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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! |
 Do you remember your first time? I remember the first time I ever saw Madonna perform live. I was on Spring Break with my Grandma and my cousin Jenny Spears in Florida. We were visiting Jenny’s Grandma who had moved down there for her retirement, but Jenny also had some plans of her own. Somehow she had managed to score us two tickets to see Mo’s “Virgin Tour” in Orlando. Now at that time I certainly knew of Madonna, but I had no idea how much my life was about to change. We took the bus to the concert stadium all by ourselves, two 15 year olds on their big night out. I’d never done anything so adventurous and unsupervised by an adult before. I remember Jenny was an actress at the local theater back in my hometown so she was always hamming it up in some crazy character. On the bus we had this great idea to speak in a British accent. We also put eyeliner on that Jenny had stolen from her Mom. We were so cool! But deep down, I was petrified. This was my first concert ever and I was so nervous! When we finally arrived at Orlando’s Orange County Civic Center, we did as any red-blooded teenager would. We headed straight for the concession stand, got our gigantic sodas with tons of candy and then began the search for our seats. The place was buzzing with wall-to-wall wannabees! At the time I didn’t even know what a Madonna wannabe was, but Jenny quickly enlightened me on this new fashion movement. She flashed her lace gloves, displayed her rubber bracelets from Claire’s Boutique and fluffed the giant raggedy Christmas bow in her hair. I understood everything. When the lights finally went down and Madonna appeared at the top of a tall staircase in a green and purple paisley ragamuffin outfit, the screams from the building roared at a deafening volume. She began to sing and shimmy to “Dress You Up” and my little virgin eyes could hardly take it all in! Maddy danced and sang her heart out and I became more and more fascinated with each progressing number. It was like I was being told a secret I had waited my whole life to hear. At the end of the show when the cascade of balloons fell down on us, each printed with “Dreams Can Come True”, I felt completely bewitched by this sparkling magical spell. Needless to say, the first thing I did when I got back home was buy a copy of Like a Virgin, Madonna’s second album. Like a Virgin, which Mo dedicated “to the virgins of the world” was actually completed early in 1984 but not released until the fall of that same year. See, M’s first record, titled simply Madonna, was such a slow burning hit that it really didn’t break the top ten until well over a year after its release. Remember, MTV was still kinda new then and Madonna’s early eye candy videos were essential in helping to establish an audience for this new artist. While the completed Like a Virgin smoldered in the background, Madonna was nominated for Best New Artist at MTV’s very first VMA awards to be held at New York’s Radio City Music Hall. She even managed to score a performance gig at the awards. Genius planner that she is, she decided not perform her hit “Borderline” for which she was nominated but instead highlight her new single “Like a Virgin” from her new album just about to break. You all know what followed. She burst out of a big wedding cake and rolled around on the floor in pure ecstasy. It was a legendary moment, the birth of a true star. It was also the beginning of Madonnamania. The Like a Virgin record went on to become such a phenomenal global mega-hit smash that it forever burned Madonna into our social conscience in a way that few, if any, artists have been able to match since. Like a Virgin literally catapulted Mo into becoming the most famous woman in the world! It was defining. It was intense. It was BIG, so much so that it is hard for me to try and capture it all in this column. From that performance at the first VMA’s to "Like a Virgin’s" steamy video set in Venice and then on to more iconic territory with Mo’s Marilyn turn in “Material Girl”, Madonna’s career moves of this period make your head spin. I’ll begin by outlining the amazing singles of that time but keep in mind all the other pop provocation Madonna also entertained us with in those days. From “Desperately Seeking Susan” to the Playboy and Penthouse spreads to her landing on the cover of Time Magazine, the girl was everywhere! Okay people, paint on that Madonna mole and cinch up your boy toy belts as we tread some Virgin territory! Madonna’s first single out of the gate was, obviously, its title track that spent a whopping six weeks at the top of the charts in late ‘84. Contrary to popular belief, though, the song isn’t about, well you know... It’s really just exploring that fun, starting-out phase in a new relationship and how it gives you that excited feeling where everything seems “shiny and new”. But, wow, it sure did cause quite the scandal in its day. I mean, just hearing the word “virgin” on the radio was pretty shocking at that time. But the most interesting thing about “Like a Virgin”, I think, is its reinvention over the years. Madge performed the hit with a Middle Eastern vibe at the “Blonde Ambition” tour and then gave it some Marlene Dietrich flair during the “Girly Show” tour. And remember when the jam popped up in “Moulin Rouge”? I loved that. When Keith and I saw Mo at Tower Records this spring she even sang “Like a Virgin” on request, totally spontaneous. She was so cute laughing all the way through it. Then of course there’s the recent smooch smash with Christina and Britney at this year’s VMA’s. This somewhat silly tune has really gotten the royal postmodern