Don't go for second best, baby. Put your ILM ARTIST POLL #31: MADONNA to the test.

There were 57 ballots cast, but a mere 106 tracks voted for. Indicative of just how good her good tracks are? Follow along and see which made the top 50. I'll be counting down 50-36 today, 35-21 tomorrow, and I'll return Monday with the top 20.

Instead of revealing the subpoll results before the countdown, they're coming after. Unorthodox? Yes. Have I simply just not tabulated those results yet? Absolutely.

For audio ecstasy, follow along with this Spotify playlist.

And now, let's get things underway...

http://i.imgur.com/KXWRspO.jpg

50. "WORDS" from Erotica (1992) [7 votes, 136 points]

Here we go!

good start! one of my favorites from Erotica, although i ended up only voting for one song from the album and it wasn't that one.

Marvelous start.

lol I was just about to post my own collaborative results playlist when I went back and reread the opening post more closely

maybe you should do some of the subpolls over the weekend during the break from the main results?

Might be a better idea, yes.

This song never stood out for me in the past, but I never really found myself listening to Erotica a whole lot, either. Now I'm pretty sure it's my favorite on the album.

voted for this: the propulsion + the typewriter clacking at the end (and the way when the typewriter comes in it retroactively makes portions of the beat sound like abstract digitized typewriters clacking)

http://i.imgur.com/n75d0Ii.jpg

49. "I'LL REMEMBER" from the motion picture soundtrack With Honors (1994) [6 votes, 142 points]

didn't expect "words" to place! i love it, but there's eight or so erotica tracks i'd think of voting for before that

i'm just as excited for the images used as the results right now, they look awesome!

WHOA GREAT IMAGES

omg booming start. I love Words! and yeah AWESOME work with the images JF, rollout does not disappoint.

I've done my stretches, got my legwarmers and my leotard on, let's DO this

psyched for this. we not having links tho? i suppose it's just as easy to search regardless.

this is an all-Spotify list, see the opening post of the thread

Doesn't mean people can't link to youtube. I'm not doing it, but feel free to take it upon yourselves.

i can only apologise. xp.

Totally, ironically, forgot "I'll Remember." Nice. I'm guessing this will be the poll with the most movie soundtrack cuts.

I almost voted for "I'll Remember" but only bcz the Orbit remix is the best thing he's ever done and I realized I don't like the album cut of the song all that much.

http://i.imgur.com/3OaF7C3.jpg

48. "THE POWER OF GOOD-BYE" from Ray of Light (1998) [8 votes, 144 points]

One thing you may end up noticing is that Madonna is photographed a shit ton with her arms raised.

oof yes, booming images, keep it up

she has really great eyes

the image for 'words' will be hard to top already.

I don't remember anyone citing "The Power of Goodbye" in the other thread. Prototypical "deep single." The sonics are a warm bath.

really like how aqueous and majestic "the power of goodbye" sounds

I also forgot "I'll Remember" from my ballot, but it would have been near the bottom. I was only reminded a couple days ago by my roommate mentioning it as one of his favorite M songs. Then I had to frantically double-check that I hadn't forgotten all of her soundtrack songs for my ballot (I hadn't).

JF, great work w/ the stills - love the typeface arrangement, colors & subtle halftone pattern!

wow I forgot all about I'll Remember.

http://i.imgur.com/WMyto5q.jpg

47. "KEEP IT TOGETHER" from Like a Prayer (1989) [9 votes, 148 points]

YES

^^^

can't decide whether I prefer the single mix

Madonna sez Prince played on the album version.

I absolutely prefer the single mix but the album version is also good

I think KiT was like #21 for me :-( it really is a great song

loving these images sfm

I deliberated over KiT, I so wanted it on my ballot. Glad it made it into the 50. So good!

she made it into an amazing closing number for blond ambition

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fhndzqzmstc

"I'll Remember" image should've been bearded Joe Pesci, is my only complaint

better:

http://images.larryelder.com/images/blog/TomVitale_080612.jpg

I forgot "I'll Remember" too--a convince-store staple for a few years back there. Good song.

i never paid attention to "the power of good-bye" till I heard the mashup of it and "bittersweet symphony," which remains one of my favorite examples of the form. the sonics are indeed a warm bath; that's a great description. the vocal is another matter. she sounds like she's trembling all the way through, as if the breakup she's singing about happened the morning she recorded it. she's sure of herself, absolutely sure, and yet she's not at all over it.

http://i.imgur.com/GdnmJDd.jpg

46. "DIE ANOTHER DAY" from the motion picture soundtrack Die Another Day (2002) [7 votes, 149 points]

Didn't see that one coming.

"Power of Good-bye" on my ballot (only thing to place so far).

"Keep It Together" one of very few LAP tracks to *not* make my ballot (though I really like it).

And yes! Great images!!

1) stoked 4 this
2) not stoked that it's started just as i have to leave the house and be offline til tomorrow morning
3) fantastic images
4) DIE ANOTHER DAY!!!! - happy it placed obv but SO SO SO TOO LOW

lol so happy "Die Another Day" placed

please explain the love for this song bcz idgi

I am asking genuinely

I had no idea it was well regarded until today.

i just think "Die" and "American Life" are the apex of the total awkward strangeness of the Madonna/Mirwais collaboration, with the latter edging a little too far into outright bad but the former aging pretty well

the appeal is that it sounds like a ringtone?

Die has aged/is better than AL, that's for sure, but I still think its kinda rigid and hook-free in much the same way a lot of her stuff has been in the 00's and onward.

Really curious to see if any other AL tracks will post, though I doubt it.

idgi either, they're the nadir of the awkard strangeness. blank in a bad way.

i feel ppl would like it a lot more if it wasn't tied to an awful bond film and had just been a first single for a studio album

the production is insane and "sigmund freud analyse this" is obv an all-time line

Don't love this, or even really like it much. Was surprised when it made a late push to crack the top 50.

People like "Live and Let Die" and its tied to a (marginally) worse Bond film.

xpost

American Life was the only LP from the last 15 years on my albums ballot, it's obviously kind of a fiasco but imo a really unique and interesting one, a lot of her later music has the same rigidity and blandness but without the strangeness and personal twists that made the AL era a source of fascination for me.

"die another day" was in my top three, it's completely unfuckwithable as totally bizarre-sounding experimental pop that still conveys the essence of the singer successfully and has a ton more hooks than its awkwardness should allow for

the tense, ominous intro and clip-clopping beats, strings sharp like knives, that "UH." like a full stop mid-verse, an android prickling with panicky sweat, the entire conceit that she can achieve immortality by shutting her body down - it's insane sonically and lyrically and is everything i'd want for a slightly mad pop star on top of the world

and it's so seriousfaced - like you actually believe that she does think she can achieve mortality via metaphysics, and the weird vocal treatment is her in the process of actually doing that

also: "i need to lay down"

hella fun to dance to, too

tom ewing on it: http://freakytrigger.co.uk/ft/2009/09/madonna-die-another-day/

I came around to having affection for it. I don't think it's a fiasco so much as an uneven attempt to electronify a singer-songwriter record

that's a convincing defence of it lex, makes me wish i liked the way it sounded more.

^^

liked it more at the time, think it works much better as stand alone soundtrack single than first single from album context, still think it's solid but at the time i can remember telling someone the reason britney was never gonna be another madonna is that britney couldn't even conceive of a 'die another day' while madonna could churn one out w/o breaking a sweat. then came 'toxic'. curious just how little you hear it now - it hasn't disappeared from the face of the earth like her 'american pie' remake (which was a hit fwiw), but it's not exactly 'into the groove' or 'crazy for you' either.

it's become a deep single

well there are only like three 00s singles of hers that haven't disappeared pretty quickly

the ones from Music, and Hung Up?

britney couldn't even conceive of a 'die another day' while madonna could churn one out w/o breaking a sweat. then came 'toxic'.

and then you could argue, "toxic" was hardly "die another day" lyrically, and then came blackout

madonna i hear all the time on oldies radio around here: lucky star, borderline, holiday, crazy for you, into the groove, open your heart, la isla bonita, like a prayer. very very occasionally like a virgin and dress you up.

madonna i hear all the time on ac radio around here: the above plus express yrself, cherish, vogue, take a bow, ray of light, beautiful stranger. very very occasionally this used to be my playground, rain, power of goodbye, music.

xpost lex otm

yeah. and "4 Minutes," i guess? obviously Madonna had a lot of singles that topped the dance charts even if they weren't pop radio hits, i'm curious if any of those 'minor' later singles have had a long shelf life in clubs or if they just came and went. xp

this conversation just makes me wish that britney had released "before the goodbye" in 2001 ;_;

she's still a force on the dance chart but I dunno who cares.

haha i hear 'sorry' and 'hung up' in the club alot but the club i go to is ran by an old gay couple i probably spend an hour a week talking about madonna w/ so might not be an unbiased sample (very very heated couple of weeks debating beyonce's superbowl performance vs madonna's). i have met youngun's whose fave madonna is 'four minutes', which always manages to provoke the same horror i had in the nineties meeting ppl whose fave bowie was outside: 'WAIT - THAT SHIT WORKED???'

a better lol Bowie nineties example is "I'm Afraid of Americans."

I cannot conceive of how "4 Minutes" could be anyone's favourite Madonna song, unless it and MDNA are the only Madonna records they've ever heard (and even then...)

I would be more appalled if it was "Give It 2 Me"

i wonder if madonna actually thought "give me all your luvin'" would actually appeal to young ppl

actually

of course it would - it had m.i.a. (who some older young ppl might be familiar w/) and nicki minaj on it. it's the rubio gambit. plus her daughter's a ting tings fan which explained alot about that single to me.

i literally never knew "i'll remember" was by madonna

http://i.imgur.com/SSSLEOy.jpg

(TIE) 44. "WHITE HEAT" from True Blue (1986) [7 votes, 161 points]

FUCK YES

yes! one of the album cuts i voted for

I always felt that this should have been a single, it's such a fantastic song

didn't make my ballot, but YAY!

wow – wasn't expecting this!

