We at ELM Towers have a soft spot for Madonna, based on fond memories we have of her in the 80′s. She was the first performer to take the slut look mainstream, and all credit to her for that. I’m sure I wasn’t the only pre-adolescent boy who wondered about the strange, yet not unpleasant feelings this strange lady in the fishnet tights was causing me. And there were a few fabulous pop tunes too (I defy anyone to tell me ‘Like A Prayer’ isn’t one of the best pop singles of all time.)
The constant, wilful re-inventions have left me cold, although she has occasionally struck gold with her studied new directions – the ‘Ray of Light’ album, for example – but you did wonder how long she could keep drawing on the slightly dominant older woman sexpot schtick.
Having seen the publicity for ‘Hard Candy’, her new album, I’d be tempted to say the games up. I do wonder if Madonna records are dancefloor fillers in happening clubs anymore. The problem with always seeking to be hip and different is that eventually it stops being about the music. It’s laudable that she wants to remain ahead of the game, but ironically, the more she postures simply illustrates just how far away from the zeitgeist she is. The sight of yet another Madonna publicity campaign centering on her striking curiously sexless poses in her underwear is further proof that growing old with dignity is hard to do (see Stones, Rolling.)
Madonna is an icon. It’s time she relaxed and enjoyed that hard-won status.
Filed under: General Stuff Tagged: | Dance, hard candy, icons, Madonna, Pop
Suspect its a case of “he who pays the piper calls the tune” as much as anything else these days – Story
Material Girl and all that!
Very interesting article LO.
I have a lot of time for Madonna, she’s taken no shit her whole career, but it’s just getting increasingly silly now!