Yes. We went there. We know. We’re supposed to focus on LGBT issues, news and celebrate people of achievement and champions of the community. We get it. But really…This. Is. Awesome.
It’s a rare glimpse at the making of Madonna’s iconic Vogue video with outtakes. Enjoy!
“Why is it that these women have forgotten how great it was to have a role model that not only stuck it to the man, but then stuck it to herself, in herself and tasted it as if to say how dare you moderate my sexuality?”
Barry Church-Woods
I’m a Madonna fan.
For a lot of people of my generation it came with being gay. Like the pop culture equivalent of the gentleman’s lavender handkerchief or Truman Capote’s dickie bow, loving a certain someone from Rochester, Michigan whilst owning a penis has for a long time insinuated that you would like to get into the groove in a way that doesn’t just involve dancing.
Being a Madonna fan replaced the word bachelor for a while.
My grandmother used to introduce me to her friends as a ‘Madonna fan’. When I showed up at parties dressed in a conical bra with a fake head-mic on, it was because I was a ‘Madonna fan’. When I nearly set fire to the back garden, burning crucifixes and dancing in front of them, it was because I was a ‘Madonna fan’.
It seems that lately, Madonna had become a dirty word and the press are ready to crucify her at every step.
She’s recently been in the media for her shocking antics in Malawi. The terrible thing she did last year? She built 10 extensions to existing schools creating education opportunities for 500 children and young people. She should have built 10 schools apparently, but lets be honest, progress is progress no matter how long it takes to get there.
She also got her boob out on tour, came on stage two hours late most nights and called famous nazi Marine Le Penne out for being a…wait for it…a nazi.
Oh, and we mustn’t forget this one. She adopted two children from a third world country where they were sure to suffer disease and malnutrition from severe poverty, and she…she fed them. And clothed them. And gave them a nice home with a nanny. The cheeky cow. How dare she?
Around the time of the release of her film W.E., Madonna mentioned in an interview with Harper’s Bazaar that nowadays when anyone writes anything about her, her age is right after her name as if to limit her achievements or remind her that society would like her to stop soon.
A quick online search finds this to be true. It also finds that most of the negativity thrown at her in the past 10 years has been from women. Women that grew up singing along to True Blue in the mirror with a hairbrush, bleaching their hair in the 80s, and wearing lace gloves to weddings when they were kids. Women who it seems would now prefer her to crawl under a rock and stop doing what the world fell in love with her for in the first place.
Why is it that these women have forgotten how great it was to have a role model that not only stuck it to the man, but then stuck it to herself, in herself and tasted it as if to say how dare you moderate my sexuality?
What has made them forget the sheer joy or behaving in complete contradiction to how society would expect them to? The role model that once told them that she wanted to conquer the world seems to have done just that and yes, dreams really do come true.
For some.
Sadly, it seems that many of those little girls being told there was a new tomorrow where anything was possible have now grown into the jaded bitchy fat girls in the corner, unhappy with their 9-5 existence in their cul-de-sac in Bury St. Edmunds (or equivalent), jealous of the continued success of the woman that defined a generation.
Madonna’s latest album MDNA seems to have been a commercial flop. While much of the media read it for what it is, a fun up-tempo record with some great production, the same women I’ve been writing about complained that it didn’t have the depth befitting of a 53 year old woman. That someone with children should be singing about heartbreak and pain. That Kate Bush just did an album about fucking a snowman that was brilliant and Madonna should do something similar or give up.
The fact that Madonna’s film W.E. depicts a very real time in history, where a man gave up his throne the be with the woman he loved is not without irony set against the backdrop of calls for a reigning Queen to abdicate her throne to a more suitable suitor. Someone more bendy, more youthful perhaps? Someone that doesn’t wear leotards? Someone that acts her age?
But really, deep down, we know what these critics want.
They want her to fuck off and stop reminding them of all of their failures and broken dreams.
But she can’t. And shouldn’t. And mustn’t. And here’s why we need her here to stay in the public eye. At least another few years.
Growing up in the 80s, girls wanted to be her, boys wanted to fuck her and boyz wanted to fuck like her. She was an instant role model.
She was the first voice I ever heard saying that homosexuality was an acceptable way of life.
Until then, the only other person I’d heard talk about homosexuality was Jerry Falwell. In 1968 he said that preachers are not called to be politicians, but soul winners, and sixteen years later, his hypocrisy shone through as he led a movement that helped put Ronald Reagan in the White House, conservatives on the Supreme Court, and turned the Democratic South solidly Republican.
