I'm burning up, burning up for your VOTES! — ILM Artist Poll #31 is Madonna

http://i.imgur.com/KflPzET.jpg

* Vote for the standard 20 tracks using this scoring system: 1:40, 2:36, 3:33, 4:30, 5:28, 6:26, 7:25, 8:24, 9:23, 10:22, 11:21, 12:20, 13:19, 14:18, 15:17, 16:16, 17:15, 18:14, 19:13, 20:12.
* Optionally, vote for your 5 favorite remixes of Madonna songs.
* Also optionally, vote for your 5 favorite Madonna albums.

Voting begins as soon as this post is published and it ends at midnight EST on Thursday, February 28th (that's 9pm PST for left coasters and 5am on Friday, March 1st for Britishes and other GMTers). Send your ballots to johnnyilxfever [at] gmail [dot] com. Enjoy!

1. OMG

2. Anyone who dares vote in this without having heard Erotica in full will have their life SB'd.

JOHNNY FEVER YOU MUST BE MY LUCKY STAR

sorry

omg excited

Hey, just a request y'all...

If, when voting, you could include the points alongside the tracks on your ballot, that would be super helpful (since I'm tabulating by hand one at a time). ex:

First place song - 40
Second place song - 36
...
Nineteenth place song - 13
Twentieth place song - 12

It helps me make sure I don't leave anything out or give a particular song too many or too few points.

I've had a ton of different favorite Madonna songs over the years, but I think at some point over the past few "Open Your Heart" has cemented itself in my mind as the most Madonnest song Madonna ever Madonna'ed. If it's not somewhere on your ballot, I may discard it. ;)

I got the urge last week to put on some Jellybean Benitez - couldn't be entirely sure Sidewalk Talk and (especially) Who Found Who weren't actually *by* Madonna. I think they may even have been written by her.

Anyway wfw is my vote for the most Madonna thing I've ever heard - not just the soundalike vocal or JB production, something in the melody and phrasing is pure, distilled Madonna.

i was in a pizza parlor the other day and they were playing "open your heart", not all that loud, and i'd never thought about it much before but it literally sounded like the most beautiful thing ever made. very high. (on my ballot i mean. although since you ask.)

another ridiculously gorgeous one for me is "don't tell me", with all that space and the clipped postmodern acoustic guitar loop.

if you gave me half the chance you'd see, my desire BURNING INSIDE of me.

the early group of madonna songs where by it feels that madonna is with absolute self-assurance just commanding things into existence by sheer force of ambition & willpower are one of the best things ever (see also: burning up, gambler). and her voice pulls it off in spades.

love the extended mix, because "open your heart" can never be too long

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YsdcX_5dS0A

"what's the matter, are you scared of me or something?" <3

i don't know why i don't listen to that every morning, it makes me feel like i can do anything

Wow @ that extended mix!

i'm gonna be posting a lot of youtubes of standout non-singles itt (johnny lemme know if you'd prefer i don't embed them all), will have a Spotify playlist done soon too.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=feQXMGG0vpM

"Till Death Do Us Part" is the track from Like A Prayer that most explicitly deals with the Sean Penn split, pretty amazing song imo

woop, at last. thanks again for taking this over johnny.

that extended 'open your heart' is definitely going top 5 for me.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3KA5Vp0tynA

Madonna way ahead of the curve on the sampling Aaliyah trend -- the same year "Back & Forth" dropped, it was sampled on "Inside Of Me" from Bedtime Stories

2. Anyone who dares vote in this without having heard Erotica in full will have their life SB'd.

Only the one that inflicts SB can take it away.

Seriously, tho, I move that any ballot that doesn't include at least 2 songs from Erotica is null and void.

what are the consensus Erotica tracks though? i don't hold any of the singles in especially high regard and the whole thing is kind of cohesive and hard to break down into highlights imo. "Waiting" probably my favorite.

The deepest of deep cuts from that album's fan base seems to be "Thief of Hearts."

I'm pretty fond of her uncompromisingly icy version of "Fever," though.

