― Sterling Clover, Wednesday, 7 March 2001 01:00 (twenty-three years ago) link
2. I am a tad suspicious of that view, though - it goes rather easy on the 80s work. There are a few 80s-Madonna tracks I really am very fond of: 'Papa Don't Preach', and, well... a few others. But I suspect there's a lot of waff filler, too, and that nostalgia is much in play here. Mind you, I always found most of the Like A Prayer LP excellent.
3. Nicole is right: intelligent and sensitive chap though Nick D is, he shouldn't hitch his colours - or anything much else - to Charlotte Raven's mast. The only thing worse than what Raven polemicizes against in that segment is the gal and her views themselves. She is constantly sounding off embarrassingly about things she knows nothing of, and (unlike us) getting paid loads for the privilege. There may be some truth in what ND quoted from her, but there's probably some idiocy and Burchillesque perversity too. And when she says 'Don't trust people who say Madonna's sexy' - well. That depends. I don't like the adjective one bit, and I wouldn't apply it to Madonna now, but if you held a bazooka to my head and made me apply it to anyone, it might have to be mid-80s Madonna.
― the pinefox, Wednesday, 7 March 2001 01:00 (twenty-three years ago) link
Oh, Edward? "Burning Up" is Amazingly Brilliant. You are not alone.
― Dan Perry, Wednesday, 7 March 2001 01:00 (twenty-three years ago) link
― Ally, Thursday, 8 March 2001 01:00 (twenty-three years ago) link
"Don't Tell Me" comes across as being just as forced as "Music", I will admit. However, there's something about the way that song is written which also makes it sound more natural. (My guess is that the backing music supports the melody rather than distracts from it, although the unchartiable part of me wants to give "Music" bonus points for trying to keep me from noticing that Madonna didn't seem to come up with a tune for it.)
― Dan Perry, Thursday, 8 March 2001 01:00 (twenty-three years ago) link
My general point was that I'm just bored stiff with talk about Madonna. The British media and associated chatterers just go on and on about her, her iconic status, her latest fucking hairstyle. I know this has been going on for years, ever since broadsheet writers and cultural studies lecturers latched onto her, but it seems to have got worse since she came over here.
And it makes me feel old to know that most teenagers are probably wondering what on earth all the fuss is about. Sorry, appealing to the opinions of imaginary teenagers is stupid thing to do.
I don't dislike her. I don't even care about Guy Ritchie. I just think most of the talk about her these days is regurgative rather springing from any real interest in 'Tell Me' or her latest haircut.
Like I, and almost everyone else here seems to say, 80s Madonna - classic. Since then, zzzzzz.....
― Nick, Thursday, 8 March 2001 01:00 (twenty-three years ago) link
― Sterling Clover, Thursday, 8 March 2001 01:00 (twenty-three years ago) link
― Sterling Clover, Saturday, 17 March 2001 01:00 (twenty-three years ago) link
― Cash Lone, Friday, 23 March 2001 01:00 (twenty-three years ago) link
― Nicole, Friday, 23 March 2001 01:00 (twenty-three years ago) link
― Melissa W, Sunday, 27 May 2001 00:00 (twenty-two years ago) link
― Tracer Hand, Monday, 28 May 2001 00:00 (twenty-two years ago) link
― gareth, Monday, 28 May 2001 00:00 (twenty-two years ago) link
― tarden, Monday, 28 May 2001 00:00 (twenty-two years ago) link
1. I've always liked Terry Wogan - but god, he was lame when he interviewed Madonna.
2. Her accent - the cod-Brit one she adopted from late 80s on (?): dud.
3. What a load of piffle re. 'We all love her cos she lives in England now'. But that's probably been covered above.
4. The music seemed to get better over the years. I was so struck when 'Who's That Girl?' came on. I hadn't heard it in AGES, had always known I liked it, and it still sounded good. Some (to my ears) didn't: don't care for 'Vogue' much.
4. But slightly larger (though still terribly 'subjective') point: I was surprised at how bad the early stuff seemed. 'Holiday', 'Lucky Star', 'Like A Virgin': yes, they still have the predictable 80s nostalgia value. BUT even as I kind of enjoy that, I seem to hear a naffness, a tackiness in them. In fact one virtue of this prog was that I seemed to see the early stuff as though for the first time, as a kid. It reminded me of seeing early Madonna not as a loveable 80- retro icon of our childhood, but as The Big New Pop Star c. 1984. How did she seem, that way? Arrogant - self-satisfied - unsubtle - overrated - sinister - smug. 'Like A Virgin' felt crass and brazen. I'd never heard it sound so BAD in 15 years or more.
