Say which flavour you like and I'll have it for you: Suedey's Madonna top 50

I have to say, I always secretly stanned the Marge episode of Glee, especially Amber Riley's 4 Minutes. Hearing it done with real horns (and real vocals) was a treat.
 
Till Death Do Us Part is essential! I think it is my favorite Madonna album track. It definitely is my favorite 80s album track.

Borderline was the first Madonna song I loved (or maybe it was Holiday?) One of them was used in a movie or ad or something that I saw as a kid and I was really drawn to it (but clearly not so much that I even remember what song it was :D)

RaspberrySwirl said:
What a great idea for the final nail in all three coffins of their careers.
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:D
 
a bit late catching up with this, but just popping in to say that Skin and Don't Tell Me are two of her absolute finest moments (and both far too low!)

she gave an excellent PERF of the latter on French TV



it still sounds ludicrously fresh today. if she/any major popstar released that today I think it would usher in a whole new wave of electronic-guitar/country fusion. it's really that bitch. gorgeously sunny song. no idea what half the lyrics are about but WHO CARES! :disco:
 
now Express Yourself is a HARD top 10. absolutely my favourite Madonna song of the 80s/90s turn of the decade era, just eclipsing Vogue (Like a Prayer, although truly a landmark pop song, I revisit less these days). it's all about the empowering MESSAGE wrapped up entirely non-cynically in a pop package that overflows with joy, melody and hooks. impeccable songwriting, amazing vocal, fabulous video - it has everything.

The Immaculate Collection edit is my go-to though. don't @ me, Suedette.
 
"Till Death Do Us Part" would probably threaten my top 10, and the only non-single to do so.

She's had enough
She says the end
She'll come back
She knows it then

The chance to start
It all again
Till death do us part
*breaks glass* :disco:
 
I find the Sean situation so bewildering. She was quite explicit about it back then, and him being violent, and she then reneged many years later about it publicly.
 
POP! said:
I find the Sean situation so bewildering. She was quite explicit about it back then, and him being violent, and she then reneged many years later about it publicly.
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Not quite. She only stated that Sean had never been physically abusive to her.
 
Rain.jpg


23. Rain (Erotica, 1992; Something To Remember, 1995)
UK chart position: 7
Key remix: single mix
Key live performance: The Girlie Show 1993​

Not a deep cut but at this point in her career it may well be. I am always a bit flummoxed as to how ‘90s Madonna (my favourite decade of hers) seems to be somewhat forgotten these days outside of ‘Vogue’ and Ray of Light. Most streaming playlists (and her highest views and plays) appear to be split between the big ‘80s numbers and the ‘00s (‘4 Minutes’, ‘Hung Up’) whilst the 1990s are somewhat relegated aside.

‘Rain’ is one of her most luscious and, yes, cinematic songs. It was released during the height of the Madonna backlash, it still managed to go top 10 in the UK but peaked at 14 in the USA – in spite of quite strong airplay, it was actually sales that let her down. Well, they got it wrong of course. What I enjoy most about it as well is that production-wise it is still faithful to the overall Erotica sound with heavy electronic flourishes, but still retains its utter beauty.

​


Speaking of beauty, the video of course is gorgeous and she looked fantastic in it. She recycled the look for the ‘I’ll remember’ video (except it was her real hair in the latter and a wig in the former.) The B-roll footage leaked recently and honestly I could watch it all day. The Girlie Show live performance was a highlight and it has not been performed since unfortunately.
 
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Rain is incredible. I am obsessed with her the overlaid spoken word tracks towards the end. And the video was iconic (to me, at 7-8 years old).
 
Rain is lovely but it’s a bit too high (for my liking) considering the other ballads that has appeared before it.
 
Suedey said:
Not quite. She only stated that Sean had never been physically abusive to her.
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There was definitely a physical incident she reported back then, I’ll have to find the article.
 
I actually grew to love Borderline over the years. A properly sad song set to an uplifting beat.

Rain, it’s a bit like I’ll Remember for me in that I like it until about halfway through and lose interest, but it’s definitely a good track, it’s probably just me.

I’m in the mood for American Life (album) and am about to press play.
 
“Rain” may be my favorite ballad of hers :o the production is really what sets it apart and it still sounds so crisp 30 years later.
 
Also:

Borderline - #4 (yeah she's THAT bitch)
This Used To Be My Playground - #28

Burning Up, Bad Girl and Til Death Do Us Part don't feature.
 
PDP.jpg


22. Papa Don’t Preach (True Blue, 1986; The Immaculate Collection, 1990; Celebration, 2009)
UK chart position: 1
Key remix: extended version
Key live performance: Who’s That Girl 1987 and Blond Ambition 1990 (tie)​

Sentimental post alert: “Papa Don’t Preach” is my earliest Madonna memory, at the age of 6. My sister was a ‘Madonna wannabe’ and I vaguely recall ‘Material Girl’ and ‘Like A Virgin’ on heavy rotation chez Suedey, but “Papa Don’t Preach” was different. The regal, dramatic strings intro caught this gay child’s imagination like nothing else. And then, of course, there was that video. ‘Italians Do It Better’ T-shirt was iconic of course, but it was the shots of Madonna dancing that really captured my imagination.

wm_yrz.gif

​

Fast forward to a few months later and I insisted that my mother buy me True Blue on cassette. The rest, of course, is gay history and my life was never the same again. I would honestly say that, apart from my mother, Madonna is the most significant female figure in my entire. And it was all thanks to ‘Papa Don’t Preach’. The drama! The vocals! The lyrics! The look! The nipple slip! The pro-choice/pro-life debate! Opulence – she earned everything. Fun fact alert: 'Rain' and 'Papa Don't Preach' are, of course, funnily linked: when PDP was used in a Vauxhall advert in 1993, it was recycled as the B-side to the 'Rain' single.

