premiered in Europe. The video was directed by Walter Stern and was filmed on June 26 & 27 1998 at London’s famous Claridge’s Hotel and Piccadilly Circus.

The video caused some controversy when the British press reported that it would feature scenes of Madonna’s car being chased by paparazzi on mopeds, concluding that it was a reference to the death of Diana, Princess of Wales, the previous year. Liz Rosenberg responded by denying that the scenes were intended to draw comparison to Diana’s death and insisting that the video was about Madonna’s own relationship with fame.

Sadly the video was not serviced to video channels in North America, and with online steaming and downloadable videos not yet prevalent at the time, most fans outside of Europe were only able to enjoy the video for the first time when it appeared on the 93:99 video collection over a year later.

Today in Madonna History: July 11, 1987

July 11, 2021 By sonicboy19 in 1987, July Tags: Charts, Remix Videos, Who's That Girl (Single) 2 Comments

On July 11 1987, Madonna’s Who’s That Girl made its U.S. chart debut at #43 on the Billboard Hot 100. The single entered the Hot 100 Airplay chart at #32 in the same issue.

Today in Madonna History: June 28, 1986

June 28, 2021 By Jay in 1986, June Tags: Billboard, Remix Videos, Seymour Stein, True Blue (Album), True Blue (Single), Warner Bros. 1 Comment

On June 28 1986, Billboard magazine reported that Madonna made a surprise appearance at WEA International’s annual manager’s meeting with Seymour Stein in New York earlier that month where she previewed tracks from her forthcoming album, True Blue.

Today in Madonna History: June 16, 1984

June 16, 2021 By Jay in 1984, June Tags: Borderline, Charts, Remix Videos 2 Comments

On June 16 1984, Borderline became Madonna’s first Top 10 hit when the single peaked at #10 on the Billboard Hot 100 in the U.S.

Thanks to Rex!

Today in Madonna History: June 11, 1998

June 11, 2021 By sonicboy19 in 1998, June Tags: Charts, Hot 100, Hot Dance Club Play, Ray Of Light (Album), Ray Of Light (Single), Remix Videos 3 Comments

On June 11 1998, Ray of Light became Madonna’s highest debuting single, peaking at number-five in its first week on the Billboard Hot 100 in the U.S.

The title-track from her seventh studio album was present for a total of twenty weeks on the Hot 100, and placed at number seventy-five on the year-end chart. Much of its chart success was due to strong sales, receiving a boost from the inclusion of non-album track, Has To Be, on the b-side of the two-track single, as well as the commercially-released VHS video-single. On the Airplay chart, however, the song fizzled out at number twenty-six due to radio’s tepid support of the single’s unconventional sound. Meanwhile, there was nothing tepid about the response from club DJ’s, with the remixes earning Madonna another number-one on the Hot Dance/Club Play chart where it spent four weeks at the top and seven weeks in the top-five.

Outside the U.S., the Ray of Light single reached number-three in Canada, number-two in the UK, Italy and Finland, and number-one in Spain.

Today in Madonna History: May 28, 1994

May 29, 2021 By Jay in 1994, May Tags: Charts, Hot Adult Contemporary, I'll Remember, Remix Videos 2 Comments

On May 28 1994, I’ll Remember (Theme From The Motion Picture With Honors) peaked at #2 on Billboard’s Hot 100 Singles Sales chart (one week), Hot 100 Airplay chart (five weeks) and Top 40 Mainstream chart (three weeks).

This combined push allowed the single to reach its overall peak of #2 on the Hot 100 Singles chart.

Had the single’s slower growing success on the Hot AC chart (which would peak at #1 for four weeks beginning June 11th) aligned with its sales peak on May 28th, I’ll Remember might have advanced to the top spot on the Hot 100. Instead, a very respectable four-week run at #2 would have to do.