“There Was a Little Boy” released as album cut on Toy Matinee

There Was a Little Boy Toy Matinee

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Madonna “Oh Father” released

Oh Father Madonna

Writer(s): Madonna, Patrick Leonard (see lyrics here) Released: October 24, 1989 First Charted: November 4, 1989 Peak: 20 US, 15 CB, 18 RR, 16 UK, 14 CN, 59 AU, 1 DF (Click for codes to singles charts.) Sales (in millions): -- Airplay/Streaming (in millions): -- radio, 9.3 video, -- streaming

Awards: Click on award for more details.

About the Song: Madonna was only five years old when her mother died from breast cancer. That left her father to raise four kids on his own. Two years later, he married the housekeeper and had two more children. The song “Oh Father” deals with Madonna’s feelings of loss regarding her mother and anger toward her father. The song and its accompanying video (which Rolling Stone named one of the top 100 videos of all time) suggests Madonna may have been physically abused, although she has never confirmed that. She has said that “her father was a disciplinarian and her stepmother was hard on her.” WK In the book Madonna: Like an Icon, author Lucy O’Brien says the song is more about the emotional neglect Madonna experienced when her grief-ridden father wasn’t able to be there for her. WK Madonna has also said the song is about “me dealing with all authority figures in my life” SF and coming to terms with all the men in her life who had hurt her. SF Patrick Leonard, who produced and co-wrote many of Madonna’s late ‘80s hits, said, “My favorite thing that we ever recorded…is ‘Oh Father’…because we knew when we did it that there was something about this that was in a way kind of the most ‘real’ thing.” WK He created the basic melody outline and different chord progressions and she wrote lyrics to fit the melody. From a chart standpoint, this song ended Madonna’s streak of 16 consecutive top-5 singles and 17 consecutive top10 singles in the United States when it peaked at #20. On a personal note, however, this is my favorite song by Madonna. All Music Guide’s Stewart Mason called it “one of the most personal songs Madonna has ever performed and arguably her finest ballad performance ever.” AMG In Madonna: The Complete Guide to Her Music, Rikky Rooksby says the song “was the most compassionate and generous moment in Madonna’s musical career.” WK Resources: DMDB encyclopedia entry for Madonna AMG All Music Guide review by Stewart Mason SF Songfacts WK Wikipedia Related Links: First posted 8/22/2022.

Madonna’s Like a Prayer album hit #1

Like a Prayer Madonna

Released: March 21, 1989 Peak: 16 US, 12 UK, 16 CN, 4 AU Sales (in millions): 4.0 US, 1.2 UK, 15.0 world (includes US and UK) Genre: dance pop

Tracks: Song Title (Writers) [time] (date of single release, chart peaks) Click for codes to singles charts. Like a Prayer [5:41] (2/27/1989, 13 US, 13 CB, 13 RR, 3 AC, 20 RB, 13 UK, 14 CN, 14 AU, platinum single) Express Yourself (Madonna, Stephen Bray) [4:37] (5/9/1989, 2 US, 11 CB, 3 RR, 12 AC, 5 UK, 12 CN, 5 AU, gold single) Love Song (with Prince) (Madonna, Prince) [4:52] Till Death Do Us Part [5:16] Promise to Try [3:36] Cherish [5:03] (8/1/89, 2 US, 11 CB, 12 AC, 3 UK, 12Dear Jessie [4:20] (12/10/89, 5 UK, 51 AU) Oh Father [4:57] (11/4/89, 20 US, 15 CB, 18 RR, 16 UK, 14 CN, 59 AU) Keep It Together (Madonna, Bray) [5:03] (1/30/90, 7a US, 32 AC, 66 RB, 8 CN, 15, gold single) Spanish Eyes [5:15] Act of Contrition [2:19] Songs written by Madonna and Patrick Leonard unless noted otherwise. Total Running Time: 51:16

Rating: 4.352 out of 5.00 (average of 31 ratings) Quotable: -- Awards: (Click on award to learn more).

About the Album: “This is the moment Madonna peaked as a pop star and mass media manipulator. First, the manipulation. In the title’s track’s video, Madonna kisses a saint, shows off some self-induced stigmata and dances in a field of burning crosses. Caving in to protests from religious groups, Pepsi pulled out of a Madonna sponsorship deal (she held on to a $5 million payday) and the whole episode generated enough publicity to ensure the album’s debut at No. 1. Brilliant.” TL “As it happens, so was the record.” TL “Out of all of Madonna’s albums, Like a Prayer is her most explicit attempt at a major artistic statement. Even though it is apparent that she is trying to make a ‘serious’ album, the kaleidoscopic variety of pop styles on Like a Prayer is quite dazzling.” AMG “Madonna displays a commanding sense of songcraft, making this her best and most consistent album.” AMG “Like a Prayer was a genuinely soulful first single” TL and “Express Yourself merged Madonna’s dance sensibility with her strongest feminist message.” TL Alongside the “deep funk of ‘Express Yourself’ and Keep It Together” AMG and “the haunting Oh Father” were a “few middling tracks” TL “rescued…with production” TL from “Stephen Bray, Patrick Leonard and Prince (yes, that Prince)…that elevated Madonna’s voice out of its early bubble gum phase and into something resembling a real instrument.” TL Notes: A 30th anniversary edition added additional material such as remixes of “Like a Prayer,” “Express Yourself,” and “Keep It Together” as well as an extended version of “Cherish” and the single version of “Oh Father.” The song “Supernatural” was also added.

Resources and Related Links: DMDB encyclopedia entry for Madonna AMG All Music Guide review by Stephen Thomas Erlewine TL Time Magazine (11/13/2006). “All-TIME 100 Albums” by Josh Tyrangiel and Alan Light WK Wikipedia Other Related DMDB Pages: First posted 3/26/2008; last updated 12/2/2021.