THIS IS A BUST.

haha

I should have put that higher on my ballot, it's really one of my favorite songs by her

although then again so is everything else on my ballot

and yes, I did sing along with the song and hold up the True Blue album cover while shouting "THIS IS MY BUST"

glad this made it. literally hadn't listened to it since i was 12 and always thought 'this is a bust' was referring to the pointy bra. well it did in my head anyway.

xp ha

omg I love this so much. The chorus is so TUFF, huge hook, I love it.

Madge/Police Academy crossover?

"And we went for it; I went for it. Treated him like a kid brother."

I never did my Madonna fandom origin story on the other thread, so here's a short version: my sister and I's frequent babysitter at the time was always playing TB and "White Heat" seemed to be a fave of hers. She even choreographed a dance to it which my sister definitely participated in. I can't remember if actually did, but I certainly hope so.

here's my Madonna fandom origin story:

- young DJP sees the video for "Borderline", thinks "oh this is catchy, I like this"
- young DJP sees the video for "Burnin' Up", thinks "holy shit, this must be puberty"
- young DJP sees the video for "Lucky Star", thinks "yup, this is definitely puberty"

Do remember hearing "Papa Don't Preach" before the babysitter thing (since I remember recognizing the song when she played it), but that was definitely my first Madonna song.

Mine:

Family took a vacation to Cocoa Beach to see a shuttle launch in 1985 and I had a boombox and ridiculously oversized headphones with me in the back seat, and I must have heard "Into the Groove" 50 times during that trip. That made a fan of that song, of her, and the art of catching a song on the radio WHILE you have a blank tape in the tape deck.

haha I went back and looked at my ballot and I had "White Heat" at #3

A social studies teacher tried to convince my grade 10 class that "Into The Groove" is about masturbation.

(Sounds like my ninth-grade English teach who couldn't stop talked about Frankie's "Relax.")

Mine:

Memorial Day weekend 1985: in the back seat while Mom and little sister sang "Into The Groove," me resisting the temptation to join them because - I"m not sure! I was embarrassed to be a boy who liked Madonna?

http://i.imgur.com/lfY33Mj.jpg

(TIE) 44. "SECRET GARDEN" from Erotica (1992) [7 votes, 161 points]

YES!

WOO!

(the highest ranking "deep cut" on my ballot)

jesus that pic

brb

YES

woah she has a bit of the look of beyonce in that image.

She had more looks during the Erotica cycle than any other, I believe.

I was "into" Madonna from the first singles, but I didn't realize my fandom until I insisted that my parents get me satin sheets for my new waterbed because of the lyrics of "Dress You Up" (lol Florida in 1985)

okay that's amazing

then your parents got you KFC because of the lyrics of "Where Life Begins"

Woo! I had both of of White Heat and Secret Garden, it feels good to be making a difference.

1. Sometime in the mid-80s, I heard either Lucky Star or Holiday in a Wisconsin roller rink owned by one of my mom’s friends from high school.
2. In 1987 or so, I was in our local Sam Goody. I was looking a hair metal cassettes, probably Motley Crue. Two teenage boys stop near me and start having a conversation about the new Madonna album, I can’t remember if it was True Blue or You Can Dance. I leave without any Madonna, because she’s a girl, but I am intrigued.
3. The Like a Prayer-era. Watch an hour of MTV every morning. Title track completely inescapable. Dislike Express Yourself though, which wears me down. Eventually she comes back with Cherish, which I really like. Still secretly though, because I am afraid of girls.
4. Dick Tracy: Vogue and Hanky Panky put me completely off of Madonna for a long time.
5. 1999: William Orbit connection (because I've confused him with Orbital) to Ray of Light prompts me to check out that album as well as her classic 80s stuff.
6. 2000: someone tries to awkwardly seduce me with a mix CD compiled from Erotica and Bedtime Stories. Sold.

i don't even know the first madonna song i heard (maybe "rain" or even "i'll remember"? they played the shit out of those on the adult alternative stations my mom listened to)

I guess I was one of the late votes for "Die Another Day". I'd never really given it a try until lex went on about it on some thread a while back, & I fell for it right way. great vid too.

I keep relistening to "I'll Remember" today. That sequenced synth and the bottom end are so deliciously warm.

her being a girl never occurred to me as a reason not to be a fan, but girls dressing like her circa Like a Virgin definitely solidified my fandom

my madonna story is i downloaded a bunch of madonna albums this must be the "cheapening" i've heard so much about

first time i was conscious of "oh this is madonna i'm listening to" was definitely "take a bow"

http://i.imgur.com/Xs5cZaa.jpg

43. "WAITING" from Erotica (1992) [8 votes, 189 points]

her being a girl never occurred to me as a reason not to be a fan, but girls dressing like her circa Like a Virgin definitely solidified my fandom

― Euler, Thursday, March 7, 2013 1:39 PM (1 minute ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

I started a thread once about my early-life issues surrounding female musicians.

:D

William Orbit connection (because I've confused him with Orbital) to Ray of Light prompts me to check out that album

love this

oh i also hated "die another day" when it came out, and a few years ago when i read lex and tom going on about it i was like "how the hell do they get this much out of the hookless glitchy madonna bond theme"

then i listened again and i was like "ohhhh." like hearing it with new ears. could be a personal development but i mostly blame it on lex and tom, good critwork there. relistening to american life for this poll it jumped out at me as the liveliest thing on there.

the only erotica album cut i voted for was "words" but i'm super glad all these other tracks are showing up

her being a girl never occurred to me as a reason not to be a fan, but girls dressing like her circa Like a Virgin definitely solidified my fandom

― Euler, Thursday, March 7, 2013 1:39 PM

I was already scared of being outed, I realized later.

i don't remember exactly when i first heard madonna but i do have a memory of being...i guess 8?...and 'erotica' was all over the radio and one day i kept singing "erotic, erotic, put your hands all over my body" until my mom begged me to stop

i didn't vote in this poll because the idea of ranking madonna songs in order of preference gave me low-level anxiety btw

i hated "die another day" when it came out too and then loved it when i came back to it for this poll, but in between i listened to bands that were not weezer so that might have helped

i still haaaaaate "american life"

First Madonna song I heard - Crazy For You, sometime in 1991. I was already vaguely aware that she was both hugely controversial, not a family subject - not even a playground subject, 9-yr-olds at school tended to talk about Kylie instead - and in some realm of fame beyond my ken. I don't remember what I thought about the song.

This Used To Be My Playground was the first M single I consciously heard, I thought it was boring. I loved the Erotica singles but also knew more than ever that Madonna was *bad*, someone who would incur parental disapproval. Bedtime Stories was my first M album thx to a friend at school...

I'm really happy that I turned people on to Die Another Day!

I loved the Erotica singles but also knew more than ever that Madonna was *bad*, someone who would incur parental disapproval

consciously remember around when ray of light came out me telling my mom, as "frozen" eased out of restaurant speakers while we waited for a table, "oh mom, that's from the new madonna record! she's not gross and sexy anymore! i think you'll like it!"

bahaha

"secret" was an early "this might be my favorite song of all time" for me. i think it was preceded by the gloria estefan version of "turn the beat around"

I think I related some of my intro to Madonna on the voting thread but for posterity:

My first cassette purchased with my own money was a compilation called H'Its Huge 84 - second to last song on Side A. I don't remember if this was where I first heard Madonna or if I'd maybe heard her on the radio before then but 8 year old me LOVED Holiday. It was a fun song to dance to.
So the next year in 1985, at the ripe age of 9 the first single-artist cassette I ever purchased with my own money was Like a Virgin. It was a race between wearing out the cassette and wearing out the carpet in front of my dressing table mirror from dancing to it. I would go over to my friend's house and we would come up with dances to Stay and Pretender and pretend to slow dance to Shoo Be Do...even being so young I don't remember there was a song on that cassette that I didn't love.
I didn't own True Blue but a couple of girls in my class did, and they would bring a portable stereo to school and at lunchtimes and recess they would set it up in the alcove between two classrooms - it was just a like a big concrete dancefloor and we would dance to True Blue and Jimmy Jimmy and Where's The Party and White Heat (as well as the Bangles and Cyndi Lauper). But always, always paying special attention to coming up with 'actions' for all the songs, because we worshipped the dance-sign language Madge used in the True Blue video.

Also seeing my friend's 18 yo cousin dressed up in full Madonna Like a Virgin dancing-on-the-gondola outfit in my tiny small town blew my 10 year old mind. That was as close as I ever come to meeting Madonna, lol

*Holiday was the second to last song on Side A, oops

i don't remember exactly when i first heard madonna but i do have a memory of being...i guess 8?...and 'erotica' was all over the radio and one day i kept singing "erotic, erotic, put your hands all over my body" until my mom begged me to stop

When my son was 4 or 5, his favorite song was "3" by Britney Spears.

wait i just realized i totally do have a pre-soulseek madonna story because when i was nine a friend's parents dragged both of us to evita

idk what the general opinion of evita is amongst the wider population but i bet i can predict it amongst nine-year-old boys

Didn't vote, never even heard a whole Madonna record, but dig all the singles, and love a few of them. Lurking and learning (and listening).

http://i.imgur.com/Xet06M1.jpg

42. "WHO'S THAT GIRL" from the motion picture soundtrack Who's That Girl (1987) [11 votes, 194 points]

consciously remember around when ray of light came out me telling my mom, as "frozen" eased out of restaurant speakers while we waited for a table, "oh mom, that's from the new madonna record! she's not gross and sexy anymore! i think you'll like it!"

she watched her Oprah appearance, no doubt

señorita más fina

Have never seen Who's That Girl. Worth watching?

