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

The haters have this much correct at least: "Deeper & Deeper" is not an objectively-great universal pop song in the same way that "Into Your Groove" or even "Open Your Heart" is.

Each of those songs express a kind of will-to-completeness, a desire for perfect union in love or on the dancefloor which I think is the kind of experience that anyone open to pop music hopefully can relate to and embrace.

"Deeper & Deeper" exhibits those emotions, but they're almost overwhelmed by the competing-yet-complementary senses of shock and relief: this is possible and right. This is possible and right. It's not merely the shock of love, of lust, of captivation on the dancefloor, but the shock of all of those things against a backdrop of a life of self-denial and self-control, of telling yourself that these experiences were both impossible and wrong. It's about subjugation to the law of expectation, and emancipation from that law into a new form of subjugation to the law of desire. In that moment, a transformation that might pass by unnoticed to some observers nonetheless forms one of the crossroad points in your life, a threshold that once passed colours everything ahead and everything behind. I fell in love with "Deeper & Deeper" when I was 15 and I allowed myself to acknowledge my own desires at the same age, and I can pinpoint a second which this song encapsulates for me. And I fell in love when I was 18 and rediscovered the import of this song again.

It's not universal at all. But it's my number one favourite song ever.

PS. amazing work on this poll Johnny.

i think it was maybe underwhelming at the time but listening to it recently i found it MUCH better than i remembered, certainly closer to matching the sum of its parts than say chuck d + sonic youth.

Indeed. "Word up" does not a collaboration make.

Not enough depth here for a proper rollout outside of the top few, so here are your raw remix subpoll results:

Sorry (Man With Guitar Mix)	9	66
Justify My Love (Beast Within Remix)	5	36
Open Your Heart Extended Mix	5	28
Burning Up 12" Mix	3	22
La Isla Bonita (Revenge Rework)	3	22
Bedtime Story (Orbital Mix)	3	16
What It Feels Like For a Girl (Above & Beyond Remix)	2	16
Over and Over (You Can Dance Remix)	2	10
Erotica (William Orbit 12" Mix)	1	10
Let It Will Be (Paper Faces Remix)	1	10
Express Yourself (Shep Pettibone Video Mix)	1	10
Music Sounds Better With You vs. Holiday (Stuntmasterz Mix)	1	10
Hollywood (Stuart Price Mix)	1	10
Ray of Light (Liquid Mix)	1	10
Impressive Instant (Peter Rauhofer's Universal Club Mix)	1	10
Hollywood (Jacques Lu Cont's Thin White Duck Mix)	2	8
Sky Fits Heaven (Sasha's The Drug Fits Face Mix)	1	8
Human Nature (Runway Club Mix)	1	8
Erotica (Confessions Studio Extended Mix)	1	8
Into the Groove (Extended Remix)	1	8
Erotica/You Thrill Me (Confessions Tour Mix)	1	8
I'll Remember (Guerilla Beach Mix)	1	8
Don't Cry For Me Argentina (Miami Mix)	2	6
Everybody (You Can Dance Extended Mix)	1	6
Drowned World/Substitute For Love (BT and Sasha's Bucklodge Ashram Remix)	1	6
Into the Groove (Dub Version)	1	6
Keep It Together (Single Remix)	1	6
Jump (Jacques Lu Cont Mix)	1	6
Get Together (James Holden Remix)	1	4
Nothing Really Matters (K&D Mix)	1	4
Fever (Edit One with 12" Intro)	1	4
Hung Up (Diplo Mix)	1	4
Love Don't Live Here Anymore (Remix)	1	4
Rain (Razor and Guido Rain Forest Mix)	1	4
Secret (Junior's Luscious Club Mix)	1	4
Justify My Love (Orbit 12" Mix)	1	4
American Life (Felix Da Housecat's Devin Dazzle Radio Edit)	1	4
Erotica (Masters at Work Remix)	1	2
Ray of Light (Sasha Ultra Violet Mix)	1	2
Erotica (Madonna's In My Jeep Mix)	1	2
Vogue (The Shep Pettibone Integral Mix)	1	2
La Isla Bonita (Extended Remix)	1	2
Love Profusion (Ralphi Rosario House Vocal Mix)	1	2

fantastic remix results // tim f otm re: deeper & deeper

Impressed by how deep the quality goes. You could have started the countdown at 70 and still had a strong line-up.

who was the Hanky Panky voter?

probably my dad

Just played that Open Your Heart remix Alfred was championing. Wow.

My ballot, which answers how's life's question.

Songs

01. Where’s the Party? - 40
02. Causing a Commotion - 36
03. American Life - 33
04. Open Your Heart - 30
05. Lucky Star - 28
06. Take A Bow - 26
07. Burning Up - 25
08. Live to Tell - 24
09. Hanky Panky - 23
10. Into the Groove - 22
11. Everybody - 21
12. Secret - 20
13. Bad Girl - 19
14. Papa Don’t Preach - 18
15. Justify My Love - 17
16. Love Makes the World Go Round - 16
17. Love Profusion - 15
18. Deeper and Deeper - 14
19. True Blue - 13
20. Bedtime Story – 12

Videos

1. Like A Prayer
2. Vogue
3. Cherish
4. Oh Father
5. Material Girl

Albums

1. True Blue
2. American Life
3. Like A Prayer
4. Madonna
5. Bedtime Stories

Vote for the songs you enjoy the most, that is the ILMer's creed.

