Billboard.com's 10 Best Madonna Videos Poll: The Results

As promised, Billboard.com have revealed the results of their week-long poll to find out which ten videos are Madonna's best. Here is the Top 10 ranking:

10. Ray Of Light

9. Bad Girl

8. Justify My Love

7. Hung Up

6. Girl Gone Wild

5. Bedtime Story

4. Express Yourself

3. Frozen

2. Like A Prayer

1. Vogue

Overall, I'd say this is a pretty strong list. It's not really a surprise that "Vogue" took top honors, and I'm glad to see that "Bad Girl" made an appearance!

Read the full article with commentary on Billboard.com

Elvis Presley & Madonna: The Day The Music Died, and Was Born

Today, Aug. 16, marks the date that we welcomed the Queen of Pop (happy 54th birthday!) and lost the King of Rock & Roll.

Madonna was born Aug. 16, 1958. As we celebrate the Material Girl's 54th birthday, we likewise note the 35th anniversary of the passing of Elvis Presley, who died on the same date in 1977 at age 42.

In honor of two of the most prolific hitmakers in Billboard history, here is a look at some of the chart records that the icons claim.

And The Beat Goes On

"Light my candles, gotta make a wish

Wrap up the present and seal it with a kiss

Gimme a spanking, start the day off right

'Cause it's my day, you gonna sing my song tonight."

Happy Birthday, Madonna!

Flashback: The Year In Music 1986 (Billboard Magazine Clippings)

Here are a few more clippings from one of Billboard's Year End issues, this time from 1986.

Thanks again to Wee from Singapore for sharing these.

Flashback: The Year In Music 1985 (Billboard Magazine Clippings)

Here are seven clippings that feature Madonna from Billboard's 1985 year-end issue. Interesting to see who Madonna's competition was back in the day! Click to enlarge.

Thanks to Wee from Singapore for sharing these. More to come!

Flashback: A Little Backstory On "Like A Prayer"

-Taken from 'The Billboard Book of Number 1 Hits' by Fred Bronson.

Madonna had been absent from the Hot 100 for a year and a half when she released the first single from her album Like A Prayer. The title track debuted at 38 the week of March 18, 1989, and shot to number one 5 weeks later, making it the fastest-rising number one hit since Michael Jackson's "Bad" in 1987.

Madonna wrote and produced "Like A Prayer" with Patrick Leonard, who had collaborated on two of her previous chart-toppers, "Live To Tell", and "Who's That Girl". Leonard remembers "Like A Prayer"  being the first tune written for the album. "Originally it had bongos and Latin percussion, and we decided to eliminate that quickly", he says. "It was written and the lead vocal was recorded within about three hours. Most of the songs on that record were written just like that, in a few hours...Once she came up with 'Like A Prayer', we decided, 'We'll do this with the church organ and we'll add a choir to it, we'll add Andrae Crouch's choir later on.' It was that simple. It wasn't something that took weeks; this is something that took hours."

Billboard.com Comments On Madonna's 57th Top 10 Dance / Club Play Hit

"Madonna extends her lead as the act with the most top 10s on the Dance Club/Play Songs chart as "Turn Up the Radio" zooms 19-8 in its third chart week -- marking the diva's 57th top 10.

It's her 28th top 10 in a row -- a streak that began with 1999's "Beautiful Stranger" (No. 1 for two weeks)*. "Turn Up the Radio" bowed at No. 39, and then moved to No. 19 before sailing to No. 8 this week.

Further, "Turn Up the Radio's" swift rise to the top 10 is especially notable. Since 2010, only six songs have jumped into the region in three weeks or less -- and three of them are by Madonna. Aside from "Turn Up the Radio," she also sped into the top 10 earlier this year in three weeks time with "Girl Gone Wild" (46-20-7 on April 7) and "Give Me All Your Luvin" (in only two weeks: 24-9 on March 10)."

Source: Billboard.com

*Note: the streak actually began with "Nothing Really Matters" in 1999.

Vote For Madonna's Best Video on Billboard.com

Billboard.com is currently hosting a poll in honor of Madonna's upcoming 54th Birthday to find out which is her best music video. You can vote here.  The results will be announced next Thursday, August 16th.