I can't imagine that it is

I liked it but I watched it a bajillion times as a kid so my nostalgia maybe clouding my judgement :D

WHO'S THAT GIIIIIRL

Who's That Girl dovetails p nicely with La Isla Bonita on a mixtape fyi

man talk about a time-machine

am so glad it placed, I had to kick it off my ballot kicking and screaming

LIGHT UP MY LIIIIIIIIIFE

A few comments on the Freaky Trigger blurb on "Who's That Girl" suggests that it and its album were Madonna's treading-water period between imperial phases. Here's one:

Thinking about it, one of the key reasons I warmed so strongly to 1989-90 Imperial Phase/Critical Consensus Madonna (of which more in due course) is that it felt like such a self-improving step up from 1986-87 Crap/Boring/One-Dimensional Madonna, i.e. it was her determination to transcend her limitations (artistically and technically) which endeared her to me. So in a way, the lameness of “Who’s That Girl” is actually a critical stage in Madonna’s story. Perhaps she couldn’t have got to where she was going without it.

"crap one-dimensional Madonna" to this guy = "True Blue" and "La Isla Bonita," both #1 UK hits.

I still maintain that True Blue is Madonna's best album

absolutely

I don't consider it her best but her songwriting and singing took real leaps. She could have made LAV Part II and didn't.

listening to "Secret Garden" right now, which is striking me as a poppier version of "I Am Stretched On Your Grave"

True Blue album-wise is all killer, no filler for me. I can't remember if I put it #1 but it was high.

I love the deceptive simplicity; all the hooks have a huge punch and her voice is starting to get that HEY YOU power that hints at stuff like Express Yourself that's yet to come

I mean, even on something like Where's The Party, which is kind of a low-level Holiday, she has that surprising raggedness in her voice on the chorus, like GODDAMMIT WHERE'S THE FUCKING PARTY, she's not asking she's demanding

Someday I'll think Jimmy Jimmy isn't gormless.

I think I've heard all of Erotica maybe twice in my life so the sheer number of "mutter the verse, sing the chorus" songs on it is cracking me up

actually when I said no filler, Jimmy Jimmy almost qualifies. The writing on that is kinda terrible - 'maybe because you come from bad *places*?" is just uggggh why

oops, you're just a boy who comes from bad places, sry

http://i.imgur.com/XQq96kX.jpg

41. "PHYSICAL ATTRACTION" from Madonna (1983) [10 votes, 195 points]

YAY

my only qualm is that all of this pre-1987 stuff* should be at the top of the poll but I'm glad it's placing

* except of course for the LAV non-singles, which I've always hated

I love the "bom bom bom bom baa-ahhh" backing vocals so much.

"where's the party" is better on you can dance just like everything else on you can dance but for some reason i feel like this hurts true blue more than it hurts the half-duplicated debut album, maybe cuz without it the only really powerful songs on the album for me are the first two. i like "white heat" and the samples are ultracute but it doesn't feel panprovocative+totally-righteous like "papa don't preach" or overwhelming-cosmic-joy like "open your heart" (and i still didn't vote for "papa don't preach", so). other than that it's goofyfun stuff like "la isla bonita" and some ballads, and the 80s ballads really blur for me until prayer. maybe that's a lack of focus on my part but it's why i love the debut, cuz there basically aren't any on it.

yaaaaaaaaaay

There is exactly one ballad on True Blue, "Live To Tell"

You Can Dance is her best album before Erotica.

ha yr right. i remember the title track as one cuz it fades into the same haze for me. xp

* except of course for the LAV non-singles, which I've always hated

i was gonna be like "pffft 'over and over'" but wow it was a single? christ.

It wasn't a single -- it got airplay thanks to YCD (it's my favorite of the remixes too)

and plus my sister did a ballet routine to "Over and Over" in 1986.

i voted for "over and over" and prob should have specified i meant the YCD mix cuz that's the most thorough unlocking on there but on the other hand whatever

guess i should check out Erotica again. that was my get off the bus moment, didn't really get back on until 'Music'.

I should listen to Like A Virgin again but when I first heard it, it was with the s/t and True Blue as part of a bunch of albums I purchased via Columbia House without parental supervision for a penny and I quickly formed the opinion that the LAV singles were chosen for pretty obvious reasons, ie they weren't terrible

she really needs to do a proper box set like Depeche Mode did; remixes, B sides, all the non-album stuff. although it would be huge.

yeah listening to the LAV version of "Over and Over" and there isn't even a redeeming portion to it like the "why oh why" bit in "Jimmy Jimmy" that makes that song tolerable

otoh "Angel" is severely, severely underrated

best Madonna cover ever; the Drop Nineteens doing Angel.

jesus, dan, the ah-ah-ahs and SHOUT IT AGAIN FROM THE HIGHEST MOUNTAINNNN

"Angel" is in my top five iirc

"jimmy jimmy" is just so in love with itself and with pop and with being alive in nineteen-eighty-whatever that i will happily continue to overlook any flaws in its writing.

for pretty much the same reason, happy to see "who's that girl" on here even though i didn't vote for it.

DJP yr ears are broken imo, 'Over and Over' is fantastic

I was wondering earlier, piscesx, if you saw her at the Haçienda

http://i.imgur.com/A9jBo6d.jpg

40. "CAUSING A COMMOTION" from the motion picture soundtrack Who's That Girl (1987) [11 votes, 201 points]

^^^^ usually what I have in mind when thinking bout "deep singles"

voted for Causing A Commotion, fabulous pop moment

heh no i'm not.. quite that old. she doesn't remember it supposedly.

I'm sure I read once about her sleeping on someone's floor during her stay

the (awesome and gorgeously unified) pictures are making me realize that it may now be unconscious and thus a lot subtler and source-decayed but half the girls i know are still ripping her off, and thank goodness

This is absolutely my favorite of her "deep singles". I was positively livid when it was left off Celebration in favor of shit from Hard Candy and American Life.

otm xp

broke for lunch and missed a buncha stuff, so...

Have never seen Who's That Girl. Worth watching?

― Johnny Fever, Thursday, March 7, 2013 2:00 PM (46 minutes ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

No. Make that HELL no.

listening to "Secret Garden" right now, which is striking me as a poppier version of "I Am Stretched On Your Grave"

― "Bellini." (DJP), Thursday, March 7, 2013 2:10 PM (37 minutes ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

OTM!!!

"jimmy jimmy" is just so in love with itself and with pop and with being alive in nineteen-eighty-whatever that i will happily continue to overlook any flaws in its writing.

― fact checking cuz, Thursday, March 7, 2013 2:41 PM (5 minutes ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

It made my ballot for this very reason (though you articulated it much better than I could have)

^^ that's why I love "Open Your Heart."

cept "Open Your Heart" is flawless.

I was like 11 & suddenly girls in my classes were wearing underwear outside their clothes & it was very lacy & oh my & that was basically the best thing ever & still is

I once thought that I could give it a go during karaoke but I realized 40 seconds in that the song was going to defeat me and I still had more than three minutes left. It made me realize what an underrated vocalist she is and how much I suck.

Causing A Commotion is fab, I love it

xpost Yeah that would be hard to karaoke - you forget how much 'oomph' she has in her voice, it's hard enough to GET up there let alone stay up there for the chorus, it's exhausting. I give up just singing it out loud in the car, lol

Oh fuck yes for "Waiting" placing

Proof of how, just, overflowing with hits Madonna was in the 80s: when "Causing a Commotion" hit the charts, the TV version of Casey Kasem's Top 40 that aired on Saturday mornings after cartoons, they didn't even have a video to show, so the clip was just the song playing over a spinning image of the Who's That Girl album cover. Like the song hit so fast its like they didn't even have time to prepare for it.

"Causing a Commotion" was at #2 for three weeks in the U.S. I should poll her #2 hits.

http://i.imgur.com/rMv8Onl.jpg

39. "RAIN" from Erotica (1992) [11 votes, 217 points]

Cut Rain from my ballot in favour of Waiting at the last second. Glad to see it place anyway.

"Rain" and "I'll Remember" were record company exhalations of relief after sexxytime Madonna.

cept "Open Your Heart" is flawless.

i could write a book about "open your heart." and i probably still wouldn't discover any flaws.

late late single from erotica, after the album had (relatively) flopped, the only erotica song i ever hear on the radio anymore

I never heard this song on the radio but saw the video a bazillion times

the bridge is beautiful

I remember thinking the double tracked vocals on Rain were the coolest thing I'd ever heard at the time.

Erotica album tracks > Erotica singles IMO.

the bridge is incredible yeah

i read somewhere that the song is actually about a dead lover (or maybe her mother cf. "kisses from heaven above" in "deeper and deeper"), which actually makes a lot of sense. even the straight up radio friendly love ballad on the album is dark stuff

Let's say that the album tracks are as fab as "Deeper and Deeper" and "Bad Girl."

My first vote to place so far!

only two of mine have placed so far ('i'll remember' and 'white heat') but my ballot beyond the top five or so was just throwing stuff at the wall, there's only a couple of tracks so far i really doubt could pop up in my top twenty at any random moment ('dad' and 'who's that girl').

http://i.imgur.com/QauiGvo.jpg

38. "BEDTIME STORY" from Bedtime Stories (1994) [13 votes, 238 points]

Lots of people dislike "Bedtime Stories" but I get off on its garishness: she Madonna-izes trip-hop like she'd do with "electronica" four years later.

I still dig the shit out of this song

didn't make my ballot though

I didn't think I liked this, but when I heard it again I was really impressed. It missed my 20 but not by much.

an impressive instant?

trying to remember how much pop house was still getting on the radio when erotica hit, it was definitely all over the radio circa 90 when 'vogue' blew up (and credit madonna for being a factor in that moment happening), wondering if maybe the moment passing (on radio, the moment never passed in my heart) was a secret factor in erotica underperforming. when did cece peniston hit? totally want to dj a night of house of style bumper music.

I remember seeing her do a rubbish performance of it at The Brits I think, it soured me unfairly.

CeCe Peniston was '93 IIRC

and after two consecutive top fives, one of which became her longest-running #1 ever, she thought she could release an "experimental" single and get it into the top forty.

