Is Madonna’s music largely forgotten?

Ever Madonna, indeed.

Oh great - ANOTHER a Madonna thread.😑

To answer your question, the only time I hear her music is on oldies stations and once in awhile I’ll hear one of her 80’s songs in a store. I NEVER hear anything post-Bedtime Stories.

I hear Madonna constantly on oldies. And R2, I don't hear anything Whitney did after The Bodyguard soundtrack on oldies radio, ever. Madonna will not be competing with the likes of Queen or MJ. Queen is like the 20th most popular artist on spotify. That's unreal. But there are only two female artists that are on the list of most popular legacy artists on spotify--Madonna and Mariah.

I don't really hear anything by Madonna either OP, although I have personally rediscovered her music. I think the reason why is that her music kind of sounds dated. Sorry if that's a little harsh, but she sounds very synth-y and 80's-y. She's missing that modern edge that bands like Queen have. I still love some of her songs though.

This thread! Somebody is triggered tf out. Sure, soothe yourself In the DL echo chamber that Madonna’s music is forgotten, dated or whatever you numbnuts mentally fragile losers desperately need to believe.

No, it’s quite prevalent and impossible to not encounter at every club, grocery store, radio program, advertisement and just blaring in the street out of the backs of people’s cars. She is as ubiquitous as air and encoded in our DNA.

I hear her several times a day in my car. I listen to several "80s to today!" stations and top 40 (or whatever it's called) as well as classic rock and oldies.

What I don't understand is why I hear Like A Prayer so often, it's my least-favorite song by her. How about This Used To Be My Playground, or Hung Up?

R7, funny you say that, Like a Prayer is her most popular song on spotify. Hung up is number 3. Yet I never hear it on the radio. It could be because due to her "anti-american" comments during the Iraq War, Clear Channel pretty bunch banned her new music from being played on most American stations.

Queen??? Yeah right, you hear them ALL the time.

It's very dated. Especially the videos, which look ridiculous. And most of the lyrics sound fucking stupid when they're being sung by a 60+ year old.

If your schtick is dressing like a whore and singing about sex, then you need to get out of the game after a certain age. Smarter artists like Stevie Nicks wrote lyrics that sound even more poignant and relevant as the singer aged.

R10, Stevie may have been good with Fleetwood Mac but her solo stuff is awful. It sounds horribly dated today. She sounds like a goat on each and every song.

It’s on the oldies station all the time. I heard “Lucky Star” at the thrift shop and another customer was humming along unconsciously, as was I.

But only the old stuff, as r2 says.

I heard "Take a Bow" the other day in the supermarket. Beautiful ballad, with a light '90s r&b flavor.

Heard Holiday the other morning on my way to work. This was terrestrial radio.

Sirius XM plays her stuff all the time between the 80s on 8 and the 90s on 9.

Hagdonna’s music is not nearly as forgotten as Janet’s shitty music.

[quote] To answer your question, the only time I hear her music is on oldies stations and once in awhile I’ll hear one of her 80’s songs in a store. I NEVER hear anything post-Bedtime Stories.

Not even Ray Of Light?

Of course, her music is mostly forgotten. Her 80s output was nothing but shitty bubblegum pop no different than Britney Spears' music of the late 90s. The only difference is that her music videos were considered provocative at the time. Now those feel dated as well.

Music from real artists like PJ Harvey, Tori Amos, Stevie Nicks, and Tracy Chapman will live on

It's hard to remember her music when her current face is such a fright!

Is her music really forgotten though? I still hear Holiday, Into the Groove, Material Girl, Music and Like a Prayer from time to time on store and Starbucks playlists. Michael and Whitney's music from the 80s is just as overproduced as Madonna's 80s catalog honestly.

Grandma Donna’s career is just like her face: blown way out of proportion!

Her music is still played. I hear Crazy for You, Open Your Heart, Like a Prayer, Cherish, Vogue, Secret, Take a Bow, Music, and Don't Tell Me on the radio or in grocery stores.

It’s pretty common to hear one of her songs while at a store. I still hear her music on the older music stations

Her current look (grotesque face and fake ass) have destroyed her reputation.

I never understand why people feel that Thriller and Bad have aged so well--they haven't.

I hate Madonna's latest face but it doesn't affect my enjoyment of her past glories.

Of course her music isn’t forgotten. I’m not a fan, her style was never really my scene, but I concede that she is an icon. She just doesn’t know when to hang up the towel, though. She should have been mostly retired by now and gone out on top. Now I’m afraid she will mostly be remembered as a desperate old lady.

I noticed a lot of 80s pop music suffers from the same overproduction problems. Synths, drums, bell and whistles through the roof. Prince, Madonna, Janet and MJ fared a lot better than others. I think Kylie Minogue, Rick Astley, Whitney, NKOTB and Tiffany in the 80s had the worst headache-inducing overproduction. For some reason I find the music of George Michael, Pet Shop Boys and Culture Club aged pretty well though

I heard Borderline a few weeks ago and turned it up.

R10 - if we are being honest, videos from ALL artists from Madonna's era (and she covers literal decades) look ridiculous. Frankly, most videos are terrible no matter when they were created - last month or 35 years ago. MTV moved past that format ages ago; no one is really paying attention to videos anymore - recent or otherwise.

I really don't get those who think that old music should sound current. Current music, especially top 40, is awful. There have been objective studies that show that new pop music is lacking in melody, harmony, and progression. Many rely on trap beats, a rap bridge, and repetitive lyrics. Even Madonna had a bunch of these types of songs on her last album. The streaming model has also led to artists releasing songs that average only 3 minutes in length and that can be repackaged as remixes.

I think Madonna's last commercial success, relatively speaking, was Die Another Day. It wasn't a great song but the music and video got a lot of publicity. After that, her career has been kept afloat mostly by diehard fans. She's released some good music since then. Confessions and Rebel Heart were both great albums but neither made a dent in the American charts. The current state of pop music sucks anyway.

I have never heard of her.

Madonna's music is always being played on 80s and 90s radio stations.

And I agree that they play alot of her songs inside retail stores. Just this weekend I heard "Vogue" when I was shopping at Safeway, and "Lucky Star" when I was at Sprouts.

