[Nicky91]

ooh wow 25th anniversary of Erotica

[Nancy.]

Originally Posted by Nicky91

ooh wow 25th anniversary of Erotica

Yep, the single came out on Septembler the 29th, but the album is now 25 years old. Still can't believe it.

[LucyPinder'sLover]

Does Anyone Know if she is doing tours in the uk i would love to see her live i love her music she is a great singer

[Nancy.]

Love this shot of her.

[Nancy.]

Originally Posted by LucyPinder'sLover

Does Anyone Know if she is doing tours in the uk i would love to see her live i love her music she is a great singer

She was last here in December of 2015 for the Rebel Heart tour.
She's already started making plans to record her next album, so the tour will shortly follow.

[Nancy.]

Vintage album review:



Wednesday 14 October 1992
REVIEW / Stripped down to basics: Giles Smith takes a peek at Erotica, Madonna's new album

"FIRST of all, Erotica is not the accompanying soundtrack for Sex, Madonna's book of saucy snaps. (Heaven knows what the soundtrack for Sex would sound like, but it's unlikely you could fit it on a single CD.) It doesn't come, as the book will, in some sort of thrilling, heat-sealed spacesuit, calculated to deny browsers while cajoling their curiosity. Nevertheless, it's still something of a rude shock to have it in your hands. It's sometimes hard to remember this, what with all the skin shots, the movie roles, the paparazzi mayhem, all the exposure: but, just occasionally, Madonna makes a record.

This is virtually the sole remaining area of Madonna's life which she hasn't regularly and graphically opened up about; so, weirdly, if you want to have a prurient interest in Madonna, her music is about the only one left. How does she do it in the studio? What does she get up to in there? Interestingly, in In Bed With Madonna, the star's show-it-and-be-damned film documentary, the cameras followed her everywhere - except into a recording studio. Meanwhile, Madonna now sits elsewhere, electing to dwell exclusively in the celebrity ether into which her records have launched her, barely referring to them, otherwise occupied.

Which wouldn't matter, if Erotica wasn't up to much. In fact, it reveals that, unlike Jackson and Prince and Springsteen and the rest of her established, major league competition, Madonna's albums are still getting better each time. (This thesis involves stepping quietly round 1990's I'm Breathless, but that was Madonna in her film role as Dick Tracy's moll and can be lightly ditched.)

Still, the hype around Sex is gigantic: for the first time in publishing history, a book may turn out to be louder than a record. Sex has reared its ugly head, and those who don't find the album obscured may at least be tempted to twin the projects: you've read the book - now find 14 different applications for the CD.

But anyone hoping to hear Anais Nin set to a suggestive drum machine is going to be sorely disappointed. For Madonna has made a dance album and one which, for the most part, either kicks free from or makes light of the self-involvement which surrounds her in most of her other roles. 'Rain' is as close to the Madonna of Like A Prayer as this album comes, a big and solemn ballad which pleads for release as a single more openly than most of the tracks around it. (The backwards tom-toms and the rhythmic synthesiser trick, like the noise of water in a pipe, seem, incidentally, to be lifted directly from Scritti Politti's 'Perfect Way' on the Cupid and Psyche '85 album. The sleeve notes conscientiously credit Kool & the Gang for a portion sampled on the title track, but say nothing about this.)

But most of the rest is built around that widely-used, distorted drum sample which sounds like someone clubbing a large box of cereal with a stick. The slinkier numbers lope along on the back of bleary saxophones and casually tapped piano figures. Where most pop stars choose to sing about sex as if they had just invented it, Madonna gives us a cover version of 'Fever'(1956). And on the best track, 'Deeper and Deeper', synthesisers blare, a Spanish guitar and some castanets spill in from nowhere and Madonna unwinds her voice through an oddly twisting chorus melody.

Erotica is the most satisfying setting she has yet found for that voice. We're used to hearing it doubled and tripled, thickened with repetitions of itself and then pasted in a shiny layer across the top of the song. Here, you generally hear her sing unsupported - a bold idea, given that, on her earliest recordings, Madonna sounded like someone with little natural aptitude supplemented by whole tanks of ambition. You could hear the effort tugging the throat so forcefully, the voice went thin and hard. Here, isolated against the backing, it somehow takes on a spotlit, cabaret feel.