Peniston's "Finally" was very late '91 and early '92

what i remember most about the first time i heard bedtime story was being happy that madonna was into bjork and that bjork was cool/smart enough to give madonna a song.

crystalwatersvevo going on in my other tab

trying to remember how much pop house was still getting on the radio when erotica hit, it was definitely all over the radio circa 90 when 'vogue' blew up

"Vogue" was the height of the Late 80s/Early 90s Dance and Pop Songs with that Latin-ish Thing of Going Up and Down an Octave with the Same Chord era.

I think in large part due to "Bedtime Story," 1994 is kind of the mental demarcation in my head between old-Madonna and nu-Madonna. Erotica seemed to me like the early part of her career taken to its absolute extreme, and Bedtime Stories seemed like a complete and total fresh start. I still don't like much of that album, but "Bedtime Story" is all-time.

i mentally divide her career into pre-evita and post-evita

That makes just as much sense. Bedtime Stories was pre-voice training, but I think it's also the thing that freed her up to go after something like Evita.

Erotica and even Bedtime Stories felt like an extension of the fantasy-life Dita persona in the Sex book. Ray of Light felt like leaving the 80s behind (more successfully than U2 did at the time).

"Rain" seems like one of those tracks that was all over when it came out but has since completely disappeared from the radio or Muzak or any of that. It is one of my favorites and I have v fond memories of watching donna rouge dump a glass of water on his head during the key change while singing it at karaoke at a country/western gay bar in LA (and then getting yelled at by the mc)

http://i.imgur.com/KXWRspO.jpg

37. "TRUE BLUE" from True Blue (1986) [12 votes, 240 points, 1 first place vote]

argh! hang on..

Bedtime Stories had an absolute rave 9/10 review in the NME accompanied by an amazing cartoon of her in bed with the Big Bad Wolf.

http://i.imgur.com/PAYXM4F.jpg

37. "TRUE BLUE" from True Blue (1986) [12 votes, 240 points, 1 first place vote]

when all is said and done i have to say both videos for 'true blue' kinda suck

think the bridge lifts it above the generic pastiche charge thrown at it

I'd love to hear an arrangement of this song done Supremes style.

there's more than one "True Blue" video? I only vaguely remember one with her wandering through a thrift store maybe?

whatever it was, it did suck

love the song though, kind of hate "Cherish" for being a rehash of the style

There's hers, and there's the one that won an MTV contest.

More like true poo

man i think they spent twenty minutes working on the official (and pretty much not seen in america when true blue was a hit) video. debi mazar looks crazy young.

"Cherish" at least has the v beautiful "don't underestimate my point of view" bit.

haha I'm thinking of the fan video

it was terrible

the video is easily her most dated, but

http://24.media.tumblr.com/99d09e7b7b910bda7d66ce1c12e4720c/tumblr_mizt4sC72b1rl00x0o1_400.gif

<3

'true blue's fifties pastiche, 'cherish' is sixties pastiche (like a surprising amount of her catalog)

magical wink!

I don't even remember the incredibly blue "official" video

the video is easily her most dated, but

okay no one who has recently seen the "Dear Jessie" video could say this

DJP you are a rad dude but man I think you and I have directly inverse Madonna interests

haha apparently!

i'm not sure even madonna has seen the 'dear jessie' video, that thing was strictly uk, i think 'keep it together' was too funky for them (which reminds me i need to add 'too funky' to my house of style list).

Yeah, yeah!

"Cherish" >>>>> "True Blue"

peak of my tyra love (well, there was this one gq cover).

Last one for today coming up...

http://i.imgur.com/DczbBaO.jpg

36. "GET TOGETHER" from Confessions on a Dance Floor (2005) [11 votes, 246 points, 1 first place vote]

too low!

her best 00s song

"True Blue" my #1

our first 2000s song

I love both videos, especially the MTV contest winner

I sometimes think everything I ever learned about girls, I learned from Madonna

pretty shameless rip of the Deep Dish-EBTG collaboration but love it anyway

her best 00s song

I'd be inclined to agree.

I underrate the Confessions material, I think; I always forget this song exists but whenever I hear it I love it

our first 2000s song

Die Another Day was #46.

although I still maintain that her best 00s single is "What It Feels Like For a Girl"

whoops xpost

my least fave confessions single but only cuz i'm really really really crazy about all the other confessions singles

well i definitely remembered the True Blue video A LOT differently. weird.

I remembered her not being in that dress thing but the bustier and capris...even the backup girls were kinda crappy in the video? what the hell madge, I was CERTAIN you were way cooler. I dunno, I had this memory of her showing off her upper arms and being way less twee.
oh well. i still love the song for reasons words would not sufficiently explain.

woah, Get Together is fantastic. I didn't really notice it first time around

okay I should have kept "Impressive Instant" on my ballot I think

although I still maintain that her best 00s single is "What It Feels Like For a Girl"

― "Bellini." (DJP)

Agree with this.

Interesting list so far, plenty of songs I never knew were rated so highly, especially Die Another Day.

Never got the fuss over the Confessions album, I always found it too samey. Should probably give it another go.

I dunno, Get Together suffers, for me, from that stiff vocal style that characterizes so much of the latter day Madonna.

That said, if she opted to just make records that sounded like Confessions for the rest of her career, I'd be okay with that.

50. "WORDS" from Erotica (1992) [7 votes, 136 points]
49. "I'LL REMEMBER" from the motion picture soundtrack With Honors (1994) [6 votes, 142 points]
48. "THE POWER OF GOOD-BYE" from Ray of Light (1998) [8 votes, 144 points]
47. "KEEP IT TOGETHER" from Like a Prayer (1989) [9 votes, 148 points]
46. "DIE ANOTHER DAY" from the motion picture soundtrack Die Another Day (2002) [7 votes, 149 points]
(TIE) 44. "WHITE HEAT" from True Blue (1986) [7 votes, 161 points]
(TIE) 44. "SECRET GARDEN" from Erotica (1992) [7 votes, 161 points]
43. "WAITING" from Erotica (1992) [8 votes, 189 points]
42. "WHO'S THAT GIRL" from the motion picture soundtrack Who's That Girl (1987) [11 votes, 194 points]
41. "PHYSICAL ATTRACTION" from Madonna (1983) [10 votes, 195 points]
40. "CAUSING A COMMOTION" from the motion picture soundtrack Who's That Girl (1987) [11 votes, 201 points]
39. "RAIN" from Erotica (1992) [11 votes, 217 points]
38. "BEDTIME STORY" from Bedtime Stories (1994) [13 votes, 238 points]
37. "TRUE BLUE" from True Blue (1986) [12 votes, 240 points, 1 first place vote]
36. "GET TOGETHER" from Confessions on a Dance Floor (2005) [11 votes, 246 points, 1 first place vote]

fun rollout so far, JF! looking forward to tomorrow!

bollocks, i missed 'get together'. TOO LOW anyway, that was when she (and stuart price obv) really nailed that mid 00s euro electrohouse sound. would love to have heard it dropped into a set when i was out.

"missed" as in missed it showing up, voted it 11 i think.

oh no and 'physical attraction' too. that feels like quintessential early madonna to me, the little shimmery synth noise. could listen to it forever.

No first-place votes 'til no.37? Going to be quite a condensed poll indeed.

I love Get Together (it was my #5). I love most of Confessions, as well, but that one just leaps out of the speakers and right into my nervous system.

No first-place votes 'til no.37?

There were some outside the top 50, but I don't have the spreadsheet on hand to tell you how many.

Excited! Gorgeous images, JF.

Glad to see "Die Another Day" place (it was the first Madonna single that I remember paying attention to as an event or whatever, probably via FT/ILM). I think one of the reasons it's so sonically uncompromising is that she'd gotten any Bond theme pastiche elements out of her system via doing "Beautiful Stranger" for, well, Bond pastiche Austin Powers a few years earlier.

Love this, because I didn't have a chance to vote but wouldn't have voted for most of these so far. Or maybe I ultimately would have! Regardless, love how I have no idea what's coming next, at least not this far down the list. Reminds me how little I've listened to most of Madonna's albums.

Just catching up. Very distinctive images. My favourite song so far is "Who's That Girl," a bit of a surprise I would think.

although I still maintain that her best 00s single is "What It Feels Like For a Girl"

― "Bellini." (DJP)

agree w/ this with the caveat that the album version is so much better than the video (and i guess single?) mix.

I love both, tbh

There is plenty of room in my life for both pensive guitar elegies and face-stomping monster trance

Yeah, I really don't have a favorite between the two. Remix definitely suits the amazing video better, but the album version is like curling up in a blanket.

i don't really pay attention to the song mix at all when i watch the "what it feels like for a girl" video, i'm too in awe of the visuals

don't get what's any good about the video tbh. vocal is just so much more well matched to the original track. i'm assuming it's still to come, though, we can debate it later i guess.

don't get what's any good about the video tbh.

If you don't by simply watching it, no amount of ILM convincing is going to get you there. But really... o_O

Hey everyone! Just got here. So sad to be missing all the fun. Thread looks great so far. Love the pictures.
Only two from my ballot for now, "Bedtime Story" my #8 and "Get Together" my #5.

i dunno maybe the video has a point or an idea that went over my head? on the surface it just seems like the kind of barely coherent, needlessly 'provocative' thing that i'd expect as the worst case scenario of a Madonna/Guy Ritchie collaboration.

Re. "Bedtime Story":

and after two consecutive top fives, one of which became her longest-running #1 ever, she thought she could release an "experimental" single and get it into the top forty.

― the little prince of inane false binary hype (Alfred, Lord Sotosyn), jeudi 7 mars 2013 20:29 (1 hour ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

I thought she could too! If anybody could have it was her. She had done it with "Justify My Love" and "Erotica". I think it would've worked had it been the first single off the album.
But radio play was never a garanty after Erotica and Sex.

i dunno maybe the video has a point or an idea that went over my head? on the surface it just seems like the kind of barely coherent, needlessly 'provocative' thing that i'd expect as the worst case scenario of a Madonna/Guy Ritchie collaboration.