For the current generation, her music is irrelevant and forgotten. Some don't even have a clue who she is, judging from TV quiz shows when 80s music comes up as a subject.

Her music did not age well. It’s not even good enough to be Muzak in stores. You might hear her on some oldies station.

Young kids know but don't buy her music. I still listen to it constantly at a ripe old age of 47.

R31, Confessions was a #1 album, Heart a #2-what, exactly, would you consider to be making a dent in the American charts?

She kind of ruins her own legacy with her antics today. She so desperately wants to fit in with the new, current singers on the charts. But the 15 to 25-year-olds who decide what's popular and trendy think of her as a crazy granny if they think of her at all. She is constantly embarrassing herself and the cooler she tries to seem, the more uncool they think she is. So this is what people think of when you mention the name "Madonna," not her music from the '80s and '90s.

R38=The Voice of The Young Generation

They play her songs in adult stations and 80s there just isnt one song that they play over and over again though. It isnt like Girls just wanna have fun and Bon Jovi Living on a prayer that you are guaranteed to hear 3x a day everyday.

Songs I hear regularly: Holiday, Like A Virgin, Papa Don't Preach, Open Your Heart, Into The Groove, Vogue, Like A Prayer, Express Yourself, Take A Bow. They seem to be in heavy rotation on my local stations.

Very rarely I'll hear Material Girl, Music and Live To Tell.

I'd hardly call this music "not aging well."

I don’t hear Madonna songs at stores. My local grocery stores usually play sixties soul and Motown. If I had to hear her screechy cat in heat caterwauling during my errands, I would go Karening to the store manager.

[quote] I don't hear anything Whitney did after The Bodyguard soundtrack on oldies radio, ever.

Nobody said they do R3, nor did anyone bring up those other artists you mentioned. Quit trying to change the subject.

R34, "The current generation" is strictly about the next five minutes.

[quote]Not even Ray Of Light?

Nope. Like I said, I never hear anything post Bedtime Stories (Take a Bow). I don’t even think I’ve heard Music played since it’s original release.

She should have transitioned to a lounge singer as she aged because she was fantastic singing Sondheim in the Dick Tracy movie (Sooner or Later). She could have been elegant a la Marlene Dietrich, and worked around her vocal limitations by cultivating a style. Alas. She is approaching crazy-lady-on-the-bus territory.

[quote] I think Madonna's last commercial success, relatively speaking, was Die Another Day.

No, her last commercial success was actually 4 minutes (from 2008). Confessions was huge globally--it topped the charts in a record number of countries, a record it still holds. She did the same thing with True Blue.

R40, you nailed it. Madonna actually doesn't have a signature song, she had so many memorable hits from the 80s--Holiday, Like a Virgin, Material Girl, Crazy for You, Into the Groove, Live To Tell, Papa Don't Preach, La Isla Bonita, Like a Prayer, Express Yourself. It makes sense why Girls Just Want to have Fun is so popular--it's one of only two songs from Cyndi that people remember. That's not the case with Madonna's music.

Even Cher really only has 2 songs that get consistent radio play... Believe and If I Could Turn Back Time.

Vogue gets played a lot on the radio and sounds very current. House music has been making a come back.

Me too, r36, i always return to it at some time and discover new songs (currently Sanctuary in Bedtime Stories).

Beggining with MDNA, her music started being ignored. I agree that in some part is due to ageism. Though these 3 last albums are far from perfect, they also have some ok songs that are not that different or any worse from the current dismal offerings.

R51, I think this is the best song from Madonna's post-Confessions career.

The world will never be able to escape Madonna's massive catalog of music and its regular rotation; you can gnash your teeth and hate her all that you want - but you will never change that. I hear Madonna, Whitney and Prince to a lesser degree all the time at any number of retail establishments. The one that seems to get little airplay in comparison to his 80's gargantuan success is Michael. His songs play here and there I suppose, but anecdotally - far, far less than the others. Don't Stop 'til You Get Enough seems to be the only one that I recognize and seldomly at that.

[quote]I still hear music by Michael Jackson, Whitney Houston, Queen , and The Beatles but ever Madonna.

Along with Abba, George Michael and Prince, Madonna is comparable with them in that she was as big as they were in her prime, but there's an obvious difference too.

Michael Jackson - DEAD (11 years)

Whitney Houston - DEAD (8 years)

Queen - 3/4 Members DEAD (29 years) - not released an album in 25 years

The Beatles - 2/4 Members DEAD (40 years and 19 years) - not released an album in 50 years

As someone still producing music over 30 years into their career, Madonna is equally as comparable with Elton John, Mariah Carey, Cher, Celine Dion, Kylie and U2. And she gets played easily as much as they do.

Of the big four females on spotify, Celine easily does the worst. Aside from My heart will Go On, none of her songs really does all that well. And MHWGO doesn't even do THAT amazingly considering how huge it was when it was released.

R48 Like a Prayer, Like a Virgin, and Vogue are arguably her signature songs.

R56, the problem is she has MANY signature songs from the 80's--and everyone has a different favorite. Material Girl and Like a Prayer get a million streams per week on spotify (La Isla bonita, Vogue, Holiday are behind). But the real surprise is La Isla bonita on youtube--it is one of the 5 or 6 most streamed songs of the 80s on there. It gets about 400,000 views A DAY. And it's not just big in Latin america like you would think--it's popular in Europe and America too. And it's more popular than Like a Prayer in most places. I would have never seen that coming,

I don't hear anything on the radio that was released after Ray of Light where I live.

Do people actually listen to music radio these days?

Really?

R59, I listen to both spotify and the radio. I listen to the radio when I want a break from spotify.

[quote]R56], the problem is she has MANY signature songs from the 80's--and everyone has a different favorite. Material Girl and Like a Prayer get a million streams per week on spotify (La Isla bonita, Vogue, Holiday are behind). But the real surprise is La Isla bonita on youtube--it is one of the 5 or 6 most streamed songs of the 80s on there. It gets about 400,000 views A DAY. And it's not just big in Latin america like you would think--it's popular in Europe and America too. And it's more popular than Like a Prayer in most places. I would have never seen that coming,

La Isla Bonita was the fifth and final single released from True Blue, an album that spent 32 weeks in the top ten and it *still* made number one in the UK on sales alone.

