Y&RWorldTurner

I like many different things. It's really hard to pin-point my exact tastes in music.

The Police - Wrapped Around Your Finger

We'll never quite know how much many of those Motown albums sold in the 60's and 70's. Berry Gordy hated the RIAA and refused to pay fees to gets the albums from his acts certified. But Like A Virgin was the first female album that was certified for sales of over 5 million. By the end of the 80's, Like A Virgin and True Blue, along with Whitney Houston's first two albums were the best selling albums by females acts. Though many albums by females have come close or even surpassed them over the years, it was very telling. Madonna was the first in a line of female artists in pop music who broke a glass ceiling in terms of consistent album sales for female artists, or at least sold comparably and consistently to male artists at the time. Though, aside from a few mega selling albums, albums weren't selling as much in 70's as they were in the 80's and much of the 90's, when Madonna was at her peak. Yes, which is why I think Gaga doing "dance music" was more marketing genius on her mentor's part than her's.

I think there's a clear feminist theme throughout much of her earlier work and videos. Many mainstream women in pop weren't exploring themes regarding sex, religion, and unapologetic abrasiveness before her, or at least they didn't have the type of commercial success she had doing it. Prior to Madonna, female artists weren't selling very many albums. In fact, Like A Virgin was the first album by a female act to have a certification of over 5 million by the RIAA. She may have gotten too snobby in recent years, but I don't think we can deny the impact she's had on the music industry. Whether you're a fan or not, she had an impact on both pop music and pop culture that other acts that came from that era just don't have, and she did it by being a essentially a self-made woman. She didn't get her foot in the door by being in a successful group like Michael Jackson, she didn't have the Clive Davis/Tommy Mottola mentor that Whitney and Mariah had, and she wasn't the product of a successful writing/producing team like many others were.

Oh I agree, but I agree with bellcurve's assertion that Gaga's outfits don't signify any type of "reinvention." They basically blend together in her signature shtick. Madonna recently admitted to Rolling Stone that her "reinventions" had more to do with accumulating money and begin exposed to top designers and photographers as her career went on and on. There wasn't much of a style difference between Madonna's debut and Like A Virgin, though the music on the albums themselves are quite different. The debut was of course a reflection of her early 80's New York dance roots. Like a Virgin was a calculated pop effort to progress her career onto a more mainstream and international stage, which worked. Though from True Blue onward, there was definitely a synergy between the music and the personal style "reinventions." I never took any of those Britney comparisons seriously. She's always been a puppet. Though, I do think Madonna was definitely in control of who she was and what she wanted to do from almost the beginning. It definitely helped that she had someone like Freddy Demann as her manager from Like A Virgin to Evita though, someone who had the business experience to help her do all the things she wanted to do. I don't think many women in pop before Madonna had the kind of control of their careers to the extent Madonna had. While Gaga is definitely less than puppet and more of an artist than Britney, it's still far too early to ever make a comparison between her and someone as established as Madonna. Thanks to the over-commercialization of the music industry these days, she's probably a lot richer than Madonna was when she started out. We'll have to see if Gaga can reinvent both her music and her image style come the next album. Eventually, the RedOne collaborations are going to wear thin, and even though she's worked with other people, we're going to wonder if she can do something major away from the type of sound, while staying true to her dance-pop market. Hell, I don't think Gaga knew what the hell Radio Gaga was until the ex-boyfriend that's suing her now introduced her to it and to Queen. As much as I find some of the content in his suit to be hilarious, I do think he played a major role in shaping Gaga for the dance-pop market, because I don't think she'd be doing this type of music had she not met him. She'd be doing this less marketable stuff and looking like this: Gaga's "club roots" are a lot different from Madonna's "club roots." Though Madonna was in some punk-oriented bands, most of her New York club experience in the early days was always in the dance vein.

Yeah, he's always sucked, but it's not just him. It's that whole scene with his friends that suck, too. Phil told them off today when they were in the Vic. Looks like they're plotting to humiliate him, just as Social Services is coming to the Vic to check Phil and his living environment out to see if it's fit enough for Louise. They're f.ucking with the wrong guy. It was very brief shirtless scenes, Max and Becca screwed today. And then Becca went off to visit Stacey, and Max followed her. Max seeing Stacey from afar was the cliffhanger. A nice scene with Lucy and Peter today too, towards the end.

Yeah, I felt really sorry for Jane today. Ian and Lucy lying to her about a miscarriage when it was really an abortion was cruel. This is going to blow up. Jane was so disappointed, and even though her whole arrangement was strange, her heart was in the right place. I really detest Billy and that whole ghetto teen scene. Ugh! Jack Branning is a hot piece of ass.

