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

Was Grace Jones on MTV?

The early videos maybe. "Slave to the Rhythm" too? Maybe "I'm Not Perfect (But I'm Perfect For You)."

First albums head-to-head I'd take Cyndi, but after that, obviously not a contest.

― something of an astrological coup (tipsy mothra), dimanche 3 mars 2013 00:33 (1 hour ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

Would make an interesting poll. At the time I would've picked She's So Unusual too, but today I think I would go with Madonna.
Both classics though. Tough choice.

She's So Unusual still slightly better than Madonna, I think, but yes.

I let Lauper have that victory because she never would again.

Cyndi's Sisters of Avalon remains a very underrated record, I think, enough so that were I to measure it against it's closest Madonna contemporary, Ray of Light, I'd have to call it a draw.

True Blue vs True Colours, though is a no-contest.

xxpost Alfred - Gaga's 'Bad Romance' has a touch of that but it's still done with a slight note of reluctance vs the Madonna 'Open Your Heart' vid.

oh wait I misread - at the time. I can't think of anyone?

FIrst exposure to Madonna was hearing "Borderline" on the radio a ton. In retrospect, I aligned it with Dan Hartman's "I Can Dream About You," both being totally gentle and pleasurable to my 5-year-old ears. Very kindergarten friendly pop.

Throughout elementary school, my gym teacher would have us do warm ups to s/t, so "Lucky Star" became the sound of me being forced to run laps.

I'm sort of surprised that I ended up voting for "Lucky Star" and not "Borderline" given my earliest memories of them were, respectively, of pain vs. pleasure, but I guess that's easily explained away through my current love for the torment of Erotica.

Can't honestly remember which Madonna video was my first. I didn't get cable/MTV until I was in fourth grade, and by then I was sort of off Madonna's wavelength (remember actively disliking "Who's That Girl," which was pretty big on Nick Rocks). I didn't hop aboard again until "Vogue," which hit me basically the same as it did this little bitch-in-training-wheels. My life was so awesome for months thereafter.

I got scared when I intercepted a mash note in sixth grade from someone who quoted, at length, the lyrics to "Justify My Love." Then I realized it was meant for someone else.

But by the time she redux'ed "Justify" a couple years later with "Erotica," I was caught in the deep end of junior high hormones, and the template just made so much more sense to me. I called in to KDWB multiple times to request it, something I rarely ever did, but I figure I probably hadn't quite learned how to touch myself then...? Nah, they probably happened concurrently.

to be con't.

great stuff Eric

i didn't even have MTV until like 1992 but somehow i have pretty strong memories of seeing half a dozen of the bigger Madonna videos from before that.

"learning how the rest of you experienced Madonna: radio first, video/radio"

i loved her and i didn't know what she looked like!! still hard to believe. but they played her early singles on the college radio station i listened to and i never saw a picture of her.

I got my video fix from taping "Friday Nite Videos."

I found the Paul Zollo interview from '89 about her songwriting

Interviewer: How does your writing process work? I know that many of your songs were written with Pat Leonard. You’ve mentioned that sometimes you’ll come up with a melody and bring it to him and let him figure it out–

Madonna: Yes. In my very retarded fashion I will sing it to him. Or hum the melody line to him, and he will put it into a chord progression and we’ll come up with the song that way.

Interviewer: These are melodies that just pop into your head?

Madonna: Yeah. And I start singing them just from my head. Or if I think of a lyric, like a hook or a line, I’ll just put it to a melody and he’ll bang it out on the piano for me.

Interviewer: You must have a great working relationship to be able to connect with him at that stage of the process.

Madonna: We have a very good working relationship because we both come from the Midwest, and we both worked our butts off to get where we are. But, you know, he’s the one who studied music. He knows how to read music, how to write music. I don’t know any of that. I’m completely instinctual and he’s completely intellectual. So it’s a really good combination.

Interviewer: Does he every give you a finished melody to write words to?

Madonna: Yes, he does. But inevitably we fashion it to me. I don’t think he’s ever written a melody that I just took and said, "Okay, that’s finished, I’ll just slap some words on it." It always needs to be worked.

Interviewer: One of my favorite songs on the album that you two wrote is "Oh Father."

Madonna: Isn’t that great?

Interviewer: It’s beautiful. And it’s one of those songs that has a near perfect marriage of words and music.

Madonna: That’s the great thing about Pat. I mean, Pat puts together these really strange chord progressions and these really great time signatures, and I’ll listen to it and I won’t even think about it. I’ll just put it on, and I’ll just keep playing it over and over again; it’s like free association. I’ll start singing words to it and making them fit. I don’t thing of structure. I don’t think of first chorus, first bridge.

http://allaboutmadonna.com/madonna-interviews-articles/songtalk-summer-1989

i didn't even have MTV until like 1992 but somehow i have pretty strong memories of seeing half a dozen of the bigger Madonna videos from before that

I think virtually nobody in Britain had MTV until the early 90s (and even then only a small minority). Pop videos were something you saw once a week on Top of the Pops.

