Madonna's 60th Birthday

[lpetrich]

I wasn't sure about whether to post on that, but her 60th birthday was on August 16 of this year. She is not Jesus Christ's mother, but Madonna Louise Ciccone. I concede that I myself once thought that her name was a stage name.

60 Times Madonna Changed Our Culture - The New York Times -- a collection of 60 comments about her, illustrated with many pictures of her from over the years, from her teens to the present. Here is the first one:

1. She is fighting the pernicious idea that older women don’t matter. “People say I’m controversial,” Madonna told an audience of music-industry peers in 2016. “But I think the most controversial thing I have ever done is to stick around.” Sexism was the demon that haunted Madonna’s early career, but for two decades — maybe longer — it’s had an equally unwelcome sibling: ageism.

Madonna was a pioneer of welding her voice to her image, and in a culture consumed with critiquing how women look, and controlling how they use their bodies, she’s been on the front lines — a seductress and a battering ram. But as she’s continued to be a force while she deigns to grow older, she’s faced a new frontier of abuse. There has never been a pop star writing and performing at her level, and demanding a seat at the table, at her age. Why wouldn’t Madonna demand it?

One of the great conundrums of the internet era is pop culture’s short memory; the receipts are right there to be found, yet few bother to do the looking. But yes, in a career spanning four decades, Madonna made real cultural change, and caused a few cultural crises, over and over again. For all the criticism she’s weathered during four decades in the spotlight, she deserves a celebration. —Caryn Ganz

 

[Ford]

Back in the mid 90s I got to talk to Gwen Dickey. She was the lead singer of Rose Royce, and sang on their hit "Love Don't Live Here Anymore."

I asked her what she thought of Madonna's cover of the song on her 1984 album Like a Virgin.

I'm paraphrasing, but it was something very much like "phssstttt!!!"

Madonna is certainly a cultural icon and a trailblazer in the music video era, but as a singer? Yeah...not so much.

 

[rousseau]

Back in the mid 90s I got to talk to Gwen Dickey. She was the lead singer of Rose Royce, and sang on their hit "Love Don't Live Here Anymore."

I asked her what she thought of Madonna's cover of the song on her 1984 album Like a Virgin.

I'm paraphrasing, but it was something very much like "phssstttt!!!"

Madonna is certainly a cultural icon and a trailblazer in the music video era, but as a singer? Yeah...not so much.

I think it was Bob Dylan who proved pure talent wasn't completely necessary. Sometimes you just need the right mix of songwriting and marketing.

Lots of these artists out there these days are shit musicians, but their albums sound great.

 

[TSwizzle]

I never rated her as being a good singer. I've heard her live and she's just not very good. I wouldn't know if she is a good musician. As a recording artist and entertainer I think she was pretty good in her heyday. Some great tunes and videos but she has dropped off my radar since "Ray of Light". Actress ? Oof, pretty shit from what I saw.

 

[Jimmy Higgins]

Back in the mid 90s I got to talk to Gwen Dickey. She was the lead singer of Rose Royce, and sang on their hit "Love Don't Live Here Anymore."

I asked her what she thought of Madonna's cover of the song on her 1984 album Like a Virgin.

I'm paraphrasing, but it was something very much like "phssstttt!!!"

Madonna is certainly a cultural icon and a trailblazer in the music video era, but as a singer? Yeah...not so much.

I think it was Bob Dylan who proved pure talent wasn't completely necessary. Sometimes you just need the right mix of songwriting and marketing.

Lots of these artists out there these days are shit musicians, but their albums sound great.

FIFY

 

[whollygoats]

Heh....I went to a 1985 Las Vegas wedding of a Ba'hai heart surgeon to the nurse who had nurtured him back to health from his own crisis. The bride nurse was my 'wicked stepsister', or soon to be. She was the stepsister of my fiance. That had to be one of the most miserable weddings I think I have ever attended. The groom did not want to be there; he'd made a rash promise to a pretty nurse when he was very sick and was obviously regretting it. The location was a country club and the ditzy bride decided to have an 'outdoor wedding' in August. In Las Vegas. Needless to say, I was a very naive outlander and outsider to the whole family calamity, but I was taken the bride's choice of dance at the reception...."Material Girl". That set the tone, for sure.

 

[rousseau]

Back in the mid 90s I got to talk to Gwen Dickey. She was the lead singer of Rose Royce, and sang on their hit "Love Don't Live Here Anymore."

I asked her what she thought of Madonna's cover of the song on her 1984 album Like a Virgin.

I'm paraphrasing, but it was something very much like "phssstttt!!!"

Madonna is certainly a cultural icon and a trailblazer in the music video era, but as a singer? Yeah...not so much.

I think it was Bob Dylan who proved pure talent wasn't completely necessary. Sometimes you just need the right mix of songwriting and marketing.

Lots of these artists out there these days are shit musicians, but their albums sound great.

FIFY

That's true, although I think it's especially true now, as much as I generally defend modern music.

With technology the way it is now all you really need to be a superstar is a pretty face. Just look at Lana Del Ray.

 

[Ford]

FIFY

That's true, although I think it's especially true now, as much as I generally defend modern music.

With technology the way it is now all you really need to be a superstar is a pretty face. Just look at Lana Del Ray.

I'd say it is easier to make music, but it is just as hard as ever to make hits.

If it were as simple as putting a pretty face behind a song, a lot of my record company friends would be a hell of a lot richer than they are.

There was this girl group I met awhile back - for example - that had more than just pretty faces. One of them was Loretta Lynn's grand daughter. One was John Wayne's grand daughter. The prettiest and most talented one was a descendent of Daniel Boone. They had the best songwriters and producers behind them, and they flirted their way across the country on their radio tour. Twice.



It failed spectacularly. On paper, they should have been a success. The label push hit all the buttons at radio, and the social media campaign was on point. But the audience wasn't buying it. No matter how much money the label threw at it, the song just didn't hit. And it sucked because the record guy is an old friend of mine and I really wanted this to work out for him, but that's how it goes.


That's how it goes most of the time.

 

[Eldarion Lathria]

IMHO she can sing. What she can't do is act. She should NEVER be put in a movie.

Eldarion Lathria

 

[Opoponax]

Jesus fuck, I'm old.

 

[Trausti]

Jesus fuck, I'm old.

+1

 

[rousseau]

FIFY

That's true, although I think it's especially true now, as much as I generally defend modern music.

With technology the way it is now all you really need to be a superstar is a pretty face. Just look at Lana Del Ray.

I'd say it is easier to make music, but it is just as hard as ever to make hits.

If it were as simple as putting a pretty face behind a song, a lot of my record company friends would be a hell of a lot richer than they are.

There was this girl group I met awhile back - for example - that had more than just pretty faces. One of them was Loretta Lynn's grand daughter. One was John Wayne's grand daughter. The prettiest and most talented one was a descendent of Daniel Boone. They had the best songwriters and producers behind them, and they flirted their way across the country on their radio tour. Twice.



It failed spectacularly. On paper, they should have been a success. The label push hit all the buttons at radio, and the social media campaign was on point. But the audience wasn't buying it. No matter how much money the label threw at it, the song just didn't hit. And it sucked because the record guy is an old friend of mine and I really wanted this to work out for him, but that's how it goes.


That's how it goes most of the time.

Looks like there's just a glut of good music these days. It's so easy to make a 'good' song, that the bar for 'song that stands out above the rest' is a lot higher. And new music is also competing with everything that came before it, too.

The only artists I've seen truly break through in the past number of years are people with good music that is truly differentiated, and yet still with commercial appeal (Adele, Kendrick Lamar, Drake.. etc)