I'm digging through pre-"Everybody" demos on youtube right now. A lot of stuff I've never heard before. This one in particular makes it sound like she was way into The Go-Go's.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VkFJ5v_lQLA

Also, holy shit!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Fisl3SOrtpY

Original Stephen Bray "Burning Up" demo is foine!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lgiTtkvFFtc

all those mentioned on erotica and i also rly like "words" including and especially the clickity-clack typewriter noise at the end cuz see words

what are the consensus Erotica tracks though? i don't hold any of the singles in especially high regard and the whole thing is kind of cohesive and hard to break down into highlights imo. "Waiting" probably my favorite

"Secret Garden"!!!

After an album of heartbreak, pain, disease and death Madge tries to reconstruct her existence over early drum and bass yearning for the one thing she feels she can unconditionally love and be loved back in return - a child.

I can't think of a better line to sum up Madonna in an existential crisis in 1992 than her sighing "I just wish I knew the color of my own hair".

"Till Death Do Us Part" is the track from Like A Prayer that most explicitly deals with the Sean Penn split, pretty amazing song imo

That woozy, almost tentative guitar solo!

"Deeper and Deeper" is the best song on Erotica and one of her best singles period.

"Words" is my favorite of the faster Erotica numbers.

from the Bruce thread:

Madonna has so many singles that some of them qualify as deep cuts ("Angel," "Causing a Commotion," "Hanky Panky," "Nothing Lasts Forever").

As long as "Angel," "Sky Fits Heaven," and "Til Death Do Us Part" get mentioned, I'm ok.

― the little prince of inane false binary hype (Alfred, Lord Sotosyn), Monday, February 18, 2013 8:08 PM

Madonna released at least one single every year between 1982 and 2003; in that time period, only one of them did not make the top ten of a chart somewhere (and, as far as I can tell, it's the only single of her career that didn't hit the top 10 somewhere)

That means 75 out of 76 singles hit the top ten on the pop and/or dance charts

She sounds so alive on "Open Your Heart." It's one of those songs that makes me feel invincible.

djp you just blew my mind

Predict a massive span of singles, album cuts and other stuff spread out over her entire career. So much stuff from virtually every album/era that I outright love, up to and including "Confessions..." I'd say. After that she started trying to hard and therefore failing harder. I'm sure "Hard Candy" and "MDNA" have their defenders, though.

"Secret Garden"!!!

After an album of heartbreak, pain, disease and death Madge tries to reconstruct her existence over early drum and bass yearning for the one thing she feels she can unconditionally love and be loved back in return - a child.

Always wondered why that song felt like a bonus track, but now it makes sense. It's the baby song on an album in which she assumes the role of a gay man.

I can't think of a better line to sum up Madonna in an existential crisis in 1992 than her sighing "I just wish I knew the color of my own hair".

OTM.

I almost think her ballads deserve their own mini-poll.

The countdown thread is going to, what, 50? 75?

I was originally just going to do a top 40, but may stretch it out to 50 depending on the results of the voting.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MKjm-zdcPHM

this needs love.

The normal version of "Open Your Heart" is so perfect I'm not sure I could vote for the extended remix.

The Big Orange SPIN Book dismissed Bedtime Stories as Madonna jumping on board the R&B train but working with Dallas Austin, Babyface, and Dave Hall showed how shrewdly she figured out that R&B would dominate the decade. She even looks ahead to the cavernous electronic chill of her next studio album.

True Blue probably counts as a key album for me as a listener. Just circumstances--that was the one that was out when I started working at a record store in 1986. Rediscovered Top 40 pop music after a long time away from it. "Open Your Heart" in particular was key (as was Janet's "When I Think of You").

Madonna way ahead of the curve on the sampling Aaliyah trend -- the same year "Back & Forth" dropped, it was sampled on "Inside Of Me" from Bedtime Stories

HOW did i never know this before?!

1986 was a fantastic year in pop music

"Gambler," people!