I didn't cast a videos ballot because of that. I'd record videos and watch them repeatedly, but only the ones I thought worth committing celluloid to, which sadly meant not-Madonna. No doubt I'd've made an exception for Justify My Love, but iirc that would've probably had a single late-night showing after The Word.

Even now the only videos I can confidently place are Papa Don't Preach, Like A Prayer, Vogue, and some Ray Of Light stuff.

yeah but over in america i felt like one of the last people i knew who got a cable package w/ it (xp)

Friday Night Videos, y'all

i stayed up to watch Letterman a ton as a kid so i definitely watched a lot of Friday Night Videos

I voted for two videos that didn't even make my songs ballot. She really does (or did) rule that medium.

Here in Canada we had this 1/2 hour show called Video Hits that played at 4 pm mon-fri. So I would run from school every day to watch it and it was there that I first saw all the early Madonna videos, "Borderline", "Like A Virgin", "Material Girl", "Crazy For You", "Gambler", "Into The Groove". The Youtube description is pretty spot on.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RG_O-b44g9I

Youtube clip description: If it weren't for Sam Taylor, we Canadian kids of the 80s would have been walking around saying, "Madonna who?" :-)

We never had cable, but between Friday Night Videos and my cable-ready friends, I saw plenty of music videos.

Looking forward to playing "Holiday" over the P.A. as students enter Friday morning, last day before March break.

wooo!

Just realized that if we'd timed this poll better, we could've had the rollout in July on the 30th anniversary of the first album. Oh well. It's funny, because it doesn't seem that long ago to me that there was the big BOB DYLAN'S 30TH ANNIVERSARY concert -- but of course it was actually already 20 years ago. Time keeps on slipping into the future.

Also, there should totally be a MADONNA'S 30TH ANNIVERSARY concert, with Gaga and Taylor Swift and Nicki Minaj and Elton John and Miguel all doing Madonna songs.

yes!

and Prince

must we rejoice at the thought of Elton John doing "Live To Tell"

Dammit, I think you just ruined that song for me.

Back in 1990 circa the release of The Immaculate Collection my older sister taped off the TV:

(a) a session of Rage (an overnight music video show) showing each of her video clips from "Everybody" through to "Justify My Love"; and
(b) the Barcelona taping of the Blonde Ambition tour.

I watched those videos so many times, though not really through my own volition, they were just on in our household constantly. But they had a huge impact on me.

Tim I remember watching a repeat of that Rage late one night in college, so great.

So many things about my later life can be explained by the amount of Madonna I was exposed to incessantly as an 8 year old.

change 'madonna' to 'beastmaster' and i'm the same way

Johnny, before you finalize, I haven't got a confirmation from you on my ballot sent Friday (i'd send this note to your email, but uh...)

Oops, sorry. Yours was the next-to-last one I added, after doing about 20, so I must have forgotten to reply. The votes were counted, though, and I just sent a reply for good measure.

hang on, which shep pettibone mix of "express yourself" are we talking about upthread? by which i mean, what words should i be googling? there seem to be a million pettibone remixes and multiple video versions...

change 'madonna' to 'beastmaster' and i'm the same way

― balls, Sunday, March 3, 2013 10:54 PM (Yesterday)

my bro

http://www.gpkcentral.com/cards/050a.jpg

I've just never hated Bruce Springsteen so much.

words – they cut like a knife

I love Springsteen, but that poll is KILLLLLLLING MEEEEEEEEE.

Don't want to step on Jamie_ATP's toes, because every poll deserves an unimpeded rollout, but apparently it won't be done until tomorrow.

what's the rush?

time goes by so slowly for those who wait for results
no time to hesitate
those who like born to run seem to have all the fun
i'm caught up i don't know what to do

what's the rush?

Well, for starters, these polls are supposed to tear along pretty quickly. By the time that one is done, it will have gone a month start to finish. They should last half that time. On top of that, the rollout itself has spanned two weeks, and the final sixteen is being spread over two days...and all he's doing is embedding youtubes. Not exactly time-consuming on his end.

If it sounds like I'm whining, maybe I am a little. I got the voting done in a timely manner, worked all weekend on the art, and was ready to go Monday, but I chose to wait a day hoping Springsteen would wrap up yesterday. Nope. It doesn't wrap up until tomorrow, for some reason.

Where are those Hyde Park noise guys when you need them?

i got myself a little burned out on Madonna by the time i submitted my ballot, so i'm appreciating the break, will be good and stoked for the Madonnaness later in the week.

JF, what's the cutoff on songs going to be -- 50?

I've just never hated Bruce Springsteen so much.

― Zero Dark 33⅓: The Final Insult (Eric H.), Tuesday, March 5, 2013 9:54 AM (52 minutes ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

Is it paced to reflect the live version of The River or something?