The box bears the now traditional sticker warning against (or promising, depending on your stance) 'language that some people might find offensive', though a thorough scan of the lyrics printed inside reveals this to be a false alarm. True, the track 'Waiting' comes back towards the end of the album re-styled as a rap in which Mark Goodman and Dave Murphy quiz each other about some sex in the back of a car, but they never really come close to the bone, as it were.

Then again, there's also 'Where Life Begins': the title suggests something anthemic, the sort of song Whitney Houston might sing, prior to an Olympics. In fact, this is Madonna's ode to cunnilingus - except she puts it better. 'A lot of people talk about / Dining in and eating out.' Unlike Sex, Erotica's chief weapon is innuendo - and they don't yet have to put stickers on for that."

[LucyPinder'sLover]

Originally Posted by Nancy.

She was last here in December of 2015 for the Rebel Heart tour.
She's already started making plans to record her next album, so the tour will shortly follow.

cheers i would love to watch her live does she do her older songs aswell.

[Nancy.]

Originally Posted by LucyPinder'sLover

cheers i would love to watch her live does she do her older songs aswell.

She performs quite a lot of the old stuff. I've seen her loads of times and think she's amazing. These so called younger artists we have today just can't put on a show like her. She's a genius. Next time she tours you should buy yourself a ticket. You'll have a blast.

[Nancy.]

Have to laugh at the troll saying i'm shoving Madonna in people's faces when they've been ramming their favourite down people's throats on here for years - literally!

Anyway, back to the thread...

CD that came with the book.

[Fetch The Bolt Cutters]

Originally Posted by Nancy.

She performs quite a lot of the old stuff. I've seen her loads of times and think she's amazing. These so called younger artists we have today just can't put on a show like her. She's a genius. Next time she tours you should buy yourself a ticket. You'll have a blast.

Originally Posted by Nancy.

Have to laugh at the troll saying i'm shoving Madonna in people's faces when they've been ramming their favourite down people's throats on here for years - literally!

Anyway, back to the thread...

CD that came with the book.

you seem bitter </3

[Nancy.]

Here's the Chinese punching puppet from the "Erotica" video...





“This amazing punching puppet is modeled after the Chinese hopping ghost. These ghosts are afraid of brooms, long-grained rice, eight sided Taoist mirrors, chicken blood, death blessings that quiet or settle unstable spirit, and the sound of bells.”

"A Hopping Ghost is an undecayed corpse whose main soul, the PO, has not yet left for the other world.If it can inhabit a corpse it can move about – hop.

Ghosts hop because they are so YIN. That is, they have so little mobile energy left that they can’t even bend their knees one of the signs – in human beings – of the ability to move. When they come in contact with even more YIN they over loaded and hop around.

Being light and bodyless they can sometimes fly. They smell horribly. They are armed with long, long fingernails that can tear. They sleep in coffins or graves and fear sunlight’s strong YANG energy.

If you chance upon such a pest DON”T BREATHE. The sound of breathing allows them to detect us. Paste a Taoist warning on their bodies to stop them. But if you are serious about getting rid of them burning their coffin with them in it is the major method.

Watch out for them grabbing your neck. Definitely an unpleasant experience. Oh, by the way, this is the traditional reasons Asian bridge zigzag because ghosts hate to cross running water (like in almost every culture in the world) and twisty bridges are the toughest. Also the doorways of temple have step-overs to prevent the entrance of spirit who can’t hop that high. Now, aren’t you glad you read all this?"

----
Concerning Chinese Hopping Ghosts
Study Conducted in Taiwan by Suzanne Thomas

The Chinese honor their dead out of both respect and fear. And for good reason. An unsatisfied soul could become a ghost and make life unbearable. Whether or not the Chinese truly believe in ghosts, they occupy a large part of their imagination, and the hopping ghost (with its recent star appearances on the Hong Kong move scene) is the most popular.