It's really all in the details. She does most of the acting with her face. Plus the plates on the car, the water pistol, the french fries, the motel door, the tazer, the zippo, all that stuff. It was like the first video designed with animated gifs in mind.

did animated gifs even exist yet in 2001?

Not the way we think of them today.

haha. Didn't you have to play them in a media player, iirc?

they played in browsers they were just usually burning flames or a rotating logo or a death knight from warcraft 2 spinning around on his horse

http://www.animatedlighting.com/images/SpinningStar.gif

Animated gifs have been around since the earliest days of the internet. Video capture and compression made them what they are now.

more madonna wink <3

http://25.media.tumblr.com/tumblr_lzre74yeHb1qdpp3so1_250.gif

tho this gets me more

http://25.media.tumblr.com/tumblr_m1hfah9djz1r9rem3o1_500.gif

Yeah, that's my favorite one.

this will probably come up when we do the video results but i really don't get how she could be so brilliant and enigmatic in her videos but then prove so hopeless on the big screen

i guess because in the latter she wasn't controlling her vision or something?

I said it on the True Blue poll thread: how can she project so much avidity in the "Open Your Heart" video yet onscreen look the sort of vamp that Carol Burnett would parody?

I'd like to think she was just not very good at choosing material, movie wise? Like she knows her way around her own music choices but I just think she could have been steered in a better direction

don't ask me what

though I still think Desperately Seeking Susan is great, i wouldn't fuck with that

Madonna films I've seen:

Dick Tracy
Truth or Dare
A League of Their Own
Four Rooms
Girl 6 (though I don't remember her)

Madonna films I've not seen:

All the others

Outside of Dick Tracy, which was cartoonish by design, I think she does okay-to-very well in movies. I guess I haven't seen the bad ones, though.

JF you should watch Desperately Seeking Susan this weekend

oh yeah and League is unfuckwithable

I will.

Also, otfm.

:D

JF you should watch Desperately Seeking Susan this weekend

― set the controls for the heart of the sun (VegemiteGrrl), Thursday, March 7, 2013 7:13 PM (22 minutes ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

^

nothing i voted for so far unless i voted for power of goodbye im not sure, it might have been #21. i sortof expect at least 19 of my ballot to place, i was mad obvious. i dont see how you couldnt be. madonna is severely obvious, it is the best and worst thing about her.

"Rain" seems like one of those tracks that was all over when it came out but has since completely disappeared from the radio or Muzak or any of that. It is one of my favorites

― ferreira rocher (Stevie D(eux)), Thursday, 7 March 2013 20:41 (Yesterday) Bookmark

yeah so true, the other day i was trying to think when i last heard it irl not of my own volition and idk probably like 1998 at the latest and quite possibly earlier

despite that (and never being too much of a madonna lifer beyond radio) i have still unconsciously sung raaaaaiiiinnnn quietly to myself most times it rained in the last 20 years

Radio programmers probably felt a certain...relief when they got this straightforward track.

By the way, the songwriting credits are curious. Shep Pettibone is credited but I don't think him capable of the music. Unless Madonna had a ghostwriter I tend to credit her for its melody and structure.

I think Madonna is absolutely capable of plunking something out on a piano and collaborating with someone else to turn it into what it becomes. If she rode Shep hard to get to what she was hearing in her head, I think it's entirely possible.

PLEASE do not forget

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WJfPgjR_czA

"League" and "DSS" show that she is best not as an anchor/star but as a supporting player, and maybe even as a character actor.

Yeah, she's fine in both of those. There's still the possibility that she'll turn up doing something good in a moody low-budget thing somewhere down the line. Just don't know what the right role would be. Something like Dietrich in Touch of Evil

i refer you to the movie two posts prior. it didn't work out. she's ridiculously good in desperately seeking susan, which i highly recommend to anyone who hasn't seen it - great new york in the 80s flick, totally holds it own w/ the similar zeitgeist after hours and something wild. danceteria pops up in it and there's holy shit cameos galore (check it: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Desperately_Seeking_Susan)(see also: No Wave Cameos in 'Desperately Seeking Susan').

never saw who's that girl, it got horrible reviews and flopped quickly, but coati mundi as apparently the villain is tempting. the wikipedia page for that movie has a possible explanation for why madonna never managed the leap despite clearly being more suited for it than say prince: Madonna was ready to take direction for her part, relying on Foley to give her all the cues.[1] He, on the other hand, felt that in person, Madonna seemed to morph into a whole different body and self. He believed the process to be oddly elusive and commented that her persona morphing seemed to work most dramatically in Madonna's music videos.[1] "You'd think that that would be the perfect attribute to have for screen acting. But although she 'acts' very well sometimes, she doesn't push the right buttons at the right times over the course of the film. The failure of Shanghai Surprise had left its mark", said Foley.[1] Regarding her acting abilities, Foley stressed on the fact that Madonna was very uptight and into every detail, determined to have the correct portrayal. "That's probably why it wasn't so good. In Desperately Seeking Susan, when she didn't know what she was doing, she was being natural and at her best."[13]

glad I helped the Power of Goodbye and Keep It Together place. Physical Attraction is my favorite thing on the list so far, "quintessential early madonna to me, the little shimmery synth noise. could listen to it forever" otm

JF obviously doing a fantastic job with the images, congrats!

http://i.imgur.com/CGzJVCX.jpg

35. "EROTICA" from Erotica (1992) [12 votes, 263 points]

Happy to see all the Erotica songs placing, but getting worried that, "Deeper and Deeper" aside, it will get locked out of the top 20.

when i did an initial brainstorm this was one of the first names i put down but after listening again it didn't make the cut. feel like 'justify my love' does something similar much better to my ears. love the masters at work remixes tho.

Considering how much I love the album, my years-long indifference to this one surprises me.

looking forward to the rest of this; it's been brilliant so far.

http://i.imgur.com/5eFjd2Q.jpg

34. "DON'T TELL ME" from Music (2000) [15 votes, 284 points]

i love how surprising these results are so far? maybe they were bound to be

"Don't Tell Me" astonished me at the time - the second single was crazier than the first.

Heard the Tracy Young remixes at the gay clubs all the time.

feel like 'justify my love' does something similar much better to my ears

Absolutely. I voted for both, but Justify is so obviously the one with a touch of genius.

I kinda wish they'd kept "Erotica" as the "You Thrill Me" demo.

It has a beautiful melody and it would have sounded less similar to "Justify My Love".

http://i.imgur.com/jQnQW5c.jpg

33. "MATERIAL GIRL" from Like a Virgin (1984) [14 votes, 307 points, 1 first place vote]

xp OTM. And it totally sums up the pained doomed queer romance angle of the album.

lol at "Material Girl" being so low

seems pretty high based on the comments in the voting thread. just missed my ballot.

yeah that's kinda where i expected it to be

"Don't Tell Me" too low imo

lol at "Material Girl" being so low

Ya I didn't vote for it but at least expected it to be in the top 15

in my top 15. love the yelps, the pitch of her voice

regardless of the shit-talking on the other thread, you would expect the song whose title is most-often used to refer to Madonna in the press to place higher that the 30s

fun karaoke number

I guess "Where Life Begins" isn't going to place.

I have positive memories of the Material Girl video from my youth, but the song itself has aged pretty poorly. As was mentioned in the voting thread, it did more damage to her career in the short-term than was expected. What a horrible nickname to have to carry around..."material girl". But even the song itself is cornball, not in way that's just associated with it coming from 1984, but an ageless type of cornball. Given the opportunity to do things over, I imagine she'd have passed on this one.

"Don't Tell Me" deserves to place in a thread about songs written that earned some other struggling songwriter a pile of money.

Ah, not sure how I feel about Material Girl being so low. It too is touched by genius, but it's also hackwork (outstanding hackwork); it's iconic, but by reference more than originality; and while it's a Madonna, it's not the one she turned out to be. And it's a pop classic, but kinda squeaky.

I tied myself in knots over it, and finally I left it off.

I dunno if she suffered in the short term. In fact, it's a shrewd move! What better way to prepare the audience for your Serious Work ahead than by having ditties like "Material Girl" to rebel against?

fun karaoke number

― the little prince of inane false binary hype (Alfred, Lord Sotosyn), vendredi 8 mars 2013 16:13 (1 minute ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

I love Chic's performance on this and "Like a Virgin" tbh

Good point. xp

and while it's a Madonna, it's not the one she turned out to be

otm

twenty five years later she finally accepted the moniker with a macy's clothing line under the name, and a put her name on a ton of products to support its truth - shoes, vodka, perfume and most horrifically the hard candy gyms

*also put her name

I don't think I'll ever be able to hear this song anymore without thinking about balls' story from the noms thread:

2) still fourth grade, talent show, i 'perform' 'material girl' by having a rabbit hand puppet lipsync the song while i stand in my suit, expressionless, lipsyncing the 'liv-ing in a material world' backing part.

I missed that story. HA!

http://i.imgur.com/V2XuseY.jpg

32. "MUSIC" from Music (2000) [16 votes, 309 points]

amazing

It's a pretty good, interesting track, less dated and vacant, and more tuneful, than I thought it might be; then I remembered the horrible Ali G video and never even considered voting for it.

"Don't Tell Me" too low imo

― some dude, Friday, March 8, 2013

sent my ballot in too late but this was my #1. based on totals so far it looks like the only difference that would have made would have been to place it ahead of Music at 32 so I'm afraid it wouldn't have changed much. hoping the same is true for my #2.

oh i would've been happy if "Don't" had just placed above "Music," that's the real injustice here

amazing

― prolego, Friday, March 8, 2013 1

^^ good album track

"Music" is only 32?! What the fuck, people, have you even heard this song??

This track is so BIG and MAXIMAL and EXPLOSIVE and multi-layered and fun!!

"amazing" is what "beautiful stranger" should have sounded like the first time round

"Runaway Lover" is another good'un.

"Music" is only 32?! What the fuck, people, have you even heard this song??

yup, that's how it got to #32

"Music" is the rare dumb song that succeeds as more than kitsch. It's weirdly cool despite all its not-cool stuff.

