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Eminentoes
Madonna Means Business
The ecstasy of being her — even if outsold by Lionel Richie.
Is the point of topping the charts prestige or profit?
Madonna outsold Lionel Richie for the top spot on Billboard’s album charts this week past. Only she didn’t. By letting her album “MDNA” (a play on the medical acronym for the club drug ecstasy) tag along with ticket sales to her live concerts, the Material Girl created the illusion that she had the bestselling album in America. But Richie’s “Tuskegee” actually sold more copies.
Even the business of show business is largely a show. In more primitive times, record companies would simply bribe disc jockeys. Now they give away music to top the charts. One wonders if the neo-payola is a symptom or cause of the recording industry’s financial woes. Certainly two acts that peaked more than a quarter-century ago vying for chart supremacy is both. What performers hot in 1958 topped the charts in 1985?
The dodgy marketing gimmick might be best seen as a metaphor for Madonna’s career. She has a talent for getting by without it. What Singing in the Rain’s Cosmo says about Lina applies: “She can’t act. She can’t sing. She can’t dance.” That’s not quite fair. The former ballerina can move. Madonna, despite such challenges, somehow manages to remain a pop-culture force (farce?) three decades after we first met her.
She is a creation of the video-music era, when the beautiful people rebelled against the talented people. The visual conquered the aural. Madonna may have deluded her legions of fans into believing her a vocal great. But she hasn’t fooled herself. Why, other than a realization of the limits of her talents, would she have lip-synched a “live” performance at this year’s Super Bowl?
What she lacks in substance she makes up for in style. Anybody strolling into a shopping mall circa 1985 witnessed her influence in armies of adolescent girls in naked-navel mesh shirts with arms bedizened in jelly-rubber bracelets and skirts strangely atop capris. More perniciously, she eventually swayed not just what they wore but what they did. Whenever her career seemed to be on life support, Madonna could be counted on to release a sex book, make out with Britney Spears, or adopt an African baby. In one video, she sings alongside burning crosses, displays stigmata, and takes one of the Church’s saints as a love interest.
Madonna is the businesswoman impersonating the artist. Her brilliance comes from understanding that selling music isn’t about making music. It’s about making publicity. So thoroughly have marketing gurus captured the music industry that one of their number scored hit after hit. Thus did a marketing genius get confused for a musical genius.
Lionel Richie might be thought of as the anti-Madonna. He can sing. But he has the charisma of Gerald Ford after a bad night’s sleep. Despite scoring thirteen consecutive top-ten hits between 1981 and 1987, Richie appeared with the same $10 haircut and the mustache that he had stolen from Dave Winfield. Alas, stylistic reinvention wasn’t his strong suit. But the balladeer’s music seamlessly transitioned from R&B to funk to calypso to first-dance wedding numbers to, in his latest release, even country. While Madonna played virgin, dominatrix, dance-club diva, and other outlandish characters, Lionel Richie played, well, Lionel Richie.
Roger Friedman, who broke the scandal at Forbes, writes: “I do think that all the people involved in the Madonna ticket-CD deal should apologize to Richie for denying him his rightful place at number 1, starting with Billboard and SoundScan.” That’s unlikely. But Richie at least has the satisfaction of knowing that in week two “Tuskegee” moved more than double the number of copies as “MDNA,” which experienced the greatest second-week drop in chart history.
Friedman, who has been viciously attacked by Madonna zealots online (gleefully?), wondered what went wrong as the MP3 of “MDNA” plunged to $5 on Amazon. “The audience wasn’t interested in vituperative songs with the ‘f’ word scattered through them liberally,” he theorized. “Instead of dancing, Madonna was cursing. And what does she have to curse about? She’s a gazillionaire.”
Foul-mouthed, filthy-rich fiftysomethings just don’t keep it real. But that’s how Michiganders with aristocratic English accents roll.
About the Author
Daniel J. Flynn, the author of The War on Football: Saving America’s Game, blogs at www.flynnfiles.com.
Letter to the Editor View all comments (121) | Leave a comment
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Mike Hawk| 4.13.12 @ 7:22AM
I have no use for the slut. Yes, I said slut. A celeb slut who got rich as a purveyor of bad taste and sleazy pop culture. I have never paid any attention to her antics. A prime example of cutural rot. Throw Lady GagGag in with her.
Bubba T. | 4.15.12 @ 11:22AM
Full realization that the rotting of pop culture had completed its tour came into crystal clear focus the night former teen kid Britney Spears decided to slip her tongue down Madonna's throat on national TV. The event didn't exactly kick open the doors, but simply handed-out All Access passes to the next few Pig Bowls:
"And now here to handle the play-by-play, Bill Maher ..."
"Thanks, Tim. Now go scr-w yourself."
See, what goes around ... Ahh, never mind. It's too late.
Dr. X| 4.13.12 @ 8:35AM
I can't even begin to imagine how many diseases are festering inside her well-used vagina.