So in a way, one thing it made me feel was a resemblance (from my POV) between early Madonna and today's chart sensations (the people that Tom E likes). It made me feel that she had been just as bad as them. I hadn't felt that for a long time.
― the pinefox, Wednesday, 4 July 2001 00:00 (twenty-two years ago) link
That said, her music's actually pretty damn good - "Cherish", "Open Your Heart", probably the entirety of _True Blue_. (Not that this is news to anyone but myself.) She's a crap actress, though, and a crapper singer, especially after her _Evita_ lessons - who the hell taught her how to hold notes? And WHY did they teach her that? And why is she posing with a guitar now like it's a revelation? "Oh, damn, I can play a C chord! This'll impress people!" And I like her better as a brunette. But she survived posing nude with Vanilla Ice, which is a skill I can only hope to emulate.
(And has anyone even mentioned _Ray of Light_ in terms of a quality slice of Ciccone "youth"? Or is there an anti-William Orbit contingent on this list that'll shit on such notions?)
But it's a lose-lose situation, this sort of talk. You praise her like you should, you're just towing the line with the rest of the acolytes. You disapprove, you're a wack playa hata. Just accept her as true American royalty and step away from the doors.
(But, lord, hearing her butcher "Like A Virgin" on that VH1 Girlie Show special was wretched. She turned it into a German cabaret number. A SLOW cabaret number. Lugubrious and woefully self- indulgent, Kubrick-style. "You're so fine, unt you're mine!")
― David Raposa, Wednesday, 4 July 2001 00:00 (twenty-two years ago) link
'Ah but thats just the point, she's a weathervane, a survivor and a late 20th century pop icon'. Hmmmmmmmmm.
― stevo, Thursday, 5 July 2001 00:00 (twenty-two years ago) link
― Geir Hongro (GeirHong), Wednesday, 19 March 2003 01:13 (twenty-one years ago) link
― Anthony Miccio (Anthony Miccio), Wednesday, 19 March 2003 01:35 (twenty-one years ago) link
Klassic
― girl scout heroin (iamamonkey), Wednesday, 19 March 2003 01:39 (twenty-one years ago) link
― dave q, Wednesday, 19 March 2003 11:15 (twenty-one years ago) link
― dave q, Wednesday, 19 March 2003 11:16 (twenty-one years ago) link
(to be precise, he is not strictly speaking the worst - I find it hard to visualise anyone who could be a worse writer than Imran Ahmed of the NME - but that wouldn't quite have the same universal appeal when it comes to chat-ups)
― Marcello Carlin, Wednesday, 19 March 2003 11:26 (twenty-one years ago) link
Only someone who doesn't appreciate pop culture could say Madonna's a dud.
― russ t, Wednesday, 19 March 2003 14:56 (twenty-one years ago) link
― j0e (j0e), Wednesday, 19 March 2003 14:58 (twenty-one years ago) link
― Horace Mann (Horace Mann), Wednesday, 19 March 2003 15:00 (twenty-one years ago) link
From what I heard Portillo was trying to persuade her to be the star turn at the next Tory election rally. Still she's moved back to LA now, so the sight of her standing next to Bob Monkhouse, Jim Davidson and Ben Elton (prediction) will not come to pass.
― Marcello Carlin, Wednesday, 19 March 2003 15:03 (twenty-one years ago) link
― russ t, Wednesday, 19 March 2003 15:16 (twenty-one years ago) link
― j0e (j0e), Wednesday, 19 March 2003 15:17 (twenty-one years ago) link
― russ t, Wednesday, 19 March 2003 15:20 (twenty-one years ago) link
You're probably right at that. What the fuck happened to him anyway?
― Ned Raggett (Ned), Wednesday, 19 March 2003 16:04 (twenty-one years ago) link
― j0e (j0e), Wednesday, 19 March 2003 16:10 (twenty-one years ago) link
She is also a very crafty song-writer. What is so amazing is how she plays with song structure. Guys if you have ever written songs, you know it takes a musical-genius to write that many styles of song-writing. It is fucking hard. I don't know how she does it but it is her. Yea I know she collaborates but from what I have read, she is always the primary lyricists. She has written very complex songs. Her use of different song structures is nothing short of brilliance. And to make them all hits like she does is pretty astounding.
