This Used to Be My Playground
Encyclopedia
"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
.
The song was written and produced by Madonna and Shep Pettibone
, and recorded prior to final sessions for her 1992 studio album Erotica. Released in the summer, the single was a worldwide hit, spending one week at number one on the U.S. Billboard Hot 100
in August 1992, and became Madonna's tenth chart topper, 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
".
Though featured in the film, it was not available on the soundtrack album, due to licensing restrictions that prohibited Madonna material from mixed or compiled with other singers on albums. It was originally 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. It would later be featured on Madonna's 1995 ballads compilation, Something to Remember
.
In spite of its commercial success, Madonna has never performed it in any of her concerts or media appearances. It also does not appear on succeeding greatest hits
albums GHV2
(2001) and Celebration
(2009). According to The Official Charts Company, the song has sold 275,000 copies in the UK.
, was filmed in June 1992 at Raleigh Studios in Hollywood, California and Malibu Beach and world premiered on MTV
on June 30, 1992. The video was commercially released in 2004 as a bonus feature on the 2-disc special edition DVD of A League of Their Own
. The video shows a photo album being viewed by somebody and Madonna singing in different settings from the different pictures inside the album. As the video ends, the viewer having reached the end of the album then scrolls backwards through previous pages.
/synthpop
band A Flock of Seagulls
.
Madonna (entertainer)
Madonna is an American singer-songwriter, actress and entrepreneur. Born in Bay City, Michigan, she moved to New York City in 1977 to pursue a career in modern dance. After performing in the music groups Breakfast Club and Emmy, she released her debut album in 1983...
. It is the theme for the film A League of Their Own
A League of Their Own
A League of Their Own is a 1992 American comedy-drama film that tells a fictionalized account of the real-life All-American Girls Professional Baseball League . Directed by Penny Marshall, the film stars Geena Davis, Lori Petty, Tom Hanks, Madonna, and Rosie O'Donnell...
, which starred Madonna as well as Tom Hanks
Tom Hanks
Thomas Jeffrey "Tom" Hanks is an American actor, producer, writer, and director. Hanks worked in television and family-friendly comedies, gaining wide notice in 1988's Big, before achieving success as a dramatic actor in several notable roles, including Andrew Beckett in Philadelphia, the title...
, Geena Davis
Geena Davis
Virginia Elizabeth "Geena" Davis is an American actress, film producer, writer, former fashion model, and a women's Olympics archery team semi-finalist...
and Rosie O'Donnell
Rosie O'Donnell
Roseann "Rosie" O'Donnell is an American stand-up comedian, actress, author and television personality. She has also been a magazine editor and continues to be a celebrity blogger, LGBT rights activist, television producer and collaborative partner in the LGBT family vacation company R Family...
.
The song was written and produced by Madonna and Shep Pettibone
Shep Pettibone
Robert E. Pettibone, Jr. is a record producer, remixer, songwriter and club DJ, one of the most prolific of the 1980s. His earliest work known to the public was for one of New York City's top disco/dance radio stations, WRKS 98.7 "Kiss" FM, and later as remixer/producer for the disco label Salsoul...
, and recorded prior to final sessions for her 1992 studio album Erotica. Released in the summer, the single was a worldwide hit, spending one week at number one on the U.S. Billboard Hot 100
Billboard Hot 100
The Billboard Hot 100 is the United States music industry standard singles popularity chart issued weekly by Billboard magazine. Chart rankings are based on radio play and sales; the tracking-week for sales begins on Monday and ends on Sunday, while the radio play tracking-week runs from Wednesday...
in August 1992, and became Madonna's tenth chart topper, breaking her tie with Whitney Houston
Whitney Houston
Whitney Elizabeth Houston is an American singer, actress, producer and a former model. Houston is the most awarded female act of all time, according to Guinness World Records, and her list of awards include 1 Emmy Award, 6 Grammy Awards, 30 Billboard Music Awards, 22 American Music Awards, among...
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
Golden Globe Award
The Golden Globe Award is an accolade bestowed by the 93 members of the Hollywood Foreign Press Association recognizing excellence in film and television, both domestic and foreign...
nomination for "Best Original Song
Golden Globe Award for Best Original Song
Golden Globe Award for Best Original Song was awarded for the first time in 1962 and has been awarded annually since 1965 by the Hollywood Foreign Press Association.-1960s:...
".
Though featured in the film, it was not available on the soundtrack album, due to licensing restrictions that prohibited Madonna material from mixed or compiled with other singers on albums. It was originally available on the Olympics
Olympic Games
The Olympic Games is a major international event featuring summer and winter sports, in which thousands of athletes participate in a variety of competitions. The Olympic Games have come to be regarded as the world’s foremost sports competition where more than 200 nations participate...