treatment! The next single from Like a Virgin was also a gigantic hit. “Material Girl” finds Mo in full 80’s irony. Packed with sparkling bells, an infectious hook, and tons of “hey!” and “that’s right!” this ode to consumerism is equally as much about power, independence and love, the most pervasive themes in any of Madonna’s “material”. And the vid clip says it all. Directed by my fave Mary Lambert, after Jean Paul Gaultier bailed, the “Material Girl” video is a re-enactment of Marilyn Monroe’s performance of “Diamonds Are a Girl’s Best Friend” from the movie “Gentlemen Prefer Blondes” with Maddy in the exact pink Marilyn gown on the exact pink Marilyn set. But the comparison ends there. Mo’s no damsel in distress! Here she’s giving these boyz a run for their money. The funniest thing I’ve read recently about the video is that Maddy “doesn’t dig gold, she picks pockets.” I love that! What followed was a non-album single that was released in the midst of the Virgin storm. “Crazy for You,” Maddy’s #1 song from ’85 was her very first ballad. This slow jam even dethroned “We Are the World”. That’s major! Taken from the movie “Vision Quest” in which M also had a cameo as a club singer, “Crazy for You” proved that Mo had more. She already had us boogying on the dance floor so here she demonstrated that she could slow it down for a couple’s dance. Just listen to a lyric or two and you’re practically back at high school prom: “Swaying room as the music starts... Strangers making the most of the daaaaark...” Oh Mo, I’m so crazy for you, too! Our next course is the “Angel” / “Into the Groove” deluxe platter. “Angel”, the third single from Like a Virgin is a sugar sweet song that has Madge all up in the clouds and oozing about how her baby’s an angel in disguise. I’ve always loved this one. It’s super cute yet somehow oddly mysterious. Maddy never performed this #4 hit live after the "Virgin Tour" nor featured it on any greatest hits compilation. And there’s no video. Why? Basically, they blew the budget with “Material Girl”! Same with “Into the Groove”. Its video is merely a splicing of clips from the movie “Desperately Seeking Susan”. Did you know that “Into the Groove” was never actually released as a single here in the States? Can you believe that? The only place it even could be located at the time was on the B-side of of the 12” remix of “Angel”. Even though it was never technically released, this get-up-’n-dance jam remains one of the most played non-singles in the history of modern music. I got that tidbit from one of my Madonna sites... I’m not sure how you measure something like that but I am pretty certain that this song is probably one of the most beloved Madonna hits out there. It is truly the perfect dance gem. It’s both sexy and fun while equally celebrating love and good beats. With lines like “Only when I’m dancing can I feel this free,” Madonna invited us all to take a chance on the dancefloor. The fourth and final single from Like a Virgin was the fashion smash of late summer ’85. “Dress You Up,” a rockin’ hit with an awesome electric guitar solo, finds Madge singin’ all about her fancy pants b-friend. He gets his suits custom made in London but she’s the one that’s gonna create a special “look” just for him. Somehow I doubt she really has plans for new outfits for her guy, though. It’s more about getting him out of outfits, if ya know what I mean. In Madonna’s world fashion as sex is always in style! The video for “Dress You Up” was Mo’s first “live” clip taken from the “Virgin Tour” and this one really celebrates my girlz, the Madonna wannabe’s, with a super cute montage of their hot fashions in the song’s intro. Oh, what I would have done to be part of that girl gang back then... Jenny showed me the way but it was difficult for me to incorporate the bras, bows and bangles into my everyday look. I had to settle for stealing my Dad’s rubber plumbing gaskets and passing them off as Madonna bracelets. Ya gotta give me an “A” for effort! The other songs on Like a Virgin, though never released as singles, remain as some of the most luscious filler songs evah! I’ll start with “Love Don’t Live Here Anymore”. To be honest, I never really liked this angst-filled melodrama. I mean, Mo sounds totally awesome doing this cover of Rose Royce’s 70’s hit, but I just never really got into it. I’d mostly fast-forward straight to “Shoo Bee Doo”. Penned by Mo herself, this is one of my all-time faves. One delightful listen and it’ll have you skipping and shoo-bee-doo-bee-doo-ooooh-la-la-ing all the way down the street! The songs “Pretender” and “Stay” both kinda sound alike but still rock. In “Pretender” Madge’s guy is a phony fake liar but still, she’s hooked. In “Stay” now Mo’s the big fat liar. Good thing her guy can see through her lies and deception and, hopefully he’ll, y’know, stay anyway. I’ve saved my all-time super fave song from Like a Virgin for last: “Over and Over”. This is my high-octane Madonna manifesto! “You try to criticize my drive,” sings Mo, “If I lose I don't feel paralyzed.” It’s so inspirational! I love it when she says, “You're never gonna see me standin' still. I'm never gonna stop 'till I get my fill.” Clearly words to live by from a woman set on ruling the world. I always play “Over and Over” whenever I’m out running along the Hudson River. It just takes me higher! I also sometimes play it after I get off the phone from one of those difficult business calls that I’m sure I sucked at. In fact, I recommend keeping this jam handy to pick you up and get you back on your feet after any minor or major failure. If there’s one thing that I’ve learned from Madonna all these years it’s that you gotta get up again, over and over. Thanks a million, Mo! 11/03/03 |