Dick Nome| 4.13.12 @ 9:50AM
As it is public property, I'm surprised EPA hasn't regulated it as a wetland.
JT| 4.13.12 @ 10:11AM
That wetland dried up years ago, its just an unfertile desert now.
JT| 4.13.12 @ 2:47PM
Or a designated brownfield cleanup site.
Quartermaster| 4.13.12 @ 7:23PM
Superfund site.
Seek| 4.13.12 @ 1:58PM
Is that your way of admitting you kind of want to sample the goods?
Dr. X| 4.13.12 @ 3:18PM
I wouldn't get within ten yards of that filthy whore if she paid me money. You can have her, Seek. Be my guest. All yours!
Pelleas| 4.13.12 @ 6:32PM
That's a pretty gross comment to make, no?...unless the thought of it has you somewhat aroused, and stroking off to it, eh, "Dr"..?
Seabee| 4.13.12 @ 7:52PM
I doubt it. Never seen anybody get off on toxic waste.
Teaghan| 4.13.12 @ 8:46AM
The disgusting Lady GaGa can jump into that bag as well. Good Lord, what trash. I bet her mamma and daddy are so proud of her.
Pelleas| 4.13.12 @ 7:07PM
I bet they are VERY PROUD..she's making more money then they ever could have imagined...isn't that "The American Way", no?
Quartermaster| 4.13.12 @ 7:24PM
Then the american way has become the way of cultural whores. Thus, it is nothing to be proud of.
Pelleas| 4.13.12 @ 8:20PM
It's been the "American Way " since the birth of the Republic, in one way or another...if YOU don't care for her performances..FINE.. but that doesn't merit her called a "whore"... no?
Dr. X| 4.13.12 @ 10:32PM
A spade is a spade. A whore is a whore. A thug is a thug -- like Trayvon, who got suspended from school for marijuana, possession of burglary tools, suspected stolen property, and absenteeism.
It is what it is.
Pelleas| 4.14.12 @ 8:46AM
A Whore is someone who charges to have some sort of sexual relations with them
If you are so concerned with "defining" things.. how does that definition jibe with Madonna, other then in your addled misogynistic mind-set?
Then again.. bringing in Trayvon Martin into a story that has not t he SLIGHTEST thing to do with him... just to brand him a " thug" explains EVERYTHING I need (or want) to know about the dark side of the tracks you're coming from.....
O.F. A.N. A.S.S.| 4.14.12 @ 7:17PM
Sheep can smell the sheep feces of fckewe through the computer.
Sheep know a sodomizing whore of anything degenerate will be drawn to an article about an ideological soulmate like this tramp while managing to insert Trayvon Martin into a comment yet failing to mention anything about Bob and Nancy Strait of Tulsa.
Sheep know Pelleas is fckewe is exactly what it lusts after.
Ovines For
A Nation
Absent Species Sodomization
Pelleas| 4.15.12 @ 12:57PM
except... it WAS ONE OF YOUR SOUL-MATES whom mentioned Trayvon..not myself,at first...
AND...WHAT THE FUCK IS "FCKEWE"?
O.F. A.N. A.S.S.| 4.16.12 @ 12:00AM
except... we're SHEEP whom are sodomized by a sodomizer, whom... claims to be a 1%er in MENSA... WHOM aa a 1%er..., in MENSA. .., whom, can't, type, BEYOND... grade school, level....whom claimed,..., he, the sodomizer is a 1,%...er in ME,NSA...
AND...since, we're sheep... whom... being terrorized by a, sodomizer, claiming to... be a 1%er in MENSA, became those, whom, confused... by the terror... of the sodomizer, whom returned...mistook, Trayvon... Martin for Thomas Sowell...whom is REALLY...
AND...is TRULY, a 1%er, of...MENSA intelligence...you, the sodomizer...whom claims is a 1%er in MENSA...disparaged in..., a different, comment,section...
Ovines, For...
A... Nation,
Absent, Species... Sodomization,...,
Archade| 4.16.12 @ 10:03PM
Pelleas,
fckewe is a poster who is reality-defyingly stupid, a mind-bogglingly liar, without any semblance of moral character, who seems to have returned as you.
cali| 4.16.12 @ 7:23AM
@Teaghan:
Perfectly stated!
Lionel Richie| 4.13.12 @ 9:55AM
Hello.
Dick Nome| 4.13.12 @ 9:56AM
Hi.
Dixie Pixie| 4.13.12 @ 10:50AM
Lionel Richie reads American Spectator Online DAILY ????
This website is about as far away from the music industry end of “Show Business” culture as one can get and still remain on the web.
Seeing Lionel Richie's name on a TAS Thread is a event so extraordinary as to see a polar bear amble across the front yard wearing a sombrero and drinking a Pepsi.
If true, Welcome Aboard and I consider your “Dancing on the Ceiling” one of my top five personal favorites.
