This Used to Be My Playground

"This Used to Be My Playground"
Single by Madonna
Released June 16, 1992
Format
Recorded
  • March–May 1992
  • Oceanway Recording Studios
  • (Los Angeles, California)
Genre Pop
Length 5:08
Label
Writer(s)
Producer(s)
  • Madonna
  • Shep Pettibone
Madonna singles chronology
  • "This Used to Be My Playground"
  • (1992)
"This Used to Be My Playground"
A 30-second sample of "This Used to Be My Playground"
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"This Used to Be My Playground" is a song performed by 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 in June 1992 at Raleigh Studios in Hollywood, California and Malibu Beach 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. 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

  1. "This Used to Be My Playground" (single version) – 5:08
  2. "This Used to Be My Playground" (long version) – 6:03
  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

Weekly charts

Chart (1992)
  • Peak
  • position
Australia (ARIA)[9] 9
Austria (Ö3 Austria Top 40)[10] 11
Belgium (Ultratop 50 Flanders)[11] 6
Canada Top Singles (RPM)[12] 1
Canada Adult Contemporary (RPM)[13] 2
Eurochart Hot 100 Singles (Billboard)[14] 5
Finland (Suomen virallinen lista)[15] 1
France (SNEP)[16] 7
Germany (Media Control Charts)[17] 6
Ireland (IRMA)[18] 2
Italy (FIMI)[19] 1
Netherlands (Dutch Top 40)[20] 8
Netherlands (Single Top 100)[21] 7
New Zealand (Recorded Music NZ)[22] 14
Norway (VG-lista)[23] 3
Spain (PROMUSICAE)[24] 6
Sweden (Sverigetopplistan)[25] 1
Switzerland (Schweizer Hitparade)[26] 6
UK Singles (Official Charts Company)[27] 3
US Billboard Hot 100[28] 1
US Adult Contemporary (Billboard)[29] 4

Year-end charts

Chart (1992) Position
Australia (ARIA)[30] 45
Canada Adult Contemporary (RPM)[31] 8
Germany (Media Control Charts)[32] 34
Italy (FIMI)[33] 5
Netherlands (Single Top 100)[34] 43
Switzerland (Schweizer Hitparade)[35] 15
US Billboard Hot 100[36] 21

Certifications

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

^shipments figures based on certification alone

See also

References

  1. ↑ 1.0 1.1 Console Confessions: The Great Music Producers in Their Own Words. Hal Leonard Corporation. Retrieved 2014-02-13.
  2. ↑ "- San Antonio Express-News Archive - expressnews.com". newsbank.com.
  3. ↑ "Madonna Tribe meets Tony Shimkin". Madonna Tribe. 2012-10-20. Retrieved 2014-01-23.
  4. ↑ 4.0 4.1 "Madonna: The Official Top 40". MTV News. Viacom. Archived from the original on 2010-10-10. Retrieved 2010-12-20.
  5. ↑ "This Used to Be My Video. Boy George and Madonna. The Two Greats.". madonnascrapbook.blogspot.co.uk. Retrieved 2012-12-28.
  6. ↑ "Madonna Ripped Off Boy George". aishamusic.blogspot.co.uk. Retrieved 2012-12-28.
  7. ↑ George, Boy (1995). Take It Like a Man. Pan Books. p. 521.
  8. ↑ "Interview: Boy George on Lady Gaga, Madonna, Adele and Much More!". afterelton.com. Retrieved 2012-12-28.
  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. ↑ "Billboard". google.co.in.
  15. ↑ Nyman, Jake (2005). Suomi soi 4: Suuri suomalainen listakirja (in Finnish) (1st ed.). Helsinki: Tammi. ISBN 951-31-2503-3.
  16. ↑ "Lescharts.com – Madonna – This Used to Be My Playground" (in French). Les classement single. Retrieved March 29, 2015.
  17. ↑ "Chartverfulgong > Madonna > This Used to Be My Playground – musicline.de" (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. ↑ "Madonna: Discografia Italiana" (in Italian). Federation of the Italian Music Industry. 1984–1999. Retrieved 2010-01-08.
  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. ↑ Salaverri, Fernando (September 2005). Sólo éxitos: año a año, 1959–2002 (1st ed.). Spain: Fundación Autor-SGAE. ISBN 84-8048-639-2.
  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" UK Singles Chart. Retrieved March 29, 2015.
  28. ↑ "Madonna Album & Song Chart History" Billboard Hot 100 for Madonna. Retrieved March 29, 2015.
  29. ↑ "Madonna Album & Song 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
  32. ↑ "INFINITY CHARTS: German Top 20". uni-wuerzburg.de.
  33. ↑ "Top Annuale Singles: 1992" (in Italian). Federation of the Italian Music Industry. Retrieved 2011-07-19.
  34. ↑ http://www.dutchcharts.nl/jaaroverzichten.asp?year=1992&cat=s
  35. ↑ http://swisscharts.com/year.asp?key=1992
  36. ↑ "Billboard Top 100 - 1992". Retrieved 2010-07-30.
  37. ↑ "British single certifications – Madonna – This Used to Be My Playground". British Phonographic Industry. Retrieved March 29, 2015. 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
  38. ↑ "American single certifications – Madonna – This Used to Be My Playground". Recording Industry Association of America. Retrieved March 29, 2015. If necessary, click Advanced, then click Format, then select Single, then click SEARCH

External links