if toxic was the lead single i can't even imagine the numbers it would've performed….a BOMT level collapse 

 

43 minutes ago, dumbsparce said:

Bc they needed to start the era with massive buzz and shock value (aka a Madonna collab) after the Britney singles bombed. Only for it to bomb even harder but alas 

It definitely did not 'bomb even harder' than BRITNEY singles which didn't even chart on the H100 (besides Slave, barely Overprotected). It did exceptional globally too.

 

Also Madonna was kind of poison from American Life so it was risky to have her on the lead plus coming off the Britney ban.

4 minutes ago, Rico Shameless v2 said:

It definitely did not 'bomb even harder' than BRITNEY singles which didn't even chart on the H100 (besides Slave, barely Overprotected). It did exceptional globally too.

 

Globally yes, all 3 singles did well. In the US, however, I do personally consider MATM an even bigger commercial disappointment than the Britney singles even if it peaked much higher. Madonna was chart poison but this was a lead single and the buzz alone should be enough to propel it to the top 20 at least. I love the song and it could only work as the lead so I'm glad they went with it even if it didn't do as well as expected.

Britney & Madonna kiss just happen, I like MATM as lead single 

MATM didn't bomb like some peole are saying. Back in the day the music industry was different, I was a kid but everyone was talking about it. Britney image was really bad bc of Jt and his song. So get Madonna for the lead was the best option. And again back in the day singles were made to sell albums, not the single itself.

Me Against the Music is a great song, so energizing. I never got the hate against it.

2 hours ago, TeeJay said:

Cuz britney got madonna on me against the music, it was a big deal cuz britney loved madonna, it was the first time madonna had EVER collabed on someone elses song, the vma kiss had happened so it made sense to continue the hype from that by releasing a song with M and britney just really liked the song and she wanted it to be the lead.

Second time to be correct.

3 hours ago, oceans said:

fr?

 

3 hours ago, poki said:

Technically Prince has vocals on a track from Like A Prayer but in terms of official credits on a track title, yeah MATM was the first one (Missy Elliott collab came up within weeks after this)

Madonna's first feature outside of her own material was on Ricky Martin's Be Careful in 1999. MATM was the first to become a single. 

At that time Cathy Dennis was considered to be a hot songwriter after CGYOOMH broke Kylie in the U.S. market.
 

Although "Toxic" was written for Kylie (and she rejected it), Britney's team were perched and waiting as they wanted a track with CGYOOMH levels of success for Britney and viewed Cathy as the magic ingredient.

 

In the same way Kylie failed to spot its potential and now refers to it as "the one that got away", Britney's team never saw it as special enough to be deserving of first single status.

 

The best professionals don't always spot classics in advance.

5 hours ago, TeeJay said:

Cuz britney got madonna on me against the music, it was a big deal cuz britney loved madonna, it was the first time madonna had EVER collabed on someone elses song, the vma kiss had happened so it made sense to continue the hype from that by releasing a song with M and britney just really liked the song and she wanted it to be the lead.

Not the first time

 

The same reason Birds Of A Feather wasn't the lead single for Hit Me Hard & Soft.

Madonna was on MATM and Brit's label clearly thought it would be a big hit in the aftermath of the 2003 VMAs kiss frenzy. Also they couldn't have known that Toxic would become iconic; iirc Kylie passed on the song before Brit recorded it, so maybe the label had low expectations for it until it actually blew up in 2004.

Edited November 16, 20241 yr by Sugar-Rush

The song was too ethic for radio back then

9 hours ago, poki said:

I read once that when the tracklist was finalized, it was down to Shadow vs Get It (which eventually leaked online) and Britney chose Shadow over it. 

I don't even think "Get It" (which isn't its official title) was finished, and Britney wasn't too enthusiastic about it as per what the producers said:

 

Quote

JAMES MURPHY: When the Rapture left, I was so angry and so hurt, Tim and I felt broken. We took a meeting with Britney Spears to do a song.

 

JONATHAN GALKIN: I begged them to do that. I will totally take the credit or the blame for that. They were not so into collaborating with anyone else. And James even at that time was like, "I'm not giving someone else my time." And "Who the **** is this girl?" kind of thing. But part of them, at that time, was also kind of curious. I mean James also took a call from Janet Jackson. I sat right next to him. He put it on speaker. She was like, "I love that song 'Losing My Edge'; it's got a real grit to it. I hope we can work together." He's like, "Okay," and that was it. Never heard from her again. Anyway, Britney Spears did show up. She had a bodyguard, who sat upstairs right outside that door on a folding chair, never moved. She came here with her Starbucks and Marlboro Lights, as you will. Tried one track. Tim had worked out, like, an instrumental and she had laid out vocals, and James was down here, too. I have the track. It's good. It's awesome. It sounds somewhere between, like, Liquid Liquid and "I Feel Love" by Donna Summer. I played it for people; I remember people saying, "Oh my God, this will be amazing."

 

TIM GOLDSWORTHY: She had the icing off of two Magnolia cupcakes and four cans of Red Bull, did some really strange ad-lib vocal takes, and then just disappeared and was never heard from again.

 

JONATHAN GALKIN: It was one of those things that we just didn't really understand, where pop stars just start little fires at different studios all over the world. And maybe by the end of the album some A&R guy comes behind them, listening to what happened and saying, "That one." That guy came here. It was Jive Records. And I remember him saying, "I like it. I got to tell you, man, it's too hip."

 

17 minutes ago, Jeremiah said:

I don't even think "Get It" (which isn't its official title) was finished, and Britney wasn't too enthusiastic about it as per what the producers said:

 

 

That interview is so shady wow

 

9 hours ago, shyboi said:

i just can't imagine what the process thinking was, you have TOXIC, like a pop masterpiece but then decide to just go with another song? 

 

don't get me wrong, i really like the first single but i'm curious

 

was there any particular reason toxic was delegated as a second single? 

Britney featuring her idol made perfect sense

33 minutes ago, poki said:

Who's this?

10 hours ago, holyground13 said:

Pure pop wasn't at its peak popularity wise.

 

 

This. I know it's easy to forget since it's become such an iconic piece of pop music, but Toxic was actually an incredibly risky single choice at the time  The urban/hip-hop trend was at its peak back then and electro pop of that nature had almost no footing in the charts, especially in the US. The fact that it was able to become a hit is a testament to Britney's commercial prowess at the time.