YOU'RE JUST JEALOUS CUZ YOU CAN'T BE ME

After that she started trying to hard and therefore failing harder. I'm sure "Hard Candy" and "MDNA" have their defenders, though.

not trying hard enough imo

"Gang Bang" is a terrible song but weirdly compelling, I feel like campaigning for it just to be perverse

The tour finally sold me on a couple of MDNA's tracks, but Hard Candy was ... um, not a tough act to follow.

xp "Gang Bang" was one of the ones I came around to!

I didn't particularly love Erotica at the time (and still don't) and, for some reason, my mind has never identified Bedtime Stories as a proper Madonna album since it seemed to come so quickly after Erotica (though now I see it was a full two-year gap). She was just so omnipresent during those years that it all seems like a blur. In hindsight, I appreciate her attempts at spreading her wings into unfamiliar styles, but neither of those records means a lot to me.

did Ted Koppel recite the lyrics?

xpost I thought Thriller was the first

fun fact: Lenny Kravitz wrote, produced, and did bg vocals ("hoh oh-ohhhh"/"yeah yeaaahhhh"/etc)

The Human League did it first, apparently.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/VHS#VHS_single

On December 3, 1990, ABC's Nightline played the video in its entirety, then interviewed Madonna live about the video's sexual content and censorship. When asked whether she stood to make more money selling the video than airing it on MTV, she appeared impatient and answered, "Yeah, so? Lucky me."[18]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=G3yvKGQl6A4
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CUtMgR6tmwg

What an interview! Sadly, we're still having the same arguments 23 years later.

she comes off nervous (way more nervous than she ever was w/ loder) but huge kudos for calling out mtv on their bullshit for showing the 'wild thing' video (even if my 13 yr old self thanked god for it), calling out the networks for refusing to run condom ads, and (never can be done enough) calling out american parents for being lazy. crazy time capsule stuff going on in that interview w/ culture wars, second wave feminism v. third wave feminism

when i was a kid mtv europe seemed to only show durex ads. i miss mtv europe, it always seemed so polymorphously pan-europa, like there was this suggestion that everyone had been cast after sleeping with some executive at a party in jeanpaul gaultiers house, or at least it seems super fabulous like this at the time, and i also miss the clocks for different time zones. when they regionalised that was the moment it got boring for me. SIDENOTE.

quite curious to see where these singles place: "Papa Don't Preach," "True Blue," and "Ray of Light" i.e. seemed iconic at the time

"ray of light" seemed like a twofer for some rock critics, got to show that see they do like pop music and also see they're not afraid of techno (when there's a SONG you can HUM for a CHANGE amirite). i'm fine w/ it (i like several rol tracks, including all the other singles, a good bit more), suspect it won't place that high? could be some real narcissistic 'everyone shares my take' thought process there but yknow what? four tunnel of love tracks in the top twenty. i'm gonna ride this feeling and see where it takes me.

not so fond of "Ray of Light" myself -- she sounds like she's singing from a wind tunnel in outer space, which I guess is the point.

it's that sound of someone not even aiming for the high notes they used to hit w/o thinking twice, cf bono

tbf during her Oprah appearance she does (and she looks great)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4AX55nr-Hxw

look at Oprah dance!

i will say, and this is maybe perverse, but i did find myself liking it more after i heard the curtiss maldoon track it bites pretty shamelessly:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DyCURI6PiaI

tbh though that's just 'the older i get, the more i find myself sympathizing w/ hippies', if i think of 'ray of light' as madonna offering a similar vibe for her now middle aged wannabes i can feel that, 'and i feel like i just got home' makes way more sense, is way more perfectly specifically joyous in the soccer mom context than in the celestial child of the universe in the brotherhood of man context.

xpost lol and there's oprah to provide the context

well, she gives them songwriting credit

"Ray Of Light" imo has aged terribly, i'm sure "Frozen" and maybe even some deep cuts/minor hits off that album will do better. would love if it missed the top 50 entirely.