British music fans really fell in love with the young girl with eyes like potatoes.

Into The Groove is her biggest selling single in the U.K. and Like A Virgin second, despite only getting to number 3. It was stuck behind Band Aid and Last Christmas.

[quote] the young girl with eyes like potatoes

LOL do people really hear the lyrics like that? It never sounded like anything but "desert" to me.

Into the Groove is one of her big 80s songs that really is dated now and sounds ridiculous. Of her biggest 80s songs, I think that and Like a Virgin haven't aged well.

OP sounds like an old, bitter puss.

"Music makes your bush smell sweet like a lemon"

T9, I do hear Queen all the time. There was a stretch last year where about every other commercial used a Queen song. Dont Stop Me Now, Another One Bites The Dust, Fat Bottomed Girls,etc.

She is nit my favourite artist but her music is certainly not forgotten by me!

I often play erotic and sex on the jukebox at my local gay bars.

I heard "Open Your Heart" at a grocery store months ago; it is a bland and pedestrian song anyone could have sung as good or better than her, but no one else wanted it.

Laura Brannigan was prettier and sang more interesting songs.

#Last night I dreamt of some dago#

Mishearing Madonna lyrics is like a national pastime here in the UK.

just today, at my gym, i heard Vogue and last week i heard "don't tell me to stop" at the local wal-greens... so there you go here in midwest land...

[quote] Mishearing Madonna lyrics is like a national pastime here in the UK.

🎶 Bill Oddie, Bill Oddie, put your hands all over my body 🎶

[quote]Music from real artists like PJ Harvey, Tori Amos, Stevie Nicks, and Tracy Chapman will live on.

LMFAO!! Jesus Christ, my sides really do hurt!

[quote] Music from real artists like PJ Harvey, Tori Amos, Stevie Nicks, and Tracy Chapman will live on.

I like two of these artists, but no. None of the women in this were that popular as solo artists, except for Tracy Chapman. Tracy's debut will be remembered and it does well on streaming.

I'm a huge Madonna fan but acknowledge there are lots of people who dislike her out of principle.

One song that seems to unite everyone, be they fan or hater is Beautiful Stranger.

I know people who hate Madonna with a passion who've admitted Beautiful Stranger is perfect pop.

I think it's the best use of flutes in a modern pop song.

R73, really? I would think it would be Like a Prayer.

A lot of her music post Confessions is just so dreary. The passion is completely gone and it's clear that she's just going through the motions. It's the same way with her performances. The joy is mostly gone, and it's like she completely forgot how to have fun on stage.

R74 I'd suggest Like A Prayer (though I do love it) sounds dated.

Beautiful Stranger was supposed to sound dated so, um, doesn't sound dated now.

It's the only Madonna song I know of that people who dislike Madonna begrudgingly admit to liking. Hung Up is possibly another one people who'd ordinarily hate her like.

Everyone with ears likes Borderline as it's the most perfect pop song ever written, so that's not up for discussion.

Flawed question as nothing she has done can be called music.

To think that 30 years ago she was literally on top of the showbiz world with Vogue and the Blonde Ambition Tour.

Then of course, came the documentary.

I still think Kevin Costner was so fucking rude to her.

R76, the remi of Like a Prayer may be even better than the single version. The vocals are pushed to the front of the mix.

[quote] Flawed question as nothing she has done can be called music.

Oh go fuck yourself with a rolled up paperback of Anna Karenina, you tedious patronising twatsnob.

Her music does okay on spotify and youtube views I believe several of her videos have picked up over 100 million views. her songs have been featured in recent movies a hit shows. I don’t like this talent less twat but anyone who thinks her music is forgotten is fucking delusional. Manet on the other hand she can barely manage 20 million views on her only interesting music video (Rhythm Nation) and it took over a decade to get those views and is getting almost no play on the streaming services.

Like others, only hear Madonna on WCBS.FM here in NYC a radio station that plays "oldies".

R65 Speaking of Queen, I heard We Will Rock You while getting my car serviced at the dealership today. I was only there 30 minutes. I did not hear a Madonna song.

How about Buffy Sainte-Marie? Forgotten?

Madonna will never be forgotten on DL. But this is not the outside world.

I was in Shoppers Drug Mart on Queen Street East today and... I heard Rain playing!

Take THAT, OP!!

I love "rain" song. Madonna's Rain. Blame It On the Rain. Rainy Days and Mondays. I Wish It Would Rain Down. It's Raining Men. Raindrops Keep Fallin' On My Head. Rainy Day People. I Love a Rainy Night.

Purple Rain!

I think it's obvious Madonna isn't forgotten. Neither is a lot of people from 1980s. I have heard "What Have You Done For Me Lately?" by Janet, "November Rain" by Guns N Roses, "Little Red Corvette" by Prince, "Didn't We Almost Have it All" by Whitney, "Caribbean Queen" by Billy Ocean, "The Right Stuff" by New Kids on the Block and "Freedom" by George Michael on store radios. Of course young people into mainstream and current music aren't going to care as much about 1980s and 1990s pop but many people who are passionate music will seek out different things and discover older artists.

Maybe not so much on radio, but many of Madonna's videos pull high viewer numbers on YT.

Take A Bow , Don't Cry For Me Argentina, Frozen, Like A Prayer, Crazy For You and some others pull decent enough numbers in millions.

Her YT channel only has 5 million subscribers, which compared to say Rihanna (34 million plus), is rather puny.

R90, La Isla Bonita has close to 500 million views, while Hung up, Like a Prayer, Papa Don't Preach, Material Girl and Frozen also do well.

Payola

I live smack dab in the middle of MAGA country, I've noticed that radio stations have slowly decreased air play for female artists in favor of the male dominated alternative genre of the late 90's. Even musical tastes have become politicized.. ask the Dixie Chicks and current female country artists.

My boyfriend listens to old-school R&B stations, and I was surprised that they play some early Madonna hits. I've heard Borderline, Lucky Star, Holiday, and Into The Groove.

