Frozen (song)
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| "Frozen" | ||||
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| Single by Madonna | ||||
| from the album Ray of Light | ||||
| B-side | "Shanti/Ashtangi" | |||
| Released | February 23, 1998 | |||
| Format | CD, cassette, 7" vinyl, 12" vinyl | |||
| Recorded | 1997 | |||
| Genre | Pop, ambient, electronica, trip-hop | |||
| Length | 6:10 (Album Version) 5:08 (Radio Edit) |
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| Label | Maverick, Warner Bros. | |||
| Writer(s) | Madonna, Patrick Leonard | |||
| Producer | Madonna, William Orbit, Patrick Leonard | |||
| Certification | (see Sales and certifications) | |||
| Madonna singles chronology | ||||
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"Frozen" is a pop song by American singer Madonna from her 1998 album Ray of Light, written and produced by Madonna, Patrick Leonard and William Orbit. The song was released as the album's first single in February 1998.
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[edit] Song information
"Frozen" was a radical change for Madonna. The darker electronic undertones, eastern strings arranged by Craig Armstrong, a touch of Middle Eastern percussion in the opening and her new vocal range were all previously unexplored territory for Madonna. However, the song was a huge success and is praised as being one of her best songs. Its success worldwide also marks it as one of Madonna's biggest hits ever. Madonna has said that the lyric is about "an emotionally frozen man." The song was mainly composed in F minor.
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"Frozen" also marked the beginning of a series of remixes which were done during the Ray of Light era. Madonna had been working with Victor Calderone since "Secret", who went on to remix most of her follow-up singles. The remix done by the Stereo MCs was used by Madonna on her 2001 Drowned World Tour. Madonna also performed "Frozen" on her 2004 Re-Invention Tour, using a slightly edited version that is very similar to the original song, and on the 2009 leg of her Sticky & Sweet Tour, where it sampled musical elements from Calvin Harris's song "I'm Not Alone" and lyrics from her own song "Open Your Heart".
In 2003, Madonna fans were asked to vote for their Top 20 Madonna singles of all-time by Q magazine. "Frozen" was allocated the #10 spot.
[edit] Plagiarism
On November 18, 2005, a Belgian judge seated in Mons ruled that the opening four-bar theme to "Frozen" was plagiarized from the song "Ma vie fout le camp", composed by Salvatore Acquaviva of Mouscron. The judge subsequently ordered the withdrawal from sales of all remaining discs, and forbade any further playing of the song on Belgian TV and radio under wide protest of the Belgian population. "Frozen" was a chart topper in Belgium and widely popular. Many radio stations, TV stations and their audiences stated that "Frozen" was loved, while the supposedly plagiarized song was unknown and disliked. The judge also ordered Warner, EMI and Sony to publish and spread the decision within fifteen days to various media outlets on pain of a penalty of €125,000 for non-compliance with the court order. No damages were granted.[1][2]
The Belgian radio station Donna held a Top 5000 music chart program from 17 November to 12 December 2008. The song "Frozen" reached place 143, but because of the legal status of the song it could not be played. The radio hosts asked their listeners to watch the music video on YouTube, while there was approximately 5 minutes of radio silence. The song is omited from the tracklisting on the Belgian pressings of Celebration.[citation needed]
On 11 July 2009 Madonna performed a dance remix of "Frozen" on the Sticky & Sweet Tour date in Werchter, Belgium.[3]
[edit] Chart performance
"Frozen" was a huge success worldwide. It topped the charts in a few countries, including the United Kingdom, Italy and Finland, but it peaked at #2 in mostly the rest of the world, being held off from the top position in the majority of them by Céline Dion's "My Heart Will Go On". It peaked at #2 in the United States, being held off the top spot by K-Ci and JoJo's "All My Life".
In the UK, despite sporadically high sales of singles such as "You'll See" (a #5 hit in 1995) and "Don't Cry for Me Argentina" (a #3 success), "Frozen" was seen as the "big comeback" for Madonna, and became her first ever single to debut at number-one, selling 508,296 copies. It was Madonna's first UK chart-topper since "Vogue" in 1990. "Frozen" spent eleven weeks at #2 on the European Singles Chart.