ILMadonna

respect for voting for "American Life," wish i had done so in solidarity with you (i went for "Die Another Day" instead)

True Blue
Open Your Heart
Dress You Up
Borderline
La Isla Bonita
Live to Tell
Crazy for You
Papa Don't Preach
Into the Groove
Die Another Day
Ray of Light
Take A Bow
Cherish
Material Girl
Who's That Girl
Music
Burning Up
Holiday
Where Life Begins
Deeper and Deeper

I think I had the most fun exploring remixes, no wonder there were so many single votes. There's so much to choose from!

yeah there are a ton i haven't heard, looking forward to diving in

really hate that her label seem to have been the most efficient at scouring the internet free of rarities - i'd be happy to buy most of the old remixes on itunes but you can't even do that!

1 vote for "Act of Contrition"?

guilty! i'm actually surprised it didn't get more votes.

That's what I meant. I thought for sure 2 or 3 more votes on that one.

I was thinking it's surprising that there's never been a big 'deluxe edition' reissue campaign or anything for Madonna's back catalogue, plenty of scope for making the remixes available there.

it's really remarkable that she's managed to fuck up every one of her compilations

What is the deal with Celebration? The mixes seem vaguely unfamiliar to me but it might just be punched up remastering etc?

I can't remember exactly what the glitches were with Celebration (other than having songs from Hard Candy lol), but I believe some of the edits were weird? Still better than Immaculate Collection, where endings are faded out to conserve time.

Celebration could've been salvaged by dumping the 2 new songs, everything from Hard Candy, and not NOT including "Deeper and Deeper."

Best poll since the 2012 horror movie poll, btw, so much good writing itt, indecent amt of superfun, playlist so good i marked it for offline cache. Biggest lightning bolt is motherfucking 'Til Death Do Us Part', which I KNOW I've heard since I've listened to all of LAP at least a few times, so I guess I just was deaf to it somehow but damn when it came on the playlist I totally froze. That fast clucking synth line makes me feel CRAZAY!!!

and not NOT including "Deeper and Deeper."

see also "Causing a Commotion"

For goodness' sake, why not just petition her to cover 4'33" while you're at it?

but I believe some of the edits were weird?

the edit of "4 minutes" that cuts the intro improves the song immeasurably even though it makes it, uh, 3 minutes.

Immaculate Collection is a crime against humanity. Those cut fades make me SO MAD. imo.

And what's with that piece-o'-shit mix of Into The Groove on IC? The whole point of the "You can dance..." intro is that it's spoken over the groove, DJ-style.

I fully admit that maybe I don't know any better, but that version sounds fine to me. Good, even! I am not a Madonna Scholar.

the first actual madonna thing i owned was the immaculate collection so i am intimately familiar with some of those mixes and edits even though i now realize they are abominations

that was me for a while -- I think I had a dubbed cassette of IC through college that I just used for parties or whatever, but once I got super into the albums, to the point where I had the fadeouts memorized, and then going back to the Immaculate Collection later on, I had full-on outrage that I hadn't noticed before, lol

Me too, only there was a long enough gap between me relying on it and rediscovering her that I don't notice the join. I could only point to the 'woo! yeah's on Like A Prayer as abominations.

I've always been obsessed with fadeouts, ever since I was a little kid and I would always strain to hear every part of the song even as it was getting quieter...and some of those madonna fadeouts I had memorized (I can't think of any off the top of my head ragh).

the immaculate collection was my entry point to pretty much everything pre-erotica and i fell in love with it all HARD

i now realise those versions are disasters and this whole experience proves, if anything, that those songs can withstand nuclear attacks

that's a good way of looking at it, lex

I've always been obsessed with fadeouts, ever since I was a little kid and I would always strain to hear every part of the song even as it was getting quieter...and some of those madonna fadeouts I had memorized (I can't think of any off the top of my head ragh).

― set the controls for the heart of the sun (VegemiteGrrl), Tuesday, March 12, 2013 3:46 PM (3 hours ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

haha do we have a thread about turning up the volume dial and listening closely on fadeouts? we really should

otm!

some of the Otis Redding fadeouts made me yell, like WAIT WAIT WAIT THERE'S A WHOLE OTHER PART OF THE SONG YOU'RE GONNA MISS noooooooooooooooooooo

people who grew up with immaculate collection are like people who grew up with the famous new order comp that i can't listen to cuz everything sounds so weird to me.

but Substance is awesome in its own right!

i can't listen to it. but that's just me. and my own nostalgia.

I grew up with both The Immaculate Collection and Substance. I love both to death

exactly. and i totally understand that.

has to be said the Substance 'Sub Culture' is a wretched thing compared to t Low Life one.

Assume Scott also prefers the original Temptation as well. Substance is great but does have flaws.

has to be said the Substance 'Sub Culture' is a wretched thing compared to t Low Life one.

I disagree with this so much. The original "Sub Culture" is one of the reasons why I can't listen to Low-Life

some of the Otis Redding fadeouts made me yell, like WAIT WAIT WAIT THERE'S A WHOLE OTHER PART OF THE SONG YOU'RE GONNA MISS noooooooooooooooooooo

― set the controls for the heart of the sun (VegemiteGrrl), Tuesday, March 12, 2013 7:34 PM (Yesterday) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

haha OTM.

Always gotten the sense that once Dan decides he dislikes something he then goes into a cave somewhere and cuts up the bodies of small children with the song on loop for five hours just so he can preserve that negative reaction forever.

loool

"gambler" was my huge (re)discovery of this poll. i had probably heard it at some point but not so much that i was familiar with it, if i was doing a ballot now it'd prob make it.

(i could only find the extended dance mix, i assume the original is not hugely different?)