Today in Madonna History: March 20, 1990

March_20-Vogue_Sheet-Music

On March 20 1990, the lead single from Madonna’s I’m Breathless album, Vogue, was released.

Vogue was written and produced by Madonna and Shep Pettibone in December 1989.  The song was recorded with the intention of being the b-side to the upcoming (and last single for the Like A Prayer album), Keep It Together (released on January 30 1990).

The finished product was too good to be a single b-side, so it was decided that Vogue would be a stand-alone single on Madonna’s forthcoming album, I’m Breathless (even though the song had nothing to do with Dick Tracy).

Today in Madonna History: January 28, 1991

vogue-promo-single-next-week

On January 28, Madonna’s Vogue won Favorite Dance Single at the 18th annual American Music Awards at the Shrine Auditorium in Los Angeles, California.

Today in Madonna History: November 27, 1990

justify-my-love-banned-video-november-1990

On November 27 1990, the MTV network announced it had banned Madonna’s Justify My Love video due to extremely strong displays of sexuality.

“We respect her work as an artist and think she makes great videos,” said MTV executives in a statement about the clip. “This one is not for us.”

“When I did my Vogue video…I’m wearing a see-through dress and you can clearly see my breasts,” Madonna told ABC’s Nightline in 1990. “MTV told me that they wanted me to take that out, but I said I wouldn’t and they played it anyways. So I thought that once again I was going to be able to bend the rules a little bit.”

Today in Madonna History: June 14, 1990

Madonna_vogue_poster

On June 14 1990, Madonna’s Vogue was certified platinum (for shipment of one million units) in the USA.

Today in Madonna History: April 6 1990

madonna-vogue-april5-1 madonna-vogue-april5-2 madonna-vogue-april5-3

On April 6 1990, Madonna’s Vogue maxi single was released.

Here is the allmusic.com review of the maxi single:

Vogue, the first single from Madonna’s Dick Tracy-inspired 1990 album I’m Breathless, was arguably one of her crowning artistic achievements (both song-wise and video-wise), one of the biggest all-time house music hits (spending three weeks atop the U.S. pop charts), and her second proper U.S. maxi-single release. The single includes four versions: the single version, the 12″ version, the Bette Davis Dub, and the Strike-A-Pose Dub. The song’s most definitive version, that being the album/video version, is not on the single. The single version, where she asks “what are you looking at,” begins with drumbeats and goes straight into the song, as opposed to the album version’s minute-long introduction. Besides the different intros, however, the rest is the same. The 12″ version is, naturally, quite longer, and just as good. The “Bette Davis Dub” begins with the extended album intro, but, save for the chorus and the “rap,” is virtually instrumental, as is the last mix, which cleverly uses samples from Like a Virgin. This disc’s main selling point is the fact that it’s a collection piece, and for collectors and diehards, it’s nice to have the single edit and 12″ mix. But if one is a casual fan, go with the album version.

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 20, 2012

girl-gone-wild-video-1 girl-gone-wild-video-2 girl-gone-wild-video-3 girl-gone-wild-video-4 girl-gone-wild-video-5 girl-gone-wild-video-6 girl-gone-wild-video-7 girl-gone-wild-video-7b girl-gone-wild-video-7c girl-gone-wild-video-7d girl-gone-wild-video-7e girl-gone-wild-video-9 girl-gone-wild-video-10

On March 20 2012, Madonna’s Girl Gone Wild video was released.

The black-and-white music video was directed by Mert Alan and Marcus Piggott. The video featured Madonna and a number of male models in different looks, dancing with the Ukrainian group Kazaky. It received critical acclaim for the editing and the visuals, while reviewers noted that it took inspiration from several past videos released by Madonna, such as Erotica, Justify My Love, Human Nature and Vogue.

Artur Gaspar from Kazaky recalled:

“By the end of the day on set, our feet were bleeding and we had blisters… But if Madonna can repeat the dancing for the 50th time, why can’t we?”