[edit] Music video
Madonna traveled to the Indian Wells Valley of the Mojave Desert in California to shoot the music video for "Frozen" from January 7-10, 1998. It was directed by Chris Cunningham, and was inspired by the movies The English Patient and The Sheltering Sky. The video won an MTV Video Music Award for "Best Special Effects" in 1998. The cinematography was done by Darius Khondji, who also shot Madonna's 1993 music video "Fever", and the 1996 film Evita. The video shows Madonna playing an ethereal Gothic witchy persona, with long black hair, black gowns designed by Olivier Theyskens, at that time a young and emerging talent, and mehndi on her hand showing the Hindu word Om on her palm.
The video premiered on February 12, 1998 in Europe and on MTV four days later. There were also two remix videos of "Frozen" released that same year by Dan-O-Rama titled "Stereo MC's Mix" and "Calderone Club Mix".
The video was parodied by Australian comedienne Gina Riley in an episode of the short-lived sketch show Something Stupid. Madtv also created a parody.
- Director: Chris Cunningham
- Producer: Nick Wrathall
- Director of Photography: Darius Khondji
- Editor: Gary Knight
- Production Company: Black Dog Films
[edit] Track listings and formats
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[edit] Official versions
- Album Version (6:10)
- Radio Edit (5:08) (Originally PROMO ONLY / Version released on GHV2 in 2001 and Celebration (Single Disc Edition) in 2009
- Call Out Research Hook (Promo Only)
- Stereo MC's Mix (5:45)
- Stereo MC's Mix Edit (4:56) (Promo Only)
- Extended Club Mix (11:17)
- Extended Club Mix Radio Edit (4:17) (Promo Only)
- Extended Club Mix Edit (4:41) (Promo Only)
- Victor Calderone Drum-A-Pella (5:07) (Promo Only)
- Meltdown Mix (8:09)
- Meltdown Short Mix (4:53) (Promo Only)
- William Orbit Drum-A-Pella (5:14) (Promo Only)
- Widescreen Mix (6:33)
- Video Edit (5:20)
[edit] Charts and certifications
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[edit] Chart procession and succession
| Preceded by "Brimful of Asha" by Cornershop |
UK Singles Chart number-one single March 1, 1998 – March 8, 1998 |
Succeeded by "My Heart Will Go On" by Celine Dion |
| Preceded by "My Heart Will Go On" by Celine Dion |
Italian Singles Chart number-one single March 7, 1998 |
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| Preceded by "Gettin' Jiggy Wit It" by Will Smith |
U.S. ARC Weekly Top 40 number-one single March 28, 1998 – April 11, 1998 |
Succeeded by "All My Life" by K-Ci and JoJo |
| Preceded by "Fun" by Da Mob featuring Jocelyn Brown |
Billboard Hot Dance Club Play number-one single April 25, 1998 – May 2, 1998 |
Succeeded by "Found a Cure" by Ultra Naté |
[edit] Cover versions
- A rock music style cover was recorded by Jeff Scott Soto with the band Talisman for their 1999 album Truth.[36].
- In May 2009 the Italian rock band Absinth Effect [37] recorded a cover version of Frozen for their debut album.
- Achinoam Nini and Mira Awad recorded a cover version of Frozen for their 2009 duet album, They Must Be Another Way.
- Pascal Obispo featuring Natasha St-Pier in french album " Fan " in 2004.
- A Polish nu metal band Milczenie Owiec recorded a cover version of Frozen for their album "Twarze" in 2005.
