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To describe Madonna's career as extraordinary is definitely an understatement. When a 24-year-old Madonna Louise Veronica Ciccone strutted seductively onto the music scene in 1982, nobody could have predicted the longevity or immense impact of her amazing career. In her meteoric rise to fame, Madonna broke down barriers and changed the face of pop music indefinitely. Written off at the beginning of her career as a pop tart, the then-self-proclaimed 'Boy-Toy' proved her critics wrong by becoming undoubtedly the biggest female star of the Twentieth Century.
During her twenty-year reign as Queen of Pop, Madonna's pop sensibilities have never failed her. Madonna's radical and often-controversial way of expressing herself has unfortunately sometimes overshadowed her immense talent. Perhaps the most tragically underrated writer and singer of her time; Madonna has never let her detractors stand in her way. By becoming a one-woman hit factory to rival even Motown, Madonna has not only conquered the pop charts, but has emerged as a true talent to be reckoned with. Madonna's immaculately crafted pop has left an indelible imprint on music history, paving the way for artists like Spice Girls, Pink, Christina Aguilera, and Britney Spears. Madonna has been a huge inspiration to American pop princess Britney Spears. "I think that we have the same drive," claims Britney. "As far as our music and our talent goes, we're very different. I just saw her show and she's just amazing. She was flawless. It was very inspirational for me. It is flattering that they say we're alike." To Pink Madonna was her childhood idol. "She was a role model. When I was eight I thought I was her."Ё
In 1998 Madonna claimed that she was once a Spice Girl, as Mel C (a.k.a. Sporty Spice) can vouch for. "Madonna was doing the girl power thing a long time before the Spice Girls." Mel C cites Madonna as a huge influence, "She is also very good at discovering new talent and has a very good ear. She knows what she likes, she knows how to approach a market and what's going to sell."
Whether or not Madonna is concerned with her commercial appeal, she is definitely a hugely influential artist. "Her ability to move with the times and the strength of her convictions is something unusual in pop music, where things are usually so transient," claims Kylie Minogue. "She mixes things that we know and understand and then completely repackages them. No one else can package things like that and we are hoodwinked into thinking: "God that is brand new"."Kylie has obviously learnt from Madonna's ability to tap into the underground and repackage it in her own unique way. Heavily inspired by Madonna, Ms Minogue has become the ultimate (post) postmodern artist. Kylie has paid close attention to the postmodern diva's career, evolving into cut and paste, consumer friendly version of her.
Madonna's wannabes have come a long way from imitating their idol in front of their bedroom mirror. They are now competing with her in the pop charts and Madonna has even paid tribute to some of these pop princesses, by emblazoning their names on her T-shirts. Madonna's influence has stretched much further than inspiring the new generation of female pop stars. When Madonna emerged onto the music scene in the early 1980s, she was amongst a group of artists who helped to bridge the gap between disco and new wave, defining a new genre, known simply as dance. After her innovative debut album, Madonna became more mainstream pop throughout the 1980s, but she never veered far from her dance roots. As her career has progressed, so too have Madonna's production skills.
Madonna has successfully merged her pop sensibilities with experimental electronica, producing a hybrid dance-pop sound, earning her a newfound respect as an artist.
However, some detractors still insist that her musical collaborators direct Madonna's creative output. Not so, says William Orbit. "I didn't reinvent her at all," he claims. "She's much, much more of a self-directed person than that. It was more that she produced me producing her. She turns me on to far more stuff than I do her." DJ/Producer Brian Transeau, (a.k.a. BT) co-collaborator with Sasha on the 'Drowned World/Substitute For Love' remixes, credits Madonna for bringing dance music to the attention of an electronica-starved American audience. "Madonna's great as in America she's really created an awareness to dance music." Madonna's influence on the dance music scene cannot be denied, with a staggering 28 Billboard Hot Dance/Club Play #1's, making her the most successful dance artist on the US Billboard charts.
Madonna success isn't just confined to dance chart that was the first to embrace the rising star. She has been consistently successful across the board, throughout her entire career. Even during her so-called dry spell in the mid-nineties, she was still shifting albums in their millions. In 1995, after being scathed by nastier critics, Madonna's response was to sit back watch her 'Take A Bow' single score her longest running US Billboard Hot 100 #1, hitting pole-position for seven weeks. In 2000, 'Don't Tell Me' was Madonna's 34th single to hit the US Billboard Top Ten. Only Elvis Presley and the Beatles have more. 'What It Feels Like For A Girl', her 43rd US hit, tied her with Aretha Franklin as the woman with the most top 40 singles. Madonna surpassed that figure when 'Die Another Day' hit #8 in 2002. 'Music' became Madonna's 12th #1 on the US Billboard Hot 100. This ties her with The Supremes and only Michael Jackson, Mariah Carey, The Beatles, and Elvis Presley have more. Madonna has placed a single in the top 40 of the Billboard Hot 100 every year since 1983 (with the exception of 1988, when she had no releases whatsoever). According to the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA), Madonna has 24 gold singles (500,000 units) to her credit, the most for any female artist.
