Madonna grows up with “Like A Prayer”

Madonna is one of those artists that can do everything and do it well: sing, dance, and act – though that remains rather questionable. Howevever, every artist must grow up eventually and prove to both audience and peers that they are great. Madonna does this in her own unique way with her 1989 release, Like A Prayer.

Like A Prayer unveils a new persona of Madonna: the grownup. With the release of this album, not only does her own voice seem to mature – but also the overall production and lyrical content. On the title song. Madge explores religious elements in both lyric and production. She uses a backup choir and the lyrics are both a double entendre for prayers to God and sex.

In fact, this song wasn’t without controversy. The video for Like A Prayer stirred up quite a bit of controversy among Christiansdue to its exploitation of burning crosses and Madonna having sex with a saint in a church. Pepsi used the song for a commercial

The cover of the album is a direct homage to "Sticky Fingers" by the Rolling Stones

starring Madonna and ended up pulling the commercial altogether after only a few airings.

One of the best things about this album is the production quality. For this album, Madonna chose the production team of Stephen Bray and Patrick Leonard. Leonard previously had worked with Madge on some of her best known hits such as La Isla Bonita, Where’s The Party, and Who’s That Girl. Bray was previously a member of her old band, Emmy and the Emmys. The instrumentation on such songs as Till Death Do Us Part, Cherish, and Keep It Together are all amazing.

Lyrically, Madge also grows up. Promise To Try feels like a letter to a 5-year-old Madonna from the adult Madonna. It is quite possibly about the death of her own mother, who died of cancer at the age of 30. Madge herself has said that this fact – her mother dying at such a young age, was on her mind along with her divorce from actor Sean Penn. These 2 factors influenced the recording of this album.

Overall, this is Madonna at the height of her career. It’s one of her best and definetly worth a listen.

Related articles

• Madonna Renames Song “GIRL Gone Wild”; Joe Francis Claims Legal Victory (thehollywoodgossip.com)
• Madonnas CD Sales Shoot Up (lukewilliamsgossip.wordpress.com)
• How Madonna Defines the Third Wave [Celebrity] (jezebel.com)
• YES YES YES! Madonna SLAYS it with Super Bowl performance! (themaashup.wordpress.com)

Soooooooooo………..the Superbowl…….

Madonna rocked the house!

However we wonder, who is going to be at the next Superbowl halftime show? Tell us who you want!

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Deep Track Download Thursday: “The Gambler” – Madonna

Madonna is one of those artists that likes to shake things up. Whether it be her controversial videos (i.e Like A Prayer, Erotica, Justify My Love, What It Feels Like For A Girl etc) or her controversy-happy tours. Also, she can sing and dance – she does both well even now in her 50’s.

But I think we can all agree that Madonna was truly in her prime in the early-to-mid-80’s. Her song, Gambler, is a prime example of such. It is perhaps her most underrated track of all time. It’s fast, upbeat, and amazing.

It’s also one of the most inspiring songs Madonna. For someone (such as myself) who has been told stuff like “you don’t measure up,” “you’re no good,” “”you’re not a good christian,” “stupid,” and my favorite “your blog will not work” – this song carries an inspirational message. Madonna sings “I’m a gambler/ and I will take you by surprise/ Gambler/ I’ll aim this straight between your eyes/ Gambler/ yeah I know all the words to say/ ‘Cause I’m a gambler/ I only play the game my way/ yeah/ Don’t want to say this but I think that I should I’m better off forgotten if you think that I’d be good/ One day you see me/ the next day I’m gone/ Don’t fight me baby/ I don’t want to hold on/ I’m a gambler/ a gambler/ You’re not happy with the way I act/ You better turn around boy, don’t look back/ You’re getting angry, you know I can see/ You’re just jealous ’cause you can’t be me/ You can’t stop me now/ ‘Cause I’m right and I’m making advances/ Let me show you how/Tonight, I’ll be taking my chances  on you.”

Bravo! Mad props to you Madonna!

Related articles

• In Glorious Backhanded Compliment, Madonna Says Gaga Ripped Off ‘Express Yourself’ [Dirt Bag] (jezebel.com)
• How Do You Prefer Madonna’s Hair? (fabsugar.com)
• Madonna Reveals Name of Her New Album (now1031.radio.com)
• Madonna Angers Anti-Drug Group With New Album Title (hollywood.com)

We Didn’t Start The Fire, part 2

I love the song “We Didn’t Start The Fire” by Billy Joel. It’s like 40 years of history crammed into one song. However, it is now a little out of date because, let’s face it, alot has happened since the song’s release in 1989. So Mr. Joel, if you are reading this, here is a list of suggestions you can put in from the past 22 years.

