@itspatsworld 1/x
Here's what happened:
1.#Madonna went to college on a dance scholarship, but dropped out at age 20 to pursue a career in music. 2. She moved to New York, hooked up with her 31-year-old boyfriend Dan Gilroy, and briefly sidled into his rock band, "Breakfast Club," where she…
Here's what happened:
1.#Madonna went to college on a dance scholarship, but dropped out at age 20 to pursue a career in music. 2. She moved to New York, hooked up with her 31-year-old boyfriend Dan Gilroy, and briefly sidled into his rock band, "Breakfast Club," where she…
@itspatsworld 2/x
…briefly tried actually playing real instruments (mainly drums... see picture).
She was... not great. But her boyfriend was the bandleader.
3. She eventually convinced her college boyfriend, drummer Stephen Bray, to move out to NYC. They rekindled their romance, and she…
…briefly tried actually playing real instruments (mainly drums... see picture).
She was... not great. But her boyfriend was the bandleader.
3. She eventually convinced her college boyfriend, drummer Stephen Bray, to move out to NYC. They rekindled their romance, and she…
@itspatsworld 3/x
…left Breakfast Club to form a band with him, "Emmy and the Emmys" (see terrible picture.) They played $25 gigs for about a year and made a demo tape. They were not successful.
4.Madonna recorded a dance track and frequented nightclubs to try and get disc jockeys to play…
…left Breakfast Club to form a band with him, "Emmy and the Emmys" (see terrible picture.) They played $25 gigs for about a year and made a demo tape. They were not successful.
4.Madonna recorded a dance track and frequented nightclubs to try and get disc jockeys to play…
@itspatsworld 4/x
…her demo. She met DJ Mark Kamins, disc jockey at Danceteria, and started dating him, and then he ended up producing her first single & arranging a meeting for her with Seymour Stein.
5.Her usual method of moving her career forward didn't work on him (Stein was gay but…
…her demo. She met DJ Mark Kamins, disc jockey at Danceteria, and started dating him, and then he ended up producing her first single & arranging a meeting for her with Seymour Stein.
5.Her usual method of moving her career forward didn't work on him (Stein was gay but…
@itspatsworld 5/x
…still in the closet at that time. He didn't come out until 2017). Nevertheless, Stein liked Kamins as a producer, liked the band he set up, and thought Madonna had promise as the front face and name. He signed her for a three-single deal, and once she had her deal she…
…still in the closet at that time. He didn't come out until 2017). Nevertheless, Stein liked Kamins as a producer, liked the band he set up, and thought Madonna had promise as the front face and name. He signed her for a three-single deal, and once she had her deal she…
@itspatsworld 6/x
…broke things off with Kamins.
7.She started dating Jean-Michel Basquiat and moved into his cool loft apartment in SoHo. He introduced her to art curator Diego Cortez, who had managed some punk bands, and she invited him to be her manager. He turned her down.
(Like all…
…broke things off with Kamins.
7.She started dating Jean-Michel Basquiat and moved into his cool loft apartment in SoHo. He introduced her to art curator Diego Cortez, who had managed some punk bands, and she invited him to be her manager. He turned her down.
(Like all…
@itspatsworld 7/x
…the movers & shakers who turned Madonna down, Cortez was also gay, having founded a chapter of the Gay Liberation Front back in college).
I'm starting to see a pattern here.
8. Madonna was unhappy with Reggie Lucas, the producer assigned to her. She started dating a new…
…the movers & shakers who turned Madonna down, Cortez was also gay, having founded a chapter of the Gay Liberation Front back in college).
I'm starting to see a pattern here.
8. Madonna was unhappy with Reggie Lucas, the producer assigned to her. She started dating a new…
@itspatsworld 8/x
…boyfriend, John "Jellybean" Benitez, who was the resident DJ at Fun House. He came on board, remixed all the tracks for her first album, and produced "Holiday," which became her first big success in 1983 (the song was actually written by Curtis Hudson and Lisa Stevens of…
…boyfriend, John "Jellybean" Benitez, who was the resident DJ at Fun House. He came on board, remixed all the tracks for her first album, and produced "Holiday," which became her first big success in 1983 (the song was actually written by Curtis Hudson and Lisa Stevens of…
@itspatsworld 9/x
…the band Pure Energy.)
9."Holiday" was the pop track that made Madonna's career take off in 1983, first in the NYC dance clubs (where she developed her signature look, see photo). Her emergence coincided with the rise of MTV, and suddenly the visual "look" of music was…
…the band Pure Energy.)
9."Holiday" was the pop track that made Madonna's career take off in 1983, first in the NYC dance clubs (where she developed her signature look, see photo). Her emergence coincided with the rise of MTV, and suddenly the visual "look" of music was…
@itspatsworld 10/x
…as important (or MORE important, in some contexts) than the sound of it.
10. All this is to say that physical appearance and sexuality that was overt to the point of transgressiveness were cornerstones of Madonna's success from the very beginning. Despite an industry…
…as important (or MORE important, in some contexts) than the sound of it.
10. All this is to say that physical appearance and sexuality that was overt to the point of transgressiveness were cornerstones of Madonna's success from the very beginning. Despite an industry…
@itspatsworld 11/x
…that has always been exploitative toward women, both socially and sexually, and despite the presence in Madonna's own career of hostile & sexist forces, physicality and sex were always a force within her control—a tool she used for her own benefit more often than a tool…
…that has always been exploitative toward women, both socially and sexually, and despite the presence in Madonna's own career of hostile & sexist forces, physicality and sex were always a force within her control—a tool she used for her own benefit more often than a tool…
@itspatsworld 12/x
…that was used by others against her. Where others were kept down by the industry's obsession with youth and sex, she used it to lift herself up. It worked out very well for her.