If not true, you are still welcome, enjoy the website and be sure to visit the gift shop.
SusieQ| 4.13.12 @ 12:03PM
Obviously, some of you guys are not familiar with Lionel's repertoire.
Lionel Richie| 4.13.12 @ 12:48PM
Is it me you're looking for?
Susie Q| 4.13.12 @ 2:27PM
I can see it in your eyes...
Tim the Enchanter| 4.13.12 @ 2:14PM
Dixie- That's just silly. Everyone knows that polar bears drink Coke!
Quartermaster| 4.13.12 @ 7:25PM
That's right!
JT| 4.13.12 @ 10:10AM
He's the classic example of a cultural rot icon. A no talent whore and blasphemer who was raised a Catholic and never missed an opportunity to rub her religion and God into the dirt with her. The gutless Catholic Church should have ex-communicated her sorry @ss, but tucked tail and ran instead.
Despicable creature was the master of shock attention. Just when you thought she couldn't lower her self or whore any more of herself for attention and money she lowered the bar over and over. I think B52 Bob Dornan once called her "Satan's Daughter", an apt description.
Dick Nome| 4.13.12 @ 10:39AM
Isn't it B-1 Bob? Close enough.
SeymourGlass| 4.13.12 @ 11:56AM
"The gutless Catholic Church should have ex-communicated her sorry @ss, but tucked tail and ran instead."
So says the gutless wonder who hides behind a screen name and who apparently knows little about the workings of the Catholic Church.
JT| 4.13.12 @ 12:10PM
I was born and raised in Detroit, attended 8 years of Catholic School by Nuns at St Raymonds, and four years of Catholic High School at U of D with Jesuits so I don't need a lecture from you regarding what I know about the Catholic Church.
The Catholic Church I grew up with would have punted her like a football.
SeymourGlass| 4.13.12 @ 12:19PM
"I was born and raised in Detroit, attended 8 years of Catholic School by Nuns at St Raymonds, and four years of Catholic High School at U of D with Jesuits."
But, interestingly enough, no evidence of recent activity in the Church.
JT| 4.13.12 @ 12:45PM
And so speaks seer Glass, self proclaimed knower of all recent activity in the Church by everybody in it whether he knows who they are or not. Thats a pretty fabulous skill, doesn't that pea brained mind of yours get cluttered up with all that info crammed. Your quite the super Catholic. Not sure if the Pope himself has that unique ability.
SeymourGlass| 4.13.12 @ 1:22PM
Being a "seer" wasn't necessary. You'd have a lot more credibility if you'd have said "the Church I attend should" rather than "the Church I grew up in would". You ARE aware nuns no longer wear the penguin outfits, aren't you?
While we're at it, you're spelling could also use some touching up. Yuk yuk.
Jackass.
JT| 4.13.12 @ 1:46PM
First off, maybe you ought to know you have to push the submit button once Jackass.
"Being a "seer" wasn't necessary"
Must be, you know all and see all, like any self-proclaimed all knowing jackass who knows nothing about what he thinks he knows about somebody he doesn't know.
Oh and by the way, "seer" is a word Jackass, look it up. Yuk, Yuk.
SeymourGlass| 4.13.12 @ 2:00PM
My remark about spelling wasn't related to "see", Jackass. It was related to your use of "your" as in "you're quite the Catholic mind".
Oh and, by the way:
http://answers.yahoo.com/quest.....223AAsqFsd
JT| 4.13.12 @ 2:37PM
The use of "your" instead of "you're" was not a mispelling since it WAS spelled correctly.
It was a misuse of a word not a spelling error, Jackass. I'm Convicted of criminal word misuse. "youir" is a spelling error of the word "your" professor!
One more, Yahoo opinions on the internet are not the doctrine of the Catholic church, Catholics know that, of which you obviously are not one.
By the way the word I used was "seer" not "see" your comprehension skills seem to be faulty.
SeymourGlass| 4.13.12 @ 2:52PM
"Your" is incorrect used in the phrase "your quite the Catholic", Jackass. Maybe you should have attended a Dominican high school.
You've also missed a couple jibes I've sent "you're way" - perhaps you didn't "seer" them. Did you attend college?
Did you read the entire link? Where it discussed the Vatican official's condemnation of her? I know the Jesuits often go their own way (at my local Jesuit parish the congregation washed each other's feet one Holy Thursday while the Jesuits watched) but you surely heard about the Vatican at your high school.
JT| 4.13.12 @ 3:39PM
I called the church gutless for not officially Ex-Communicating her @ss and they didn't and never did. When a religion allows itself to be blasphemed and attacked and not officially eject the member of that same religion who engaged that conduct, I call it gutless and cowardice on the part of that Church. It was and IS. Now if somebody like you who isn't a Catholic disagrees, well thats really just a damn shame, just a real damn shame. Can't help those hurt feelings.