1990

• Mandela freed – Future President of Africa Nelson Mandela is freed from a political prison.
• Gulf War – USand coalition forces invade Kuwait in order to get Iraqi President Saddam Hussein out of Kuwait.
  

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• CGI – Computer Generated Imagery is further utilized in the film Total Recall.
• Unplugged – Mtv premieres the successful Unplugged concert series featuring Squeeze.
• Nirvana

1991

• Rodney King riot – After a videotape leaked of LAPD cops beating suspect Rodney King, the cops were freed. Rioting in South Central Los Angeles ensued.
• Mike Tyson – Boxer who was charged with rape as well as domestic abuse. He also won many fights and even bit the ear of fellow boxer Evander Holyfield.
• Truth Or Dare – Madonna documentary showing her during the Blonde Ambition World Tour. Was considered the highest grossing documentary of its time and is currently the 8th highest grossing documentary of all-time.
• Beauty and the Beast– 1st animated feature to be nominated for Best Picture at the Oscars.
• Magic Johnson – NBA star that announced he had HIV

1992

• Apartheid Ends -White South Africans vote to end apartheid and have more racial equality in government in South Africa.
• EuroDisney opens
• Bill Clinton
• LA riots
• Boris Yeltsin

1993

• Monica Seles – tennis player that was stabbed during a match.
• Bosnia – lots of war between Muslims and Eastern Orthodox followers.
• Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell – Military policy enacted by President Bill Clinton that allowed closeted gays and lesbians into the military as long as they kept quiet about their personal lives. It was repealed by President Barack Obama in 2011.
• Schindler’s List – high grossing Steven Spielberg film about Oskar Schindler, a man who helped save many Jewish people during the Holocaust.
• Prince’s new name – Singer Prince changes his name to an unpronounceable love symbol.

1994

• Kurt Cobain blown away – lead vocalist for Nirvana commits suicide.
• Baseball strike – ends the season
• Forrest Gump – won Best Picture at the Oscars.
• Weezer
• Jenny Jones murder tv– On an episode of the Jenny Jones show entitled “Same Sex Crushes,” 32-year old Scott Amedure revealed to a heterosexual friend Jonathan Schmidz that he had a crush on him. A few weeks after the show, Schmidz killed Amendure with a shotgun at his mobile home.

1995

• Selena – extremely popular Tejano singer who was murdered by her fan club president, Yolanda Saldivar. This may not have been a big deal in the rest of the country, but it was a BIG deal in Texas and the Southwest, as the Wild Heart was born and raised here.
• Pamela Anderson and Tommy Lee – Motley Crue drummer and a playboy model make a sex tape.
• Rox – 1st show broadcasted over the internet.
• Who Shot Mr. Burns – shocking Simpsons episode where Mr. Burns gets shot.

1996

• HDTV – 1st introduced in 1996.
• Taco Liberty Bell
• Evita starring Madonna, is released.

1997

• Surfing the web – term used to describe the fact that you were now on the internet.
• Princess Diana dies
• Titanic

1998

• Another Congo War
• El Nino – weather cell that wreaked a great deal of the west and south coast.
• Van Halen version 3 – Gary Cherone takes the seat of lead vocalist. It was previously held by David Lee Roth and Sammy Hagar.

1999

• US President Bill Clinton admits he lied about having sex with Monica Lewinsky
• Woodstock 99 becomes known as “Woodstock Apocalypse” due to the raging bonfires, theft, violence, and rape.

2000

• New millenium
• Y2K
• Elian Gonzalez
• President George W. Bus vs. Vice President Al Gore in the election.

2001

• World Trade Center in flames – The World Trade Center and the Pentagon in New York City and Washington DC are attacked by terrorists piloting major airliners and ramming them into the buildings. The World Trade Center crashes to the ground. The US is DEVASTATED.
• Enron files for bankruptcy in Houston, TX.
• Clear Channel Memorandum – after 9/11 Clear Channel issues a memorandum containing a list of 150 potentially offensive songs in light of the terrorist attacks.
• US goes to war with Afghanistan.