Well smack me silly. The local radio station just played Borderline.

r81 I would be genuinely interested to know which of Madonnas songs are played the most on public jukeboxes? I'm sure in total she gets a decent slice of action on jukeboxes but I wonder which song earns her the most on jukeboxes.

[quote] Everyone with ears likes Borderline as it's the most perfect pop song ever written, so that's not up for discussion.

Borderline, while a great pop song and one of her best during her debut years, sounds like a slowdown version of I Never Knew Love Like This Before by Stephanie Mills.

Heard Borderline on the radio on my way to work this morning.

Instead of releasing the Who's that Girl soundtrack, Madonna should have removed Jimmy Jimmy and Love Makes the World Go Round on True Blue with Who's That Girl and the incredibly underrated The Look of Love

Fun fact: Madonna was born one day before Belinda Carlisle. Both ladies turned 62 this past Sunday and Monday, respectively.

fun fact: the queen of pop was born on the same day (august 16) that the king of rock n' roll elvis died..

That is somehow fitting.

I was surprised to hear Erotica at my local Starbucks a few months ago.

R103, that seems so innapropriate lol. I only hear rated G songs at Starbucks.

Like what, R104, "The Itsy Bitsy Spider"?

R105, more like "this could be anybody" folk music or "this blends in with everything" electronic music.

R104 When the top song nowadays is “Wet Ass Pussy”, “Erotica” seems perfectly milquetoast.

R107, that's so true.

"Put your hands all over my body....Erotic....Erotica" would now be "stick your fist into my pussy....overflow...overflowing".

r94, several of Madonna's songs have crossed-over to the Billboard R&B chart.

"Holiday" peaked at #25 on the R&B chart.

"Like A Virgin" was a Top-10 hit on the R&B chart, peaking at #9.

"Like A Prayer" peaked at #20 on the R&B chart.

"Vogue" peaked at #16 on the R&B chart.

Madonna's albums sound light years better than anything released today. Music and American Life are both excellent and they came after her two 90's masterpieces - Erotica and Ray of Light.

R111..good points, i actually believe it's the dumbed down, homogenized, lack of taste of today's young listeners more than anything Madonna is doing wrong and yes, ageism as well....and society norms of what a woman her age can and can't do, should and shouldn't do....

still think if madonna puts out a great cd of pure dance music she could have more hits...if not in the u.s., the rest of the world...

[quote] i actually believe it's the dumbed down, homogenized, lack of taste of today's young listeners more than anything Madonna is doing wrong and yes, ageism as well

Madonna can't win with some of the posters on here. If she releases an album like Rebel Heart which is a straight up callback to her 90's work, a lot of which was suggestive, then they say she's not acting her age. However, if she tries to include songs that are meant to be more modern, she faces the exact same criticism. No matter what type of Madonna fan you are, you'll find something to like in her last few albums.

Rebel Heart was half-great, half-forgettable. What's worse is that it was front-loaded--almost all the good songs were at the beginning of the album, with the exception of "Wash Over Me". And she didn't even include the title track on the standard version which is strange. MDNA had a bunch of great songs on it, none of them released on the radio.

GOD CONTROL is Madonna’s best song!

MADAME X is a fantastic, richly-textured album!

Rebel Heart is a good album but it was doomed because of the leaks and some of the production and mastering were not very good.

Her vocals sound terrible on Living for Love.

Ghosttown is one of her best singles in a long time.

Fried fish!

I hear her old stuff far more than the crap she’s shat out the last 15 years.

Ray of light was her last decent album... maybe Confessions. But the rest has been crap.

R11 Deluded hagdonna fan, American Life is complete garbage!

American Life was horrible then and it is horrible now. Horribly dated and the title track has that awful rap.

R121 Something they’d use in Trump campaign ad, with unlicensed usage of course!

R122,HA, it would single handedly sink that campaign. You may be on to something there.

I live the Americans dream!

From 2003, the same year as AMERICAN LIFE:

"We walk by

People ask,

'WHERE YOU GET THEM JEANS?!'

New York and Hollywood

MADONNA IS THE QUEEN!

And MissDeameanor say:

'GAP IS THE BEST!!!!!'"

I hear Borderline a lot, and that’s one of my least favorite of her songs.

Lately the mix station here (80s - Current) has been rotating in Open Your Heart which was a nice callback. Like A Prayer, of course. I think I remember Music once or twice.

But she’s not played on the current stations because she doesn’t have anything... current.

"Crave" from MADAME X last year was a great single and a big hit on Adult Contemporary Radio!

Aren't record companies and now talent agencies HUGELY responsible for getting their artists airplay and on playlists and Top 10 lists by all sorts of inducements to programmers and publishers of those lists? With so many younger artists getting a finite amount dollars for publicity budgets, established acts - even when putting out new music - are going to suffer.

That's gotta hurt but am sure Madge didn't mind doing this or having it done for her from 1983-90 (or whenever she negotiated Maverick from Warners) when surely a few contenders were forced into second or third 'tier' acts.

And NO OP you dumb twat she is not forgotten and she'll be remembered as a major artist for much longer than Taylor Swift or Arianna Grande (neither of whom I dislike but I mean, they're not Madonna)..

Your welcome (and happy belated birthday).

Damn you people!

Out and about last evening in NYC at least three bars passed had "Borderline" blasting.

Stopped into a Duane Reade for a few things and Borderline was playing as well.

Borderline sucks and she sounds terrrible in it. Her only decent songs that should still be played are crazy for you, La Isla Bonita and Frozen.

Vogue, Who's That Girl, Live to Tell, Dress You Up, and Express Yourself are (still) everywhere!

How can anyone think of Madonna's music right now when she releases crap like this on Instagram? She's a fright!

Why doesn't she just dye her hair dark brown/black at home like 80% of women who color their hair? She needs to cut at least a foot off of that greasy, stringy hair.

Borderline is a classic. Her whole debut is.

Her choice of singles have been pretty poor lately. Mdna had some really good tracks on it but the worst songs were chosen as singles.

Like a Prayer still get radio play here and Borderline. Not as much as En Vogue or like The Cranberries as far as 90s girl singers go.

The only Madonna albums I didn't like were American Life and Hard Candy. Everything else had something to recommend.

'90s blast: What's Up by Four Non-Blondes. Hear it all the time. Supermarket. CVS. Airline music channel. Dentist waiting room. OMG!