It's not heresy to suggest she might have 31 better songs, she's Madonna.

I mean I guess but idk "Music" to me is her most well-executed OTT mega dance floor banger and manages to transcend tacky kitsch

when I was little I used to think that "music made the boys run free and the rebel"

i'm sure its not rebel btw, isnt it "rabble," that makes way more sense right. i mean like "sense"

I think "Music" is fine but if I was just ranking Madonna singles, ignoring album tracks, I don't know if I'd put it much higher that #32

wtf why can't I type today

It certainly made fans of Madonna the club goddess relieved in 2000, and rode a wave of ROL good will.

tiarnan wouldn't it be such a clever and delightful use of syllepsis if it was actually "music makes the boys run free and rebel"?

It's actually "music makes the bass referee in the treble"

http://i.imgur.com/Iwm9Ibz.jpg

31. "LIKE A VIRGIN" from Like a Virgin (1984) [17 votes, 334 points, 1 first place vote]

damn her signature song outside the top 30

it's okay, she has like 14 other signature songs

!!!

Maybe "Where LIfe Begins" will be top 5 after all.

It's one of those songs that's canonical and impactful bcz of its context and "classic" but I mean come on she has made many more better songs than this.

I mean I guess but idk "Music" to me is her most well-executed OTT mega dance floor banger and manages to transcend tacky kitsch

Third most, after "Hung Up" and "Ray of Light"...

Like is this song really *that good* when you isolate it?

Okay, now I'm shocked. LAV was something shiny & new, it deserved higher than that.

It isn't. xp

xp I ranked "Ray of Light" higher than "Music" but I still think the latter is more ott/explosive/big and loud and etc

You missed a trick not starting the countdown at no.30; imagine getting to the top five and we're all trying to cram eight or nine songs in there.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-BLDrh-5HZU

Haha, that would've been fun. xp

aw i should probably have thrown a vote to LAV, sad to see it miss the 30. the lion in the video always cracks me up.

didn't vote for it but i'm still glad to see "music"! acid rock

"Music" sadly her last American #1.

The US being just about the only country in the world where "Hung Up" didn't go #1

I didn't realize the hook from "Hung Up" was an ABBA sample until two weeks ago :-(

The drums on Like A Virgin are amazing. It's not just the production, he's hitting them so hard. It's almost comical in effect.

http://i.imgur.com/VXhO6Od.jpg

30. "TILL DEATH DO US PART" from Like a Prayer (1989) [16 votes, 337 points]

hey here's something i voted for

I'm on a train facing backwards, looking out the window, with Sorry on my headphones, and all the overhead lines, signals, passing trains and buildings were synching past like in the Chemical Brothers' Star Guitar video. They've dropped out of synch now, but that was a strangely thrilling twenty seconds.

great song, dunno if it'll be her highest album cut but it's her best imo xp

hoping and praying probs futilely that "love tried to welcome me" will still place

http://i.imgur.com/ha1ksje.jpg

29. "EVERYBODY" from Everybody 12"/Madonna (1982,83) [15 votes, 344 points]

agh all of this has been going full steam ahead while i've been offline

hurrah to many, many tracks so far - bit worried that all the erotica tracks showing up in the 30-50 section will mean less of the right at the top, where they belong...

"everybody" is amazing

It is. How come I had it at no.25? Idiot.

bit worried that all the erotica tracks showing up in the 30-50 section will mean less of the right at the top, where they belong...

It's had 5 of the last 22, better than any other album she's released. Did you want to see the whole thing place?

yes

(apart from a couple)

wow #30

In trying to figure out why I always align Everybody with Genius of Love, I decided it's like Tina Weymouth and Madonna had the exact same dream and each of them channeled it into the songs we currently know.

wow things happening! great rollout so far, is making the upcomers v interesting

DANCE AND SING GET UP AND DO YOUR THING

*dances*

yeah I can see the link -- kinda spare but uber-groovy

I'd be OK with "Did You Do It?" missing the top 50.

http://i.imgur.com/b30MXtC.jpg

28. "SECRET" from Bedtime Stories (1994) [16 votes, 349 points]

given the voting block, the overrepresentation of Erotica was pretty much a given but I'm glad that it's playing itself out in the lower end of the rollout

wow i like "secret" but this seems way high for it

idk, placing seems kinda right to me. I'm humming it in my head right now.

for some reason I always combine this and Deeper and Deeper in my head and start thinking about udo kier and get confused

It's definitely one of the most earwormy Madonna singles.

Secret was my no.4; weeping salt tears right now.

"Secret" would have been #21 on my ballot so I am happy to see it here

this is my "secret" story. this occurred right around when i was getting into madonna albums, not just singles:

when i was 12, my maths teacher got pregnant. the supply teacher they'd got in to cover for her was dreadful at both teaching and controlling the class, but she was kind of bitchy as well. "secret" had just come out, so me and my then bff rewrote the lyrics as a hate paean to her. the chorus went "mmm-mmm, we hate mrs buckn4ll". the verses were ruder but they escape my memory right now. not only did we rewrite the song, but - as an instrumental was included on the cd single - we recorded it, brought the tape into school along with print-outs of the lyrics, and played it to selected members of the class in the school library one lunchtime. unfortunately, also present in the library was mrs buckn4ll's son, who was a little twat iirc. he grabbed one of the lyric sheets and told on us. mrs b had to have therapy apparently :(

epilogue: a few months ago my mother went to a church in a village she doesn't normally go to. she vaguely recognised one of the women in the congregation and advanced on her after the service, asking where they possibly could have met, and then something rung a bell, and she said - oh, is it through [my school]? do you know my son alex?

that woman was mrs buckn4ll :(

― lex lex lex lex lex on the track BOW (lex pretend), Thursday, October 21, 2010 10:34 PM (2 years ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

humming that version in my head right now, it works v well Lex :)

that "till death do us part" image!

Oh yes! I'm reading on phone and keep forgetting to open these :(

http://i.imgur.com/EoPJ0Ol.jpg

27. "LA ISLA BONITA" from True Blue (1986) [18 votes, 367 points, 1 first place vote]

Meh.

every time i listen to "la isla bonita" i'm like I LOVE THIS and then the chorus is so boring

but that's all relative; still kinda neat to see it place so high

oh and "secret" was definitely high on my ballot and it's basically the best song ever so woooo

YAY

love the !2" though.

A funny one this - it's kind of simultaneously Madonna-by-numbers and not-like anything else in her catalogue. I voted for it (all mine are showing up atm) but a lot lower than I'd thought I might - it was a big record for me as a young 'un.

BEAUTIFUL FACES NO CARES IN THIS WORLD

WHERE A GIRL LOVES A BOY

AND A BOY

...

LOVES

...

A GIRL

Ol' long-haired Pedro and his spanish guitar

There's absolutely nothing wrong with this song imo, but there are just so many Madonna songs one can say that about. I'm not gonna say TOO LOW, but I might be thinking it.

La Lechera to thread

http://www.beautifulmadonna.com/videostill/laislabonita/082.jpg

In trying to figure out why I always align Everybody with Genius of Love

maybe for the same reason i've always thought "lucky star" could be a talking heads song. she and they were working strikingy similar territory for awhile.

always thought LIB was a bit lame at the time but now the older balearicised me loves it, especially the revenge rework. voted it somewhere mid teens iirc.

Pedro a bit peeved at playing guitar on a beach when he would be perfect for Jesus in Like A Prayer

first album now playing in the background, and "burning up" shoulda coulda been a t heads song too.

T-Heads never this aggressive. Closer to mutant disco.

picking up on the spotify list -- god Rain is so beautiful. I'm glad it placed.

http://i.imgur.com/zROHuFF.jpg

26. "WHAT IT FEELS LIKE FOR A GIRL" from Music (2000) [19 votes, 378 points]

wau @ WIFLFAG beating both "music" and "don't tell me"

that's a disapproving wau btw

Another vote for album over single version.

wau @ WIFLFAG beating both "music" and "don't tell me"

It's better than either, so I'm not terribly surprised.

great image

lol'ing at the acronym

"La Isla Bonita" was my #5, in part reactively against the haters

i love the WIFLFAG video but find both video and album versions of the song a snooze, it was a real disappointment after the two great singles off that album

as I said upthread, I think WIFLFAG is her best single of the 00s

(and it still scraped onto my ballot at #20)

"La Isla Bonita" is on the same level as "Hanky Panky" and "Masterpiece"

Like a Virgin is really low. Not to diss Everybody but the fact that it placed higher than LAV is kinda perverse

http://i.imgur.com/LV2lbNV.jpg

25. "FROZEN" from Ray of Light (1998) [18 votes, 381 points]

J admire Frozen without er warming to it

I guess no one has much to say about Frozen. I like it, but I think most of its impact was being the first single from Ray of Light in 1998 and being so different audio-visually than anything she'd attempted in the past, especially among her singles (and ESPECIALLY among her lead-off singles). Daring.

"Frozen" is still one of the prettiest Madonna singles. I would have voted it in my top 10, except that I forgot to vote.

http://i.imgur.com/PxXxVzh.jpg

24. "TAKE A BOW" from Bedtime Stories (1994) [20 votes, 403 points]

yessssss

but also tooo lowww

I voted for Frozen. Still my favorite from Ray of Light, although I remember when I first heard it, preferring a remix. Not sure which one it is at this point. Trying to sort through the mess of youtubes.

I love Frozen but I can't remember if I voted for it. Loooooove the video

Damn, so sad to see I forgot to vote and seeing all these great songs show up way too low. One of the greatest pop ballads of all time, and still her longest reigning #1 in the US.

i think 'power of goodbye' is my fave single from rol but i think that's the one album where actually i do prefer the album tracks to all the singles

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wWtLE1HxaB4

Babyface harmonies *swoon*

"take a bow" is a beautiful, stately, classic pop tune. but as her goodbye songs go, "the power of good-bye" crushes it.

Otm balls. I head straight for "Swim."

