Entertainment :: Music
Madonna on Madonna :: Confessions From a Dance Floor Goddess by Scott Kearnan
EDGE ContributorTuesday Apr 29, 2008
On Tuesday, April 29, turn off your car alarms, lock up your dogs and hide your precious glassware.
Every few years, Madonna releases a new album. And on that day, the high-pitched shrieks heard round the world will emanate from every gay man, Gen-X girl and occasional, interloping straight man ("I’m just buying it for my girlfriend!") who line up like cattle on the dance floor to see what the Divine Miss M is delivering next.
In 2008, prepare to crunch on "Hard Candy." The album is Madonna’s swan song for Warner Bros. Records, the label she’s leaving for an industry-shattering, $120 million and 10-year deal with Live Nation Inc (virtually guaranteeing her fans another decade of delight). It’s also her final release before her big 50 birthday this summer, a milestone that will not only kick off a summer/fall concert tour but is sure to incite the prerequisite VH1 retrospectives on the unparalleled longevity, reinventions and pop cultural impact of her career.
When she arrived with her first single in 1982, few would have predicted that disco dolly would still be churning hits almost three decades later: Hard Candy’s" first single, "4 Minutes" featuring Justin Timberlake, has already ascended to the No. 3 spot on the Billboard Hot 100.
Madonna has certainly outlasted her contemporaries. While fellow ’80s icons saw their careers (and frequently, faces) devolve into llama raising, alleged child molesters (Howdy, Michael!), crack-smoking divas fallen from grace (Cheers, Whitney!) and flamboyant, self-involved egomaniacs (Here’s to you, artist formerly known as Prince), Madonna has gyrated herself into one of pop music’s greatest performance artists.
OK, so she’s a pretty flamboyant, self-involved egomaniac, herself. But that’s why we love her.
Getting an interview with one of the world’s most famous women is a daunting task. But Madonna, forever the queen of personal evolution, has always revealed herself in the most obvious place: her music. For insight into her development, her growth and her mind at any given moment of her booty shaking life, one needs to look no further than the lyrics she’s penned (and, in a few cases, crafted for her).
Join EDGE as we trace the journey of Madonna, in her own words, one evolutionary album at a time.
Madonna in the ’80s
EDGE: Madonna, if there’s one theme that’s dominated your career from the outset, it’s your willingness to shock, awe, and provoke your way into the spotlight. Some celebrate that as brave; others call it desperate calls for attention. Thoughts?
Madonna: "Do you wanna see me down on my knees? I’m bending over backwards, now; would you be pleased? I’m not the others; I’ll do anything. I’m not the same. I have no shame. I’m on fire!"
--"Burning Up" was released in 1983 as the second single from Madonna’s debut, self-titled album.
Fast fact: Because Madonna’s face didn’t appear on the cover for her first single "Everybody," early club listeners assumed this disco music was being sung by a black woman. "Burning Up" gave Madonna her first professional music video and began marketing her look and image as strongly as her music.
EDGE: Shamelessness is an accusation that critics would lob at you throughout much of your early career. From the moment you writhed across the stage of the first ever MTV Video Music Awards in 1984, doing scandalous things with a wedding dress and crucifix, you were asserting female sexuality in a way no pop star had ever done. But even the prude pundits couldn’t deny that you were already defining the ’80s decade’s biggest dance floor anthems. What was it about dance music that held such a special place in your heart?
Madonna: "Music can be such a revelation. Dancing around, you feel the sweet sensation... Only when I’m dancing can I feel this free: at night, I lock the doors where no one else can see. I’m tired of dancing here all by myself. Tonight, I wanna dance with someone else!"
--"Into the Groove" was released in 1985 and was featured in Madonna’s major film debut "Desperately Seeking Susan."
Fast Fact: Though it’s one of her most memorable hits, "Into the Groove" was never officially released as a single in the US. It was intended as the B-side to the song "Angel," from her "Like a Virgin" album... but radio DJs started spinning this one, anyway.
EDGE: By the time the mid-’80s rolled around, you had already transformed yourself into the biggest female pop star in the world. But critics were still slow to take you seriously. So for your third album, True Blue, you lopped off your hair, bleached it blonde, toned up the bod and traded sexy gyrations for assertive dance moves. What message were you sending to the critics?
Madonna: "If you gave me half a chance you’d see my desire burning inside of me; but you choose to look the other way. I’ve had to work much harder than this for something I want. Don’t try to resist me! Open your heart to me, baby. I hold the lock and you hold the key."
--"Open Your Heart" was released in 1986 from the album "True Blue."
Fast Fact: "Open Your Heart" was originally written for Cyndi Lauper, though never presented to her. Madonna got hold of it first, changed much of the lyrics and earned herself a hit.
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