"Your" is incorrect used in the phrase "your quite the Catholic", Jackass. Maybe you should have attended a Dominican high school. I admitted that, jackass, its NOT a spelling error, seems you don't know the difference. Maybe you shouldn't have attended a public school, might have been better off, good for smoking dope though.
SUBVET| 4.13.12 @ 4:22PM
JT what makes you think Ms. M is a Catholic maybe in "name" only.
JT| 4.13.12 @ 4:39PM
She was baptized into the Catholic church by her parents and she baptized her daughter as a Catholic. She was quoted as saying, "once a Catholic, always a Catholic" Practicing? Who knows.
SeymourGlass| 4.13.12 @ 5:25PM
It's a spelling error, Jackass. You meant to spell the contraction of "you are", not the possessive "your". Surely "you're" grammar isn't as poor as your spelling?
And by the way, I am Catholic. Since we're anonymous here it's not bragging if I describe my Catholicism. I attend Mass more than once a week. Not daily, but more than once. I believe in the Real Presence. I write checks to my parish, and the Archdiocese, on a regular basis. Big checks. I say at least one Rosary a day.
Oh and, my high school? It was called Holy Cross.
There is no need to excommunicate her. She's not a member of the Church. The devil is best ignored, not given attention.
Are you a practicing Catholic? I.e. in the last 6 months, how many times have you attended Mass?
JT| 4.13.12 @ 7:17PM
"The devil is best ignored, not given attention" I'll agree with that and with it call it a day. Best of luck with your parish. We are not going to agree so best to move on.
SeymourGlass| 4.13.12 @ 7:28PM
If you'll agree, I'll agree. Yes, let's move on.
JT| 4.13.12 @ 7:36PM
I am, my home parish of St. Raymonds in Detroit has been "Detroitized" into near oblivian and wreckage. Our Parish founder, Father Hogan who built that parish would be heartbroken to see what has become of it. I attend St. Mary's 40 miles from the epicenter of the destruction. They have one priest serving three former parishes in that area of Detroit including St. Ray's. ONE!
SeymourGlass| 4.13.12 @ 1:22PM
Being a "seer" wasn't necessary. You'd have a lot more credibility if you'd have said "the Church I attend should" rather than "the Church I grew up in would". You ARE aware nuns no longer wear the penguin outfits, aren't you?
While we're at it, you're spelling could also use some touching up. Yuk yuk.
Jackass.
cali| 4.16.12 @ 7:25AM
@JT:
Captured perfectly!
JT| 4.13.12 @ 10:43AM
yep, your right!
Anommynous| 4.13.12 @ 10:49AM
"What performers hot in 1958 topped the charts in 1985?"
The closest thing might be Kokomo by The Beach Boys.
albert constantine jr.| 4.13.12 @ 11:05AM
I think Elvis' "A Little Less Conversation" and the "#1" album might qualify or exceed that spread.
Seek| 4.13.12 @ 2:01PM
Could it be the Everly Brothers? They made a mid-80s comeback album that featured a hit single, "Wings of a Nightingale."
tdiinva| 4.13.12 @ 10:57AM
I am not a Madonna fan but I have to disagree on your claim that she has no talent. She is a great dancer, a pretty good singer and great entertainer. If I want to hear a great voice I will listen to someone like Frederica von Stade or Loreena McKennett. (I bet most of you Philistines don't know who either one is.)
JT| 4.13.12 @ 11:38AM
Frank Sinatra, Elvis Presley, Jackie Gleason, Carol Burnett, Dean Martin, and many others WERE great comedic and vocal talents who used talent to entertain and managed to exit the stage with as much dignity as they had when they entered it. I don't recall Sinatra ever having to drop his drawers and simulate masturbating or any other degrading stunts to keep his act going when he perceived the public was tiring of him. They had the same problems and shortcomings off stage as do most people but they managed to keep them off the stage.
"I know that I'm not the best singer and I know that I'm not the best dancer. But, I can fucking push people's buttons and be as provocative as I want."
Madonna quote. Nuff said.
SeymourGlass| 4.13.12 @ 11:57AM
No, Frank was content to bully and threaten people.. and Elvis content to abuse drugs...
But hey, these are YOUR heroes, not mine.
Jackass.
SusieQ| 4.13.12 @ 12:06PM
Read the post again. JT said they kept their private peccadillos off the stage while simply entertaining with talent.
Jackass.
JT| 4.13.12 @ 12:15PM
Maybe you need to learn how to read and comprehend numbnuts and read what I said again.
I didn't say they were "heroes", I said they were entertainers who had the same problems offstage but managed to keep it out of their acts.
Jackass.
SeymourGlass| 4.13.12 @ 12:22PM
Sorry, but Frank, Jackie and Dean had a persona which included their drinking, womanizing and all around bullying which WAS part of their act.
Jackass.