Bad. Yes.
But then he did this.
He funded an international campaign to recognize AIDS as “God’s punishment for being a faggot”. Not just that. It was also God’s punishment to the world, for allowing faggots to exist.
Imagine all that power; having a voice like that? A voice that was heard all over the world. A voice that was heard by this 13 year old “faggot” in a council estate in West Lothian, Scotland.
Now I was always taught not to speak ill of the dead. But it is hard when the dead person was a hateful cunt of a man.
His harmful opinions were set against a backdrop of political inefficiency and lack of education about HIV and AIDS that allowed the disease to progress at a rate unheard of before for something that wasn’t airborne.
But then came Like a Prayer.
Amongst all of the controversy of the brilliant video and the scandal of a $5million Pepsi deal gone wrong, Madonna did something wonderful. Something very simple and under the radar. Something missed by most parents and God fearing Christians. In the album sleeve-notes, she inserted some writing about the dangers of HIV and AIDS. And a safe sex message. In one simple move, she’d countered the hatred and broken the firewall to information…for her fans at least. Did I mention a lot of them were gay?
From that point on, Madonna started to raise her game. Acting out in public to get her message across. Bending the ear of her loyal army of fans and helping the message infiltrate society.
It’s OK to be gay.
She pushed buttons, she changed fashion, she changed buttons, she pushed fashion. Her impact was so endless for this 36 year old homo that it actually took me until I was 17 to realise that the Madonna/Whore complex wasn’t a statement about how my sister dressed and was actually rooted in a time before Madame Ciccone.
And to this day, she continues to support the LGBT community across the globe by using her position and status to keep hitting home with the same message:
“You cannot use religion to treat other people badly, you cannot use God’s name to treat other people badly, we all deserve love,”
Change is happening. One day, equality will shine through. But we’re not there yet ,and personally I don’t think it’s time for the LGBT community to lose a voice that defined a generation.
Thank you Madonna.
It’s a real shame when the voice of a few can tarnish the reputation of the masses, and these Little Monsters attacking Madonna by claiming she contributed to the spread of AIDS in the 80s are doing just that. Maybe it’s time for Mother Monster to pull them in line.
I wonder what my childhood would have been like with Twitter…
Lady Gaga Fans Slam Madonna’s GLAAD Award Engagement, Link Pop Diva To AIDS Crisis
There’s no end in sight for the longstanding Madonna-Lady Gaga feud — at least as far as the dueling divas’ fans are concerned.
Now a pack of “Little Monsters” is petitioning the Gay and Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation (GLAAD), requesting that Madonna not be allowed to present Anderson Cooper with the prestigious Vito Russo Award at the GLAAD Media Awards ceremony in New York on March 16.
UPDATE: 5:16 p.m. — The petition and blog referred to in this story has been removed from the Lady Gaga fan’s website. Story continues below…
Deeming GLAAD’s decision to tap the Material Girl “an insult to a true gay rights activist like Lady Gaga,” the Gaga fan blog Little Monster Artpop make an even more heinous suggestion, labeling Madge “one of the major reasons for AIDS.”
Madonna wants to start a revolution!
“The tabloids complain about her looking old, and people laugh at her for that. Then Madonna goes and fixes her face, and they laugh at her for that. Even thought they begrudgingly say she looks amazing, they’ll still laugh at her for trying to look young. Then she steps out, looking amazing, and the tabloids go and blow up a picture of her aging hand. Nobody’s doing that to George Clooney, blowing up pictures of his hands! I look at these magazines, and I want to say to them, What’s your point? That she’s aged? Does that surprise you? Or is your ‘point’ an attempt to undercut what she’s achieved? I think it is, even if it’s on a subconscious level. And you probably wouldn’t turn down those hands if they were grabbing you under the table, you fucking idiots.”
Shirley Manson
“Apparently black and white pictures of a naked Madonna exploring bestiality was taking it all a step too far”.
We’re a little bit in love with Michael Griffiths.
Unless you’re in Australia, New Zealand, New York or (soon to be) Edinburgh, there’s a chance you may not know who he is. This will change, of this we’re certain.
Michael is a singer, pianist, composer and musical arranger. He’s also becoming a bit of a musical theatre mainstay down under, currently performing as Bob Crewe in Jersey Boys after touring in Priscilla Queen of the Desert and We Will Rock You.
His acclaimed one man cabaret In Vogue: Songs By Madonna was commissioned for the Adelaide Cabaret Festival in 2011 and has since been performed in Sydney, Melbourne, New York, Auckland, Brisbane and Hobart.