I am not interested in the petty fighting between fans of different singers that goes on. I am just giving my opinion as a musician. Madonna is the real deal. Even other bands I talk with that aren't into her music give her props for being the real deal. In our circles, we respect Madonna even if we aren't into her music. She is a classic all the way and will go down as one of the top 10 greatest female singer/song-writers of all time. She is a musical genius.
― Gizmo, Wednesday, 16 July 2003 22:36 (twenty years ago) link
Didn't realize people actually used such terminology.
― Alex in NYC (vassifer), Wednesday, 16 July 2003 23:59 (twenty years ago) link
Oh, and classic or dud, she represents all the worst of postmodern media saturation, celebrity for celebrity's sake, nihilistic materialism, etc. I root for her stalkers.
― brian nemtusak (sanlazaro), Thursday, 17 July 2003 00:36 (twenty years ago) link
I didn't listen to her seriously until that point as well. She's great.
― Sean (Sean), Thursday, 17 July 2003 00:41 (twenty years ago) link
So maybe I can't be objective.
― brian nemtusak (sanlazaro), Thursday, 17 July 2003 00:58 (twenty years ago) link
A living legend.
And the video of Hollywood is just stunning. As are the remixes.
― russ t, Thursday, 17 July 2003 08:40 (twenty years ago) link
remixes sound good tho
― stevem (blueski), Thursday, 17 July 2003 09:05 (twenty years ago) link
Also, she should start releasing the great tracks from American Life, and there are definitely quite a few. I'd go for Nothing Fails and Mother and Father.... both classic Madonna.
― russ t, Thursday, 17 July 2003 09:48 (twenty years ago) link
Why in the heck did they put "Borderline" as the third song on Immaculate Collection? I don't get that. Those other songs ("Lucky Star", "holiday") weren't released as singles earlier, were they? I don't think so. I swear "Borderline" was the first video I ever saw. That's kind of annoying sequencing. I think "Borderline" is just so fantastic - the type of song that should really kick off a greatest hits collection.
Anyway, let's talk some more about Madge. We haven't had much opportunity to do so; the last album flopped, god bless her, but what can you do? It happens. She is still awesome in my mind.
I finally saw Swept Away on HBO or something over X-mas but whatever, it wasn't too bad. I loved the original, and Madonna's didin't seem to bad. Decent flick.
Anyway ... Madonna!!!
― Broheems (diamond), Sunday, 25 January 2004 12:30 (twenty years ago) link
― Broheems (diamond), Sunday, 25 January 2004 12:40 (twenty years ago) link
Madonna would benefit from a Lennon-like 5 year voluntary break from the public eye/music world...
― Bob Six (bobbysix), Sunday, 25 January 2004 12:54 (twenty years ago) link
Because:1) the album is chronological 2) it could not start more perfectly3) the song's classic-ness is "borderline" at best
― gabbneb (gabbneb), Sunday, 25 January 2004 18:41 (twenty years ago) link
I can't believe it! This is the song from Live Aid you can't get on the commercially available DVD! And I found it by accident when I played Human League's Human video. God what luck. I love You Tube.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lABvKuDZFKE
― Bimble, Tuesday, 18 September 2007 04:37 (sixteen years ago) link
Hmm. So I'm the only one who cares? I realize it's not the best song in the world, perhaps, but it's been the missing chapter in her Live Aid performance for me, it's the missing link, the mystery solved, I feel so relieved.
― Bimble, Sunday, 23 September 2007 05:17 (sixteen years ago) link
It's ok -- this appeared on True Blue, no?
― Alfred, Lord Sotosyn, Sunday, 23 September 2007 12:36 (sixteen years ago) link
I don't know - did it? I've been wondering what album it came off if any. I guess I could look it up and I will do so, but too tired right now.
― Bimble, Sunday, 23 September 2007 14:11 (sixteen years ago) link
FWIW, Susan Siedelman is appearing at Roxy Cinema in NYC on Thursday, July 27, to do a Q&A for a post-screening discussion of Desperately Seeking Susan which starts at 7pm.
― birdistheword, Saturday, 1 July 2023 16:11 (nine months ago) link
I love the joke with the pyramid jacket – where Susan tells the guy in the thrift store (when she’s trading it for the boots) that it belonged to Jimmy Hendrix… and when Roberta comes in later, asking about it, the guy looks her over and tells her it was owned by Elvis Presley.
― Bittern Storm Over My Hammy (morrisp), Saturday, 1 July 2023 20:57 (nine months ago) link
North American summer tour cancelled.