JT| 4.13.12 @ 12:59PM
Whats your problem with bullying Glass? I could sit my Kids down and have them watch the Jackie Gleason Show and not worry about their values getting degraded by the performances, or Sinatra or Martin for that matter either. Sinatra and Martin were choir boys on stage compared to Madonna. Not even arguable Jackass.
SeymourGlass| 4.13.12 @ 1:24PM
Yes, Gleason taught us values. Like how to make light of getting drunk, and that showgirls were wonderful to look at.
Frank and Dino taught us that women were around for one thing - sex. Adultery? Forget about it, it's a man's world, baby.
Family values. Maybe your family. Not mine.
tdiinva| 4.13.12 @ 12:06PM
The only two in your list that are pop equivalents are Sinatra and Presley. In their respective days Sinatra was a button pusher and Elvis' gyrations were considered quite obscene. Neither you nor I may like the societal changes that have gone on since 1965 but that they happpned is a fact. Put Madonna or Lady Gaga in the 1940s and you get the Kate Smith and Patti Page.
Mike Hawk| 4.13.12 @ 12:29PM
You gotta be sh!ttin' me.
Alan| 4.13.12 @ 1:09PM
"Put Madonna or Lady Gaga in the 1940s and you get the Kate Smith and Patti Page."
Uh no, what you would get if you did that was two circus acts in a burlesque show.
albert constantine jr.| 4.13.12 @ 1:45PM
Actually, if it was during WW II, GaGa's meat dress would have run afoul of rationing, and she could have wound up in federal prison.
tdiinva| 4.13.12 @ 3:32PM
You guys are dumb a$$es. The point is the Madonna and Lady Gaga would not be presenting in the 1940's like they do today. Both women understand the market and are pesenting in such a way as to make the most money as possible. They make what sells and what sold in 1940 was Kate Smith and Patti Page.
Alan| 4.13.12 @ 4:19PM
The point is the Madonna and Lady Gaga would not be presenting in the 1940's like they do today.
Right, they didn't have the talent to be presenting at all in the 1940's. Depravity wasn't a talent requirement in those days.
tdiinva| 4.13.12 @ 8:09PM
Your knowledge of are and culture is quite deficient. Just because you don't like someone doesn't mean that they aren't talented. There are a lot talented people out their who I don't like, Madonna being one of them, but that doesn't mean they aren't talented.
Just for giggles and gagas do you know who Frederica von Stada and Loreena McKennett are? No cheating on wikipedia.
cali| 4.16.12 @ 7:27AM
@JT:
I agreewith your statement; again - throw that nasty gaga into as well!
Seek| 4.13.12 @ 2:03PM
Say, not all of us here are Philistines. I LOVE Loreena McKennett -- saw her in concert in 2007 at DAR Constitution Hall in Washington, D.C. Good things really can and do come from Canada.
tdiinva| 4.13.12 @ 3:28PM
I had tickets and bronchitis so I stayed home.
Paul from SA| 4.13.12 @ 10:57AM
Just wait until Lady Gaga's cosmetic surgery. Where has she been?
albert constantine jr.| 4.13.12 @ 11:05AM
I hate to say anything negative about Lionel Ritchie that might appear to be a defense of Madonna, who I believe (as Mr. Flynn points out) is a talented dancer but (at best) a very questionable human being. In fact, some have suggested that the only pro-social thing ex-husband Sean Penn might have ever accomplished involved administering beatings to her.
In 1988, there was considerable scandal when Lionel was caught with another woman near or in flagrante delicto by his wife. As he had appeared previously on television, announcing that the Mrs. was the inspiration for all of hits, I think he took a big financial hit in the divorce. Of course, this doesn’t rise to the level of Madonna hi-jinks, but doesn’t reflect well.
Lionel’s worse offense against the culture, though, has likely been as sire of Nicole, the occasional BFF sidekick of the hedonistic Paris Hilton, and co-star in “The Simple Life”.
It think Mr. Flynn missed the opportunity to explore what might be the root of the attempt by Madonna to keep Ritchie out of the #1 slot, which could be spite from her recently dissolved marriage. Perhaps she discovered that her latest ex, Guy Ritchie, is kin to Lionel.
SusieQ| 4.13.12 @ 12:08PM
Nicole Richie is adopted. Lionel did not "sire" her.
albert constantine jr.| 4.13.12 @ 1:25PM
Tell me true, Susie Q.
Thank you for the update. If so, I stand corrected. I hereby substitute the word "adoptive father" to be biographically accurate.
Susie Q| 4.13.12 @ 2:33PM
Don't get me wrong, Al. Nicole hasn't done anything to brighten the Richie name. Lionel should have paid more attention to her choice of friends.
Lionel Richie| 4.13.12 @ 12:54PM
Guy Ritchie is my identical twin brother. We spell our last name differently so people can tell us apart.
albert constantine jr.| 4.13.12 @ 1:47PM
Thanks for the clarification. Also, my above criticism notwithstanding, thank you for the slow songs such as "Endless Love" that facilitatedsome of my youthful dance floor groping and grinding.