Keith Duffy isn't leaving after all. http://www.digitalspy.com/soaps/s3/coronation-street/news/a210552/keith-duffy-im-staying-on-corrie.html

Corrie is so damn weak, hallow, and just not worth investing in at the moment. Hopefully that can change soon with the producer change.

Exactly. +1 Back when she cared more, Madonna always had not only a new look every album, but some sort of new message and some sort of musical output change, while staying true to her dance-pop roots. Gaga has never really stood for anything, and those "weird outfits" all blend together as her only image as far as I'm concerned. We'll have to wait until the next real album to see if Gaga has strategically reinvented her image and music. The Fame Monster, though an EP, was basically a continuation of the same sound and style of The Fame.

It's #1 in the UK this week, nearly a year after it first hit #1 there. Though, some of these journalists are really misleading. Gaga's "6 #1 singles" come from Pop AIRPLAY, which was said in a very minor way. On the main singles chart, Billboard's Hot 100 Singles, she only has two #1 singles - Just Dance and Poker Face. On the UK singles chart, she has 4 #1 singles - Just Dance, Poker Face, Bad Romance, and Telephone. Jonas Aukerlund talks about the Madonna/Gaga thing: http://uk.news.launch.yahoo.com/dyna/article.html?a=/17032010/364/telephone-director-hails-gaga-new-madonna.html&e=l_news_dm

I love how it spoofs the fact that Gaga has ZERO sex appeal. Really, she tries, but it's just not there.

It's sickening how much Jane wants Lucy to have this baby and is basically guilting her into having it. I'm glad Lucy decided on that abortion and Ian supported her, also happy that Peter called Jane out on how disturbing her whole arrangement is. Peter: Whose baby is this exactly? Jane: Well, it will belong to all of us! Peter: All of us?!? Jane: Yes! Peter: Alright, so I'm the baby's uncle-brother? Jane: Labels don't really matter! Love is what really matters! Peter: This is SO sick! :lol:

Thanks to Ben from EastEnders. Girls Aloud - The Promise

He just doesn't know it yet. Ben dancing to Girls Aloud's "The Promise":

Some may find him annoying, but I really like the little actor that plays Ben.

U2- With or Without You(rattle and hum) http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=P8SPeR60lRI

Cool, looking forward to it. Lucker is gorgeous. I hope the start of Kirkwood's tenure is strong.

http://www.mtv.com/news/articles/1634292/20100319/lady_gaga.jhtml

Who knows if this is really happening, but... http://www.digitalspy.com/soaps/s13/hollyoaks/news/a209249/claire-sweeney-to-join-hollyoaks.html

The show just seemed so light and lacking in anything resembling substances during that era. It also felt like they were casting all of the actors due to looks and nothing else, a rep Hollyoaks has always had a problem shaking. The fake comedic moments during that time were SO BAD. The show needed the revamp Tony Wood and Bryan Kirkwood gave it in 2006, I think it was dying for it. Max and OB brought a lot to the show though, and no other friendship or relationship on this show has been as strong.

It's weird though with Lee coming back. Does he even really know anyone other than Steph? She's like the last real one left over from that era. Let's not forget that Steph and Lisa have a complicated history too, as it was Steph's bullying that practically drove Lisa into self-mutilation.

I get that feeling too, that she'll be another Cyndi Lauper (who I love, btw), that will have one or two hit albums, and then her popularity goes downhill fast. Her mainstream popularity will die out fast, but she'll become somewhat of a gay-exclusive artist and her popularity with the gay community will remain, like Cyndi Lauper. I can't help but think Gaga is just a fluke. But it remains to seen if she can reinvent herself and how her next real album will fare. That's the thing about pop music sometimes, you're in one day, and you could be out the next.

I'm surprised Marquess wants to bring Lee back. The character was fun though, and I'll look forward to see what's planned for him. Amello should be happy Alex Carter will be back on a soap soon. I wonder where Lee will fit in now though, Hollyoaks is such a different show from when he originally appeared, and it's bound to get even more different with a new producer there. Strangely, though, Atkinson/Lisa were very popular, and even now, articles are constantly published about her wanting to come back. I don't know if that's due to her looks, or if people genuinely liked this character. I thought Lisa was just OK, though Atkinson sure was pretty.

Huh? I love Euro cheese. Most of the stuff I listen to comes from Europe. Confessions was a solid effort, but as I said before, as with any dance effort, it was surely be dated as hell in a few years, even if the music on itself is still good. Confessions was an artistic return to from for her at the time, but I wouldn't call it my favourite Madonna album. Though, I think a lot of Stuart Price's work and remixes since then have sucked ass. I think he's highly unimaginative.