― Josh in Chicago, Monday, 10 July 2023 18:21 (nine months ago) link
We saw her last night at Madison Square Garden. For all the complaints about late start times, once the show gets going it's a non-stop barrage of the Great Pop Canon - rename the tour Madonna's Machine Gun of Hits. The show ends abruptly and ridiculously (not unlike a shootout) running right up against MSG's power-off deadline. It's bass heavy - some songs slam when they should groove. The Michael Jackson tribute interstitial is weird and uncomfortably longer that it should be (like a bad SNL sketch) but ignorable coming after a spectacular "Rain." OTOH, she sounds great and the setlist is unstoppable. Old age and treachery beats youth and exuberance again. I can't imagine anything better from a Madonna show in 2024.
Spoilers here: https://www.setlist.fm/setlist/madonna/2024/madison-square-garden-new-york-ny-43accf6f.html
― Elvis Telecom, Wednesday, 31 January 2024 01:25 (two months ago) link
oh shit
― Deflatormouse, Wednesday, 31 January 2024 01:46 (two months ago) link
Act VIBedtime StoryRay of LightRain
!!!
― Deflatormouse, Wednesday, 31 January 2024 01:48 (two months ago) link
I think if the poll was run again, I'd vote "Don't Tell Me" as #1
― Elvis Telecom, Wednesday, 31 January 2024 01:56 (two months ago) link
I love this report thank you!!
― in an aeroplane under the sea (flamboyant goon tie included), Wednesday, 31 January 2024 02:05 (two months ago) link
I talked my wife into going with her friends, she's going to have a blast. What I love about Madonna tours is that while any number of pop pretenders understand spectacle, very few have the personality to do something particularly compelling with it. To their credit Swift and Beyonce both seem to have learned the right lessons from larger than life presentations of the past, but erstwhile peers like that are few and far between.
― Josh in Chicago, Wednesday, 31 January 2024 02:58 (two months ago) link
I was going to sit this out even though I've never been to her shows, but a friend who's a diehard fan treated me to a show when his partner couldn't go, and it was a pretty great spectacle - honestly, maybe the best I've ever been to in terms of production design. (Maybe the one U2 show I saw had the best set piece thanks to that enormous rocketship/claw thing, but Madonna had like a bazillion different sets that were all amazing.)
― birdistheword, Wednesday, 31 January 2024 06:35 (two months ago) link
huh
For the first time on a Madonna tour, there was no live band – according to musical director Stuart Price, this is to let the original recordings shine.
― Josh in Chicago, Friday, 2 February 2024 22:59 (two months ago) link
yeah, I noticed TV shows also stopped hiring real string musicians, to let those EastWest plugins shine
― Vinnie, Saturday, 3 February 2024 00:53 (two months ago) link
lol
― Marten Broadcloak, mild-mannered GOP congressman (Raymond Cummings), Saturday, 3 February 2024 00:57 (two months ago) link
No one wants to say “to save some dough”
"Ok Madonna, we've looked at the tour budget and we are a little over. We could either cut the light show, or cut the musicians, what do you think?"
― Josh in Chicago, Saturday, 3 February 2024 02:10 (two months ago) link
Madonna brought Kylie onstage for a couple songs last night in L.A. and i think the earth's axis shifted.
― omar little, Friday, 8 March 2024 18:32 (one month ago) link
My wife was there... she thought it was a little odd that they performed "I Will Survive" (and then played just a few bars of "Can't Get You Out of My Head"). Her overall review of the show was mixed...
― Hippie Ernie (morrisp), Friday, 8 March 2024 19:36 (one month ago) link
pretty obvious it was just a quick cameo, maybe somewhat impromptu based on Kylie being in town at the time, and that they'd have to do a couple songs they would both know, just a couple logical picks. def more about the iconic moment being created and not the production values.
― omar little, Friday, 8 March 2024 19:50 (one month ago) link
Apparently it was the slot in the show where she normally does "Express Yourself."
― Hippie Ernie (morrisp), Friday, 8 March 2024 20:04 (one month ago) link
Which she apparently does acoustic, for some reason, right?
― Josh in Chicago, Friday, 8 March 2024 20:14 (one month ago) link
Oh, I don't know... she said "I Will Survive" was acoustic.
She took a pic of Lenny Kravitz walking up the aisle... she also saw Jeff B3zo$ there.
