This Used to Be My Playground

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"This Used to Be My Playground"
File:Madonna This Used to Be My Playground.png
Single by Madonna
Released June 16, 1992
Format
Recorded
Genre Pop
Length 5:08
Label
Writer(s)
Producer(s)
  • Madonna
  • Shep Pettibone
Madonna singles chronology
"Rescue Me"
(1991)
"This Used to Be My Playground"
(1992)
"Erotica"
(1992)

"This Used to Be My Playground" is a song by American singer Madonna. It is the theme for the film A League of Their Own, which starred Madonna as well as Tom Hanks, Geena Davis and Rosie O'Donnell. Though featured in the film during the credits, it is not available on the soundtrack album. It was later available on the Olympics-inspired Barcelona Gold compilation album released that summer, but in a shorter edit than any of the versions on the commercial singles. The version that appeared in A League of Their Own featured an additional minute of new verses and was 6:57 minutes long. It has only appeared on the commercial movie releases. The original commercial short version would later be featured on Madonna's 1995 ballads compilation, Something to Remember. The song was written and produced by Madonna and Shep Pettibone, and recorded prior to final sessions for her 1992 studio album Erotica.[1]

Released in the summer of 1992, the single was a worldwide hit. It spent one week at number one on the U.S. Billboard Hot 100, becoming Madonna's tenth chart-topping single, breaking her tie with Whitney Houston to become the female artist with the most number one singles at that time. It entered the charts in the UK top five, peaking at number three for two weeks, and was another top five hit for Madonna in numerous other markets. The song earned Madonna a Golden Globe Award nomination for Best Original Song.[2] Even though the song was commercially successful, Madonna has never performed it in any of her concerts, neither included it in her greatest hits albums, GHV2 (2001) and Celebration (2009).

Background

In 1991, Madonna starred in the movie A League of Their Own which was released during the following year. After finishing filming the movie, the recording sessions for her fifth studio album Erotica began. Prior to the final sessions of the album, she wrote and recorded a song for A League of Their Own that became "This Used to Be My Playground".[1] The song, written by Madonna and Pettibone, is a pop ballad. It was released as a single in summer 1992. In an interview with website Madonna Tribe, Tony Shimkin, who co-wrote seven songs from Erotica, claimed in October 2012 that he co-wrote the song along with Madonna and Pettibone but never received credit for it.[3]

Chart performance

"This Used to Be My Playground" debuted on the U.S. Billboard Hot 100 chart the week of July 4, 1992 at number 35. Five weeks later, on August 8, 1992, it topped the chart for one week, becoming Madonna's tenth number one single, breaking her tie with Whitney Houston to become the female artist with the most number one singles at that time. It eventually charted for a total of 20 weeks on the Billboard Hot 100. It also peaked at number two on the Hot 100 Airplay and at number four on the Adult Contemporary chart, and went on to become the 21st biggest single of 1992, according to Billboard's year-end chart. On September 10, 1992 it was certified gold by the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA).

The song also achieved great success outside of the United States, hitting number one in various countries including Canada, Italy, Finland, and Sweden and charting within the top ten in other countries. In the United Kingdom, the song debuted at number five. The next week it rose to its peak of number three, where it stayed for two weeks. It charted for a total of nine weeks on the U.K. charts and was certified silver by the BPI on September 1, 1992. According to the Official Charts Company, the song has sold 275,000 copies in the UK.[4]

Music video

The accompanying music video, directed by Alek Keshishian, was filmed on June 12-13, 1992 at Rancho de los Fresnos in Thousand Oaks, California, Westward Beach in Malibu, California and C&R Clothiers Warehouse in Culver City, California and was premiered on MTV on June 30, 1992, a day before the release of A League of Their Own. It shows a young man viewing a photo album, as Madonna sings in different settings from within the various pictures inside the album; ithe music video's concept is about memories related to the song title. Scenes from A League of Their Own also appear on the album during the song's instrumental break. As the video ends, the viewer having reached the end of the album, then scrolls backwards through the previous photo album pages. The video was commercially released in 2004 as a bonus feature on the 2-disc special edition DVD of the film.

