This post subject has been in my brain for a while now. I just need to GET IT OUT AND MOVE ON, YOU KNOW?
Somehow my brain became fixated on how insane the year 1990 must have been for Madonna. Thankfully, absolutemadonna.com has done a great job of providing a comprehensive breakdown of the year for me, so I can say with certainty that 1990 was batshit insane for Madonna.
Things of note from the page:
- The “Vogue” single was released on March 30th, 1990.
- “Vogue” is certified 1x platinum by June 14th.
- “Vogue” is certified 2x platinum (2 million units) on June 28th, 1990.
What an incredible jump in sales. After the single was released, it took 76 days to sell 1 million copies, but then only an additional 2 weeks (June 14th to June 28th) to sell another million copies. Crazy!
While this was going on, Dick Tracy comes out, and the accompanying soundtrack, I’m Breathless, is also released on May 22nd. By June 30th (a little over one month later) I’m Breathless is at certified 2x platinum.
So that’s 4 million sales of Madonna’s music in roughly 4 months. 1990 was good for Madonna. Let’s not forget sales of The Immaculate Collection, the “Keep It Together“single, and the “Hanky Panky“single too.
“Justify My Love” was released as a single on November 8th of 1990, so there’s an additional two months of sales to include in there. The audio single went certified 1x platinum on February 22nd of 1991, while the video single (priced at $9.98) went certified 4 times platinum by February 22nd of 1991.
Now, that is a plentiful and prosperous dose of insanity, but we’re not even considering the musical greatness Madonna was achieving during 1990. I’m of the opinion that “Vogue” is a “classic” song, (produced by the equally “classic” Shep Pettibone), and that it’s video, is, you know, pretty cool.
Speaking of vogue-ing. I can’t recommend the movie Paris Is Burning enough. Not only is it a great movie, it also helps put that whole era into context. If you’re into putting eras into context, check it out.
Malcolm McLaren’s “Deep In Vogue” video (1989) featuring Willie Ninja:
OK, back to insanity. Madonna is in crazy-gay-dudes-dance-music mode, and somehow manages to record three songs for Dick Tracy that are written by Stephen Sondheim. I’m a fan of the song, “Sooner or Later” (which eventually won an Academy Award in 1991). I’m also a fan of how Madonna’s voice starts out flat at around 1:54 in the song.
OK bye.