[edit] References
- ^ http://misc.skynet.be/index.html?l1=actuality&l2=today&l3=all&l4=home&a=viewmessage&p1=44676 Misc.skynet.be[dead link]
- ^ http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/entertainment/music/4449580.stm News.bbc.co.uk
- ^ http://www.standaard.be/artikel/detail.aspx?artikelid=1s2c68t6
- ^ Madonna - Frozen
- ^ Madonna - Frozen
- ^ Madonna - Frozen
- ^ Madonna - Frozen
- ^ Madonna - Frozen
- ^ Madonna - Frozen
- ^ Madonna - Frozen
- ^ Madonna - Frozen
- ^ Madonna - Frozen
- ^ Madonna - Frozen
- ^ Madonna - Frozen
- ^ Madonna - Frozen
- ^ Madonna - Frozen
- ^ Madonna - Frozen
- ^ Madonna - Frozen
- ^ Madonna - Frozen (Remixes)
- ^ Hit Parade (1998). "European charts". hitparade.ch. http://hitparade.ch/showitem.asp?key=3616&cat=s. Retrieved 2008-08-06.
- ^ Charts-Surfer (1998). "German Singles Chart (Search)". charts-surfer.de. http://www.charts-surfer.de/. Retrieved 2008-08-06.
- ^ Irish Charts (February 26, 1998). "Irish Singles Chart (Search)". irishcharts.ie. http://www.irishcharts.ie/search/placement. Retrieved 2008-08-06.
- ^ Every Hit (March, 1998). "UK Singles Chart (Search)". everyhit.com. http://www.everyhit.com/. Retrieved 2008-08-06.
- ^ a b c Allmusic (1998). "Billboard Charts". allmusic.com. http://www.allmusic.com/cg/amg.dll?p=amg&sql=11:jvfyxqe5ldae~T51. Retrieved 2008-08-06.
- ^ Austrian Recording Industry Association (1998). "Australian certification". aria.com.au. http://www.aria.com.au/pages/aria-charts-accreditations-singles-1998.htm. Retrieved 2008-08-06.
- ^ International Federation of the Phonographic Industry (March 10, 1998). "Austrian certification (search)". ifpi.at. http://www.ifpi.at/?section=goldplatin. Retrieved 2008-08-06.
- ^ Syndicat national de l'édition phonographique (1998). "French certification". chartsinfrance.net. http://www.chartsinfrance.net/certifications/artiste-198.htm. Retrieved 2008-08-06.
- ^ International Federation of the Phonographic Industry (1998). "German certification". musikindustrie.de. http://www.musikindustrie.de/gold_platin_datenbank/?action=1&strSuche=Frozen. Retrieved 2008-08-06.
- ^ International Federation of the Phonographic Industry (1998). "Criteria". musikindustrie.de. http://www.musikindustrie.de/uploads/media/TT-Formular_blanko_02.pdf. Retrieved 2008-08-15.
- ^ Nederlandse Vereniging van Producenten en Importeurs van beeld- en geluidsdragers (1999). "Dutch certification (search)". nvpi.nl. http://www.nvpi.nl/nvpi/pagina.asp?pagkey=60461. Retrieved 2008-08-06.
- ^ International Federation of the Phonographic Industry (1998). "Norwegian certification (search)". ifpi.no. http://www.ifpi.no/sok/index_trofe.htm. Retrieved 2008-08-06.
- ^ International Federation of the Phonographic Industry (Week 25, 1998). "Swedish certification". ifpi.se. http://www.hitlistan.se/. Retrieved 2008-08-06.
- ^ Hit Parade (1998). "Swiss certification". hitparade.ch. http://hitparade.ch/awards.asp?year=1998. Retrieved 2008-08-06.
- ^ British Phonographic Industry (March 6, 1998). "U.K. certification (search)". bpi.co.uk. http://www.bpi.co.uk/. Retrieved 2008-08-06.
- ^ Recording Industry Association of America (April 30, 1998). "U.S. certification (search)". riaa.com. http://www.riaa.com/goldandplatinumdata.php?table=SEARCH. Retrieved 2008-08-06.
- ^ http://www.musicmight.com/linkto/artist/{2ED68C80-5B34-45A4-A88A-4E78E19
- ^ http://myspace.com/absintheffect
[edit] External links
- Madonna — Official web site.
- Mad-Eyes.net - "Frozen" Single Page
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