The video has been compared to Boy George's video for his 1987 single, "To Be Reborn", released less than five years before "This Used to Be My Playground", in which the singer also appears on pages of a photo album, performing his song. Similarities have been noticed on numerous internet blogs, some claiming that Madonna had copied George's idea.[5][6] Boy George himself stated in his autobiography that he was "furious" after watching Madonna's video and renamed it "This Used to Be My Video".[7][8]

Track listing

  • 7" vinyl, Cassette single, Japanese 3" CD single
  1. "This Used to Be My Playground" (single version) – 5:08
  2. "This Used to Be My Playground" (long version) – 6:03
  • European 12" vinyl, CD single
  1. "This Used to Be My Playground" (single version) – 5:08
  2. "This Used to Be My Playground" (instrumental version) – 6:54
  3. "This Used to Be My Playground" (long version) – 6:03

Charts

Certifications

Region Certification Sales/shipments
Australia (ARIA)[37] Gold 35,000
United Kingdom (BPI)[38] Silver 275,000[4]
United States (RIAA)[39] Gold 500,000

^shipments figures based on certification alone

See also

References

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  9. "Australian-charts.com – Madonna – This Used to Be My Playground". ARIA Top 50 Singles. Retrieved March 29, 2015.
  10. "Austriancharts.at – Madonna – This Used to Be My Playground" (in German). Ö3 Austria Top 40. Retrieved March 29, 2015.
  11. "Ultratop.be – Madonna – This Used to Be My Playground" (in Dutch). Ultratop 50. Retrieved March 29, 2015.
  12. "Top RPM Singles: Issue 1966." RPM. Library and Archives Canada. Retrieved March 29, 2015.
  13. "Top RPM Adult Contemporary: Issue 1936." RPM. Library and Archives Canada. Retrieved March 29, 2015.
  14. Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
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  16. "Lescharts.com – Madonna – This Used to Be My Playground" (in French). Les classement single. Retrieved March 29, 2015.
  17. "Musicline.de – Madonna Single-Chartverfolgung" (in German). Media Control Charts. PhonoNet GmbH. Retrieved March 29, 2015.
  18. "The Irish Charts – Search Results – This Used to Be My Playground". Irish Singles Chart. Retrieved March 29, 2015.
  19. Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  20. "Nederlandse Top 40 – Madonna search results" (in Dutch) Dutch Top 40. Retrieved March 29, 2015.
  21. "Dutchcharts.nl – Madonna – This Used to Be My Playground" (in Dutch). Single Top 100. Retrieved March 29, 2015.
  22. "Charts.org.nz – Madonna – This Used to Be My Playground". Top 40 Singles. Retrieved March 29, 2015.
  23. "Norwegiancharts.com – Madonna – This Used to Be My Playground". VG-lista. Retrieved March 29, 2015.
  24. Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  25. "Swedishcharts.com – Madonna – This Used to Be My Playground". Singles Top 60. Retrieved March 29, 2015.
  26. "Swisscharts.com – Madonna – This Used to Be My Playground". Swiss Singles Chart. Retrieved March 29, 2015.
  27. "Madonna: Artist Chart History" Official Charts Company. Retrieved March 29, 2015.
  28. "Madonna – Chart history" Billboard Hot 100 for Madonna. Retrieved March 29, 2015.
  29. "Madonna – Chart history" Billboard Adult Contemporary for Madonna. Retrieved March 29, 2015.
  30. http://www.aria.com.au/pages/aria-charts-end-of-year-charts-top-50-singles-1992.htm
  31. http://www.collectionscanada.gc.ca/rpm/028020-119.01-e.php?&file_num=nlc008388.1824&type=1&interval=50&PHPSESSID=4dp17sl7hp9qmhhj3vmcenr836
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  34. http://www.dutchcharts.nl/jaaroverzichten.asp?year=1992&cat=s
  35. http://swisscharts.com/year.asp?key=1992
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  37. Ryan 2011, p. 174
  38. Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found. Enter This Used to Be My Playground in the field Keywords. Select Title in the field Search by. Select single in the field By Format. Select Silver in the field By Award. Click Search
  39. Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found. If necessary, click Advanced, then click Format, then select Single, then click SEARCH

External links