Susie Q| 4.13.12 @ 2:35PM
Penny Lover, Hello, All Night Long, You Are...wow, take me back, 1980s!! Remember when they actually used to show Lionel Richie videos on MTV? Of course, this was after his "Brick House" Commodores gig.
albert constantine jr.| 4.13.12 @ 3:39PM
That "Dancing on the Ceiling" video could inspire some vertigo, for sure.
Bob Grant| 4.13.12 @ 11:22AM
"She is a creation of the video-music era, when the beautiful people rebelled against the talented people. The visual conquered the aural." --------- an apt description of music in the '80's: The Beginning of the End For Music.
Video Killed The Radio Star, ironic (THE video that kicked off MTV) and prescient.
As far as Madonna, she is the grandmother who spawned everything that is wrong with the music industry and pop culture in general. The manipulation of her recent album sales figures goes hand in hand with her political ideology, the causes and leaders she supports. Pure phoniness!
Bob Grant| 4.13.12 @ 11:24AM
By the way, Lionel Richie's first foray into country music was his late seventies hit "Sail On".
SeymourGlass| 4.13.12 @ 2:28PM
Indeed. I remember a friend once described Kenny Rogers as "sort of the Lionel Ritchie of country music".
Susie Q| 4.13.12 @ 2:36PM
I thought it was "Lady," which was then recorded by the gravelly voiced Kenny Rogers.
THKrupp| 4.13.12 @ 11:44AM
You can argue about her talant in different areas all day long. To each his own I say. What you cannot argue is that she is a supurb business woman. Madonna is quinnisentially American. She made herself out of nothing basically. I remember when I was a student ambassador to the Soviet Union in 1990 she and Micheal Jackson were all that Soviet kids wanted to talk about. You could say that our pop culture did as much as Ronald Reagan in overcoming the Soviets.
Bob Grant| 4.13.12 @ 11:55AM
I'll put my money of people tired of living in a failed system the previous 40 years.
No, Thriller didn't cause the Soviet bloc to collapse.
THKrupp| 4.13.12 @ 12:26PM
Not specifcally that song but because the people wanted access to the things and culture that we enjoy in the USA. The young people wanted to be able to freely enjoy what our culture has to offer. I go back now and see the Russian version of MTV and its filled with Russian rap and pop stars that are similiar but with a uniquely Russian vibe. Its interesting to note that they have adopted our pop culture much more than our political culture.
Mike Hawk| 4.13.12 @ 12:28PM
If she is quintessentially American, why does she hate this country and bail out to go live in Old Blighty?? SHe's about as American as froi gras (or however you spell that froggie stuff).
THKrupp| 4.13.12 @ 12:37PM
Her story embodies what is best about America. Someone can pull themselves up by their boot straps and make a huge success of themselves. This is what makes our country great. I didnt say she was a great American only that she represents what is great about America. She came from nothing and made herself into a brand. I dont particularly enjoy her music. I dont even know much about her opinions and I dont really care either. Shes entitled to her opinions as much as the next person.
SeymourGlass| 4.13.12 @ 2:31PM
No, THKrupp, she embodies what's worst about America. Someone can appeal to our lowest tastes and make a LOT of money, that is, TAKE a lot of our money.
But, you're right, she's entitled to her opinions.
THKrupp| 4.13.12 @ 3:02PM
She didnt force anyone to buy her music, see her movies etc. What does taste have to do with capitalism?
Mike Hawk| 4.13.12 @ 6:47PM
Not much sometimes. I suppose Larry Flynt is an idol of entrenuership for you too. He got rich being a classless lowlife too.
THKrupp| 4.13.12 @ 7:21PM
Neither one is doing anything illegal. They are obviously providing a product that is in demand.
Mike Hawk| 4.14.12 @ 10:41AM
So do prostitutes and drug dealers. You'd like to legalize that too I bet.
THKrupp| 4.14.12 @ 1:46PM
Yes, I do think those things should be legalized. I assume by your comments that you would like to use the government to force people to live the way you want them to. Thats no better than our current president. Different side of the same coin.
Mike Hawk| 4.14.12 @ 4:53PM
Sorry, but personal morality comes into play, not government . Your Radical Libertarianism is just as bad if not the same as what we have now. Being a libertine should not be the same as being a libertarian.
Material girl is no icon my kids should emulate.
Mark 8:36 "For what shall it profit a man if he should gain the whole world and lose his own soul." These people have lost their soul.
scotchieguy| 4.13.12 @ 12:10PM
She represents everything that is wrong with the music business. Somehow, Steve Earle, James McMurtry and Lucinda Williams are able to sell music despite what she and her ilk have done to the music business. I guess there really is no accounting for taste.
jfor| 4.13.12 @ 12:12PM
No need to paint Michiganders with such a broad brush Mr. Flynn.
albert constantine jr.| 4.13.12 @ 1:41PM
I think another Michican native, Quentin Tarantino, has written into the early scenes in "Reservoir Dogs" some dialogue on Madonna's career that could be injected into this thread's discussion.
