Songoftheday 2/11/10 - All by myself I don't need anyone at all, I know I'll survive I know I'll stay alive...
from the album Something To Remember (1995)
Billboard Hot 100 peak: #6 (one week)
Weeks in the Top-40: 14
Today's song of the day is from Madonna, who had shocked the nation so much during her Erotica album period (which included the coffee table book from hell Sex), that some people were writing her career as over. That made absolutely no sense, since her next album Bedtime Stories had given the artist the biggest #1 hit of her career with "Take A Bow", as well as the top-3 pop hit "Secret". However, after the two follow-up singles to that #1 both stalled right under the pop top-40 in American ("Bedtime Story" and "Human Nature"), she and probs her record company did give pause to a loss of momentum. To counter this, Madonna took a right turn and released a collection of her more softer material, Something To Remember. With the bonus of included two huge ballads that were never before included on a Madonna album with "This Used To Be My Playground" and "I'll Remember", the set featured ballads like "Take A Bow" and "Live To Tell", along with three new songs and a remix/redo of an older track. Before that release Madonna was recruited by the electro-chill wonders Massive Attack for a track they were contributing to a tribute project for Marvin Gaye. The result, a slinky version of his "I Want You", was supposed to be released as a single, but legal snafus kept that from happening. Nevertheless, that song appears on Something To Remember both in original and orchestral versions. The first true single released from the ballad set was "You'll See". Written by Madonna with producer David Foster, the subdued and guitar-flourished breakup song felt like a sequel to "Take A Bow", with the music video even bringing back the bullfighter from that video...
"You'll See" debuted in the pop top ten in American in December of 1995. The song also climbed to #5 on Billboard magazine's Adult Contemporary (or "easy listening") radio chart, while appearing at #19 on their Adult Top-40 format list when it made its appearance in March of the following year. Internationally, the single went to #2 in Canada and Finland, and reached the top ten in Austria (#5), Italy (#6), Sweden (#6), Switzerland (#8), and Australia (#9). It also made the top-40 in Belgium (#11W/#45F), Ireland (#13), Germany (#15), New Zealand (#17), the Netherlands (#20), Iceland (#20), and France (#24).
In Europe, where the Like A Prayer track "Oh Father" wasn't released as a single at the time, the song became a late bloomer hit, reaching #6 in Italy and Finland, #16 in the UK, and #25 in Ireland. Also, the new recording "One More Chance" become her third hit in Europe, peaking at #2 in Italy, #11 in the UK, #12 in Finland, #35 in Australia, and #39 in Sweden. Lastly, a revamp of her Like A Virgin track "Love Don't Live Here Anymore" (itself a cover of a Rose Royce soul classic) was put out in America as the second single, and while it stalled down at #78 on the pop Hot 100, it went to #29 on the Adult Contemporary radio chart, and the remixed version of the song climbed to #16 on Billboard's Dance Club Play chart. It also got to #24 in Canada and #27 in Australia.
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Here's Madonna appearing on Top Of The Pops to perform "You'll See"...
The Spanish-language version of the song, "Veras", made it to #21 on Billboard's Hot Latin Songs, preparing us for her star turn in Evita the next year...
And here she is in concert...
Miss Shirley Bassey included the song on her album The Show Must Go On, which came out a year after Madonna's...
And Britain's Got Talent viral sensation Susan Boyle performed "You'll See" at the final, and honestly it's the best performance she has given...
Up tomorrow: Some religious pondering from an alt rock newcomer.
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