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

Nice to see anything from Erotica bubbling over the 25-place threshold.

I'm sorry that my only contributions to this poll seem to be reiterating how punk-awesome Erotica is. Oh wait, I'm not sorry.

I like how barely she's in control of her pitch in "Bad Girl" -- form meets content. Fabulous lyrics too.

I think also the super wishy-washy reverb fuzzing out the drums hurt the song; probably the one constant between the Madonna songs I really, really treasure is the crispness of the drum tracks and "Bad Girl" seems to actively attempt to muddy the drums, robbing them of their power

b--b-b-but she's drunk by six and smoked too many cigarettes!

lol also there ended up being 2 bona-fide ballads on my ballot so this is also just not an itch I normally turn to Madonna for scratching

xxxpost yeah it's endearing. I always kinda felt that the songs like bad Girl, or Til Death, where the lyrics are very heartfelt & personal aren't always up there on the technical greatness scale but it always makes for a much richer song, at least for me.

Yeah, "Bad Girl" was one of only 3 ballads on my ballot, along with "I'll Remember" and "Live to Tell."

ha i got four in my top eight

"Angel" in my top three.

Both "Bad Girl" and "Waiting" we're on my top four, such an amazing double slug.

or five. Maman died yesterday. I don't remember.

"Angel" in my top three.

I was just playing this earlier today, it's in my top three too.

lol Bad Girl was always so funny to me as a child

Eric seriously you didn't put "Rain" in yr top 20?

I never heard "Bad Girl." Not once. I discovered it years later when I borrowed the Erotica tape from my sister.

I could've, but I didn't want my ENTIRE ballot to be Erotica.

Glad "Angel" placed where it did relative to other LAV tracks, though reading the Nile Rodgers autobio has warmed me to that album somewhat.

Wish "Everybody" was higher, but can't complain too much - great mutant disco sounds, and worked a treat on the dancefloor in the early 00s due to Annie (from Norway) nicking the squiggly synth-riff for "The Greatest Hit".
Original 12" sleeve is great, too!
http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_n5KMEaGMNoA/TGlM_1p5YpI/AAAAAAAABD4/Db6Yz3VM4A4/s1600/1982+MADONNA+Everybody+Remix+12+inch+single+album+sleeve+LP+record+A.jpg

Which non-D&D Erotica tracks still have a chance to place? "Thief Of Hearts"/"Where Life Begins"?

wow that sleeve is rad

Last one for the day...

At some point this weekend, I'm going to do albums, remixes and videos. Probably tomorrow (I have to come back into work for a couple hours). The top 20 will go out on Monday.

http://i.imgur.com/Yq63ENs.jpg

21. "OH FATHER" from Like a Prayer (1989) [18 votes, 424 points, 1 first place vote]

This poll made me listen to Erotica for the first time, yeah it's half great and a lot better than I was expecting. Secret Garden is an incredible song, would have eaaily made my ballot if I'd known it before. Never really liked the singles at the time but apart from Fever they were all sounding really good.

Lots of songs I voted for just placed. Secret was my number two, never rated it at the time but it's grown on me so much over time. It's just a perfect song.

What it Feels Like For a Girl is by far my favourite song she's done since Bedtime Stories, it's just so warm. Never really liked the remix version but that video is great.

Take a Bow was her first single not to reach the top ten here in the UK since maybe Lucky Star? Never understood why it wasn't a huge number one hit for her. It's so beautiful and probably my second favourite ballad after Oh Father (which must be top ten!)

Till Death Do Us Part was my number three, it's just so uplifting. How was that not a single? I guess they were spoilt for choice.

I remember Frozen coming out, she suddenly seemed so cool and mysterious after all Evita. She looked great in the video and the song sounded so modern at the time. I voted for it but The Power of Goodbye and Little Star would be my choices from that album.

Happy to see Everybody make it, I always liked that song but it was really Annie's Greatest Hit that made me fall in love with it.

Great results so far.

wow @ "oh father" placing this high

or should i be surprised? idk the warbling pitch on "bad girl" is endearing but it's rough-going here

Shit, I thought this would make the top ten no problem. It's such stunning song. The way Dear Jessie turns into this on the album gets me everytime.

Oh Father and Live to Tell volley back and forth as my favorite Madonna ballads.

uld i be surprised? idk the warbling pitch on "bad girl" is endearing but it's rough-going here

^^ what stopped from fully embracing "Oh Father."

btw "Oh Father" broke the longest streak of consecutive top tens ever in America.

there is no possible comparison between "Oh Father" and "Live To Tell"

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.

Interviewer: Did you come up with the melody for "Oh Father"?

Madonna: No, no, Pat thought of that melody.

