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 Mr. DJ, put a record on. I wanna dance with
my baby… And so begins Madonna’s aptly titled Music.
This was a very exciting release for Madonna – her first of the new Millennium – and
it debuted with a sparkling hit single of the same title. Man, she pimped it
out for that video! This period had its share of fun Madonna fashion moments
like the cowboy hat, the western shirt – which I bought tons of at H&M – and,
of course, the bedazzled everything, but what I really remember is the music.
And the music, in turn, makes me remember all these crazy things…
First, it reminds me of the special people in my life at that time. fred flare
was only a couple of years old then and we had just started working with the
gang at Auto here in NYC – Roman, Renata and Stephanie (Pictured above
with Keith) – true pioneers of New York’s Meat Packing District’s
retail frontier. I was with Renata in a cab when I heard "Music" for
the very first time. I’d hear it many more times to come in the store as
she used to play the CD often. I remember she told me her favorite song from
it was "Gone" and that surprised me. There we so many better ones to
pick, I thought. But now when I listen to it I find it so sweet and sad and it
makes me think of Renata and those times. I love that line in "Gone" when
Madonna says, "Letting go is not my thing…" I so relate to that.
We miss you guys!
Music also makes me think about one of my best
NYC friends, Lora Sappenfield. (Pictured above with me. Check out my Madonna
t-shirt!) There have been so many
Madonna moments I’ve shared with Lora but Music reminds
me of a very specific time. She had just broken up with a boyfriend and, to keep
from becoming too
blue, she started what became our famous Friday Night Happy Hours. She would
email a bunch of friends each week and we’d gather at one bar or another
on Fridays for drinks. We felt so lucky to be in the mix and all her friends
became like family to us. We love you guys!
Those Happy Hours were some of my fave times in the Big Apple and Music was
on
our heavy rotation soundtrack back then. Over cocktails Lora and I would gush
about Guy Ritchie, stare at pics of Mo with Gwenyth and Stella in the pages of
US Weekly or soak up any Madonna gossip we could
with our good friend Gillian.
Lora once told me that "Don’t Tell Me" changed her life and she
swooned over the idea of boys being just "a little weak" as Madonna
requested in the masterpiece "What It Feels Like for a Girl".
We swooned even more when we heard about Madonna’s upcoming Drowned World
tour. We had to go see our girl! I put myself in charge of getting four tickets:
one for Keith, one for Gillian, one for Lora and one for me! We were set! Then
this weird thing happened. Just a day after buying our Madonna tickets "Survivor" called
me. Yep, "Survivor", the television show. I had sent in a taped audition
and had already had an initial interview here in NYC but didn’t think much
of it. Now I had made it to the next round… one of the final 50 contestants
to go to LA, meet producer Mark Burnett and possibly be cast as one of the 16
members of the upcoming Africa episode.
It sounds exciting but, mostly, it was lonely! I was basically sequestered in
a Santa Monica hotel for two weeks and no one knew where I was, not even Keith.
I had my Madonna Music CD to keep me company,
though, and I’d have dance
parties in my hotel room listening to "Runaway Lover" and "Impressive
Instant", two of my fave Madonna dance songs. But, wait! I realized that
if I made it on the show I was going to have to miss the concert! No way! Which
did I want more? The million or Madonna? Well, needless to say, I didn’t
have to decide because I wasn’t chosen for the show. Oh well, at least
I was going to see Madonna!!!
When August finally arrived we took the bus to Jersey’s Continental Arena
and enjoyed Madonna’s grunge/punk/geisha a-go-go fest featuring mostly
hits from Music. She rocked an electric guitar,
karate chopped like a mofo, and
rode a mechanical bull. But she didn’t sing many old hits at all and – please
don’t tell her I said this – but I kinda missed that. When she finally
sang "Holiday" the crowd went insane! We cheered, "Take some time
to cel-e-brate!!!"
About a month later 9/11 happened. Honestly, Keith and I felt lost for some time
after that. We’d just watch television feeling unsure about everything,
especially fred flare. I mean, who’s gonna want pink notebooks now? It
seemed somehow disrespectful in the face of such seriousness and depth.
The Friday after the attacks Lora insisted we still all get together for drinks.
When I saw her that night she was wearing an "I (heart) NY" t-shirt
and I felt so moved to see her and all my friends again. Madonna, too, went back
on stage. After canceling only one show she completed her tour, now sporting
an American flag rattan skirt. My girls were out there showing signs of life
and love and I soon realized we too had a job to do at fred flare – to
make people happy, to make you smile. Thanks for reading! Music really does make
the people come together!
