The nudity is only in the opening really, but I remember how hyped that aspect of the show is. (I suppose no other mainstream act has done a tour with nudity...)

I'd never seen that Don't Cry bit--wow! It's no secret she had been trying to get herself into the role for a VERY long time--I admit, some vocals aside, she really did do her best film work in it, partly I think as it's basically one long music video and while Madonna seems barely able to act while speaking, she can do it while singing.

I always loved this 1995 Bedtime Story performance at the Brit Awards:

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The Bad Girl SNL performance from 1993 is is great in a subtle way.

There was a period between Erotica and Ray of Light where she would release some non-commercial singles and didn't care how well they performed in the US.

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Edited March 20, 201213 yr by Y&RWorldTurner

I'm currently reading "Madonna: An Intimate Biography" and the sexual attack references are a lot different than the Wiki one...

"I remember her saying something about it," her longtime friend Erica Bell recalls. "But it wasn't something I felt she wanted to discuss openly. I think it was a date rape, meaning I think she knew the guy. It was someone who betrayed her confidence, her faith. It must have been devestating."

Says another friend - a woman who still knows Madonna today and in whom she often confides - "The date rape was something she never wanted to talk about. But when it did come up, you could tell that she was deeply affected by whatever happened. She cried when she spoke of it, as if she had been traumatized. She said, "I wanted to call my father and tell him about it, maybe go home for a while. But he would have killed me.' I felt that she needed her father at the time, but she was afraid to turn to him. I know she could have used a mother, as well. These were lonely years."

Her former manager Freddy DeMann adds, "I remember a time, long after her first taste of fame, when a girl in one of her audiences was being pushed around by some guys in front, trying to get closer to her [Madonna]. Suddenly, the girl went down, into the crowd. It was as if she was going to get stomped. Then, a couple of guys went down after her, and none of them came up. Madonna was watching the whole thing. She stopped the show, stopped singing, and called security out and told them to help that young girl. 'I know what it's like to feel powerless,' she said from the stage. 'And it doesn't feel good.' I'll never forget that night. I felt that she had great empathy for that girl, and a certain amount of fear, too."

"I don't want to make it an issue," Madonna has said about the rape incident. "I've had what a lot of people would consider to be horrific experiences in my life. But I don't want people to feel sorry for me because I don't...It was devastating at the time but it made me a survivor."

Madonna also has a long, long history of serious flower-hating. When she was a very small child, a 2-year old neighbor went over to her with a daffodil as a sort of "lets be friends" gift. She knocked the poor kids a-- down because she hates daffodils.

Interesting read so far. One thing is evident from every source the author mentions so far, she had A LOT of anger towards her father after he remarried that never really left throughout her childhood into early adulthood. She felt he replaced her mother, and [Madonna] herself. I'm rolling my eyes when he's detailing some stuff though because he doesn't reference a source - such as the FIRST meeting with the president of Argentina concerning Evita. Yet it's as if he's in the room witnessing this all. Well, I think he references a person or two who was at the meeting, but still...

EricM, I think the really good performance in Evita was a several fold thing... I think Madonna plays characters she identifies with or "is" well. For some people Evita was opportunisitic and manipulative, for some she was the ultimate hero. Madonna sort of has that complex, she wants to be or thinks she is a hero but she also is full of this opportunistic and manipulative side in her issues with over-achievement. Then I think some of it was her own mother dying around the same age. I feel like she probably put herself in her mother's shoes. I do agree that Madonna performs well in her videos as opposed to movies which is just odd. I guess she tends to identify with music she helps write more than she does with roles when she actually has to play somebody different than herself.

The Bad Girl SNL performance from 1993 is is great in a subtle way.

Indeed.

In the last decade, I haven't been into Madonna's music as much as I was in the 80s and 90s - so I've been watching some of her 2000s videos. First, is it wrong that I think Revolver is great? LOL, it's very, very conceited (my sex is a killer, do you want to die happy?) but I love the sound of it. Die Another Day, I love the video for this:

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Love this video and song. It was only released in the UK/Europe, and there was a mini controversy at the time in the UK, as many thought it referenced Princess Diana's demise, but the premise was actually a day in Madonna's life.

Madonna wins her first music-related Grammy (she won one for long-form video before) for Ray of Light in 1999.

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Love this video and song. It was only released in the UK/Europe, and there was a mini controversy at the time in the UK, as many thought it referenced Princess Diana's demise, but the premise was actually a day in Madonna's life.

Thanks for posting that. It always bears rewatching. It may be my favorite of hers. Such a great song and an amazingly shot video.

Thanks for posting that. It always bears rewatching. It may be my favorite of hers. Such a great song and an amazingly shot video.

It's another terrific song.

I could swear I remembered seeing this video on American TV, but I may be confusing TV and YouTube.

MTV: Top 10 Transformations...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=E1kbXtQDcx4

Madonna presenting George Michael an award in a very Madonna-like way, heh:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jaZVQyTOBns

I love how she basically outed him, she knew...

"The Diva HIMSELF!"

I was looking for the Prince/Madonna award clip which I'd seen before but I never realized this part: The AMA's having categories such as "Favorite BLACK single," "Favorite BLACK album" That just sounds so, so, so, so wrong. It's odd people weren't offended about it. Maybe they were. IDK.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1KZOGPkbNCc

Madonna/Prince "Love Song"

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BAIWd3Bul5M

ETA:

When did George Michael officially come out of the closet? I remember there being some public bathroom incident not too long ago. Okay, long ago but not that long ago.

This is from MTV Europe, I believe.

But MTV US used to be famous for their Madonna Weekends during the 80's and early to mid 90's before they abandoned music altogether. It's where a lot of us who were maybe too young to fully remember and appreciate her early stuff got well acquainted with her discography/videography.

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Also love this Year in Rock 1990 clip, this was the year that solidified her as a permanent pop cultural icon.

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Edited March 21, 201213 yr by Y&RWorldTurner

Thanks for finding all this. I mostly remember that era of MTV for Remote Control and Liquid Television, but I do remember what a presence Madonna was. There was a certain level of respect on the channel at that time, along with the playfulness.

Girl Gone Wild video:

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I was pleasantly surprised by that video. I loved the return of dancing Madonna. This would've been a more Madonna lead single, but overall this album is pretty blah. Such a shame she won't be promoting it though. Seems like such a waste.

When did George Michael officially come out of the closet? I remember there being some public bathroom incident not too long ago. Okay, long ago but not that long ago.

For some reason I remember summer 1997.