Q: What is a hopping Ghost?
A: Scientifically speaking, it's an undecayed corpse whose main soul, the po, has not yet left for the other world. Now, a po on the loose in the mortal world is bad news. It turns into an evil spirit. And a po with a corpse to occupy is even worse. It becomes a hopping ghost.

Q: What makes a hopping ghost hop?
A: Many things, but mostly when a homesick corpse, not wanting to be buried in an unfamiliar village, hops home, po and all. In documented cases, the hopping corpse is often accompanied by an entourage of monks, Taoist priests, and mourners.
Yin shock makes ghosts hop, too. The yin, as opposed to the yang, is dark, mysterious, and usually out to make trouble. (Cats and the moon are characteristically yin.) Should a fresh corpse somehow come into direct contact with a yin sort of energy, then it reacts, often becoming charged with superhuman powers. And it hops.

Q: How do you know when you've chanced upon a hopping ghost?
A: It's not terribly difficult to tell. Despite the corpse's superhuman energy, rigor mortis does set in, and the joints get stiff enough that it is forced to hop stiffly. According to some reports they have resorted to flying. As for appearances, a hopping corpse usually wears Qing Dynasty burial clothes. As these went out of fashion a hundred or so years ago, the corpses stick out like a sore thumb. And they don't worry too much about personal hygiene either. One hopping ghost stunk so badly that one whiff killed a relative and knocked another out cold. Some hopping ghosts are uglier than others. Some have tounges that hang down to their chest or eyeballs that aren't too firmly attached to their sockets. But all hopping ghosts have unusually long fingernails that are their most lethal weapon (especially being on the end of stiff outstretched arms). Hopping ghosts keep best in coffins or caves. They're not much for sunbathing. In fact, the sun's first rays are enough to stop a hopping ghost dead in its tracks.

Q: What should I do if I run into a hopping ghost?
A: Don't breathe. Hopping ghosts detect humans by smelling their breath. The old clove-of-garlic-keeps-the-ghost-away trick will not work here. You could try pasting a yellow and red Chinese death blessing on its forehead. This will quiet many unsettled souls. In the event that you don't have the above handy, just whip out any eight-sided Taoist mirror, a straw broom, long-grained rice, or just a few drops of fresh chicken blood. In a few seconds the corpse will be hopping scared.

Q: Just how dangerous are hopping ghosts?
A: Well, lethal. Normally the hopping ghosts hops forward until it has gouged the victim's neck and choked him/her to death. This is not a pleasant way to go. In one other case, the hopping corpse preferred to plop down on sleeping people's heads thereby smothering an entire hotel full of guests.

Q: What can I do to get rid of pesky hopping ghosts?
A: There's only one way to do it, and that is to burn them, coffin and all.

[Nancy.]

The Immaculate Collection is at #17 on the USA album chart. Not bad for a 27 year old album...

[Nicky91]

Youtube video

i call this song, the microsoft windows theme song

[Nancy.]

Originally Posted by Nicky91

Youtube video

i call this song, the microsoft windows theme song

The title track from her most critically acclaimed album.

The album won 6 out of 9 nominations at the VMA's
4 Grammy's out of 6 nominations.

Ray of Light also gave Madonna several trophies from various international award shows.

It's a masterpiece!!!

[Nancy.]

Youtube video

[Fetch The Bolt Cutters]

can we all agree this is her best song ever

Youtube video

[reece(:]

Originally Posted by Sullen Girl

can we all agree this is her best song ever

Youtube video

Only the queen of trance!

[Nancy.]

Originally Posted by Sullen Girl

can we all agree this is her best song ever

Youtube video

Love that version.

[Nancy.]

This video is fab. It shows Madonna working on her MDNA tour and puts paid to the rumour that she doesn't have any creative input in anything she does.

Watch from 3:10

Youtube video

[Nancy.]

According to an article in the Portuguese media, Madonna is gathering ideas for her new album. The direction is going to be African rhythms mixed with contemporary dance. Craig Kostich the head of dance music at Warner Brothers Records did some remixes for her is supposedly involved.

https://translate.google.co.uk/trans...-text=&act=url

[Nancy.]

