DEBATE: Madonna
- Posted on April 7, 2008 5:14 PM
- 5 comments
Madonna's new single, 4 Minutes, is getting masses of air play and the release of her new album, Hard Candy, is just around the corner.
So, is Madonna old hat or still as hot as she was in the 80s? Check out our debate and then make up your own mind.
Make sure you read Part Two of our debate to see if Madonna can make a come back.
Chris Todd tells us why he thinks Madonna should quit now and act her age:
'The fact she has banned her children from television and seeing what mummy does for a living is surely testament that even Madonna thinks it’s wrong, so why do it? Nobody is impressed and sure as hell nobody is turned on - unless you’re into necrophilia of course.'
I’m sick of people telling me that Madonna is an enduring genius, a style icon and a musical chameleon. She must be a genius right? She’s sustained this for over twenty five years? That’s genius right?
Madonna first cast a dark cloud in my life at an early age with ‘Borderline’…even at the tender age of nine, I still didn’t like it - and kids like any old crap. She then crept into the British subconscious like head lice - or thrush - but more annoying.
With each single getting bigger ‘Like a Virgin’ was on the radio constantly. Being ten, I didn’t know what it meant and had pledged my allegiance to Prince, Duran Duran, The Smiths and Michael Jackson by then anyway.
Then came ‘Into the Groove’ which was even bigger - and then it snowballed. ‘Papa Don’t Preach’, ‘True Blue’, ‘Like a Prayer’ and ‘Erotica’ were all being lapped up by that type of person, the type who buys certain records but that you never meet (have you ever met someone who owns a copy of Wet Wet Wet’s ‘Love is all Around’ or Bryan Adams’ ‘Everything I Do’?), actually, that may be because you are that person.
The secret of her success? Her vampiric lust for tapping into the zeitgeist, although because this is Madonna and she doesn't live a normal life, she hits on to the hottest producers a couple of years after they first blew up, thus post-zeitgeist if you like.
Stuart Price, the producer of her 2005 album 'Confessions on a Dancefloor,' had been a successful artist in his own right under his nineties guise; Jacques Le Cont and for this decade has been making some brilliant 80s tinged remixes under his Thin White Duke guise.
Many of the tracks from her forthcoming eleventh album 'Hard Candy' have been produced by Pharrell Williams and Timbland. Pharrell’s time in the spotlight ended in 2003 whereas Timbaland is, without doubt, the hottest producer in the world right now which is funny because for the last nine years he has quietly being making music with Missy Elliot (a true musical maverick genius) which can only be described as epoch making. Same with Mirwais and William Orbit, bold moves to make getting those producers on board but again, a few too many years too late for it, to look credible and let's face it, she's only roping them in to disguising her increasing irrelevance.
‘Hard Candy’ which is released in April is encased within a cover which can only be the result of Madonna ignoring several nervous breakdowns. Bearing in mind she is coming up to fifty, wearing basques, showing off her strong manly arms (which make her look like Giant Haystacks if he immac’d up every once in a while) with her legs spread and a look on her face so dirty it’s akin to licking a public toilet clean. Why?
The fact she has banned her children from television and seeing what mummy does for a living is surely testament that even Madonna thinks it’s wrong, so why do it? Nobody is impressed and sure as hell nobody is turned on - unless you’re into necrophilia of course.
Even when Madonna decided to treat the world to a view of her body in an almost gynaecological detail back in 1992 with the Sex book, it was the least sexy thing you’d be unfortunate enough to see. All it created was a new party trick for men all over the world - the inverted erection.
She's only two years younger than my mum and still has a young fan base; they'll see this cover and think it's acceptable, rather than irresponsible and extremely unsexy. Yeah yeah, I’ve heard it before, “if I look that good at fifty, then I’d be flaunting it” but would you? You wouldn’t think, hmm, nearly fifty now, no more close up pictures with my box hanging out anymore, the time has come to lay the camel toe to rest.
It has served Madonna well but it’s now time to cover up, don’t you think?
Read Part Two of our debate where Zarina Raja fights Madonna's corner.
Related Links
Buy Madonna tickets
Read The Doherty Debate
Watch Madonna's new video for 4 Minutes
The views in this feature are the writer's only. Agree? Disagree? Tell him and the world about it in the comments section.
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Comments (5)
Chris Todd
Yeah, right on, I agree!
Posted on April 7, 2008 9:26 PM
David
Who gives a shit how old your mum is? Madonna has said herself that she doesn't want to be defined by age which is a good thing. What I think is unacceptable is to be ageist and narrow minded. Madonna has helped break down boundaries relating to gender, sexuality and now she is taking on age. Good for her. People with your old fashioned opinions on age are what stops the world advancing, people like Madonna help the world move forward.
Act your age? I've never read so much bollocks in my life.
She has more charisma, balls and character than any young pop stars today so she is still hot. I'm 20 by the way.
Posted on April 7, 2008 10:40 PM
Kate Spiegelhalter
Mummy's always right.
Posted on April 8, 2008 9:41 AM
Chris Todd
She might say she doesnt want to be defined by age now, I doubt she said that when she was 24 or whatever.
I'm not being ageist, if Leona Lewis wanted to wear next to nothing in her videos then I for one would be all for it.
As for "people like Madonna help the world move forward"??
Wow, and I thought she was just a singer who wore leotards?
Posted on April 8, 2008 5:33 PM
Andrew Moore
Opinions about Madonna are pretty much split into two groups, the lovers and the haters. I happen to be in Chris Todd's gang on this one.
Let's get it straight, she's a pop star, by definition, this means you're a day late on most things, fashion, sound, technique, whatever, all you are is someone who's managed to tap into an underground movement that's already established and wonderfully raw, Madonnas music was always just overproduced theft from a dark sweaty 1970's New York dancefloor(go on, google 'Paradise Garage').
And David, the people who advance the world and make it a better place are the everyday jo publics who pound the streets, day in day out, in protest for equal rights, be it sexual, race or work related. Not pop stars.
The only thing Madonna has ever advanced is her bank balance and faux English accent.
Andrew - Not 20 anymore(thank god!)
Posted on April 9, 2008 1:24 PM
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