2002

• U2 performs during the Superbowl Halftime show and pays tribute to those killed on September 11, 2001.
• The Lord of the Rings
•  Daniel Pearl

2003

• US goes to war with Iraq and captures leader Saddam Hussein
• Space Shuttle Columbia disentigrates upon re-entry into Earth’s atmosphere.
• The Station Nightclub Fire kills nearly 100 people attending a concert by Great White.

Anyways that is all I have for now. Tell me what you think!

Madonna Fans Rejoice: New Album Due in Spring 2012 | Billboard.com

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Madonna Fans Rejoice: New Album Due in Spring 2012 | Billboard.com.

Madonna says that she’s “started a little bit of work in the studio” for the forthcoming album and will continue recording in “New York, until the end of the year” when she returns to the United States. The entertainer began working on the album officially on July 4, as confirmed by her manager Guy Oseary, via a tweet. That day marked her “1st day in the recording studio for the new album.”

To read more click above.

Madonna’s Story to Be Told in Her Own ‘Female Force’ Comic Book – Spinner

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Madonna’s Story to Be Told in Her Own ‘Female Force’ Comic Book – Spinner.

Now THIS will be a must-buy on the Wild Heart’s future version of her version of “Oprah’s favorite things.” What do you think?

New Kids On The Block Breaking News and Gossip | PerezHilton.com

 

 

 

 

 

New Kids On The Block Breaking News and Gossip | PerezHilton.com.

So it turns out that classic R&B group BelBivDevoe joined the New Kids onstage according to Perezhilton.com. I always like little surprises like that in concert. Kinda like the time me and my then-boyfriend went to a Steven Curtis Chapman concert and none other than Geoff Moore from the classic CCM band Geoff Moore and the Distance joined Chapman onstage.

This is just me thinking aloud of course.

But every single time I hear about NKOTB I think about the time I went with my family to Fisherman’s Wharf in San Francisco. I saw some guy break-dancing to “(You Got It) The Right Stuff.” I thought, “what a loser.” You break dance to “Mama Said Knock You Out” by LL Cool J, “Walk This Way” by Run DMC and Aerosmith,  or my other favorite “Get Into the Hollywood Groove” by Missy Elliot featuring Madonna – not some teeny bopper band that I happen to have a soft spot for!

top 10 songs that are on my Grooveshark account and aren’t on my ipod…..yet

Ladies and gents, I need to admit something: I have a love-hate relationship with Pandora radio. My Stevie Nicks station now only plays indie music – not her solo stuff, Fleetwood Mac or even Buckingham Nicks – all of which I have separate stations for. Additionally, I am sick of it playing the same songs of hers or Fleetwood Mac every single time I bring it up: Landslide. I also tried to give last.fm a shot but it went down in a blaze of glory. However, no thanks to the ex-boyfriend of me, the Wild Heart, I have been introduced to something that is nothing short of amazing: Grooveshark. Better yet, it’s legal and free unless you don’t want ads – then you must pay. But the best thing is you can upload songs and listen to songs in a query, but you don’t download them.

I have found many random things on there, so I will tell you of what they are. They are mostly rarities – like I have never heard them OR I haven’t heard them since I was a child. The 0 of the best that I have found on Grooveshark.