Even in rehearsals, she's still fabulous!

Youtube video

Youtube video

[Nancy.]

March 2018 marks the 20th anniversary of the "Ray Of Light" album. Looking forward to celebrating this award winning stunning record.

Where have all the years gone?

[reece(:]

Like A Virgin's 33 anniversary is upon us!

[Nancy.]

Originally Posted by reece(:

Like A Virgin's 33 anniversary is upon us!

Omg, my mind was so focused on Ray of Light, I forgot about it, Reece.

Anyway, Today is the day!

[Nancy.]

So today marks the 33rd anniversary of one of the biggest and most successful album's of the 80's.



From Billboard:
Madonna’s ‘Like a Virgin’ at 33: Classic Track-by-Track Album Review

On her self-titled 1983 debut, Madonna sang perky little tunes about going on vacation (“Holiday”) and falling in and out of love (“Lucky Star” and “Borderline”). These were ideas grandma and grandpa could get behind, and yet the 20-something Michigan native caused a minor sensation, setting the stage for a total pop-culture takeover. Clearly, music was only one of her weapons.

While Madonna offered Middle American mallrats a taste of underground NYC dance culture, what really got people talking was the singer herself. This spunky, self-assured club kid with the belly shirts and rubber bracelets liked being a topic of conversation, and with her second album, Like a Virgin, she endeavored to keep her name on everyone’s lips.

Released 33 years ago today (Nov. 12, 1984), Like a Virgin is sometimes thought of as Madonna’s artistic coming-out party, the moment she swapped frivolous bubblegum for more thoughtful examinations of female sexuality. Such praise stems mostly from what we now know about Madonna. However, for all its merits -- and it has many -- Like a Virgin isn’t exactly The Feminine Mystique set to music. In fact, it’s not all that different from its predecessor.

As with her first record, Madonna went into Like a Virgin wrestling Warner Bros. for more artistic control. After her negative experiences working with Reggie Lucas, she wanted to handle more of the production herself, and she found a winning collaborator in Chic guitarist Nile Rodgers, who’d just worked on David Bowie’s Let’s Dance.

The first single, of course, is “Like a Virgin,” Madonna’s first No. 1 pop hit. It’s here that she most explicitly tackles sexual politics and explores that whole virgin-wh * re thing so central to her image. The other is “Material Girl,” a winking gold-digger anthem that can be taken a couple of different ways. The remaining eight songs range from explosive dance tunes (Into The Groove) to filler tracks (Shoo Bee Doo), but that was all it took to propel Madonna onto the same plain as Prince, Michael Jackson and Bruce Springsteen.

Youtube video

Read on to get our track-by-track take on this ‘80s landmark, an album that had young girls everywhere rocking lace tutus and fingerless gloves and bopping along to a cultural figure who could no longer be ignored.

“Material Girl”: Like so many ‘80s pop classics, this one is inextricably linked to its video, which features a pretty-in-pink Madonna paying homage to Marilyn Monroe. It’s also more clever than most people realize. She’s either making a sarcastic statement about the decade’s rampant materialism or promoting the kind of “I got mine, bitches” feminism that’s always been her guiding light. Either way, “Material Girl” is a stylish sign-of-the-times synth-funk jam she totally owned.

Youtube video

“Angel”: Madonna never made an “Angel” video, so there are no candy-colored MTV memories to taint this underrated single, which she co-wrote with ex-boyfriend Steve Bray. It plays like a straightforward dance-pop love song, but when this lapsed Catholic starts singing about angels, you know there’s some religious subtext. The laughter up front and midway through is a reminder that Madonna is no wretch incapable of saving herself. When heaven sends her an angel, it’s game respecting game.