Peter McGrath| 4.13.12 @ 12:33PM
Why all the fulmination? Madonna's a "pop" star. She sold a lot of records and had a ton of hits. Never was my cup of tea but - back in the 80's - I danced to her music along w/ everyone else. Geez ... and so what ... her new record isn't selling all that well. Big whup. To read the gas bags on this thread, you'd think that she's the Whore of Babylon out to destroy all that is good and holy. Some of you geezers need to take your BP meds, lie down in the dark, and place a cold compress on your forehead, before you burst a blood vessel.
Bob Grant| 4.13.12 @ 2:16PM
The "fulmination" occurs when over-the-top raves about her minimal talent ensues.
For instance, some on this post believe she had more to do with the fall of the Soviet Empire than President Reagan....mmmmkay!
The truth is The Madonna Franchise spawned the gawd awful acts that we see today. The clamor is "who will be the next Madonna?" i.e., who can be more lewd and controversial? Hence, we see acts such as Caca.
Thanks to her, talent is rarely part of the formula for success in the entertainment industry. Attitude, a certain look, a certain dance move, or packaging are the key drivers for success in the music industry today. And don't get me started with shows like American Idol.
Madonna and Jackson were the pioneers of the vast wasteland known as Mediocristan.
Susie Q| 4.13.12 @ 2:39PM
I would give the Pioneer of Mediocristan Awards to those late 50s Elvis wannabees, Frankie Avalon and Fabian.
albert constantine jr.| 4.13.12 @ 3:45PM
My nomination for the recordings that sounded most like Elvis without being him would be a tie between Terry Stafford's "Suspicion" and Ral Donner's "You Don't Know What You've Got".
Frankie Avalon got the movies and Mouseketeer Annette Funicello. Fabian, on the other hand, lost his last name (along with Mrs. Bono and Ms. Ciccone Penn Ritchie).
Tina B| 4.13.12 @ 6:49PM
But at least Fabian got to stumble backwards, almost into my waiting teenage arms, at Pacific Ocean Park, in Santa Monica, Cali while crooning "Like a Tiger," oooooh oooh oooh. That in itself is something he should remember all his life, like I have.
Bob Grant| 4.13.12 @ 7:12PM
Don't give Justin Bieber any ideas of a remake to that song.
albert constantine jr.| 4.13.12 @ 9:26PM
"Tiger" was the only song that I could remember while recalling young Mr. Forte. Now, if you brought up Bobby Rydell, I'd have "Wildwood Days" or "Forget Him"; or "Tallahassee Lassie" or "Palisades Park" by Freddie 'Boom Boom' Cannon, I'd get even more nostalgic.
THKrupp| 4.13.12 @ 3:20PM
I didnt say she had more to do with it than Reagan. I said that you could make an arguement that our pop culture had as much to do with its implosion as Regan did. I was hardly over the top in my "ravings". I dont really enjoy her music but you have to give credit where credit is due. Shes been a huge success financially. Thats a large part of what is great about America. This is what we have been successful in exporting to other countries. Our pop culture is the dominant pop culture in the world. When I was in the Soviet Union no one talked with me about Reagan and his policies. They wanted to talk about our pop culture and our consumer society. The Soviet Union came apart because they couldnt give the things to their people that they wanted and that we had.
M | 4.13.12 @ 3:25PM
While we'll never know for sure, I think it is very possible Madonna would have debuted No. 1 even without the ticket sales tie-in. People who were willing to spend $350 to see her live would have paid an additional $10 to get the album if it was not included in the concert price. Her two week total is probably very similar to her last release in 2008 after two weeks. Besides, everything from the artwork to the single selections were intentionally tied towards the forthcoming tour - where she will blow most away for ticket sales and attendance figures. Additionally, Madonna's album is new material and Ritchie's is reworks of songs and a lot of guest appearances by current country artists. At the end of the day, bravo to both of them for finding a path to success in a business that breeds so much age discrimination.
Bob Grant| 4.13.12 @ 6:13PM
If I wanted to see a 50-something female running around yelling profanities wearing scantily-clad outfits, I'll watch an episode of COPS.
JT| 4.13.12 @ 7:23PM
Most trailer park episodes of Cops have several of em'
albert constantine jr.| 4.13.12 @ 9:29PM
It is the men fighting with no shirts that stopped many of us who have ever arrested people from continuing to watch "Cops". It is too much like work.
Mike Hawk| 4.14.12 @ 10:23AM
You'll find'em at Walmart too.Often in stretch 'pants' and weighing in at 300 lbs.
Bob Grant| 4.14.12 @ 1:25PM
Indeed. A quick trip to Walmart on a Saturday afternoon is a people watching paradise.
