 |
||||||||||||||||||||||
|
|
 |
||
|
 |
|
|
||
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! |
 Recently, I took a trip to LA and saw an old friend Tara who lives out there now. We reminisced and laughed the whole time about the good ole days! I love how your friends remember funny things from your past that have long since faded from your own memory. They help to complete your story. That’s also what I love about doing this column. All these great Madonna songs are like time machines transporting me back, clearing the cobwebs to reveal events that make me who I am today. I’ve got myself a universe! When Ray of Light came out in March of 1998 we were introduced to Madonna’s new universe as well. It was the first release after the birth of her daughter Lourdes and much was said about how having a child transformed her, opened her up spiritually. With this record she went from being called the Material Girl to now being labeled the Spiritual, Ethereal or Maternal Girl… She had begun studying the Kabbalah and avidly took up practicing yoga, which I had also been practicing since the 11th grade. I swear I wasn’t copying her! Ray of Light finds Madonna questioning her former life. She says in the opening song "Drowned World (Substitute for Love)", "I traded fame for love, without a second thought." The video for that song is actually one of my faves. I love when the paparazzi chases her all over London and then she sees that maid in the hotel, smiles at her and the woman snaps a picture. Madonna just runs home to be with her daughter. It’s so sweet! I love how she began this soul-searching path and revealed some of her mistakes and loneliness along the way. You might say that I was also was on my own soul-searching path at that time. Shortly before Ray of Light came out I had moved to NYC from Chicago with Keith. He was determined to get out of the Midwest and had asked me to move with him but initially I didn’t want to. I was afraid to leave my safe haven of mediocrity! But I took a chance on us. NYC was challenging at first and we often spent evenings watching television and crying over "Party of Five" and our new favorite show, "Felicity". Madonna’s "Power of Goodbye" was actually used in the commercials advertising this new series on the WB. I loved how Felicity followed a boy to New York City. Hmmm, sounds familiar. I could totally relate! Each week we’d watch our favorite co-ed stumble through college. Pretty soon we even had a new friend to watch it with, Tamar. (shown above on the far right) She’d come over to our apartment and we’d discuss all of Felicity’s fumbles at each commercial break. I loved watching her grow up in the Big Apple; I felt like that was happening to me too. All the while, I played Madonna’s latest release over and over. I remember reading in an interview that Gianni Versace had died while she was recording the song "Swim". I could just imagine her going back in the studio while still mourning her friend and having to sing lyrics like "things couldn’t get any worse". And I loved the song "Ray of Light" so much! I’d blast it on my Discman while running along the river. It’s so high energy! And I think that she kinda sounds a little like Kate Bush in it. "Candy Perfume Girl" is a rockin’ electric guitar girl fest! Keith and I always dreamed it would make such a great video duet with Courtney Love. Those two could play like two party girls getting ready for a night out and do a lil’ Joan Crawford/Bette Davis thing while fighting for attention. And guitars. When the chilly "Frozen" first burst out on the scene I was mystified by its spooky look and cold lyrics, telling us that our hearts would freeze if not open to love. That song and the whole Ray of Light record peaked on the charts at #2. (I have to give you a little chart action. This is chartoppers, after all.) It would have totally gone #1 if it weren’t for Celine Dion and all that Titanic frenzy. Oh well, we did get to see Madonna take home some Grammys and frolic with Ricky Martin… Hot! But my favorite Ray of Light story is when she played a small set of songs from the new record at Roxy, a nightclub here in New York. Our new NYC next-door neighbor Travis told us about it. He even helped us get tickets for four, myself and Keith plus Lora and Tara, whom I mentioned before. She happened to be in town visiting that same weekend. We were all going to see Madonna perform the evening of Valentine’s Day! Coinciding with the night of her performance, Keith and I threw a little party at this club Twirl on West 23rd street. We still didn’t know many people yet so we invited co-workers, our landlord and even our yoga teacher. He had actually instructed Madonna a couple of times in her NYC apartment and I was thrilled to get as many details as I could. The evening was so exciting and I felt so glamorous! Keith and I arrived at Twirl and began our party right away, with a Cosmopolitan. Then people began to arrive and we were having a total blast! Lora and Tara soon showed up and we all danced in our black, sparkling outfits. We were getting our party on! As we were about to leave Twirl and head over to the show, I realized my glitter club kid wallet was missing… and it had the Madonna tickets in it! What was I gonna do? I started to freak out, big time. I’ll never forget how amazing Keith, Lora and Tara were in that moment, though. They got down on all fours in their party outfits searching for the wallet under couches and tables while the crowd danced around them. It was nowhere to be found. They kept telling me, "It’s okay Chrissy, we still love you! Even if we can’t find the tickets we’ll just have fun here at Twirl." But I was still so upset I could hardly see straight. When I was just about to give up hope I went back to the front door one last time to discover someone had actually turned in the wallet. I opened it immediately and everything was still there: my driver’s license, my $20 and the four tickets. Can you believe it? Let me just say for the record that sometimes New Yorkers really surprise you. To the person that returned my wallet, I just want to say thanks a million! Like Madonna’s Susan character says in Desperately Seeking Susan, "Good goin’, stranger!" I owe you BIG! So I scooped up Keith and the girls and put us all in a cab. We went back to our apartment, had a quick celebratory Madonna dance party and we were off to the Roxy! It was my first time there and it looked like every club should, dark and packed. We headed straight for the stage area where there was already a huge mob of fans. We squeezed into our place in the pit and waited as the crowd got more packed and more unruly. Lora even got into a shouting match with this queen right next to us. I think we were invading his personal space. As if! I think the crowd at Roxy started to get to Lora a bit. She said she didn’t feel well. Within minutes, though, there was Madonna, in a black Goth look and kinda headbanger blonde hair. She looked amazing! The crowded screamed and took a huge step forward, then repelled backwards. Lora let out a yelp. The music started to pump and Madonna began to sing. We screamed and the crowd buckled to the left, then to right. I focused on Madonna and then looked over to discover that both Lora and Tara had disappeared. The crowd lunged forward. Where were the girls? Tara reported later that Lora raced to the ladies room not feeling her best. As Madonna sang Tara kept telling Lora, "Pick up your head! That’s Madonna right there! You love Madonna!" Poor thing! Back on the crazy dance floor the crowd continued to push and shove as Madonna rocked out on stage. She belted out "Shanti/Ashtangi", "Sky Fits Heaven" and "Ray of Light". Then she just disappeared. The disco lights went on and a remix of "Frozen" pumped through the club. We found Lora and Tara and, for a second, we all just stood there stunned, smashed and sweaty. Madonna had just been only ten feet away! We couldn’t believe it. I looked at the beginnings of my first year here and felt already that my dreams were coming true. I got to see my girl, I’m with great friends and I’m so excited about my new life in NYC… And I feel like I just got home. 06/23/03 |