Youtube video

“Like a Virgin”: Ask a hundred people what this song is about, and you’ll get a hundred interpretations -- none as hilariously vulgar as Quentin Tarantino’s in Reservoir Dogs, but each as valid. “Like a Virgin”, sits atop a bassline like the one heard in “Billie Jean” -- another complex song about purity and sex -- Madonna is coquettish yet knowing. “Like a Virgin” is about reconnecting with lost innocence through the act of lovemaking, a counterintuitive idea that was bound to confuse people. It didn’t exactly clarify things when she wore a wedding dress and humped the floor while performing the song at the inaugural MTV Video Music Awards. "Like A Virgin" received positive reviews from contemporary as well as past critics, who frequently hailed it as one of the defining songs for her. It became her first number-one single on the Billboard Hot 100, while reaching the top of the charts in Australia, Canada and Japan, and the top-ten of other countries.

Youtube video

“Over and Over”: The interplay between the shiny synths and clean, jangly guitar is reminiscent of what Prince was doing at the time, though the lyrics are pure Madonna. “You try to criticize my drive / If I lose I don't feel paralyzed,” she sings, managing to inject some of her go-getter personality into even a fairly skippable filler track.

“Love Don’t Live Here Anymore”: Originally a hit for Rose Royce in 1978, this ballad breaks the run of up-tempo tracks and puts the focus on raw emotion. Never known as a powerhouse vocalist, Madonna gives the soul-diva thing her best shot, and she powers through like she always does, making the most of her voice and even affecting some growls toward the end, right before she breaks down crying.

"Into The Groove" (Only on the 1985 re-issue edition)
As the album's fourth single. Madonna wrote the track for her friend, Mark Kamins, Madonna later decided to use it as the soundtrack of her film Desperately Seeking Susan. The song was appreciated by contemporary music critics as well as authors. The song was a commercial success, reaching the top of the charts in Australia, Belgium, Ireland, Italy, Japan, Netherlands, New Zealand, Spain and the United Kingdom, where it was Madonna's first number-one single. In the United States, the song was only available as the B-side of the 12-inch single of "Angel", therefore it was ineligible to chart on the Billboard Hot 100 according to the rules at the time. By the end of the 1980s, "Into the Groove" was honored by Billboard magazine as the Dance Single of the Decade.

Youtube video

“Dress You Up”: Dress You Up was released on July 31, 1985 as the album's final single. The song was the last track to be added to the album. Fashion was obviously a big part of Madonna’s appeal, and here, she proves that clothing can be a good metaphor for sex. Flirtatious lyrics like “silky touch” and “velvet kisses” are are laid on thick, but Rodgers skims away the cheese with his funky guitar tangles and that melodic solo, which could have come from Purple Rain.

Youtube video

“Pretender”: Even when she gets snookered, Madonna is no sucker. “I know all about your kind,” she tells the finagler that inspired this brisk synth-pop groover. Yeah, she went back to his place, let things move too fast, and set herself up for heartbreak, but there’s a sense she saw it all coming.

“Stay”: The final track on the album. The coolest part comes at 2:15, when Madonna gets into the “scoop, scoop, scoop, scoodooly be-bop” spirit and makes like a Shangri-La with some spoken-word vocals: “Don’t’ be afraid / It’s gonna be alright.” and she was most definitely right. As she became the most successful female artist in the world and still is to this very day.

After its release, Like a Virgin received mixed reviews from the critics, but was a commercial success. It became Madonna's first number one album on the Billboard 200, while reaching the top of the charts in Germany, Italy, Netherlands, New Zealand, Spain and the United Kingdom. The Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) certified it diamond for shipment of ten million copies across the United States. Worldwide it has sold 21 million copies, becoming one of the best-selling albums of all time.

To promote the album, she embarked on The Virgin Tour, which had shows in cities of North America only. Like a Virgin has attained significance as a cultural artifact of the 1980s. Madonna proved that she was not a one-hit wonder and was able to provide herself with a permanent footing in the music world. Her songs became a lightning rod for both criticism by conservatives and imitation by the younger female population, especially "Material Girl" and "Like a Virgin". According to author J. Randy Taraborrelli, "Every important artist has at least one album in his or her career whose critical and commercial success becomes the artist's magic moment; for Madonna, Like a Virgin was just such a defining moment."