Her path to fame as an MTV popstar was not the same path that other extraordinary women in…
…that was used by others against her. Where others were kept down by the industry's obsession with youth and sex, she used it to lift herself up. It worked out very well for her.
Her path to fame as an MTV popstar was not the same path that other extraordinary women in…
@itspatsworld 13/x
…the music industry have taken.
It's probably a negative statement on America's obsession with appearance that many of the successful queens of popular music were "easy on the eyes," but that's not the secret of other successful women's power. And as they age, as the…
…the music industry have taken.
It's probably a negative statement on America's obsession with appearance that many of the successful queens of popular music were "easy on the eyes," but that's not the secret of other successful women's power. And as they age, as the…
@itspatsworld 14/x
…myth that rockstars & pop stars must stay forever young slides out of their grasp, we see it's not the thing that keeps them going.
Bonnie Raitt just won the Song of the Year Grammy at age 72. Legendary songstress Carole King is still bringing the house down at 81. And…
…myth that rockstars & pop stars must stay forever young slides out of their grasp, we see it's not the thing that keeps them going.
Bonnie Raitt just won the Song of the Year Grammy at age 72. Legendary songstress Carole King is still bringing the house down at 81. And…
@itspatsworld 15/x
…my own musical hero, Joni Mitchell, now 79, has spent many, many years recovering from a near-fatal brain aneurysm, and her recent surprise appearance at the Newport Folk Festival last year was deeply beloved & well-received, even if her playing isn't quite what it was…
…my own musical hero, Joni Mitchell, now 79, has spent many, many years recovering from a near-fatal brain aneurysm, and her recent surprise appearance at the Newport Folk Festival last year was deeply beloved & well-received, even if her playing isn't quite what it was…
@itspatsworld 16/x
…before a half-century of mileage and a severe neurological barrier got in the way.
Madonna is not like these other extraordinary women. She's not like Lisa Loeb or Sarah McLachlan (both 55), or Joan Jett (64). Even her resemblance to Cyndi Lauper (69) only goes as deep…
…before a half-century of mileage and a severe neurological barrier got in the way.
Madonna is not like these other extraordinary women. She's not like Lisa Loeb or Sarah McLachlan (both 55), or Joan Jett (64). Even her resemblance to Cyndi Lauper (69) only goes as deep…
@itspatsworld 17/x
…as that similar '80s production sound and iconic colorful '80s punk look they shared in the early days of MTV.
Lauper has not clung to her superstardom OR her '80s image, but continues to write and play some fine music above & beyond her '80s MTV hits.
At 64, Madonna…
…as that similar '80s production sound and iconic colorful '80s punk look they shared in the early days of MTV.
Lauper has not clung to her superstardom OR her '80s image, but continues to write and play some fine music above & beyond her '80s MTV hits.
At 64, Madonna…
@itspatsworld 18/x
…is still doing more or less the same thing in 2023 that she did in 1984.
The extensive cosmetic surgery she's pursued is no doubt a part of that, and the fact that it hasn't turned out the way "fans" seem to like—the fact that it gives haters an excuse to be hostile to…
…is still doing more or less the same thing in 2023 that she did in 1984.
The extensive cosmetic surgery she's pursued is no doubt a part of that, and the fact that it hasn't turned out the way "fans" seem to like—the fact that it gives haters an excuse to be hostile to…
@itspatsworld 19/x
…her and say some honestly pretty horrible things, is a fairly predictable consequence of how she's chosen to brand herself as a pop star & performer for the past 40+ years.
The fact that it's predictable doesn't make it fair or just. People are cruel. And maybe all the…
…her and say some honestly pretty horrible things, is a fairly predictable consequence of how she's chosen to brand herself as a pop star & performer for the past 40+ years.
The fact that it's predictable doesn't make it fair or just. People are cruel. And maybe all the…
@itspatsworld 20/x
…sexism & judgment she was able to avoid in the industry for so many years by steering INTO her appearance and sexuality is hitting her harder now than ever before now that Time is catching up to her.
People were cruel to Aretha Franklin about her weight for YEARS, but…
…sexism & judgment she was able to avoid in the industry for so many years by steering INTO her appearance and sexuality is hitting her harder now than ever before now that Time is catching up to her.
People were cruel to Aretha Franklin about her weight for YEARS, but…
@itspatsworld 21/x
…the tabloids never hit her as hard over her appearance as they're hitting Madonna now, because Aretha didn't build her career around it. She built it around one thing, her incredible voice, which was with her right to the end.
So I certainly don't think Madonna stands…
…the tabloids never hit her as hard over her appearance as they're hitting Madonna now, because Aretha didn't build her career around it. She built it around one thing, her incredible voice, which was with her right to the end.
So I certainly don't think Madonna stands…
@itspatsworld 22/22 (end)
…toe-to-toe with the other elder stateswomen of popular music I've mentioned here, who have built their careers on different, extraordinary gifts.
But Madonna's personal body choices derive fairly from her own lived experience. It's not our place to judge them.
FIN
…toe-to-toe with the other elder stateswomen of popular music I've mentioned here, who have built their careers on different, extraordinary gifts.
But Madonna's personal body choices derive fairly from her own lived experience. It's not our place to judge them.
FIN
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