I really should think "Nothing Really Matters" is worse than it is, but you don't even have to look at the credits to hear how it's a Patrick Leonard co-write.

god that sounds awesome, the fuck am i talking about 'ray of light' is awesome

lol otm

the Oprah performance is a good argument -- if someone wants to make it -- for how the opera helped.

I love how in that Oprah link you can tell that the echo is bothering her sometimes

also yeah, she couldn't have done those long-ass phrases near the end without the voice lessons

was tempted to write "the Oprah lessons"

the swoops and bleeps (and lol at that EKG meter graphics) designed to make her audience know that THIS IS DANCE MUSIC Y'ALL were dated even in '98 though.

also:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=M1G3FI_Wa0E

aww <3

i miss mtv europe

Haha wow, they must have regionalised about a week after we got MTV, I had totally forgotten it ever existed. There were still echoes I suppose, like when the MTV Europe awards would be all US/UK acts, and then Jovanotti shows up like he's a megastar

Ray Of Light is awesome

mtv uk started after britpop basically as the uk and rest of europe certainly was quite different. but the 1st few years of mtv when cable hit here (94) was mtv europe and it really was hugely different. Stuff like Whale was on constantly, dEUS, and tricky.

'and i feel like i just got home' makes way more sense, is way more perfectly specifically joyous in the soccer mom context

why i voted for it (low)

"do you want me to promote one of my up-and-coming button-pushing products"

ha i'd never heard that line in the hippie new age sense, it's always been a bizarre flash of the mundane (and the ecstatic therein) on the album. play it when you get home from work, return to the sanctuary

quite curious to see where these singles place: "Papa Don't Preach," "True Blue," and "Ray of Light" i.e. seemed iconic at the time

the little prince of inane false binary hype (Alfred, Lord Sotosyn) wrote this at 2013-03-07 03:12:14.201

I never liked any of these very much, compared to their contemporaries. When reviewing songs for this poll though, I rated Papa Don't.Preach very highly. Hope it's reflected in the poll results.

The other two I still don'tcare for.

Don't go for second best, baby. Put your ILM ARTIST POLL #31: MADONNA to the test.

so Madonna is officially pop music's first billionaire

nah she ain't - http://www.forbes.com/sites/zackomalleygreenburg/2013/03/28/why-madonna-isnt-on-the-forbes-billionaires-list/

makes sense but would not have predicted roger waters was the second highest earning musician last year (dre first obv).

haha oh nm

In advance I want to apologize for the fellow gays who will comment on that article and rip the asshole to shreds for "hating on" Madonna.

i thought it would be mccartney is why i googled it. take that were #5 top earner last year fwiw.

i'm almost certain sure she's a billionaire - that forbes estimate fails to account for her private investments, assets, royalties and her art collection that's worth hundreds of millions alone.

not that they're "hating" per se but i think there's been bad blood in the past with madonna refusing to release her private financial details to them (you can imagine what she's like) + other sources going out and calling her a billionaire first when forbes like to consider themselves the sole authority on this sort of thing mustn't have sat well with them.

we probably won't find out everything till she dies

i def think if she hadn't have managed to become a singer she would have ended up being a ceo of a huge corporation

she'd have been a dancer

nothing pains me more than bono being the world's richest musician, just cause he bought up shares of facebook ten years ago

he also did the 1st and 5th highest grossing tours of all time, so not JUST because of that obviously

Nah, Bono's earned it. According to Flanagan's book U2 tours were barely profitable until the mid-90s - they sunk so much money into the visuals, or whatever the hell they did pre-Achtung Baby, that they had to sell every ticket to pretty much break even.

On a related note, was it Madonna who raised the bar on ticket prices? I dimly recall top-act prices virtually trebling overnight at some point, and have a feeling she was the first to realise the Market could take it.

It was the fucking Eagles who were first with $100 tickets.

Actually looked into seeing Waters last year, but tickets were $400. Interestingly, according to Mojo, Pink Floyd barely broke even on their 1994 tours because they didn't want to charge more than $40/ticket, but they had insane expenses.

sorry, just bumping so I can relive the magic :)

I can keep up with you