Imagine then how moist we got to see that this August, he’s coming to the Edinburgh Festival Fringe with In Vogue: Songs By Madonna; and will be performing in the incredible Edinburgh Playhouse which is just opposite our house.
Between figuring out if we’ll be leaving him boxes of hair or little envelopes of toenail clippings nightly, we managed to grab a quick word with him to see how he’s feeling about it all.
Tell us a little bit about you? How did you get into performing?
I grew up listening to pop music, playing the piano and singing – I was a terrible show off! I ended up studying music composition at University but was secretly doing amateur musicals on the side until one day I realised performing was much more fun than composing so I went to drama school and have been working in musicals ever since. Cabaret is a new venture for me and I’m loving it.
How did the show come about?
My best friend Dean Bryant is a writer/director who’d already had a lot of success in cabaret (his show ‘Liza on an E’ debuted to great acclaim in the West End earlier this month) and one day out of the blue he suggested we should work on a one-man show together. Pop music has always been my first love and Madonna came quickly to my mind. We’re both gay men who grew up in the 80s so it was a no brainer really!
What made you decide to bring the show to Edinburgh and how do you think audiences will respond to it here?
I’ve been wanting to visit the Edinburgh Fringe forever. I grew up in Adelaide (which has the second biggest Fringe festival in the world) and as a cabaret performer Edinburgh is a rite of passage so this will be my first time and I’m incredibly excited. I did New York last year but really that was just my out-of-town tryout. I’m hoping audiences respond to it there as well as they have down under – if you’re a Madonna fan you’ll get every gag!
It’s fairly tongue in cheek but addresses the fact that Madonna is quite an underrated lyricist. Have you forgotten that she once said: “My father had to go to work, I used to think he was a jerk?”.
OK so Madge doesn’t always get it right, have you seen ‘Swept Away’? How about her cover of ‘American Pie’? Whoops!! When you’ve been around as long as she has you’re bound to miss the mark now and then. Let’s not forget this is the artist who wrote the unforgettable lyrics to the pop classics ‘Vogue’, ‘Express Yourself’ and ‘Like A Prayer’.
I’m sure you get asked this all the time, but what’s your favourite Madonna track and why?
I adore ‘Human Nature’. When the saucy coffee-table ‘SEX’ book came out it seemed like the entire media turned on her. Apparently black and white pictures of a naked Madonna exploring bestiality (but the dog looks like he’s enjoying it!) was taking it all a step too far. Rather than apologise, she hit back with this defiant little number sporting a killer hip-hop bass line. The perfect blend of pop and confession and it’s one of her best video clips.
There are over 2800 other shows to choose from during the Fringe, why should our readers come to see yours?
If your readers have a soft spot for cabaret and the Queen of Pop herself, look no further! It’s your favourite songs as you’ve never heard them before. It’s also a lot of fun. There was a rumour going around a while back that Kabbalah frowns upon foreskins. A few cheeky lyric substitutions and suddenly ‘Cry Baby’ from the ‘I’m Breathless’ album is all about Madge insisting Guy Ritchie have an adult circumcision. Ouch!
Finally, we like to highlight people of significant achievement from the global LGB or T community. Who is your LGBTicon, and why?
I have been a Pet Shop Boys fan since ‘West End Girls’ was a huge hit down here in Oz in the 80s. They are my idols. The fact they are still doing what they want, exactly how they want to is nothing short of inspirational. I’m eagerly anticipating the new album.
Buy tickets for In Vogue: Songs By Madonna
We can’t wait!
“Sometimes you have an innate sense of what’s in front of you. You can feel you have wandered upon a person with a special energy, or a place somehow charged, even a particular rock that’s strange or graphic. So sometimes I am surprised, but I think the surprise in the moment is the true magic of the medium”.
Herb Ritts
Today we’re celebrating 30 years of Madonna’s debut album. An album that kick started our obsession with Her Madgesty, and spawned a career that provided a soundtrack to a generation.
Everybody has a Madonna memory. You’ve read Why We Should Thank Our Lucky Stars For Madonna so you know what Barry thinks, but we’re keen to hear your Madonna memories.
Whether you lost your virginity in the back of a van while Shoo-Bee-Doo played or entered your high school talent contest with a dance set to Gambler, we’d love to hear them.
Go on. Help us quench our desire!
Now if you’ll excuse us, we’re off to sexily roll around on the road.