Madonna now ties The Beatles for second place behind Elvis Presley among artists with the most US gold singles. Madonna could easily top these figures and overtake these artists in the future owing to the fact that she is the only one of these artists who is still having hit records. In the UK Madonna is just as successful with a tally of 50 Top Ten hits. Only Cliff Richard (64), Elvis Presley (56) and Paul McCartney (51) have more. As with the US, Madonna could easily surpass her UK chart rivals.
Since Madonna emerged onto the music scene, she has evolved from an alleged bubblegum pure pop tart to an artist with depth and range, crafting some of the most sophisticated pop music of the last 20 years. In 1989 when 'Rolling Stone' magazine proclaimed her 'Like A Prayer' album to be, "as close to art as pop music gets", she had rightfully earned the title, Queen of Pop. Madonna's music is still as relevant and vital today as it ever has been. With the imminent release of a new album promising another new musical direction it looks like Madonna may remain at the top of her game for some time to come.
There have been few lulls in Madonna's 20-year career. Madonna's fans usually don't have to wait too long between releases thanks to her experimental collaborations with various musicians and work for movie soundtracks. But more importantly, Madonna's inability to rest on her laurels and her fondness for exploring new musical trends has seen her go further artistically with each release.
Madonna defined the 1980s, the decade that would also see the rise of Whitney Houston, Prince, Michael Jackson and his sister Janet. Madonna may have a decade in common with these artists, but those who were once her contemporaries, now seem lackluster in comparison. All of these artists have undoubtedly contributed to pop music history, but many of them are indeed way past their sell-by date.
Despite having a voice that could command whole armies of divas, Whitney's creativity is stunted to say the least. In 2001 when both Madonna and Janet Jackson were touring America at the same time, their respective shows were worlds apart. Janet, who was touring in support of her 'All For You' album, might as well have played videos of her past tours on the video screens, such was the similarity. In stark contrast Madonna, touring under the banner of 'Drowned World', presented her music in a unique and original way. Taking inspiration from the song that christened the tour. Madonna's motto seemed to be, "And now I find I've changed my mind." Whilst Madonna collaborates with a host of eclectic producers and musicians, Miss Jackson takes very little risks, preferring to stick within the confines of Jam and Lewis' tried and tested production. As for Janet's famous brother, it was reported that he had his last original idea back in 1983.
Despite Madonna's enormous appetite for music, her generous creative output and enough bona-fide hits to warrant two first class greatest hits retrospectives, we have been given few treats from Madonna in the form of exclusive B-sides or previously unreleased material. In fact, for such a well known star we know very little about her creative process in the recording studio. The general public probably know more about Madonna's private life than they do about her song writing. It is ironic that one of our generation's most successful songwriters has been so tragically unrecognised for perhaps her greatest talent.
Unlike some other artists who struggle to fill even one album with decent tunes Madonna has hits coming out of her ears. She has been known to scrap potential hit songs and even bin full albums worth of excellent material in fear of repeating herself and to quench her thirst for musical evolution. This impeccable quality control exercised by Madonna has left a vast reserve of unreleased material in her wake. To say that Warner Brother's vaults must be bulging is in fact only half the story as I came to realise when I began researching Madonna's rare and unreleased recordings.
In 1997, after discovering how extensive Madonna's unreleased back catalogue was, Bruce Baron began researching and writing an article that he would later submit to US 'Goldmine' magazine. Baron got special permission to listen to many of Madonna's rare demo recordings on file at the Library of Congress in Washington. The library contains copies of material registered for copyright, including many Madonna songs that have never been commercially released. However, the library grants few members of the public access to the rare recordings. Security is understandably tight, in fact Baron commented on how was closely watched to ensure that the material wasn't leaked. Baron was also lucky enough to clinch an exclusive interview with early Madonna collaborator, Stephen Bray. Baron's article, "Madonna Unreleased", published in 'Goldmine' magazine was perhaps the first thorough investigation into Madonna's amazing musical heritage.
Today Bruce Baron is still searching the archives and extensively researching every database, desperately seeking Madonna. Leaving no stone unturned, Baron is still the first to uncover any new Madonna rarity and constantly making many new revelations, including the facts behind the spate of 1997 demos that recently leaked their way onto the Internet. As Contributing Editor to this very article, Bruce Baron has helped me to seek out the truth and to attempt to finally set the record straight about Madonna's musical journey. Baron is also still campaigning to get Madonna's record company have a change of heart about preserving Madonna's music.
After the publication of "Madonna Unreleased" in 'Goldmine', Baron emailed Bob Merlis, a Vice-president of publicity at Warner Bros. Merlis was not even aware that Madonna had so many unreleased recordings. Baron's email inspired Merlis to send Madonna a memo requesting the release of a rarities collection, to which she replied "No", via spokesperson Liz Rosenberg. It is understandable that Madonna may not want to release such a collection at this stage of her career. Madonna obviously has a lot more to say musically and I, as a longtime fan, look forward to new Madonna material for many years to come. I still believe that it should be of grave concern to Madonna's record company to try to attempt to preserve her material.
So where did it all begin you may ask…
… To celebrate Madonna's twenty years in the music business Madonnarama.com exclusively takes you behind the scenes, inside the recording studio and reveals some very rare unreleased immaculate rejections. UNCOVERING MADONNA…THE BEATS WITHIN…
Just Like A Prayer
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The Beats Within