Just a few weeks ago Madonna's "Open Your Heart" was used on RuPaul's Drag Race.

Into the Groove remains my favorite Madonna jam. I was 21 in the summer of '85 and the clubs were banging this.

So many of her songs are staples on my playlist. Madonna owned the 80's and made MTV her bitch.

R139 Wow, you’re old.

"Crave from MADAME X last year was a great single and a big hit on Adult Contemporary Radio!"

LOL. The desperation to make her seem still popular and relevant is comical.

"This song went to #11 on a chart nobody pays attention to, that tracks a format nobody cares about, on the dying media called 'radio' that only senior citizens listen to! She's still got it!!!"

AIKC has always charmed with his lexis of a 50-something shop bottom. Rock it!

R142 🤭

R136... well "hard candy" did have that great "miles away"... and "american life" did have that great "love profusion"...

so both albums/cds were not total losses..

R132 According to her personal hairstylist Andy Lecompte she only washes her hair once a week.

R145 washing and hair drying hair every day isn’t good for it. Once a week is fine.

Nothing Fails from American Life was excellent. Lots of heartfelt songs on that album.

R145 , R146 is right. Washing your hair once a week is ok. There is no excuse for Madonna's hair, face, and body looking so bad when she's got so much money.

Her music just doesn’t hold up and it sounds dated.

I still hear her music played frequently, although only the 80s stuff on the radio. She doesn't target her music or promotion to the radio demographics which are most likely to support her at her age, oldies and soft FM. If she came out with a new song that fit on soft FM formats and really gave it the hard sell, doing interviews/promo with those stations, she could get a ton of back catalog promotion as well as pushing new stuff, but she won't do it.

There's a similar thing in how she tours, where if she promised a real greatest hits tour that was basically just the Immaculate Collection and a few other big hits, she could sell out giant venues at crazy prices (and also get a ton of press/promotion of her old stuff from it), but she refuses to do that and instead wants to focus on new, contemporary stuff which makes a lot of people not willing to pay her ticket prices.

Come on, let her focus on the future. She's an ARTIST! She needs to create.

I mean why do a greatest hits show which would make people happy and make her more money than God and probably become the biggest tour of all time, but instead, let's do theatre shows and show up 3 hours late, talk half the time and spend the other half warbling song from an album five people bough, and act like a cunt? I mean, that is artistry!

I found this video from July 2020, where teens try to guess 90s singers. I was surprised to see that even though not all recognized Madonna right away, they named a couple of her songs. It starts at 9:52.

Madonna's music holds up very well, actually better than expected. That's why she's streaming so much during quarantine. Another great one from American Life.

I just heard Music on the radio yesterday.

With the passage of time, the legacy of most artists, even ones with a long, impressive string of big hits, gets whittled down to a handful of their biggest, usually taken from the period when they were at the height of their fame.

With Madonna, it's going to eventually come down to "Like a Virgin", "Material Girl", "Into the Groove", "Like a Prayer", "Vogue", "Express Yourself", and maybe a few others, like "Holiday" , "Lucky Star" , "Papa Don't Preach", etc.

A lot of her big hits have already disappeared down the memory hole. It's just what happens.

R155.. true.. i think alot of people even madonna fans have forgot just how many hits she actually has had! i think the number of top 10 hits are in the 40's?..

No. Her 80's and 90's classic get a lot of airplay.

I think Madonna's worst problem is not knowing how to get old. If instead of trying to stay relevant and going with trends she was doing good music she will be a lot more relevant.

Anyway you have today's stars like Dua Lipa who love her, hopefully she will treat her better than she treated Lady Gaga.

[quote]Stevie may have been good with Fleetwood Mac but her solo stuff is awful. It sounds horribly dated today. She sounds like a goat on each and every song.

This had to be said. I've been thinking this very same thought and it's been wanting to burst out of me for a long time! Bravo for having the courage to say what many are thinking!

If you asked the general public to name their favourite Stevie Nicks songs they'd probably say I Just Called To Say I Love You.

OK, let's do a signature songs test. Copy and paste the below and pick the 3 songs you think *other people* would identify as the artist's signature song, and see if there's more variation for Madonna than anyone else.

Madonna:

Cyndi:

Whitney:

Mariah:

Janet:

Kylie:

Cher:

I'll start:

Madonna: Like A Virgin, Vogue, Holiday

Cyndi: Girls Just Wanna Have Fun, True Colors, Time After Time

Whitney: I Will Always Love You, I Wanna Dance With Somebody, Saving All My Love For You

Mariah: Without You, I'll Be There,Vision Of Love

Janet:What Have You Done For Me Lately, Rhythm Nation, Best Things In Life Are Free

Kylie: Can't Get You Out Of My Head, I Should Be So Lucky, Locomotion (for US) Spinning Around (for UK)

Cher: Believe, If I Could Turn Back Time, I Got You Babe

Madonna:Vogue, Borderline, Like A Virgin

Cyndi: Girls Just Wanna, Time After Time

Whitney: Saving All My Love, I Will Always Love You, I Wanna Dance With Somebody

Mariah: Vision of Love, That comeback song from Mimi, That Christmas shit

Janet: Nasty, Control, When I Think of You

Kylie: Can't Get You Outta My Head, Loco-Motion

Cher: Believe, If I Could Turn Back Time, Dark Lady

Radio is dinosaur- it's all about streaming now. You can easily check in Spotify to see the artist's monthly average listeners and which of their songs are the most popular.

[quote] This had to be said. I've been thinking this very same thought and it's been wanting to burst out of me for a long time! Bravo for having the courage to say what many are thinking!

i don't know why so many people on here act like EVERYTHING Stevie did, including her solo work, is brilliant--it's not.

Based on streaming/youtube, Madonna's Signature songs are Holiday, Like A Virgin, Material Girl, La Isla Bonita, Like a Prayer, Vogue and Hung Up.

I wish the demos for Rebel heart hadn't leaked.