Oh Father is gorgeous. I couldn't make room to vote for it, I'm so glad it placed this high

Musically, Oh Father is probably the Madonna song that stirs me the most deep inside. It's absolutely marvelous in every regard. I admit, I go long periods without listening to it at all, but that just makes its impact greater when I return to it.

it makes me so teary and I get along great with my dad! lol. I dunno if it's the piano or the strings or the big soaring chorus but uggggh it kills me

and those bent guitar strings

my "Oh Father" is "Promise To Try"

i just ... can't

xpost yes!

Yep, what you people said. It was my #1. Partly strategic, tbh, but it seems it needed less help than I realised. Cool.

I love that little high-pitch synth string bit that flutters around the song like a fairy.

Wow, 26-21 has been an awesome run. Had never really cared for 'Bad Girl' before but listening now and it's great.

Glad 'Secret' made the top 30, that one's sneaked up and become my favourite song on Bedtime Stories.

Love that 'Everybody' sleeve!

'oh father' works so well on like a prayer after 'cherish' and 'dear jessie', esp that transition from the 'jessie's winding down into that piano. was kinda amazed she released it as a single. one of those four in my top eight.

She's always downplayed the autobiographical aspects of this song, but it's pretty much where she was at in her life, wasn't it? Especially considering the video. Didn't her mother die when she was just a girl, or am I making that up?

The rushed transition from verse to chorus kills "oh father" for me

yeah she did xp

(which is what promise to try is about)

Oh Father is what justifies Dear Jessie's existence. Don't think I could handle the immediate transition from Cherish to Oh Father. The warped cheerfulness of DJ eases the flow.

yeah her mom died of cancer when she was really little, like 4 or 5 iirc. She was super close to her dad. He remarried (housekeeper? or family friend or something) and she had a pretty severe falling out with him as a teenager, dunno that it ever resolved?

yeah mother died when she was very young, five or six

xpost

recap

50. "WORDS" from Erotica (1992) [7 votes, 136 points]
49. "I'LL REMEMBER" from the motion picture soundtrack With Honors (1994) [6 votes, 142 points]
48. "THE POWER OF GOOD-BYE" from Ray of Light (1998) [8 votes, 144 points]
47. "KEEP IT TOGETHER" from Like a Prayer (1989) [9 votes, 148 points]
46. "DIE ANOTHER DAY" from the motion picture soundtrack Die Another Day (2002) [7 votes, 149 points]
(TIE) 44. "WHITE HEAT" from True Blue (1986) [7 votes, 161 points]
(TIE) 44. "SECRET GARDEN" from Erotica (1992) [7 votes, 161 points]
43. "WAITING" from Erotica (1992) [8 votes, 189 points]
42. "WHO'S THAT GIRL" from the motion picture soundtrack Who's That Girl (1987) [11 votes, 194 points]
41. "PHYSICAL ATTRACTION" from Madonna (1983) [10 votes, 195 points]
40. "CAUSING A COMMOTION" from the motion picture soundtrack Who's That Girl (1987) [11 votes, 201 points]
39. "RAIN" from Erotica (1992) [11 votes, 217 points]
38. "BEDTIME STORY" from Bedtime Stories (1994) [13 votes, 238 points]
37. "TRUE BLUE" from True Blue (1986) [12 votes, 240 points, 1 first place vote]
36. "GET TOGETHER" from Confessions on a Dance Floor (2005) [11 votes, 246 points, 1 first place vote]

35. "EROTICA" from Erotica (1992) [12 votes, 263 points]
34. "DON'T TELL ME" from Music (2000) [15 votes, 284 points]
33. "MATERIAL GIRL" from Like a Virgin (1984) [14 votes, 307 points, 1 first place vote]
32. "MUSIC" from Music (2000) [16 votes, 309 points]
31. "LIKE A VIRGIN" from Like a Virgin (1984) [17 votes, 334 points, 1 first place vote]
30. "TILL DEATH DO US PART" from Like a Prayer (1989) [16 votes, 337 points]
29. "EVERYBODY" from Everybody 12"/Madonna (1982,83) [15 votes, 344 points]
28. "SECRET" from Bedtime Stories (1994) [16 votes, 349 points]
27. "LA ISLA BONITA" from True Blue (1986) [18 votes, 367 points, 1 first place vote]
26. "WHAT IT FEELS LIKE FOR A GIRL" from Music (2000) [19 votes, 378 points]
25. "FROZEN" from Ray of Light (1998) [18 votes, 381 points]
24. "TAKE A BOW" from Bedtime Stories (1994) [20 votes, 403 points]
23. "ANGEL" from Like a Virgin (1984) [18 votes, 409 points]
22. "BAD GIRL" from Erotica (1992) [17 votes, 415 points]
21. "OH FATHER" from Like a Prayer (1989) [18 votes, 424 points, 1 first place vote]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Beu8yyzuSJ4

So: "Beautiful Stranger" and "Rescue Me" - coming up or shut out?

I would not be upset if be former was shut out