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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! |
 I remember the summer of 1986 vividly. It was my True Blue summer, after all. I had just gotten my mom’s old car, a 1981 black Chevy Monte Carlo with burgundy interiors and fake wood paneling. I named her Marilyn. Marilyn and I went everywhere together! One of our fave haunts was this amazing record store in town, The Crow’s Nest. The Crow’s Nest had every possible record from any genre you could think of… Punk, Ska, New Wave, Rock, Metal, Jazz, Country, Classical, Pop and Dance… Needless to say, many a Madonna merch was perched at the Nest. In June of ’86 I drove there nearly every day in anticipation of True Blue’s new release. I guess I had a vague idea of when it was dropping, but I didn’t know for sure. Those things were so mysterious to me back then… So, I’d go each day hoping it had arrived. Yeah, I could have saved a lot of time and energy if I had just asked someone, but that would’ve spoiled the fun. When it did finally show up on June 30th I was in heaven! I bought two cassettes and two LP’s, one for play and one for back up. Then I sat in the parking lot and Marilyn and I listened to the cassette 3 times in a row. It was official. I was now totally and helplessly obsessed with Madonna. Certainly, I had been a fan during the "Lucky Star" days. She was super cute and her videos were fun, but I had bigger fish to fry, like playing heated games of Barbie! I guess it took me a little while to grow out of that… With Like a Virgin, I was definitely drawn in deeper, though. My junky habits with Miss Ciccone were percolating, but I was still so young and innocent, unaware of her complete power over me. But with True Blue I had become a full-blown Madonna addict! There was no turning back. So I just went with it. Davitt Sigerson of Rolling Stone was quoted calling Madonna the "patron saint of Parochial School America" and I was her eager disciple. Attending Catholic School every day and experiencing all that came with that – favoritism, abuse, punishment and guilt – combined with the challenges of growing up in my dysfunctional working class family, Madonna’s bold message of "you can do it!" spoke perfectly to what was missing in my life. I held her in my mind as my own personal cheerleader. I’m not sure I felt there was anyone else around who seemed so dedicated to what she was doing. And, at that time, Madonna was also completely dedicated to her new husband Sean Penn. In True Blue she calls him "the coolest guy in the universe". When I cranked up that new album in the Monte Carlo I felt pretty cool myself. Madge’s True Blue was a phenomenal success, both here and abroad. Hitting #1 in 28 countries, which had never before been done by a female artist, the album landed in The Guinness Book of World Records where its international performance was viewed as "totally unprecedented". With this album Madonna entered what I like to call the "Megastar" phase of her career. Okay, lemme explain… There are four major stages of Madge’s 20-year career that I, fredflare.com’s resident Madonna scholar, have distinguished. Yes, there are definitely sub-themes, off-shoots and such but so far I see four major motifs. I’ll outline them below… First, with "Pre-Madonna", we find Mo in her early NYC club phase. She’s a sweet street tart with dime store jewelry, a gritty, underground dance floor maven with brassy hair and bravura. Next up is her "Megastar" phase, brought on by the release of True Blue. Here we find Mo slimmed down and blonded up, enjoying incredible chartopping success and recognition as, officially, an artist with longevity. This is her "can-do-no-wrong" phase. Third up is her "Sex" phase. Here it does all go wrong. But she comes out of it on top with the fourth and current phase, "Electronica". Here we see mother Mo turn more spiritual as she introduces a new sound that, with Music, sorta leads her back to her dance floor roots. Okay, so there you have it – Madge’s career, according to Chris. Now, back to True Blue. There is something really important about True Blue that I must now point out: no rubber bracelets! Seriously, people, at the time this was shocking. Everyone was talking about her "new" look. She was now all cleaned up with a toned bod, short platinum blonde hair and a wedding band. The Boy Toy had gotten married and was now singin’ about true love! It was a real departure from what had come before and it hit home the power of Mo’s chameleon antics for which she would become so famous. But the real shock was all the cha-chinging at registers everywhere when True Blue went on to become Mo’s best-selling record to date, moving nearly 20 million copies worldwide! She also took major career strides by co-producing the entire record with long-time collaborator Stephen Bray ("Into the Groove") and newbie Patrick Leonard who helped create "Live to Tell", but more on that in a bit. She even co-penned (no pun intended) 8 of the 9 tracks, placing herself one step closer to total artistic control. (Hey X-tina, it took Madonna three records to get there, so stop all your complaining!) Even the album cover was a smash. This iconic shot by Herb Ritts, who would shoot M for many years to come, is probably her most recognizable album cover. Head back, eyes closed, it’s almost as if Madonna just stepped on the gas of her own Monte Carlo, relishing the rush of power and speed. Watch out! Which brings me back to good ol’ Marilyn and the summer of 1986. One thing I remember is regularly driving over to the Joliet Beach Club. Those were the days… This one time I saw my mom’s sister, Aunt Boo, there. We chatted a bit and then she pulled out a cassette of True Blue from her purse. She looked at me and said, "Have you heard of this Madonna person? She’s pretty good." Wow, I thought to myself, even my Mom’s generation likes this Madonna "person". This is major. Okay, people, put your swim trunks on cuz we’re going to dive into True Blue track by track! Let’s break it down… True Blue