Madonna: Like a virgin, Like a prayer and Vogue

Cyndi: Girls just want to have fun, Time after time and True Colors

Whitney: I wanna dance with somebody, I will always love you and I have nothing

Mariah: Vision of love, Hero and We belong together

Janet: Miss you much, Rhythm nation and That's the way love goes

Kylie: Locomotion, I should be so lucky and I can't get you out of my head

Cher: If i could turn back time, Believe and The shoop shoop song (i know it was not that big in the USA but it was huge in Europe)

Vision of Love wouldn't be one of Mariah's signature songs, it's not popular at all among audiences today. It would Hero, Without You, Fantasy (Remix), Always Be My Baby, All I Want for Christmas and We Belong Together.

Unless Madonna dies or hitches herself to a much younger female artist (Billie Eilish, Ariana Grande, Halsey, etc.) for a collab, Music is going to be her last #1 hit.

They used a Madonna song on drag race recently...had me a bit nostalgic

MADAME X was a NUMBER ONE Album last year!

MADAME X's PHYSICAL SALES beat Bruce Springsteen, so don't use the tired "BUNDLES! BUNDLES!" excuse.

Sorry about that , r138 said the same thing

R168 Wrong. Just look at talent shows, Vision of love is probably Mariah's more requested song.

In my country Fantasy is totally forgotten

R173, that's the case among singers but on youtube and spotify, Vision of Love isn't popular at all. Her most popular material is from 94-96 and Emancipation of mimi.

R174 Youtube and spotify are not the meassure of everything. Recurrent airplay means something.

By the way, i think Madonna has a lot more than three signature songs

R175, I would say Madonna's signature songs are Holiday, Like a Virgin, Material Girl, La Isla Bonita, Like a Prayer, Vogue and Hung Up.

R176 Papa don't preach, Open your heart.

Most of her hits of the 80's survive pretty well. Even some of her Ray of light era

I wouldn't say those are signature songs though. They don't really define her .

Madonna: Vogue, Like A Prayer, Like A Virgin

Cyndi: Girls Just Wanna Have Fun, Time After Time, True Colors

Whitney: I Will Always Love You, I Wanna Dance With Somebody, Star-Spangled Banner

Mariah: All I Want For Christmas is You, Hero, We Belong Together,

Janet: Nasty, Rhythm Nation, Together Again

Kylie: Can't Get You Out Of My Head, Locomotion

Cher: Believe, If I Could Turn Back Time, I Got You Babe

1983-2005 is all that matters. Everything after is completely unmemorable. For now at least.

Madonna: Like A Virgin, Like A Prayer and Vogue

Cyndi: Girls Just Wanna Have Fun, Time After Time, True Colors

Whitney: I Will Always Love You, Greatest Love of All and I Wanna Dance With Somebody

Mariah: All I Want for Christmas, Hero, We Belong Together

Janet: Nasty, Rythem Nation, Love Will Never Do Without You

Kylie: Locomotion, Can't Get You Outta My Head

Cher: Believe, I Got You Babe, If Could Turn Back Time

R179 nailed the assignment

R182, how do? By only giving 2 songs for Kylie? I call that an epic FAIL.

In my country the only Madonna songs that I hear on the radio are: Take a bow, Secret, Like a prayer.

I would change R181's post a bit:

Madonna: Holiday, Material Girl, Like A Prayer, Vogue and Hung Up

Cyndi: Girls Just Wanna Have Fun, Time After Time, True Colors

Whitney: I Will Always Love You, I Have Nothing and I Wanna Dance With Somebody

Mariah: All I Want for Christmas, Hero, Without You, Always Be My Baby, We Belong Together

Janet: Nasty, Rhythm Nation, That's the Way Love Goes, Together Again

Kylie: Locomotion, Can't Get You Outta My Head

Cher: Believe, If Could Turn Back Time

Also would include La Isla Bonita for Madonna

R185, while those songs are iconic for Madonna during her 80s-90s era, I haven't heard Material Girl or Hung Up played that much as of late. I think if you ask the average person walking up the street to name Madonna's songs at the top of the head, they would probably say Like A Virgin, Like a Prayer and Vogue (possibly Holiday and Borderline).

Your other choices are spot-on, especially with Whitney and Mariah.

I noticed others mentioned Together Again for Janet. Is that song as memorable as her other big hits from Control, RN and Janet?

In my country we only hear Material Girl. What is material?

R187 Together again was a huge hit when it was released and unlike All for you (which was probably her last big hit) it gets recurrent airplay in most countries.

I think Madonna has so much big hits that the situation is very different from country to country. When someone has too many big hits some of them tend to be ignored on recurrent airplay

R187, Hung Up is Madonna's second most listened to song on youtube and third most on Spotify. The reason you don't hear it more is becasue (i'm assuming) you are American, so am I. After 2003, Madonna's newer music was not played on American radio stations because she spoke out against George W Bush and the Iraq War. Clear Channel is pretty conservative (go figure). Material Girl is very iconic--I think it is remember more fondly than Like a Virgin. The fact that she is still called "The Material Girl" to this day says it all.

Regarding Together Again, it's probably the only Janet song remembered in Europe. I think it was her only big hit there.

R183 Unfortunately Kylie only has two "remembered" songs in America. It's obviously different in Europe/Australia, but no average person in America knows more than those 2 Kylie songs.

r191 is correct. Kylie Minogue was never huge on the U.S. pop charts.

She's had only 2 Top-10 hits on the Billboard Hot 100:

"The Loco-Motion" in 1988.

"Can't Get You Out of My Head" in 2001.

Kylie Minogue's Billboard Hot 100 history:

I Should Be So Lucky - #28 (1988)

The Loco-Motion - #3 (1988)

It's No Secret - #37 (1988)

Can't Get You Out of My Head - #7 (2001)

Love at First Sight - #23 (2002)

Come Into My World - #91 (2002)

Slow - #91 (2003)

Still amuses me that It’s No Secret got a US release but not a U.K. release.

But still, the singles from Kylie’s first album made 1-2-2-2 so it’s not like they made the wrong decision on releases.

It was added as a b-side to Wouldn’t Change A Thing.

Hung Up for airplay because of ABBA. Next.

R187 I think for Americans Janet has more iconic songs than Together Again, but that was a huge hit across the globe, so I think it would make sense to include.