1. Stand In My Place – Bryan Duncan. This is one of those songs that to me, just screamed “put me at number one.” I grew up listening to Contemporary Christian music because I was born, raised, and still am a rather devout Christian. I used to hear this all the time back in 1991-1993 when I was 4-7 on 89.3 FM KSBJ. As Christian music matured a little in the 90’s, this song and artist virtually disappeared from KSBJ’s playlists. As I myself discovered my own faith outside of the faith of my parents and grandparents (I’m Protestant, raised Southern Baptist, but now attend a Vineyard church). Something about the lyrics that say “you traded paradise for poverty/ created all and laid it all on the line for me/ I’m just an ordinary heart and soul/ you bridged an ocean to stand in my place.” Nobody else would have done that for me, and that is why I choose Christ.
2. All My LIfe – Bryan Duncan. This was also a song that has since disappeared from the airwaves of KSBJ. Glad to see it once again on Grooveshark.
3. Thousand Days – Stevie Nicks. Since I have become quite a bit of a Stevie Nicks fan lately, I have been looking up her music alot on the internet. I came across this on Grooveshark and it turns out this is on her Enchanted box set – which is somewhat of a limited edition from what I hear. I don’t think it is a demo because it sounds professionally produced, that is, unless she produced it herself. Either way it is one amazing track. I cannot help but wonder who the song is aimed at and what album was it meant for.
4. Love In A World Gone Mad – Agnetha Faltskog. Though I am not a big fan of ABBA, this woman is a really good pop artist. I wish she would have gone places beyond Sweden.
5. Races Are Run – Buckingham Nicks. Before Lindsey Buckingham and his then-girlfriend Stevie Nicks joined Fleetwood Mac, they were known as Buckingham Nicks. They recorded one album together entitled Buckingham Nicks. It is considered a rare album, however many bootleg cds have surfaced. Lindsey Buckingham has expressed interest in re-releasing the album, however it has yet to be released.
6. Pac-Man Fever – Buckner and Garcia. For some reason I find this song amusing.
7. Cest La Vie – Robbie Neville. I first saw this song on VH1 Classic’s Greatest One-Hit Wonders. I must say that back in his day, Robbie was one hottie. Sadly now he looks like an old man and those cute-boy looks have long gone.
8. Into the Hollywood Groove – Missy Elliott featuring Madonna. Normally I am not a big rap fan. However, I will make an exception for this song because I like Madonna on the chorus.
9. 96 Tears – ? and the Mysterians. Kids, this is what drugs and music sound like mixed together.
10. BLOX germ-killer – GTA Vice City. I would imagine that somehow, some way, Howard Hughes would use so much of this germ-killer that he probably would own the company and run it from his little theater in his house much akin to how he was in The Aviator with Leonardo DiCaprio

20 greatest summer songs that make the wild heart go wild. . . . . . .

…………or at least bring back happy memories of summers gone by.

Since it is a nice day in Houston, so much that I went swimming, I figured I would tell you what my picks are for the 10 best songs of the summer.

1. Cruel Summer– Bananarama.  Every single summer, I keep thinking this and usually I am proven wrong by my own best friend, family or new friends. This especially happened one summer when I had a bad semester in college previously. I was thinking that things were going to suck but they didn’t. I found a great lifegroup at church, I kept busy with summer school taking spanish (I enjoyed watching “las peliculas de Disney”) and social problems . I hung out with my best friends a bit, and even got to do 2 mega articles at the school paper. It was one of the best summers I have ever had.
2. California Dreaming – The Mamas and the Papas. Almost every year in highschool, my parents and I would take a trip to California. We would usually hit up Los Angeles and/or San Francisco.
   