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funky said:
Wow Rain is WAY too low. But 23 on a Suedey Madonna list is still 17/10 so I'll let it pass.

This is #6 on my list. I worship this song.
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I think there'll be some controversial chart positions in my top 20. Not so much the songs themselves but their positioning will raise some eyebrows I think...
 
I used to be obsessed with Papa Don't Preach. I don't know why but it was the first "classic" Madonna song that caught my attention in the mid-90s. It really a perfect pop single. Obviously, as my taste matured I became more of a... Turn Up The Radio stan, but what can I say... it's a legend, it's been around for a long time, and I'm happy for her
 
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21. Hung Up (Confessions on A Dance Floor, 2005; Celebration, 2009)
UK chart position: 1
Key remix: Stuart Price’s SDP Vocal Mix (2005)
Key live performance: MTV EMA Awards (2005)​

The year was 2005. Two years prior, American Life had come and gone with more of a whimper than a bang. Live 8 was the first indication that a major revamp was on its way, but not really. Then the horse fall happened and things were looking a bit iffy for a while. And then ‘Hung Up’ snippets started to leak and pockets of homosexuals the world over started to lose their shit. But I don’t think any of us were quite prepared for the explosion of the era that ‘Hung Up’ heralded.

Cynics dismiss ‘Hung Up’ was a cheap attempt to get a hit by incorporating that sample and by going for the ‘pink pound’ (I hate that term with a passion). But I disagree. For one, ‘Hung Up’ is transcendent – the song goes above and beyond just the sample and the product is a synergistic fusion of Madonna and ABBA. As for donning a leotard and giving the gays what they wanted – well, sue her! After years of Guy Ritchie-influenced lady of the manor garb it was refreshing to see her going back dance music. I still remember that explosive first performance at the MTV EMAs in Lisbon - proof, if ever needed, that vocals can be completely subsidiary if the performance is a Performance (Eurovision 2019 Madonna unfortunately would not taken note.)

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It is a shame she did not hang on to Stuart Price for another album. If Neil Tennant’s assessment is to be believed, there was talk of her working with him and Pet Shop Boys for a follow-up but the label ‘shoved her down the R&B’ route. Confessions Part 2 may not have been the most reinventive choice in the book but, in retrospect, I would take it any day over what we actually got in the shape of Hard Candy.
 
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Suedey said:
Guys we've made it to the top 20.

We shall have a brief intermission during which I might post some odds'n'sods/bits'n'bobs (miss you @lolly ) top 5 type things but -

If anyone wants to guess the top 10 be my guest :disco:
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Top ten forecast in no particular order:

Frozen
Get Together or Fever (Edit One)
Vogue
Live to Tell
Bedtime Story
The Power of Goodbye
Into the Groove
Like a Prayer
Oh Father
Erotica
 
OMG a Pet Shop Boys COAD follow up Madonna album? That should so have happened. I love these little titbits of information Suede, I’m not as deep into her career beyond the songs so the context is really educational! I live.
 
POP! said:
Top ten forecast in no particular order:

Frozen
Get Together or Fever (Edit One)
Vogue
Live to Tell
Bedtime Story
The Power of Goodbye
Into the Groove
Like a Prayer
Oh Father
Erotica
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I could live with that. Have we had I Want You yet? It had so better feature.
 
If anything I’d take out Vogue and Erotica maybe. Suede seems to be in an introspective Madonna era based on some of the choices so far.
 
Certain appearances in the top 10:

Like a Prayer
Vogue
Drowned World/Subsitute for Love
Paradise (Not For Me)
Live to Tell
Deeper and Deeper
Frozen


All of the above, Vogue excluded, would appear on mine too.
 
funky said:
I could live with that. Have we had I Want You yet? It had so better feature.
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I toyed with that, Sky Fits Heaven and Paradise but then he alluded Till Death Do Us apart was the highest non single.

manifesting a shock high entry from Hanky Panky and True Blue
 
So I think PDP is my earliest Madonna memory also. I probably heard other tracks but don’t relate them specifically to Madonna the way I did specifically for PDP. It was those strings that caught my attention, which sound odd for a 9 year old, but I don’t think I’d ever heard a pop song incorporate music like that before. My junior school headmaster was huge on orchestral music, every assembly started and ended with a bit of Mozart or Bach or Handel. I think it’s where my love of orchestral pop comes from. Madonna has always had a keen love of strings too, she incorporates them more often and more prominently than most pop acts do.

I get and I remember the gay frenzy for Hung Up, but I never consider it a gay song anymore. The woman deserves credit for having a juggernaut worldwide smash 20 years into her career. We all stan the Mother Earth comeback in 1998 but nothing from that era came close to the collective explosion of Hung Up. It’s now part of her Mount Rushmore along with Holiday, Vogue, Like A Prayer and Music for songs that defined her career. I say all this objectively; as much as I was carried along that exciting ride in 2005 I don’t care for the song much personally. It’s fun but it would never touch my Top 50

PDP on the other hand is easily Top 20 but I’ll need to check the spreadsheet and confirm!
 
Things I have learnt from reading through:

  • Hollywood originally being from the Music sessions
  • Sanctuary and Skin never having been performed live! And Till Death Do Us Part!
  • She didn't write Don't Tell Me. OMG the jazzy original, I cried I died :o I had NO IDEA
  • Hadn't thought about how jarring it would be at the time to see Madonna go from This Used To Be My Playground to naked hitchhiking
  • The label is responsible for her not doing a Confessions mark 2 :(
 
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A Price-PSB album would have been just ahead of the curve as electro-bop came storming back into fashion at the end of 08. Whereas the Timba-lake R&B sound was already dead by early 08.
 
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