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

ah Johnny has sent me down the rabbit hole of demos and unreleased tracks, because "Take Me (I Want You)" was an AWESOME find. pleasantly surprised at how long and detailed this list is, good job Madonna stans: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_unreleased_Madonna_songs

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CmFe83QiEaI

"Ain't No Big Deal" was apparently at one point supposed to be her first single before "Everybody," and was demoed and recorded several times before finally ending up a True Blue era b-side. one of the demos was produced by Mark Kamins, the boyfriend who produced "Everybody" and got Madonna signed who passed away last week, not sure if this 1981 one is his but it's pretty fun to hear.

I think the singles from Bedtime Stories are amazing but the album itself doesn't support them.

nah the suite from "forbidden love" to the end is so immaculate, and seriously sad as fuck - love how it slowly builds from she singing about rejection ("forbidden love") to absolute loneliness ("love tried to welcome me") to desiring death ("sanctuary") to oblivion itself ("bedtime stories") to then bringing the curtain down completely on "take a bow". and i love how she pillows all the tragedy under such luscious sonics to hide it away.

Patrick Leonard definitely helped her refine her melodic gifts.

haha rtc thanks for illuminating -- i was just following wikipedia's lead, only did a pretty half-assed comparison between the 2 tracks to confirm there was a sample, but obviously i was kinda joking about THE CURVE, still interesting imo

http://open.spotify.com/user/djperry1973/playlist/4b5pRHtluXpNzZWeQgxNbr

A playlist of the 74 Madonna singles available on Spotify; missing are "Gambler" from the "Vision Quest" soundtrack (#3 in Italy, #4 in the UK) and "Another Suitcase in Another Hall" from "Evita" (#4 in Italy, #7 in the UK)

re: "True Blue", I think it's a sweet, underrated song that Madonna loved so much she went back and turned it into "Cherish"

I have been waiting for this!! (duh)

I remember "Bedtime Stories" as landing right in the middle of her, er, overexposure, post "Erotica," "Truth or Dare," "Body of Evidence," etc. It was as if, in that brief window, no one really knew what they wanted from Madonna, so the album sort of floats in this weird purgatory. To my mind, at least. Obviously "Ray of Light" restored her balance, but I agree that "Bedtime Stories" is due some exploration. I do remember the title track's video being one of the first CGI extravaganzas to blow my mind.

"I'll Remember" was the Let's Clean Up My Image single.

also the "soundtrack song with bearded Joe Pesci clips galore in the video" single

an important staple in every megastar's career

"I'll Remember (Theme from With Honors)"

well MJ had his "Joe Pesci in sunglasses" videos from Moonwalker, Pesh was a hot pop accessory

http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/thumb/6/60/With_honors_poster.jpg/220px-With_honors_poster.jpg

many xposts to Josh In Chicago: I definitely remember Madge pre-Virgin - the first cassette I ever bought with my own money was 'H'Its Huge 84', which included 'Holiday' that I could.not.stop.dancing.to

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/H'its_Huge_'84

Pesci should have been in Rihanna's "S&M" video

"This Used To Be My Playground" probably wouldn't make the results even if stretched out to 100, but I love that song a lot for some reason (probably because I like the film it's from so much).

ahh With Honors' director did Truth Or Dare and a couple of her videos, now it all makes sense

I have gone on abt this elsewhere on this borad I'm sure but "Future Lovers" is totally the strongest track on "Confessions..." and it's really bizarre to me that it was never released as a single (esp considering it's the only Mirwais production on the album). Also the fact that "In the evidence of its brilliance" is sung at 7/4 time both on its own and then later mixed over a verse sung at 4/4 makes me super giddy every time I hear it.

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

God, my ballot is going to be so fucking challopy.

important question: can we do a madonna boyfriends poll while this is happening

xxpos JF otm - League of Their Own makes me love playground soooooo much

man it sucks thinking back to how true blue was like the big family car tape of my youth and it was actually all about sean penn

God, my ballot is going to be so fucking challopy.

If it's going to have a chunk of songs from 'Confessions...' on it, then we'll be of like mind.

Also, for your consideration (look there's a fucking ORBITAL remix!!):

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=X0R8MYGREmg

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Si3GJdpe_ro

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=z_sMHc3Tsx4

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=h44AGRkobIU

I'm adding another sub-poll for Top 5 Videos. This one wins IT ALL for me (also love the Above & Beyond remix used in the video):

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qYwgG2oyUbA

yes, I love that video to death

I'm strictly a non-voting Immaculate Collection guy, but my #1 would be the time I had to step around her and Sean Penn making out in the aisle of the Metropolitan Opera after Robin Williams' 1986 stand-up show there.

Also love (and will vote for) "This Used to Be My Playground."

yes, I love that video to death

It's the only video I ever bought on a dvd single.

I was listening to Immaculate Collection on my way in to work bcz it's the only Madge I had on my ipod -- they cut off all the songs at least 10-15 seconds early!! All my favorite hummy parts off the early singles are gooooooooone. Jerks.

Yes, the Immaculate Collection mixes are garbage.

Plus the remixes of the LAP songs = ehhh

I was already voting for at least 2 tracks off Erotica but Tim F and Eric otm --- relistening to it this morning goddamn it's a gorgeous album

love the lyrics of "Bad Girl" and she straining at the limits of her pre-opera-snob voice.

"Bad Girl" = her greatest video and ballad

Yeah Bad Girl is awesome.

oh man if we're gonna talk about best videos maybe there should have been a video sub-poll

I'm adding another sub-poll for Top 5 Videos.

Already did.

ahhh you should get that added to the top of the thread, i missed it

Who here is a mod? Can I get a mod to add that to the op, plz?

try asking on MRF, you will probably get a faster answer

signed, an ex-mod who would have been all over that request back in the day

done.

i only got into madonna about three years ago. i think its because of how much i hate contemporary madonna. not just the music although the last time she released a single i could stand was maybe don't tell me. a big thing that stopped me hearing the back catalogue properly was my projections of her current gay icon golden statue media presence, that is there is something beyond iconic about her, she's kindof hardened into a set of signifiers. its really boring to me. this is her curse and her blessing i think, the thing that makes her textually convoluted and judith butler and paris is burning and all that but on the other hand makes her kindof static and monolithic and so overcoded. its the very earliest stuff i like most, Borderline, the shiny scruffiness of it. arriving in new york with $35 in her pocket. something so sly and canny about it. a whiff of the street, the warm air out of subway stations. i think of her first album as being such a great new york album in tradition of like vu&nico or parallel lines. i just love this ballsy girl in these songs. and its a shame that her media persona has congealed around her. ray of light is her only good album after the first three i think, though obviously there's highlights out of most things along the way. remembering that thing she used to do, a hint of the underground. the blissed out bubbling of a rave on another beach down the coast, parts of it almost wild but so soft and distant and so clear and liquid. i also like her singing on that album, how she was suddenly a grown up. Also don't vote for vogue because of cultural imperialism guys.

i have to vote for "Vogue." it's an amazing song. kind of feel like ~principles~ have no place in a Madonna poll. my top video picks are going to be largely dictated by male gaze.

must resist terrible pun

Don't like "Vogue," never have, for some reason.

great post, plax

yeah vogue also kindof sucks and the video is gross

VG OTM, that was a great plax post

Oh man, just cued up "Oh Father" for the first time in far too long. Those strings still give me the goosebumps.