-inspired Barcelona Gold compilation album released that summer, but in a shorter edit than any of the versions on the commercial singles. It would later be featured on Madonna's 1995 ballads compilation, Something to Remember
Something to Remember
Something to Remember is a compilation album by American singer-songwriter Madonna, released on November 7, 1995 by Maverick Records. It came after a controversial period of Madonna in the 1990s and at this time critics had deemed her career over...
.
In spite of its commercial success, Madonna has never performed it in any of her concerts or media appearances. It also does not appear on succeeding greatest hits
Greatest hits
A greatest hits album is a music compilation album of successful, previously released songs by a particular artist or band...
albums GHV2
GHV2
GHV2 is the second greatest hits compilation album by American singer-songwriter Madonna, released on November 12, 2001, by Maverick Records and distributed by Warner Bros. Records. It contains the most popular songs from the 1990s up until 2001. It is the follow-up to the 1990 release, The...
(2001) and Celebration
Celebration (Madonna album)
Celebration is the third greatest hits album by American singer-songwriter Madonna, and the closing release under her contract with Warner Bros. Records, her record company since 1982. The release follows her two previous greatest hits albums, The Immaculate Collection and GHV2...
(2009). According to The Official Charts Company, the song has sold 275,000 copies in the UK.
Official versions
- Album version – 4:42
- Single version – 5:06
- Video version/Single edit – 4:58
- Long version – 6:03
- Movie version (Without sound effects) – 6:56
- Movie version (With sound effects)/Film version – 6:42
- Instrumental – 6:54
- The album version is on the 1992 Barcelona Gold compilation CD.
- The album version and the movie versions are not available on the singles.
- The movie version with sound effects is directly from the credits of A League of Their OwnA League of Their OwnA League of Their Own is a 1992 American comedy-drama film that tells a fictionalized account of the real-life All-American Girls Professional Baseball League . Directed by Penny Marshall, the film stars Geena Davis, Lori Petty, Tom Hanks, Madonna, and Rosie O'Donnell...
, while the version without sound effects has a longer intro (like the single version) and has no sounds from the movie in the background. - There is speculation amongst fans that suggests an early vocal is used on the movie versions and the vocals were allegedly re-recorded for the single and album versions.
- The album and single versions have two verses, the long version has three, and the movie versions have four.
Music video
The music video, directed by Alek KeshishianAlek Keshishian
Alek Keshishian is a Lebanese-born Armenian film director. He is best known for his 1991 film Madonna: Truth or Dare, which for a time was the highest-grossing documentary of all time....
, was filmed in June 1992 at Raleigh Studios in Hollywood, California and Malibu Beach and world premiered on MTV
MTV
MTV, formerly an initialism of Music Television, is an American network based in New York City that launched on August 1, 1981. The original purpose of the channel was to play music videos guided by on-air hosts known as VJs....
on June 30, 1992. The video was commercially released in 2004 as a bonus feature on the 2-disc special edition DVD of A League of Their Own
A League of Their Own
A League of Their Own is a 1992 American comedy-drama film that tells a fictionalized account of the real-life All-American Girls Professional Baseball League . Directed by Penny Marshall, the film stars Geena Davis, Lori Petty, Tom Hanks, Madonna, and Rosie O'Donnell...
. The video shows a photo album being viewed by somebody and Madonna singing in different settings from the different pictures inside the album. As the video ends, the viewer having reached the end of the album then scrolls backwards through previous pages.
- Director: Alek Keshishian
- Producer: unknown
- Director of Photography: unknown
- Editor: Jim Haygood
- Production Company: Propaganda Films
US cassette and 7"
- "This Used to Be My Playground" (single version)
- "This Used to Be My Playground" (long version)
Europe CD single
- "This Used to Be My Playground" (single version) – 5:06
- "This Used to Be My Playground" (instrumental version) – 6:54
- "This Used to Be My Playground" (long version) – 6:03
Peak positions
| Chart (1992) | Peak Position |
|---|---|
| U.S. Billboard Billboard (magazine) Billboard is a weekly American magazine devoted to the music industry, and is one of the oldest trade magazines in the world. It maintains several internationally recognized music charts that track the most popular songs and albums in various categories on a weekly basis... Hot 100 Billboard Hot 100 The Billboard Hot 100 is the United States music industry standard singles popularity chart issued weekly by Billboard magazine. Chart rankings are based on radio play and sales; the tracking-week for sales begins on Monday and ends on Sunday, while the radio play tracking-week runs from Wednesday... |
1 |
| U.S. Billboard Adult Contemporary Hot Adult Contemporary Tracks The Adult Contemporary chart is a weekly chart published in Billboard magazine that lists the most popular songs on adult contemporary and "lite-pop" radio stations in the United States... |
4 |