3. Up – Shania Twain. Remember what I just said about my family’s trip to California? Well this song really brings back some memories. After much begging on behalf of me to my father, we finally got to go to Universal Studios Hollywood so I could ride the Back to the Future ride. (my dad had a longstanding hatred of Universal after they released that Last Temptation of Christ film and he outright refused to go there to that place) Either way, he caved in and took me and my mom to Universal Studios. At the time, I was enduring some fallout from things at school – both highschool drama and the fact that I failed a class and would have to retake it with a teacher that treated me like scum. So as I was at Universal Citywalk, this song comes on and it made me feel better. Oh and the following school year was one of the best that I remember having in highschool. So I guess things did look up for me.  
4. Give It Up– Avalon. If you grew up evangelical christian like I did, summer meant that it was time for camp – which would usually mean that somehow or some way you would end up dedicating your life to Christ again or making some sort of life change and making a promise that you probably would break to Jesus. The same thing would happen on mission trips both foreign and stateside. It’s an unfortunate ordeal. That is why I picked this song in retrospect because God calls us to give him your all 24/7 365 days a year, not just in the summer or when it suits you.
5. Down Under – Men At Work. If you were someone that were a teenager around 2003, you may or may not remember that they used this for the film the rockin’ awesome (and very funny) Disney movie Finding Nemo – at least in the advertisements. That was the best summer film that Disney has ever put out next to Flight of the Navigator! 
6. Round and Round – RATT. Picture this if you live in Houston: it’s the eighties, the temperature reads 90 degrees but the humidity is through the damn roof and you’re sitting by the pool with your cold drink of choice and the radio’s blasting ROCK 101 KLOL (before it became MEGA 101) and this song comes on. Perfect day isn’t it?
7. Black Hole Sun – Soundgarden. This basically sums up every single summer in Houston – hot, humid, and when it rains it is nothing short of sheer amazement.
8. Sister Christian – Night Ranger.For some reason, people seem to forget that people graduate all the time during the year – especially if you go to Devry University or are on the quarter system. However, for some reason this song reminds me of a highschool graduation. Maybe it has something to do with the video.  
9. Shackles (Praise You) – MaryMary. Like I said before, I am a Christian – but not a perfect one. This song brings back memories of when I was about to enter highschool at my parent’s church’s youth group. I did the mission trip that they called Houston 2001 (now Houston Project, for all you people who attend Houston’s First Baptist Church). This song was a bit, uh, overplayed on both KSBJ and at church. Either way, I like the song because it is very catchy and I love MaryMary’s harmonies.
10. Maggie May – Rod Stewart. The ultimate summer love song.
11. It’s The End of the World As We Know it (and I Feel Fine) – R.E.M. One thing said, you must send much love to the boys from Athens, GA. My vote for best simple video.
12. School’s Out For the Summer – Alice Cooper. My parents generation, as far as shock rockers go, got Alice Cooper. My generation gets Marilyn Manson and Lady Gaga. I think Alice Cooper’s is better because he wrote what every single person thinks about school.
13. I Cannot Get You Out of My System – Newsboys. Probably one of the greatest Christian bands of my childhood. I have always loved their rotating drum set that they use in concert. Better yet, they are original when it comes to their sound – a rarity in Christian music even to this day. Sheer amazement.
14. Beautiful Stranger – Madonna. You gotta love Madonna. She is always cutting-edge, but sometimes she does go too far. (I wasn’t a fan of her standing on a cross during the Confessions on a Dancefloor tour – very offensive to me as a christian) However, I still like and even forgive Madonna – unlike some christians. I love this song. It reminds me of when I was 13 and I had to stay with my grandmother. I would watch VH1 and this song would always come on.
15. You Found Me – FFH. What does FFH stand for you ask? It stands for Far From Home. They were a popular contemporary christian band back in the late’90-early 2000’s. They sounded a bit like John Mayer but ALOT better. I was in love with the bass line of this song, and still am! Also, the blending of their harmonies is nothing short of awesome. God has truly given them a gift.
16. Time of the Season – The Zombies. Now picture this, a day at the beach with your love. Fireworks are going off because, well, it’s the 4th of July (if you live in the US that is), barbecues making some burgers (or veggie burgers) and corn on the cob. Perfect day isn’t it!  I probably would be accurate in saying that this defined summer when my father was a teenager sometime in 1969 – the year that Woodstock and the poorly planned Altamont happened.
17. Extreme Days – TobyMac. Probably one of the best Christian artists ever. This basically defined summer 2001 for me – the summer where I left middle school and entered highschool. At the time I was a wannabe extreme sports person, but I did not succeed even at my sport of choice – rollerblading and skateboarding.
18. Ice Cream Man – Van Halen. Who doesn’t like ice cream or Van Halen for that matter. I like both.
19. Conga – Miami Sound Machine. ANYTHING Miami Sound Machine (or Gloria Estefan for that matter) sounds very summer-like!
20. Heatwave – Martha and the Vandellas. Perfect song for the summer from Motown Records.

“Vision Quest” lacks excellence

Vision Quest, though it has some gems, falls flat on its face

Ahhhh Vision Quest.  A movie I never saw that nevertheless has a rather strong soundtrack. Either way it is a soundtrack that has a little something for the balladiers, headbangers, rockers, and the pop princesses.

The soundtrack to Vision Quest is one that screams more 80’s than Flashdance ever did. The album starts out very strong with a track by classic rock greats Journey with Only the Young. Unfortunately it falls flat in some areas, such as the disco-themed Shout to the Top by the Style Council.  Even worse is I’ll Fall In Love Again by Sammy Hagar. It sounds too bland. However, it quickly redeems itself with Madonna’s The Gambler, a dance-oriented synth-happy track where the material girl exclaims “YOU CAN’T STOP ME NOW!”

This soundtrack even will please the rockers in the form of Don Henley’s She’s On the Zoom.

However, Vision Quest takes flight and goes off into its rocketing orbit with the late Ronnie James Dio‘s Hungry For Heaven. Dio proves himself to be worthy of a rock god.

One of the best tracks is Foreigner’s Hot Blooded, which has been covered a few times in concert by country rocker Gretchen Wilson.

Unfortunately, tracks by F0reigner, Journey and Madonna cannot even save this soundtrack. A good soundtrack should be able to tell the story of the film without seeing it. Vision Quest falls flat on its face.