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Okay, she's my girl!.. You either love her or
hate her, but chances are you have some
strong opinion of Madonna. If you've read
my other chartopper columns it comes as
no surprise that, for the past 20 years, I've
adored her! And she continues to inspire me
with each new album. For the next few
months, in celebration of the twentieth
anniversary of the release of her very first
record, I'll be looking back at Madonna's
amazing career and talking about each
release! We'll have some fun trivia with
great prizes so stay tuned and please keep
reading Chartoppers: Madonna! Email me
at chris@fredflare.com. I'd love to hear
your stories about Madonna! Xxoo, Chris
Click here for Chartoppers: the 80's!
 

Hey, I have a confession... I love Madonna!!! Yeah, that's a shocker, I know. But seriously, I'm so happy to announce that our fave Miss Mo has her sixth #1 album Confessions on a Dance Floor with its first single "Hung Up" charting as her 51st time in the Top Ten. This means that Mo has now matched Elvis Presley's record of 36 Top Ten hits, the most for any artist in the rock era. Go Mo!!! Yippee, I just love those numbers! And of course I love to see my girl back on top.

Everyone's been making a big deal lately about how Mo's got her groove back and all, ditching the spiritual jargon this time for the dance floor, but the truth is pretty much all her songs from American Life ended up big dance hits. She's always been rockin' out! So what if she preached a bit while we jacked and popped? But it's true, Confessions pretty much ditches the message and goes for gold... solid gold that is, with super awesome disco influences. "Hung Up" samples Abba of all things... How much more disco can you get?

Before I go into the Confessions playlist can I first talk about how amazing Madge is lookin' these days? While she always partners the release of a new record with a new look, this disco diva incarnation is sooo fun! It just cracks me up. Winged hairdos? Sequins and leotards? Big boots and fishnets? Sign me up! I even had to get those sequined belts and berets for this site... I just couldn't resist!!

Okay, let's get future disco, shall we?!? Confessions, mixed continuous like a DJ set, finds Madge looking back at her roots, even referencing her own songs. Awesome songs to reference if I may say! Anyhoot, Madge-ic opens the confessional with her first single "Hung Up". This is actually the first time an artist has successfully managed to get those Abba Swedes to allow one of their songs to be sampled... Good thing! I'd hate to be the one who says no to Mo. Look out!

She also grabs lyrics from 1989's "Love Song", her duet with Prince from Like A Prayer, with that line, "Time goes by so slowly for those who wait." Ring, ring, ring goes the telephone and Maddy ain't gonna wait no mo... She's fed up. Call me, let's dance!

The alarm clock sounds and it's time to bounce right into "Get Together"... This is totally my fave song on the disc. "Do you believe I can make you feel better?" Mo asks. Well, yeah, duh! This song gives me that warm fuzzy rocking out at 2am feeling. "Can we get together?" she asks. Why, sure!

The next track is the synthy bee-bopping "Sorry". "Sorry" is about taking no bull from the boyz and opens with "sorries" spoken in tons of different languages. Translation: dumb boyz are an international phenomenon. This song kind of reminds me of Erotica's "Words" in the way that Madge has heard it all before...

A Giorgio Moroder intro hurls us right into "Future Lover" where M pipes up that she's gonna tell us about love but first we have to forget about our problems and bills and... loans? Um, okay! This jam's throbbing beats are coupled with repeated chirps of the line "evidence of its brilliance". I have to ask, who's her "future lover" anyway? Is it technology? Is it religion? Who knows, let's dance!

Now a little bagpipe thing knocks us home to New York. In "I Love New York," Maddy totally disses LA, Paris and London for her hometown of the Big Apple. Yay Mo, I love New York, too! Please move back! It's so cute how she rhymes New York with dork. Madonna says in this tune, "If you don't like my attitude, then you can F' off..." Ha! She's also blasts "If you can't take the heat, get off of my street". Gosh, Madge, I can handle it. What street do ya wanna meet on?

A cute little "Papa Don't Preach" violin piece takes us right into "Let It Will Be". Here Mo sings about the trappings of fame and fortune. See, she's not totally brain dead with her messages! I particularly love the Depeche Mode melodies here! Watch her burn... It's a good thing, I swear!

Next up, another deep Giorgio Moroder "Metropolis" blends us into "Forbidden Love". We now have two entirely different Madonna songs with the same title... I guess that happens when you've been making music for twenty years. This is a lovely bell ringing creepy song about a Romeo and Juliet forbidden love, but in the club.

With "Jump" you can totally hear what sounds like the Pet Shop Boys' "West End Girls" in the background... And no, this isn't a Van Halen cover, but a raw beat pulsing anthem to jump for what you want. Work and fight and you can do it! "Are you ready to Jump"? Hell ya! Let's jump... How high? Funny, that's our next song!!! "How High" give us more of the questioning Mo. "How high are the stakes?" She asks, "How much fortune can you make?" We also get fun references to Maddy's "Nobody's Perfect" and "I Deserve It". Loves it!

The next track "Isaac" kinda reminds me of a new age Sting Jaguar commercial song and I really like it! I love her "Mmmmms"... They remind me of her yoga Mmmms from "Frozen". It's like chanting while you boogie down! Now we're gonna "Push". I think "Push" would make a great single. It's got a kind of Sean Paul feel to it. It's pretty much an homage to your soul mate, someone who pushes you to be a "better version of yourself". This is my "Keith" song, he's my PUSH! He pushes me in all the best ways! Thanks, babe!

Madonna wraps up Confessions with "Like it or Not". It has an intro that's also very "Frozen". I feel this is Madonna's message at its best and most honest... like me or not, take me or leave me, but I'm never gonna stop! And clearly she never will!!!

So there's my confession... I love this record and I'll always love my Madonna. Now stop reading this! Turn up the music and let's dance! xxoo, Chris

11/2005




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