| Australia ARIA ARIA Charts The ARIA charts are the main Australian music sales charts, issued weekly by the Australian Recording Industry Association. The charts are a record of the highest selling singles and albums in various genres in Australia. ARIA commenced compiling its own charts in-house from the week ending 26 June... Singles chart |
9 |
| Austrian Singles Chart Ö3 Austria Top 40 Ö3 Austria Top 40 is the name of the official Austrian singles chart, as well as the radio show which presents it, aired Fridays on Hitradio Ö3. The show presents the Austrian singles, ringtones and downloads chart. It premiered on 26 November 1968 as Disc Parade and was presented by Ernst Grissemann... |
6 |
| Belgian Singles Chart (Flanders) Ultratop 50 Ultratop 50 singles, often just Ultratop 50, is the weekly chart of fifty best-selling singles in Flanders, Belgium, and is produced and published by the Ultratop organization. The chart has existed since March 31, 1995... |
5 |
| Canadian Singles Chart Canadian Singles Chart The Canadian Singles Chart is currently compiled by the U.S.-based music sales tracking company, Nielsen SoundScan . The chart is compiled every Wednesday, and is published by Jam! Canoe on Thursdays.... |
1 |
| Dutch Top 40 Dutch Top 40 The Dutch Top 40 is a weekly music chart, which started as the "Veronica Top 40", because the offshore radio station Radio Veronica was the first to introduce it. It remained "The Veronica Top 40" until 1974, when the station was forced to stop broadcasting... |
8 |
| Eurochart Hot 100 Singles Eurochart Hot 100 Singles The European Hot 100 Singles has been compiled by Billboard and Music & Media magazine since March, 1984. The chart is based on national singles sales charts in 15 European countries: Austria, Belgium , Denmark, Finland, France, Germany, Hungary, Ireland, Italy, Netherlands, Norway, Spain, Sweden,... |
2 |
| France SNEP Syndicat National de l'Edition Phonographique The Syndicat national de l'édition phonographique is the inter-professional organization which protects the interests of the French record industry... Singles Chart |
5 |
| German Singles Chart Media Control Charts The official music charts in Germany are gathered and published by the company Media Control GfK International on behalf of Bundesverband Musikindustrie... |
6 |
| Irish Singles Chart Irish Singles Chart The Irish Singles Chart is Ireland's music industry standard singles popularity chart issued weekly by the Irish Recorded Music Association and compiled on behalf of the IRMA by Chart-Track. Chart rankings are based on sales, which are compiled through over-the-counter retail data captured... |
2 |
| Italian FIMI Federation of the Italian Music Industry The Federation of the Italian Music Industry is an umbrella organization that keeps track of virtually all aspects of the music recording industry in Italy.... Singles Chart |
1 |
| Japanese Oricon Oricon , established in 1999, is the holding company at the head of a Japanese corporate group that supplies statistics and information on music and the music industry in Japan. It started as , which was founded by Sōkō Koike in November 1967 and became known for its music charts. Oricon Inc... Weekly Singles Chart |
59 |
| Norwegian VG-lista VG-lista VG-listen is a Norwegian record chart. It is weekly presented in the newspaper VG and the Norwegian Broadcasting Corporation program Topp 20. It is considered the primary Norwegian record chart, charting albums and singles from countries and continent around the world. The data is collected by... Singles Chart |
3 |
| South African Singles Chart | 4 |
| Spanish Singles Chart | 6 |
| Swedish Singles Chart Sverigetopplistan Sverigetopplistan, earlier known as Topplistan and Hitlistan and other names, is since October 2007 the Swedish national record chart, based on sales data from Swedish Recording Industry Association .... |
1 |
| Swiss Singles Chart Swiss Music Charts The Swiss Music Charts are Switzerland's main music sales charts. The charts are a record of the highest-selling singles and albums in various genres in Switzerland.The Swiss Charts include:* Singles Top 75... |
6 |
| UK Singles Chart UK Singles Chart The UK Singles Chart is compiled by The Official Charts Company on behalf of the British record-industry. The full chart contains the top selling 200 singles in the United Kingdom based upon combined record sales and download numbers, though some media outlets only list the Top 40 or the Top 75 ... |
3 |
Year-end charts
| Chart (1992) | Position |
|---|---|
| Australian Singles Chart | 45 |
| US Billboard Hot 100 | 21 |
| Italian Singles Chart | 5 |
Cover versions
The 2000 compilation Virgin Voices: A Tribute To Madonna, Vol. 2 features a cover by British New WaveNew Wave music
New Wave is a subgenre of :rock music that emerged in the mid to late 1970s alongside punk rock. The term at first generally was synonymous with punk rock before being considered a genre in its own right that incorporated aspects of electronic and experimental music, mod subculture, disco and 1960s...
/synthpop
Synthpop
Synthpop is a genre of popular music that first became prominent in the 1980s, in which the synthesizer is the dominant musical instrument. It was prefigured in the 1960s and early 1970s by the use of synthesizers in progressive rock, electronic art rock, disco and particularly the "Kraut rock" of...
band A Flock of Seagulls
A Flock of Seagulls
A Flock of Seagulls are an English New Wave band originally formed by brothers Michael "Mike" Score and Alister "Ali" James Score , with Frank Maudsley , Michael Kuby , H.J...
.