Aww, Rachel. :(

haha jf

"Swim" rules so hard

Take a Bow is really nice, and too easy to take for granted. It's so unspectacular that its easy to overlook its craft. Tellingly, it didn't Mae my ballot.

Babyface harmonies *swoon*

yep yep yeppppp

make

Xpost

Listening to 'Music' on the spotify list --- didn't like then, still don't. It's not terrible but it feels more facepalm than anything

"Swim" is amazing!! I actually was wondering if "Frozen" would place at #1; I am stunned it is this low (not bcz it's my fave but bcz it seems like total ILM bait)

i was gonna say lex otm about "what it feels like for a girl" but you know it always surprises me whenever i listen to it, there are so many small things going on at once

"Don't Tell Me" really suffers the horrible unison on the doubled vocals

and I'm SOOOOO glad that Til Death Do We Part placed so well -- it's such a gorgeous song

god "frozen" is gorgeous. did i vote for it? i didn't!

http://i.imgur.com/MrYYnwM.jpg

23. "ANGEL" from Like a Virgin (1984) [18 votes, 409 points]

TOO LOW

okay not really but this song rules

Best track on LAV.

TOO LOW

but yay

IN THE SKKYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYY
I CAN SEE IT IN YOUR EEEEEEEYYYYYYYYYYYYYYES

so many things wonderful about this -- the laughing is such a good touch

yeah i'm happy it's at least this high. massive hit but no video so it's a deep single now. boy as double a-sides go (deliberate or eventual) i'd put this up there w/ 'hello goodbye'/'i am the walrus' if not 'penny lane'/'strawberry fields forever'.

First appearance of Sexy Lower Register.

Is that pizzicato at the beginning? Nile Rodgers is so damn shrewd a producer.

First appearance of Sexy Lower Register.

So glad someone coaxed that out of her.

i didn't vote for "angel" but oh man does it rule

IN THE SKKYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYY
I CAN SEE IT IN YOUR EEEEEEEYYYYYYYYYYYYYYES

otm

Loooovvvvve "take a bow"

is there a specific age where "take a bow" just makes you cry terribly every time you hear it or is this my particular affliction?

http://i.imgur.com/1jRY4zb.jpg

22. "BAD GIRL" from Erotica (1992) [17 votes, 415 points]

TOO LOW

fully expected 'bad girl' to be top 20. this was the biggest rediscovery of the poll for me. amazing song.

and video.

This is such a fun rollout. Pacey and unpredictable. Too many recent polls have been dominated by a handful of canonical albums but Madonna's catalogue lends itself brilliantly to a poll.

Great pictures too. Reminding me how much of a crush I had on her circa 86-89. Ah, Cherish video.

goddamnit.`TOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO LOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOW.

Damn, about 20 places too low.

wow you ppl sure do love you some Erotica

it looks like over half of that album is going to end up placing on this poll

TOO LOW YOU JERKS WTF

Am I a terrible person if I don't like the video?

you're a wanton slut whose gonna get what's coming to her when yr guardian angel gets distracted by a garfield comic iirc

*cries*

I don't really get "Bad Girl"

this is partially because the first time I ever heard it was when Madonna butchered it on SNL

<3 the brief second of standard shoe-horned walken-dance in it the most.

it's ok - yr soul died a long time ago! plus free crane shot ride w/ the continental!

she definitely struggles with the high 'baaaaaby' but it's still endearing.

i just love how nervous she seems in the SNL performance

Nice to see that one so high!

Nice to see anything from Erotica bubbling over the 25-place threshold.

I'm sorry that my only contributions to this poll seem to be reiterating how punk-awesome Erotica is. Oh wait, I'm not sorry.

I like how barely she's in control of her pitch in "Bad Girl" -- form meets content. Fabulous lyrics too.

I think also the super wishy-washy reverb fuzzing out the drums hurt the song; probably the one constant between the Madonna songs I really, really treasure is the crispness of the drum tracks and "Bad Girl" seems to actively attempt to muddy the drums, robbing them of their power

b--b-b-but she's drunk by six and smoked too many cigarettes!

lol also there ended up being 2 bona-fide ballads on my ballot so this is also just not an itch I normally turn to Madonna for scratching

xxxpost yeah it's endearing. I always kinda felt that the songs like bad Girl, or Til Death, where the lyrics are very heartfelt & personal aren't always up there on the technical greatness scale but it always makes for a much richer song, at least for me.

Yeah, "Bad Girl" was one of only 3 ballads on my ballot, along with "I'll Remember" and "Live to Tell."

ha i got four in my top eight

"Angel" in my top three.

Both "Bad Girl" and "Waiting" we're on my top four, such an amazing double slug.

or five. Maman died yesterday. I don't remember.

"Angel" in my top three.

I was just playing this earlier today, it's in my top three too.

lol Bad Girl was always so funny to me as a child

Eric seriously you didn't put "Rain" in yr top 20?

I never heard "Bad Girl." Not once. I discovered it years later when I borrowed the Erotica tape from my sister.

I could've, but I didn't want my ENTIRE ballot to be Erotica.

Glad "Angel" placed where it did relative to other LAV tracks, though reading the Nile Rodgers autobio has warmed me to that album somewhat.

Wish "Everybody" was higher, but can't complain too much - great mutant disco sounds, and worked a treat on the dancefloor in the early 00s due to Annie (from Norway) nicking the squiggly synth-riff for "The Greatest Hit".
Original 12" sleeve is great, too!
http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_n5KMEaGMNoA/TGlM_1p5YpI/AAAAAAAABD4/Db6Yz3VM4A4/s1600/1982+MADONNA+Everybody+Remix+12+inch+single+album+sleeve+LP+record+A.jpg

Which non-D&D Erotica tracks still have a chance to place? "Thief Of Hearts"/"Where Life Begins"?

wow that sleeve is rad

Last one for the day...

At some point this weekend, I'm going to do albums, remixes and videos. Probably tomorrow (I have to come back into work for a couple hours). The top 20 will go out on Monday.

http://i.imgur.com/Yq63ENs.jpg

21. "OH FATHER" from Like a Prayer (1989) [18 votes, 424 points, 1 first place vote]

This poll made me listen to Erotica for the first time, yeah it's half great and a lot better than I was expecting. Secret Garden is an incredible song, would have eaaily made my ballot if I'd known it before. Never really liked the singles at the time but apart from Fever they were all sounding really good.

Lots of songs I voted for just placed. Secret was my number two, never rated it at the time but it's grown on me so much over time. It's just a perfect song.

What it Feels Like For a Girl is by far my favourite song she's done since Bedtime Stories, it's just so warm. Never really liked the remix version but that video is great.

Take a Bow was her first single not to reach the top ten here in the UK since maybe Lucky Star? Never understood why it wasn't a huge number one hit for her. It's so beautiful and probably my second favourite ballad after Oh Father (which must be top ten!)

Till Death Do Us Part was my number three, it's just so uplifting. How was that not a single? I guess they were spoilt for choice.

I remember Frozen coming out, she suddenly seemed so cool and mysterious after all Evita. She looked great in the video and the song sounded so modern at the time. I voted for it but The Power of Goodbye and Little Star would be my choices from that album.

Happy to see Everybody make it, I always liked that song but it was really Annie's Greatest Hit that made me fall in love with it.

Great results so far.

wow @ "oh father" placing this high

or should i be surprised? idk the warbling pitch on "bad girl" is endearing but it's rough-going here

Shit, I thought this would make the top ten no problem. It's such stunning song. The way Dear Jessie turns into this on the album gets me everytime.

Oh Father and Live to Tell volley back and forth as my favorite Madonna ballads.

uld i be surprised? idk the warbling pitch on "bad girl" is endearing but it's rough-going here

^^ what stopped from fully embracing "Oh Father."

btw "Oh Father" broke the longest streak of consecutive top tens ever in America.

there is no possible comparison between "Oh Father" and "Live To Tell"

Interviewer: It’s beautiful. And it’s one of those songs that has a near perfect marriage of words and music.

Madonna: That’s the great thing about Pat. I mean, Pat puts together these really strange chord progressions and these really great time signatures, and I’ll listen to it and I won’t even think about it. I’ll just put it on, and I’ll just keep playing it over and over again; it’s like free association. I’ll start singing words to it and making them fit. I don’t thing of structure. I don’t think of first chorus, first bridge.

Interviewer: Did you come up with the melody for "Oh Father"?

Madonna: No, no, Pat thought of that melody.

Oh Father is gorgeous. I couldn't make room to vote for it, I'm so glad it placed this high

Musically, Oh Father is probably the Madonna song that stirs me the most deep inside. It's absolutely marvelous in every regard. I admit, I go long periods without listening to it at all, but that just makes its impact greater when I return to it.

it makes me so teary and I get along great with my dad! lol. I dunno if it's the piano or the strings or the big soaring chorus but uggggh it kills me

and those bent guitar strings

my "Oh Father" is "Promise To Try"

i just ... can't

xpost yes!

Yep, what you people said. It was my #1. Partly strategic, tbh, but it seems it needed less help than I realised. Cool.

I love that little high-pitch synth string bit that flutters around the song like a fairy.

Wow, 26-21 has been an awesome run. Had never really cared for 'Bad Girl' before but listening now and it's great.

Glad 'Secret' made the top 30, that one's sneaked up and become my favourite song on Bedtime Stories.

Love that 'Everybody' sleeve!

'oh father' works so well on like a prayer after 'cherish' and 'dear jessie', esp that transition from the 'jessie's winding down into that piano. was kinda amazed she released it as a single. one of those four in my top eight.

She's always downplayed the autobiographical aspects of this song, but it's pretty much where she was at in her life, wasn't it? Especially considering the video. Didn't her mother die when she was just a girl, or am I making that up?