R167 Janet: whisper whisper coo coo something coo something whisper

My friends and I used to call Together Again "The Watchtower Song" because the video resembled the front page of the Jehovahs Witness magazine they try to sell door to door with a lovely view of what heaven is like.

Annette Funicello had more memorable music.

So, Marys. now we've established that Madonna's music IS NOT largely forgotten, can one of you bitches start a new thread so we can discuss her even more.

THREAD TITLE:

[quote]Madonna:: Something To Remember - 25th anniversary release

First post. So Marys, we're approaching the 25 year anniversary of Madonna's lovely ballads collection being released.

[quote]Just imagine for a second you have a purely coincidental meeting with Madonna herself, and she's distraught because her record company want to re-release Something To Remember as a 20 track album, and are insisting a minimum of 10 original tracks feature, along with one cover version of a classic 80s ballad. Madonna can't decide which songs to keep, which to let go, and which songs post 1995 she should include, She compares it to that Nazi film with that actress from the Abba films, whatever her name is.

[quote]Madonna literally BEGS you to help her with the track listing and taking pity, you promise to help Madonna decide on a new track listing of her greatest ballads and recommend an 80s ballad for her to cover.

Her music is simplistic and forgettable and her singing has never been better than mediocre, but the pathetic late Boomer/early genX queens who obsess with her never shut up.

Not to defend or attract Janbot, but Janet Jackson is honestly a better actress.

If Madonna is a mediocre singer, Janet is one of the worst singers in history. Every song is sung in the same key. Over and over again,

Whereas Madonna is quite often off-key without extensive digital manipulation of her voice.

Janet's Together Again video is horrible. It really aged poorly. In fact, it was dated on arrival.

The Got 'Til It's Gone video, though, is fantastic.

Janet’s music is not dated. Vadge is the textbook definition of dated. Once the shock value wore off you could see just how bad she was and is musically.

Escapade sounds like it could have been released yesterday.

R202 Oh dear this is like arguing if McDonalds is better than Burger King.

R207, no, not really. Madonna isn't a great singer but she was clearly capable of singing with range up until a couple of years ago. Janet sings every song in the same octave, all the time. In terms of vocal ability, Paula Abdul is Burger King while Janet is McDonalds.

R208 Ok then Madonna is Wendys.

As singers, they're both sub-par. As actresses, they're two of the worst in history.

I kind of admire Madonna's innate intelligence, and the way she scratched and clawed and sucked and fucked her way to the top. And I admire the fact that she actually took singing lessons and tried to improve when she landed "Evita"...even if she didn't really improve much.

Janet is clearly dumb as a doorknob, and a pathological liar to boot (as are almost all of the Jackson clan). Seriously, I'd be shocked if her IQ were in triple digits. She would have gotten nowhere without her famous last name and her superstar producers. She's so stupid and full of herself, she actually believed she was going to "change the world through dance music" with "Rhythm Nation". How's that working out?

But kudos to both bitches for not letting their lack of ability get in their way of becoming icons.

Well, R209, Wendys is better than McDonalds and Burger King 😉

R211... wendy' s better burgers, mcdonald's best fries, burger king second to wendy's in regard to burgers...

Then that would make your analogy false. Madonna isn’t the best at anything she does, and the thing she does best is self-promotion.

I dont think anyone under 35 will know many of her songs. I was born in 94 and I vaguely remenber the song Music and I remember my sister and I giggling watching Madonna in the Hung Up video. We thought it was funny that she was so old yet thought she was attractive.

I still think Madonna's '80s and '90s music is great. But the public's perception of her doesn't help things. It doesn't want people to rediscover her music, unlike someone like Cher or Kylie, whose goodwill makes you want to keep up with them.

Madonna has turned into a ghoulish-looking woman, with hideous plastic surgery and those ridiculous grills. People cannot relate to that, and so she doesn't inspire any interest in her music because people now think she is a freak.

R215 Cher looks like a freak too.

She’s spun into completely irrelevancy. Her songs don’t hold up. She milked them to death.

Cher looks good. You still recognize her and she’s funny. Madonna has no personality, can’t sing, can’t write, can’t act, can’t direct. There’s no point to her. She was basically the Britney Spears of her era.

People now know the ABBA song better than the hideous Hung Up which relied on sampling it.

[quote] She milked them to death.

Well, no. That's the issue. She actually hates the material from her peak. She doesn't celebrate it enough. I feel like the best thing Madonna could do for her catalogue at this point would be to retire or die tragically. It helped Whitney. Prior to Whitney's' death, she was doing horribly in terms of digitial singles sales. When she died, streaming was taking off and digiital singles were still huge. Her youtube and spotify streams exploded after that.

[quote]Is Madonna’s music largely forgotten?

If only.

[quote]I feel like the best thing Madonna could do for her catalogue at this point would be to retire or die tragically.

I hope she outlives me. I could not survive the Michael Jacksonlike outpouring of grief and support her death would engender. This would be truly unbearable (as opposed to Hunter Biden's sexual magnificence).

Madonna is a LEGEND.

Madonna is THE QUEEN OF POP.

Madonna is THE WOMAN WHO CHANGED POP MUSIC. FOREVER.

Madonna is MADONNA.

R222 is

[quote] I could not survive the Michael Jacksonlike outpouring of grief and support her death would engender.

I doubt the outpouring will be anything on that level. Michael Jackson does as well on spotify and youtube as some newer artists do which is just insane. And even before he died, Thriller was continuing to sell millions copies every few years or so which is even more insane. I personally think Madonna's 80s classic singles like Live to Tell, Holiday, Like a Prayer, etc. have aged better than MJ's stuff but the general public doesn't feel that way. My prediction is that Madonna's death would be somewhere between Michael's and Prince. She was obviously a much bigger star than Prince but MJ was on a different level.

Solo men & male groups get the prestige of having revered back catalogues that received praise & careful dissection generation after generation. It doesn't work that was for women & female groups. They're more known for their most anthemic songs, but never for the entire catalogues. Diana Ross, Barbra Streisand, Patti LaBelle with & without LaBelle, Bette Midler, Loretta Lynn, Chaka Khan, Nina Hagen, Joni Mitchell, so many more & even early innovative punk all-female bands have all made great albums that have been largely forgotten.