Fuchsia colored spandex pants pushed to their limits; Bingo Wings (underarm fat) in a tug of war struggle with tightly fitted t-shirts; ...open, and sometimes very vocal, disciplining of offspring.
aye aya ya....the possibilities are endless!
Mike Hawk| 4.14.12 @ 4:46PM
It is truly stunning how Spandex can hold in some of those arses. Some people should not be allowed to wear it.
FeFe| 4.14.12 @ 4:58AM
Was it for "prestige or profit" that Lionel Richie took $1 million to put on a show for Libya's marketing guru and international terrorist, Gaddafi? Dead men tell no tales. This "neo-payola" may be the next best download but it feels rather like a throwback to "primitive times" of the old Hollywood studio system. Now media conglomerates who own movie, music, print, and television production and distribution companies beat the publicity drum with product tie-ins to the point that the movies or TV programs are in and of themselves the commercial. Talk about block booking between entertainment and hard news divisions "making publicity," all cheerleaders no competition. These United States v. Paramount Pictures, Inc. (1948) Supreme Court ruling are not the artists you are looking for.
Speaking of marketing gurus, I look forward to the showdown between the two rival powerhouse ad agencies -- every political hack with a shingle that bailout financial status quo money can buy -- of the bipartisan policy establishment now to be unleashed upon the only marketing industry approved demographic: affluent suburbanites. Those plugged into the system of status quo. Now storyboard narratives paid for by Romney five years ago -- after he quit his reelection campaign and then personally bought, to the tune of $35 million, himself as the one who lost to the same one who lost to Obama -- will now all get media market play. (Obama's ad agency has been running their #OWS 99% background knowledge campaign long enough, you see. Clios don't win themselves, people, so coalesce!) The best selling incumbent with brand loyalty versus the the new and improved echo with re-designed packaging. All environmentally friendly. Who will hipsters decide is keeping it real?
As for market appeal and "acts that peaked more than a quarter-century ago" or "performers hot in 1958" with longevity, my first thought was of Teddy Kennedy. But let us go with a select sample of the entrenched political class that has yet to die in office and are still serving, shall we. The top three:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/L.....of_service
56 years serving since 1955: Rep. John Dingell, Jr. (D, MI-15)
52 years serving since 1959: Rep. Dan Inouye (D, HI), now senator since 1963
47 years serving since 1965: Rep. John Conyers, Jr. (D, MI-14)
Of course, Mr. Smith Goes to Washington was released in 1939 and Madison Ave. has been busy putting a dollar value to everything in the world. Hadn't you noticed? The UN did and took rice bowls global. "So thoroughly have marketing gurus captured" politics that establishment politicians are but an industry of businessmen with an international brand and "impersonating" product placement caring. As Madonna's Auto-tune soundtrack fills the Colosseum, who will the exclusive hipster audience vote for? Which presidential campaign ad agency can best stay on message of punishment is ecstasy?
I miss the Capra-esque "It Takes A Family" Santorum campaign already. But the show of managed decline merchandise licensing must go on.... That's how utopian masterminds roll.
Betina| 4.14.12 @ 8:58AM
Madonna is how old now? 53? So that makes her menopausal, qualified for an AARP membership and heading for her "Golden Years" with no end in sight. Hardly the stuff of wet dreams. It's pathetic really. What I despise the most about her is her toxicity and how it influenced at least one generation of impressionable girls. And yet? Her own children?? Well! That's a different story entirely. She is as straitlaced as a 19th century Victorian school marm when it comes to her own little bastards. She shat on millions of others' children, but her own must be shielded against the influences of someone of her ilk. She is a dessicated ho bag. My wish is that one day, in the middle of another stage crafty dry hump, she will slip a disc or have an amusing muscle spasm. There's one ol' gent even Madonna can't F--K with: Father Time. Hang it up you old twat. Trade in the bustier for a back brace already.
Seabee| 4.14.12 @ 5:47PM
thank you.
Shiori| 4.14.12 @ 9:12AM
She's a fifty-two year old adolescent brat who has a pathological need for attention. I find her rather pathetic. She should be promoting her work ethic and how she started out with nothing and work her way up - instead the idiot dons Che Guevara gear and slams Sarah Palin. Like most of her ilk, far from being a rebel - she's just another tool who spews the same nonsense as everyone else in her circle. Why doesn't she use her money and influence to help her home town Detroit, now a barren wasteland thanks to the Democrat menace.
Bill| 4.14.12 @ 5:25PM
Lady Gaga is a much bigger artist than Madonna, in terms of the message and composition of her songs, and also, considering the competitions she is facing from Adele. Katy Perry, Kelly Clarkson, Britney. Madonna never faced that level of competitions when she was , as Lady Gaga has to encounter and work hard to prompt her music. Lady gaga is the "Queen of Pop."
Melissa McCauley| 4.14.12 @ 6:49PM
MDNA is not the acronym for ecstasy....just sayin.