The rushed transition from verse to chorus kills "oh father" for me

yeah she did xp

(which is what promise to try is about)

Oh Father is what justifies Dear Jessie's existence. Don't think I could handle the immediate transition from Cherish to Oh Father. The warped cheerfulness of DJ eases the flow.

yeah her mom died of cancer when she was really little, like 4 or 5 iirc. She was super close to her dad. He remarried (housekeeper? or family friend or something) and she had a pretty severe falling out with him as a teenager, dunno that it ever resolved?

yeah mother died when she was very young, five or six

xpost

recap

50. "WORDS" from Erotica (1992) [7 votes, 136 points]
49. "I'LL REMEMBER" from the motion picture soundtrack With Honors (1994) [6 votes, 142 points]
48. "THE POWER OF GOOD-BYE" from Ray of Light (1998) [8 votes, 144 points]
47. "KEEP IT TOGETHER" from Like a Prayer (1989) [9 votes, 148 points]
46. "DIE ANOTHER DAY" from the motion picture soundtrack Die Another Day (2002) [7 votes, 149 points]
(TIE) 44. "WHITE HEAT" from True Blue (1986) [7 votes, 161 points]
(TIE) 44. "SECRET GARDEN" from Erotica (1992) [7 votes, 161 points]
43. "WAITING" from Erotica (1992) [8 votes, 189 points]
42. "WHO'S THAT GIRL" from the motion picture soundtrack Who's That Girl (1987) [11 votes, 194 points]
41. "PHYSICAL ATTRACTION" from Madonna (1983) [10 votes, 195 points]
40. "CAUSING A COMMOTION" from the motion picture soundtrack Who's That Girl (1987) [11 votes, 201 points]
39. "RAIN" from Erotica (1992) [11 votes, 217 points]
38. "BEDTIME STORY" from Bedtime Stories (1994) [13 votes, 238 points]
37. "TRUE BLUE" from True Blue (1986) [12 votes, 240 points, 1 first place vote]
36. "GET TOGETHER" from Confessions on a Dance Floor (2005) [11 votes, 246 points, 1 first place vote]

35. "EROTICA" from Erotica (1992) [12 votes, 263 points]
34. "DON'T TELL ME" from Music (2000) [15 votes, 284 points]
33. "MATERIAL GIRL" from Like a Virgin (1984) [14 votes, 307 points, 1 first place vote]
32. "MUSIC" from Music (2000) [16 votes, 309 points]
31. "LIKE A VIRGIN" from Like a Virgin (1984) [17 votes, 334 points, 1 first place vote]
30. "TILL DEATH DO US PART" from Like a Prayer (1989) [16 votes, 337 points]
29. "EVERYBODY" from Everybody 12"/Madonna (1982,83) [15 votes, 344 points]
28. "SECRET" from Bedtime Stories (1994) [16 votes, 349 points]
27. "LA ISLA BONITA" from True Blue (1986) [18 votes, 367 points, 1 first place vote]
26. "WHAT IT FEELS LIKE FOR A GIRL" from Music (2000) [19 votes, 378 points]
25. "FROZEN" from Ray of Light (1998) [18 votes, 381 points]
24. "TAKE A BOW" from Bedtime Stories (1994) [20 votes, 403 points]
23. "ANGEL" from Like a Virgin (1984) [18 votes, 409 points]
22. "BAD GIRL" from Erotica (1992) [17 votes, 415 points]
21. "OH FATHER" from Like a Prayer (1989) [18 votes, 424 points, 1 first place vote]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Beu8yyzuSJ4

So: "Beautiful Stranger" and "Rescue Me" - coming up or shut out?

I would not be upset if be former was shut out

There's 20 spots left and probably about 35-40 tracks that could be in them. <3 Madonna.

at this point thinking at least one, at most two tracks from my ballot won't make it

haha i was wondering about "beautiful stranger" but i'm sure enough ppl here outright hate it to shut it out

me i love the dun-na-na part so much

so...biggest surprises so far?

Mine: Get Together, Til Death Do Us Part, Power of Goodbye

'beautiful stranger' is a possibility, can't imagine 'rescue me' at this point

Just listening to Oh Father again now. 4.18 into it is my favourite moment in a Madonna song ever. When she sings "I never felt so good about myself" for the last time when she really goes for it and those bent guitar strings (to quote Alfred) come in again. It's just a really special moment.

Think I should have made this my number one.

beautiful stranger will get ppl dancing

Leonard's piano is front and center and clear too.

(on OF)

think like a prayer and the debut are gonna tie for most tracks but the debut will have the highest average ranking

one of those madonna cases too where oh father video kinda makes it all so perfect. the song + imagery thing.

for me anyway. that video kills me so hard.

Why Secret is a big thing for me:

- got into music 1991, lived the nme indie orthodoxy for a couple of years
- which is not a terrible way in as such because there's a lot of music to discover, but it becomes a dead end quite quickly
- but there are just enough loose ends in it pointing to ways out, Cypress Hill and TLC placing on end-of-years, respect for a more multichrome music history
- and The Face magazine, which doesn't give a toss about orthodoxy, or at least has a wider idea of what that is
- hinting that somewhere, this kid has contemporaries who live for music, only there Nirvana are only one of the brightest stars in the sky, there's Kylie and Jamiroquai and Mary J Blige too
- plus I've got a wonderful lending library nearby and I can start to fill in the gaps myself

- I leave school and my old friends in summer 1994, having played grunge and the like all year
- and in that lonely summer I'm drifting into say Duran Duran, because why not?
- come september Secret appears on the radio
- I've borrowed the Immaculate Collection, I'm into it
- and I pick up the cassingle in what must be my first week at university
- Secret is great

- but my contemporaries turn out not to be the music lovers who I sort of knew were out there
- except the metal dudes
- they're kids who're just finding the indie orthodoxy I've tired of
- so I'm back with my cassette, and my library copy of Thank You
- and hey, britpop's arriving and it's a decent time to be a student with student music
- but me and Secret and The Bomb, we never found our omnivores

Where were you when I needed you, ILX?

think like a prayer and the debut are gonna tie for most tracks but the debut will have the highest average ranking

Erotica already has 6 entries on the poll and there are only 8 tracks total on the s/t (and who's voting "I Know It" or "Think Of Me"?)

also in what cracked-out psychotic universe do ppl live in where they thought "Beautiful Stranger" even had a chance of placing on this poll

don't look at me, "secret" was in my top 10

xpost

"Beautiful Stranger" is beloved!

#4 Pazz and Jop that year

I thought it was fun and pretty novel for a 60s throwback number, with the sitar and go-go girl combo.

"Beautiful Stranger" is beloved!

― the little prince of inane false binary hype (Alfred, Lord Sotosyn), Friday, March 8, 2013 4:32 PM Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

#4 Pazz and Jop that year

― the little prince of inane false binary hype (Alfred, Lord Sotosyn), Friday, March 8, 2013 4:32 PM Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

well that's just embarrassing for everyone involved

should we also be expecting a top 10 showing for "American Pie" while we're at it?

haha

That makes no sense. "American Pie" has no constituency except for residents of bedlam.

I don't have the spreadsheet in front of me, but I feel confident in saying that American Pie (rightfully) got ZERO votes.

Did you get my ballot?

lol

to know you
is to be part OF you

Ha! You trickster. You made me go back and check.

Pretty sure ILM's love for Creedence Clearwater Revival will smuggle "Beautiful Stranger" into the top 20.

Alfred did you swallow that balloon already

which balloon?

Listening again, I think I had one reservation about "Oh Father" at the time: what I perceived to be 'little girl' vocals in the chorus (the multiple higher pitch tracks in unison) seemed kind of hackneyed to me. But I now suspect it was simply that it vaguely recalled Martika's "Toy Soldiers" from a year earlier!

xpost the ~balloon~ for smuggling beautiful stranger into the top 20

You can't hurrrt me now
I got away from you
I never thought I would
(WON'T YA COME OUT AND PLAY WITH ME)

Erotica already has 6 entries on the poll and there are only 8 tracks total on the s/t (and who's voting "I Know It" or "Think Of Me"?)

I voted 'Think of Me'! Not expecting it to place though.

'Swim' isn't going to make it, is it? :(

If "Swim" does make it, I will be super shocked and happy

Pretty sure ILM's love for Creedence Clearwater Revival will smuggle "Beautiful Stranger" into the top 20.

As a CCR fan, I find the comparison offensive.

I also voted for Think of Me, I could have put everything from the first album on my list. It's easily my favourite album of hers.

I'm v happy Take A Bow got in nice and high - I went back and forth on it and had to cut it in the end. I love the slight asian nod with the strings/percussion. Gentle and lovely.

not here for "swim", too much eye-roll worthy didatic moralising students rape their teachers new age stuff in the verses

when i listen to ray of light i have to skip the first four tracks which are the worst and start with SKIN which is great.

not here for "swim", too much eye-roll worthy didatic moralising students rape their teachers new age stuff in the verses

you're thinking of "Give Me All Your Luvin'"

dammit I keep doing this, every time someone says "Swim" I think they meant "Skin"

all of my upthread boosterism should be for "SKIN" not "SWIM"

yea i always get confused

which is the one about like she's carrying these sins on her back

that's "Swim"

"Skin" is "... Do I know you from somewhere? Why do you leave me wanting more? PUT YOUR HANDS ON MY SKIN/I'M NOT LIKE THIS ALL THE TIME"

ohhhhhhhh uh huh, uh huh

god the "take a bow" video is super gorgeous

Swim: I love the (a) guitar and (b) her octave leap in the chorus.

xp her boobs are ridic

"i'm not like this all the time" definitely one of the best lines ever

IIRC Bow was her post-baby body

i did forget that she has sex with a tv in this video

Swim: I love the (a) guitar and (b) her octave leap in the chorus.

I have some bad news for you, Alfred; that's a fifth, not an octave

o fuck

sonned

lol just watched the 'oh father' video and cried my eyes out

'beautiful stranger' is an arthur lee vamp, totally in line w/ 'ray of light' and coming to full, er, fruition w/ american life. never woulda guessed i'd miss ol' hippie madonna.

btw can I just say that the glut of Erotica songs beating out "White Heat" really bums me the fuck out

she looks wow holy shit ridic beautiful here

<3 babyface

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GI_Q2L-bLs8