Bad Girl - the most underrated single?

I'm not happy... I'm not happy... this way


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The opening piano, the video, the raw femme fatale essence about it - it's become one of my favorites. An admittedly ODD choice for a single, especially amid the Erotica era backlash, but I think it is truly one of her most special moments.

I also love how her voice kind of cracks at the end of "I don't want to cause you any pain, but I love you just the same, and you'll always be my BAY-BEHHHH"

 
Well of course it's one of the best.

The only live performance in existence is also quite something.

 
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I don’t find it an odd choice for a single at all; it goes well with the theme of the album/era. It definitely should’ve been a bigger success, everything about it is ”grand”.
 
Oh yes! It’s the song of regret and comedown when you feel cheap and disgusting after a long night of hooking and other self-destructive activities.


Only that I take fluid replacement instead or Chardonnay. :lolly:
 
it's an absolutely marvellous song. the piano is gorge and her imperfect lower register vox just radiate character and emotion. as underrated as What It Feels Like and Jump among her singles canon.
 
I've been on a chronological Madonna re-listen project for the past few weeks. This was a definite standout from Erotica, which I think generally had the right singles released from it.
 
Love it. I remember thinking it was absolutely the right single at the time because there was a perception she was getting a bit desperate with the whole Sex book thing and the singles hadn't been as good. Hit us with a heart-wrencher just at the right time.

Also, I'm sure most of us can RELATE. I certainly can.
 
I'm glad I'm not the only person who does shit like this :D

I find it motivates me to keep up my walking regimen during these dark and gloomy months.

So far I've blasted though the complete works of Kylie, Sophie Ellis Bextor, Kate Bush and Robyn, and I'm about 2/3 through Madonna and the Pet Shop Boys.

I have ABBA on my to-do list, but I think I'll have to wait for sunnier weather before I brave those first couple of albums. :zombie:
 
I find it motivates me to keep up my walking regimen during these dark and gloomy months.

So far I've blasted though the complete works of Kylie, Sophie Ellis Bextor, Kate Bush and Robyn, and I'm about 2/3 through Madonna and the Pet Shop Boys.

I have ABBA on my to-do list, but I think I'll have to wait for sunnier weather before I brave those first couple of albums. :zombie:

That's how I am for David Bowie and Prince. I want to listen to all of their albums at some point, for an education. But its a bit daunting. I listened to all of the Pet Shop Boys albums and further listenings a few years ago and it really helped me get into them
 
And that's why I haven't started yet :D ABBA is a good idea though. They don't have many albums and I only know the singles
 
And that's why I haven't started yet :D ABBA is a good idea though. They don't have many albums and I only know the singles

If you do, don't be discouraged by the ropey quality of the early ones. Each album is a little bit better than the one that preceded it, and the last three are pretty much wall to wall 10/10 moments.
 
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It’s not even the most underrated single on Erotica!

that would be “Rain”.
 
That's how I am for David Bowie and Prince. I want to listen to all of their albums at some point, for an education. But its a bit daunting. I listened to all of the Pet Shop Boys albums and further listenings a few years ago and it really helped me get into them

*plans another Prince countdown*
 
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Stunning and oh so relatable. This and Rain are two of my Madge faves, though Deeper and Deeper might just pip both for my favourite single from the album.
 
If you do, don't be discouraged by the ropey quality of the early ones. Each album is a little bit better than the one that preceded it, and the last three are pretty much wall to wall 10/10 moments.

Maybe I'd start at the end and go backwards then
 
I don’t dislike them but I never fully connected to Bad Girl or Rain. I wouldn’t switch them off but I wouldn’t seek them out either.

With regards to singles selections she’s been pretty perfect in that regard for the vast majority of her career.
 
she's one of her few artists of her stature who doesn't have tons of missed single opportunities or album tracks that destroy the singles, just because the singles they did choose were so spot-on.

Kylie on the other hand...
 
she's one of her few artists of her stature who doesn't have tons of missed single opportunities or album tracks that destroy the singles, just because the singles they did choose were so spot-on.

Kylie on the other hand...

I have one glaring example, but I’m saving it for the hidden gems sync
 
And that's why I haven't started yet :D ABBA is a good idea though. They don't have many albums and I only know the singles

OMG almost 10 years to the day since I did just that

https://www.moopy.co.uk/threads/diddy-did-abba-top-25.72385/
 
OMG almost 10 years to the day since I did just that

https://www.moopy.co.uk/threads/diddy-did-abba-top-25.72385/

great minds think alike (ten years later). The album cover in that first post is amazing!
 
Maybe I'd start at the end and go backwards then

I’d start with Arrival and go forwards, then do the first three if you’re feeling completist.

I'd recommend starting at 1975's 'Abba'. There's enough good/great stuff there to hold your interest over the not so great, plus you'll get the experience of seeing what a leap forward Arrival then was.

Then do the first two at the end. On a strong stomach.
 
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It’s not even the most underrated single on Erotica!

that would be “Rain”.

I love “Rain” but I feel like that is generally well regarded /discussed in Madonna fan circles , whereas I feel like everyone is radio silent about this one. And Madonna herself complained that “Rain” was the only Erotica single that actually got any airplay/rotation on MTV! “Bad Girl” feels a bit more lost in the mix, combined with the fact she’s never performed it on tour.
 
I love “Rain” but I feel like that is generally well regarded /discussed in Madonna fan circles , whereas I feel like everyone is radio silent about this one. And Madonna herself complained that “Rain” was the only Erotica single that actually got any airplay/rotation on MTV! “Bad Girl” feels a bit more lost in the mix, combined with the fact she’s never performed it on tour.

True but Rain underperformed in the UK and kinda sank until Something To Remember. It's also not really a tour favourite.

I also think that, given it's one of her best songs and, personally speaking, in her all time Top Ten, it's underrated for that, for me.
 
Rain was a much bigger hit than Bad Girl in America, wasn't it?
It was - "Rain" peaked at #14 and spent five months on the chart whereas "Bad Girl" limped in at #36 (her lowest peak at that time IIRC)
 
Yeah the radio remix of 'Rain' was picked up well by US radio and it was on heavy MTV rotation which helped it in the USA.
 
In fact (and I could be wrong), the reason that "Rain" 'only' went to No. 14 in the USA rather than go top 10 was because of lower than expected sales as opposed to airplay (which was very strong). The backlash was in full force by then.
 
I don't think so. The electronic production is pure Erotica as are the watersports lyrical undertones.

That being said, it was the only track from Erotica to be included on Something To Remember (and the only one that could have been..) so it is definitely considered one of her mid-'90s ballads classiques.
 
Rain also feels like a misnomer on Erotica to me. not a value judgment but it's not like the others.

impromptu rate

10 Erotica
09 Fever
08 Bye Bye Baby
11 Deeper and Deeper
10 Where Life Begins
10 Bad Girl
08 Waiting
10 Thief of Hearts
08 Words
08 Rain
08 Why's It So Hard
10 In This Life
08 Secret Garden

defs her best ballad moments ever on this record.

:disco:
 
09 Erotica
07 Fever
09 Bye Bye Baby
10 Deeper and Deeper
07 Where Life Begins
10 Bad Girl
09 Waiting
07 Thief of Hearts
09 Words
10 Rain
09 Why's It So Hard
08 In This Life
07 Secret Garden
 
As I get older, the more I appreciate Erotica. It all sounds very cool these days, apart from In This Life and Thief of Hearts.
 

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