Beautiful Stranger

Infobox Single
Name = Beautiful Stranger


Artist = Madonna
from Album =
Released = May 25, 1999
Format = CD Single
12" Vinyl Single
7" Vinyl Single
Cassette Single
Recorded =
Genre = Pop, pop rock, dance-pop
Length = 4:21
Label = Maverick, Warner Bros.
[Writer = ]
Producer = Madonna
William Orbit
Certification = Gold (UK & Australia)
Silver (France)
Last single = "Nothing Really Matters"
(1999)
This single = "Beautiful Stranger"
(1999)
Next single = "American Pie"
(2000)
Misc = Extra tracklisting
Album = GHV2
Type = Compilation
prev_track = "The Power of Good-Bye" (album version)
prev_no = 7
this_track = "Beautiful Stranger" (William Orbit radio edit)
track_no = 8
next_track = "Frozen" (edit)
next_no = 9

"Beautiful Stranger" is a dance-pop song written by American singer Madonna and William Orbit for the movie soundtrack "" (1999). It was produced by Madonna and Orbit. The song was released as a single in the middle of 1999 (see 1999 in music) and was a top ten hit in the United Kingdom, reaching number two. The song did not receive a commercial release in the United States, however gained success on the Billboard Hot 100, due to heavy radio airplay in times when airplay-only singles didn't use to reach the Hot 100 top ten. For this reason, this #11 Airplay single only reached the modest position of #19 in the Billboard Hot 100. In 2000 the song won a Grammy Award for Best Song Written for a Motion Picture, Television or Other Visual Media. Madonna performed "Beautiful Stranger" on her 2001 Drowned World Tour.

Note: The song also can be heard in the opening credits of the TV film "Sabrina Down Under".

Composition and inspiration

"Beautiful Stranger" is an up-tempo love song featuring heavily reverbed guitars and bouncy drum loops, with lyrics telling a tale of infatuation. The song was specifically written for an inclusion on the "Austin Powers" soundtrack. The song has a similar lyrical theme and instrumentation as the song "Amazing", which is included on Madonna's album "Music" (2000).

The bass and drums on the verses of "Beautiful Stranger" are directly sampled from the intro of The Mamas & The Papas song "In Crowd" (from their 1966 début album "If You Can Believe Your Eyes and Ears.") Madonna's co-producer, William Orbit, first used this sample on his remixes of "Ray of Light" (1998), then on "Beautiful Stranger" (1999), and lastly on "Amazing" (2000). He also sampled the guitar from the song "Straight Shooter" (from the same Mamas & The Papas album) on an early demo of "Ray Of Light."

Elements of the song are strongly reminiscent of Love's 1960s song "She Comes In Colours".

"Beautiful Stranger" was the last single Madonna released during the 1990s.

Music video

"Beautiful Stranger" featured a retro music video that was directed by Brett Ratner and shot on May 1, 1999 at Universal Studios in Universal City, California. The video begins with Austin Powers (Mike Myers) being assigned to catch a spy working for Doctor Evil who is "a master in disguise". According to Austin's boss Basil Exposition (Michael York) who has a cameo in the video, Madonna (the spy) was responsible for the death of both 007 and 008. Austin heads to a club where Madonna is dancing. While watching her perform a sexy dance on stage, Austin begins to have fantasies about him and Madonna in his car, with Madonna licking Austin's face, rubbing against him with her jacket open, and wiggling her ass at Austin. The videos ends with the two driving away, and Austin failing to complete his mission as he has fallen in love with Madonna. The video also features cameos by Dr. Evil and the little clone Mini-Me who is seen dancing in the club.

The music video, like the song, was extremely successful, winning an MTV Video Music Award for Best Video From A Film. It is available on Madonna's DVD compilation "".

*Director: Brett Ratner
*Producer: John Marshall
*Director of Photography: Thomas Kloss
*Editor: Mark Helfrich
*Production Company: Villains

Chart performance

In the United States, the song debuted at number sixteen on the Billboard Bubbling Under Chart, before appearing on the Billboard Hot 100, peaking at number nineteen on the strength of radio airplay only, a considerable achievement at the time for a song with no generated sales. By not releasing the song commercially, fans in the US had to purchase the soundtrack, which has sold two million copies in the US alone. "Beautiful Stranger" was also a hit on the Billboard dance charts, reaching number one on the Hot Dance Music/Club Play Chart and number three on the Hot Dance Singles Sales Chart.

In the United Kingdom, the song was a huge hit, reaching number two on the UK Singles Chart, being kept from the number one spot by S Club 7's "Bring It All Back". The song spent sixteen weeks on the singles chart, with seven of those being within the top twenty. "Beautiful Stranger" was also a radio airplay hit, becoming one of the most played songs on UK radio ever. At one point the song received 2,462 broadcasts per week. Beautiful Stranger sold 513,992 copies in the UK.

Elsewhere the song was a hit, reaching number one in Canada, South Africa, Finland and Italy. It also went top five in Australia and top twenty in France, Germany, the Netherlands, Ireland and Japan.

Charts

Remixes

* Soundtrack Version (4:51)
* Lite Radio Mix (5:00)
* Instrumental (4:21)
* Acapella (3:41)
* Video Version (4:32)
* Video Instrumental (4:32)
* William Orbit Radio Edit (3:59)
* William Orbit Radio Edit Instrumental (3:40)
* Edit from William Orbit Promo CD (3:50) promotional release
* Victor Calderone Club Mix (10:13)
* Victor Calderone Dub Mix (6:20) promotional vinyl release
* Victor Calderone Radio Edit (4:03)
* Victor Calderone New Club Edit (5:11) promotional release
* Bigglesworth Mix (4:09) Unreleased [questionable, mixer unknown]
* Orbit Long Demo (6:43) Unreleased
* Drowned World Tour Studio Version (4:38) Unreleased

References

*"Billboard.com". [http://www.billboard.com/bbcom/retrieve_chart_history.do?model.vnuArtistId=50294&model.vnuAlbumId=736138 link] . Last accessed on Feb. 25, 2006. - US chart positions.
*"MoCaW: Madonna on Charts around the World". [http://justzheng.com/Madonna/CHThist.htm link] . Last accessed on Feb. 25, 2006. - Worldwide chart positions and certifications.
*"Enlace Madonna" [http://www.enlacemadonna.com/englishversion/index.htm link] . Last accessed on Feb. 25, 2006. - Release and music video information.