― Hippie Ernie (morrisp), Friday, 8 March 2024 20:20 (one month ago) link
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=I1RAd9hPhUU
― Elvis Telecom, Friday, 8 March 2024 21:43 (one month ago) link
yes, this acoustic number is part of the show and she’s been alternating between I Will Survive and Express Yourself. there is also the vogueing competition segment, and a different guest judge gets invited in each city (we got pamela anderson in vancouver), so perhaps the plan was to have kylie as a guest judge and they decided to use the occasion to do something more?
― scanner darkly, Friday, 8 March 2024 22:20 (one month ago) link
She called out a person from the stage for sitting down only to discover they were in a wheelchair!
― (•̪●) (carne asada), Friday, 8 March 2024 22:30 (one month ago) link
yeah that was pretty cringe
― scanner darkly, Friday, 8 March 2024 23:02 (one month ago) link
still in awe of how amazing her show was last night. her voice was pretty much destroyed by the end of the show last night (she was drinking Jager all night on stage and yelling, so no shocker), but she's never been known for being a great singer (though sadly that did cause her to outright ruin "Take a Bow", lol).
but the entire show was beautiful, the theatrical jaunt through the decades of her life were incredible, and considering how hateful our Governor is to the LGBTQIA2S+ community, it was great to see something so sex positive and openly celebratory of all orientations and identities in our state. didn't hurt that the song choices were ace - "Bad Girl" was incredible, "Live to Tell", "Everything", "Burning Up" were some of my favorites. she did fully lip sync "Ray of Light", which is not unexpected, but that was incredibly staged.
but man I wish she'd stop demanding her shows be at 84 degrees, god that was hot. lol.
― CEO Greedwagon (Neanderthal), Friday, 5 April 2024 18:53 (two weeks ago) link
she was drinking Jager all night
gross
― poppers fueled buttsex crescendo (Alfred, Lord Sotosyn), Friday, 5 April 2024 18:54 (two weeks ago) link
lol otm.
I was kinda side-eyeing her, "you want the arena at 84 degrees for your voice and yet you're ruining it anyway by drinking that all night".
― CEO Greedwagon (Neanderthal), Friday, 5 April 2024 18:59 (two weeks ago) link
Was it a prop, like David Lee Roth's "Jack Daniels" bottle that was full of iced tea?
― Instead of create and send out, it pull back and consume (unperson), Friday, 5 April 2024 19:11 (two weeks ago) link
I thought DLR (and Michael, and probably EVH, for sure Alex, who had a trash can by his set for barf) was drinking the real thing, but he accused the Clash of drinking iced tea.
― Josh in Chicago, Friday, 5 April 2024 19:15 (two weeks ago) link
I was close (courtesy Hagar's memoir):
They would wake up Al about twenty minutes before show-time. There was always a case of tall Schlitz cans. He would shotgun three or four beers and get his buzz on. He would walk out onstage with a couple more cans in his hands, pound those, and drink the rest of the case during the two-hour show. The crew would put out these big rubber trash cans for him to piss in during the show. After practically every song, he’d piss in the trash can, pound a couple of beers, and start playing again. Sometimes he’d really be fucked up. In the middle of a song, he’d just get up off the drums to take a piss or chug a beer. Eventually he started wearing one of those helmets with beer holders on the side, and straws. At the end of the tour, he needed some help.
― Josh in Chicago, Friday, 5 April 2024 19:17 (two weeks ago) link
xxpost kind of the reverse, she was drinking out of a Budweiser bottle all night, then explained that it wasn't really filled with Budweiser, that it was Jager.
(possible it was water and she was kidding, but judging by how raspy and dry-mouthed she seemed, I doubt it).
my mom was dancing and singing throughout the whole show
― CEO Greedwagon (Neanderthal), Friday, 5 April 2024 19:17 (two weeks ago) link
Guy Pratt, the British sessioneer who's played with Pink Floyd among other giants, breaks down his fantastic bass part in "Like a Prayer." Check out his playing at 12:00.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yluPCLc1ltg
― poppers fueled buttsex crescendo (Alfred, Lord Sotosyn), Sunday, 7 April 2024 15:49 (one week ago) link
That is one of my favorite clips of all time, pretty sure I've posted it somewhere on ILX once or twice.
― Josh in Chicago, Sunday, 7 April 2024 16:08 (one week ago) link
(His book is great, btw, especially if you want some colorful Robert Palmer tales.)
― Josh in Chicago, Sunday, 7 April 2024 16:11 (one week ago) link