makes a splash with "Papa Don’t Preach", its first track and Madonna’s second single from the record. "Papa" initially serves up violins, then tosses us the groaning guitar as Mo, portraying a pregnant teen, sings of her unborn child. And she’s keepin’ her baby! Boy, did "Papa" stir up some controversy or what? I guess it pretty much blew over once the video came out, or least I didn’t hear much about it after that. I was way too obsessed about her wet pixie cut to care! Directed by James Foley and shot mostly on Staten Island with great views of the Manhattan skyline, it has a sweet narrative but is perhaps most known for that amazing "Italians Do It Better" tee that Madonna sports. For me, the most striking look of the vid is her Marilyn moment dancing around with her platinum coif, bright red lips and that bustier! I’d never even heard of a bustier, let alone seen one, ‘til Madonna came along. Mo sports a Gaultier bustier – Hey, I made it rhyme! – in the video for "Open Your Heart", the second track and True Blue’s fourth single. Just so you know, this song was her third number one hit from the record. This is practically unheard of for a record’s fourth single to reach that chartopping position, but not for Madge. She did it using her particular brand of heart-on-your sleeve gusto! "Open Your Heart" begins with a quick "Watch out!" and all those closed down, self-absorbed guys better take note. Mo’s got your number… I love how this song is basically saying "Yes, I’m crushed out on you, but I know what I’m doing and I’m gonna get what I want!" Maddy serves up another incredible pushing-the-envelope video with this one. Directed by fashion photographer Jean-Baptiste Mondino, who would go on to direct other stellar clips like "Justify My Love" and "Don’t Tell Me", Madge portrays an edgy stripper in a desolate peep show theater strutting her stuff in front of some real freak-a-zoids! Then, at the crack of dawn, she emerges to find an obsessed fan… who’s probably about nine years old. He seems kinda cute so she gives him a kiss and then they dance off together into the sunrise. Looking at that video now, I kinda see the kid as representing all her young gay fans. The third track on True Blue finds us at a rockin’ little number called "White Heat", dedicated to the late and great James Cagney. (True Blue is big on the 50’s via the 80’s motif.) The song is kinda like a madcap "Express Yourself" in training with a driving self-esteem anthem, pushing "Open Your Heart’s" agenda even further. I love the line, "My love is dangerous. This is a bust!" Again, watch out… Next up is track 4, "Live to Tell". This is one of Madonna’s most-loved ballads. Released a whole season before True Blue even came out, this song was actually a promo single for Sean Penn’s film At Close Range. Obviously, the single was a lil’ more successful than the movie… But, boy, this is a drama jam if I ever heard one! It’s sweeping and epic, dark and tragic, yet it was everywhere that Spring and went on to become a major prom moment for years to come. The video for "Live to Tell" was strikingly simple and a dramatic departure from Madonna’s prior single and video, "Dress You Up". Here we saw her in a floral frock with elegant hair and pastel makeup against a minimal black background. It was haunting and unforgettable. Right as "Live to Tell" makes you shiver, Madonna whips us into a party mood with the upbeat "Where’s the Party". Mo must’ve really loved this jam because it shows up on the remix album You Can Dance and was also performed at the "Who’s That Girl" and "Blonde Ambition" tours. In "Where’s the Party" you get the sense Mo’s had a week from hell on the job so, now that it’s the weekend, it’s time to kick back and party down! I can totally relate. Next up is the album’s title track and third single, "True Blue". It’s 80’s/50’s again as Mo goes girl group on us with this adorable ode to her Valentine. "True Blue", so obviously about Sean Penn, is a real be-true-to-your-guy kind of jam. The song is fun and perky, but also kinda sad in a weird way, like how sometimes nostalgia leads to melancholy or regret. I don’t know. It had strange appeal. I remember I had this friend in high school, John Garry. He was a total punk but even he liked "True Blue". The next track and fifth single is "La Isla Bonita". With its Latin flair decades ahead of its time, this jam went on to become an insane mega-hit internationally. It even spawned a sequel bi-lingual hit, "Who’s That Girl?" Oh, but when you hear it all you want to do is find that magical place under the palm trees and get swept up in the hot romance! The vid clip for "La Isla Bonita", directed by my fave Mary Lambert has a boyish Maddy all boo-hooin’ in her rocking chair, missin’ her Latin lovah until – Pow! – she whips out that crazy flamenco polka dot cha-cha number and boogies down the street. I don’t know about that longhaired guy playing the guitar, though… Mo’s obsessed with another guy that’s probably no good for her in the hilarious "Jimmy Jimmy". I love "Jimmy Jimmy". It’s all slicked-back hair, leather jackets and convertibles as Mo sings about her 50’s b-friend. He’s very misunderstood… So maybe he crashes his car, but he’s got big dreams! He’s gonna get out of this 2-bit town and be the king… of Las Vegas? Strangely, Madonna’s a lil’ shy in this song. She never tells her guy that she truly loves him and now he’ll never know… We couldn’t possibly end on such a sad note so Madonna brings it on home with "Love Makes the World Go Round", an awesome make-love-not-war jam with a sorta Miami Sound Machine vibe. Performed live for the first time at "Live Aid", Madonna shimmied with a tambourine into the hearts of millions with this don’t-just-talk-the-talk number. At that same moment, somewhere in Joliet, Illinois, a young boy was watching television and dancing up a storm, so happy to have discovered his blue-collar super hero! He never got to dance off into the sunset with her but he grew up completely captivated by this incredible star. And remains true. 10/15/03 |