R225, that is very true. The only female legacy artist on spotify who has entire albums that stream well is Mariah Carey--and that is ONE album in particular, Merry Christmas. I don't understand why women, even ones who were massively commercially successful like Madonna, Carole King, Whitney, etc. dont' get this treatment. The Immaculate Collection is easily one of the 10 best compilation albums and it sold almost 30 million globally but it should be celebrated more. Maybe that's because Madonna has just released a bunch of mediocre compilation albums since then.

[quote]Music from real artists like PJ Harvey, Tori Amos, Stevie Nicks, and Tracy Chapman will live on

I'll give you Stevie Nicks, but PJ Harvey sucked and nobody except ten people even knew who she was, Tori Amos only had two good songs and Tracy Chapman only has one song that people really remember.

I would exclude Joni Mitchell from your list, r225. She's such an albums artist, and I love most of them from beginning to end. That's the only way I know them, really. There are only a few songs I consider anthemic.

I would exclude Joni Mitchell from your list, r225. She's such an albums artist, and I love most of them from beginning to end. That's the only way I know them, really. There are only a few songs I consider anthemic.

R228, I thought including Joni Mitchell was questionable, but then considered that even with being primarily an album artist with such consistent quality & artistry, she's still relatively known for Blue & "Help Me". What a shame. Even Donna Summer's Bad Girls includes deeper cuts that outshine the album's classic hit singles & should be know more widely in its entirety.

Donna Summer's 70s albums are all great from the first song to the last. The album tracks were just as good as the singles.

The grocery store nears me plays Material Girl all the damn time. I was never a Madonna fan, but their must be two dozen Madonna songs better than fucking Material Girl.

R232, I like Like a Virgin more than Material Girl but honestly, Like a Virgin is her most dated 80s album EASILY. It sounds so ridiculous today and Material Girl and the title track overshadow everything else on the album which is just filler.

I agree Like a Virgin is dated. Her first album is still very strong. Better production and I like her voice better on it.

Her first album is still a fantastic pop/dance album and has aged very well. I still listen to it. I agree that Like A Virgin hasn't aged as well. It's not a bad album, just VERY 80s.

Yes, her first album still sounds great today, it sounds similar to what I imagine a lot of underground dance music sounded like in NYC at the time. But True Blue still has her best singles--Open Your Heart, Live to Tell, Papa Don't Preach and La Isla Bonita. Other singers woud kill to even have one of those songs.

You Can Dance, her 80s Dance Compilation, still sounds great today with the exceptions of Spotlight and Over and Over.

It's weird how Like a Virgin is her most dated because it's the album that really kicked her into the stratosphere (although you could argue it was True Blue, but I feel that just confirmed her to be a world pop star) and it was produced by Nile Rodgers.

For whatever reason, though, I really like "Shoo-Bee-Doo". I like her vocals on it. I used to love "Over and Over" as a kid but it hasn't aged very well.

Her cover of Love Don't Live Here Anymore was also good.

R238, I would argue Madonna in the 80s was really a singles driven artist. It was Like a Virgina and Material Girl that shot her into the stratosphere but the album itself doesn't hold up. The first half of True Blue plus La Isla Bonita holds up much better as does most of Like a Prayer and her debut.

I fucking hate that La Isla Bonita shit.

La Isla Bonita is still very popular, but it's never been one of my favorites.

[quote]It's weird how Like a Virgin is her most dated

The album is almost 40 years old - of course it sounds dated!🙄

Some of us have already said that her first album ISN'T dated. Keep up, r243.

[quote]Some of us have already said that her first album ISN'T dated. Keep up, [R243].

Like a Virgin was her second album.🙄 YOU should keep up dear.☺️

Just proving my point, dear.

You also forgot the comma before dear.

R246 = the reason why even though I’m gay I don’t have many gay friends because most of them are tiresome as hell.🙄

(Putting on ignore)😊

R238... have ALWAYS LOVED shoo be doo! love that soulful but also melancholy motown sound and her voice as well.....for me a truly hidden gem...reminds me of my youth and longing and regret of the past and worry of the future...

I've never liked Material Girl.

[quote]Joni's still relatively known for Blue & "Help Me".

Not by her fans, which you are apparently not one of.

I was at the grocery store today and heard "Dress You Up" on the store's speakers.

R54, You really think that Freddie was "3/4" of Queen?

Because he's the only one deceased.

And r54? You might want to check Queen's album-release dates.

Madonna's Spotify streams are not as high as you would think given that she is the supposed queen of pop. Whitney and Mariah have more streams.

She hasn’t been dead for 24 hours and you’re already asking?

She's not dead.

She just looks like she is.

R254, yes, I find that very odd. With the exception of I will Always Love You, (maybe) I want to Dance with Somebody and All I want for Christmas, Madonna's best singles are more memorable to me than the ones by those of two.

r257 There are very few songs, even by the greatest artists, that transcend generations. Mariah and Whitney might not have had as many hits or critically acclaimed songs as Madge but they each have a handful of songs that have absolutely lasted longer than anything Madonna has done. It’s not strange at all. Please, name one Madonna song that is as memorable as the three songs you named?

WHO?

Like a Prayer is a far better song than I Want to Dance with Somebody. The ONLY Mariah song more memorable than Madonna's 80s classics is All I want for Christmas.

All I want for Christmas is a tacky, jingle of basic pop song. Pure fluff with zero artistry or nuance. Most of Madonna's catalogue SHITS all over Mariah's. That's a fact.

I always hear her 80’s music specifically all her True Blue singles and Holiday.

huge madonna fan, mainly for the dance music. I didn't even get my Madame X CD from my friend who got our tickets to the show....didn't like Rebel Heart much either. But I heard Material Girl on the radio last week....

No. Just the second half of her career.

R258: "Material Girl." "Like a Virgin."

Holiday, Papa Don't Preach, Live to Tell, La Isla Bonita, Open Your heart, Like a Virgin, Express Yourself and Vogue are all superior to All I Want for Christmas.

Young kids find Madonna terrifying looking now. She deserves her fate.

Anyone under 30 would have a tough time identifying Madonna in a lineup

Whatever happened to Baby Jane? She made an album called Madame X.