Song of the Week (Week of June 12, 2011)

For this week's Song of the Week I chose a classic Madonna song off her debut album, "Burning Up." The song was released as a single in 1983. It's not as well known as some of her 80s songs, but it's definitely still a classic. I chose it for 2 reasons this week: first, because Britney Spears is doing a cover of the song on her upcoming Femme Fatale Tour. Her version is no where near as good as Madonna's (of course) so it kind of made me have an even greater appreciation for the original. If you want to hear it, you can do so HERE.

The other reason I chose this song is because it's Los Angeles Pride this weekend, and who better to celebrate Pride with than one of the greatest gay icons of all time? Enjoy!



Don't put me off 'cause I'm on fire
And I can't quench my desire
Don't you know that I'm burning up for your love
You're not convinced that that is enough
I put myself in this position
And I deserve the imposition
But you don't even know I'm alive
And this pounding in my heart just won't die
I'm burning up

Chorus:

I'm burning up, burning up for your love
I'm burning up, burning up for your love
I'm burning up, burning up for your love
For your love

You're always closing your door
Well that only makes me want you more
And day and night I cry for your love
You're not convinced that that is enough
To justify my wanting you
Now tell me what you want me to do
I'm not blind and I know
That you want to want me but you can't let go
Come on, let go

(chorus)

Oh

Intermediate:

Do you wanna see me down on my knees?
Or bending over backwards now would you be pleased?
Unlike the others I'd do anything
I'm not the same, I have no shame
I'm on fire

Come on, let go

(intermediate)

[Burning up for your love]
Ooo, yeah, I'm burning up [Burning up for your love]
Ooo, yeah, I'm burning up [Burning up for your love]
Come on, come on, I'm burning up [Burning up for your love]
Uh, uh, uh, I'm burning up [Burning up for your love]
Ooo, yeah, I'm burning up [Burning up for your love]
Come on, come on, I'm burning up [Burning up for your love]
Ooo, yeah, I'm burning up [Burning up for your love]
Uh, uh, uh [Burning up for your love]

You know you got me burning up, baby [Burning up for your love]
You know you got me burning up, baby [Burning up for your love]

Burning up for your love [Burning up for your love]
Burning up for your love [Burning up for your love]
(repeat and fade)

How Madonna's Career Can Be Rejuvenated

Yesterday I got my second article published on The Examiner.com. It is a more polished, concise version of the Madonna post I did on this blog, which you can see HERE. If you want to see the revised version on The Examiner, you can do so by clicking HERE. Enjoy!

Thoughts On Madonna's Career

I love Madonna. I have since I was 9 years old (which makes me a fan for 15 years now). She used to be my all-time favorite artist until I met Lady GaGa last month when she was just so sweet to me. Another reason why Madonna's now my number 2 favorite artist is because I feel that she is just not trying anymore and because she is just recreating trends in music instead of setting them like she used to. Her career is not the same as it used to be--part of that is because of her age, but a lot of it is her own fault...(more after the jump)

Madonna Finally Speaks Out About Gay Teen Suicides!

Finally! FINALLY! Madonna has been my all time favorite artist since I was 9 years old, but lately it hasn't felt like it. This is in large part because of the fact that she hasn't really made any statement whatsoever about any of the MANY gay rights issues floating around today. See, I feel connected to my favorite artists on many levels. I connect to their music for sure, but I also connect to them as people. This is the case for all four of my favorite artists (Madonna, Lady GaGa, Robyn and Kylie).

Lately, I have been majorly disappointed in Madonna. While younger artists, with more to risk one might argue, have been completely outspoken for gay issues like Prop 8, Don't Ask, Don't Tell, and the recent tragic string of gay teen suicides, Madonna has not said anything. Sure, she voiced her opposition to Prop 8 passing during her Sticky & Sweet concert in Los Angeles, but that was about it.

As an artist who owes a lot to the gay community and has been an outspoken advocate of gay rights in the past, her silence now was a bit disheartening. When everyone in the 80s was afraid of AIDS and labeled it a "gay disease," she was donating money from her concerts to AIDS charities (and continued to do so in the 90s). She popularized vogueing (a huge dance trend in gay clubs before she brought it mainstream), hired numerous gay dancers and even featured a gay pride parade in her documentary "Truth or Dare." But I was just a little boy then. Now that all these other gay issues that directly effect me are being discussed and debated, I was a bit disappointed that Madonna, my all time favorite artist and huge proponent of gay rights, remained silent. Until yesterday that is.

Yesterday, Madonna went on the The Ellen Degeneres Show (via satellite from New York) to talk about the recent gay teen suicides. She actually said, "I wouldn't have a career if it weren't for the gay community. I feel like it would be incredibly remiss of me to not say something." YES. Thank you! Madonna, the gay community has always been proud of you and looked up to you, almost as a spokeswoman for our causes. Thank you for stepping up to do so once again...we were scared for a second there you wouldn't. See the full, unedited interview below:

Song of the Week (Week of October 31, 2010)

Hello everyone...happy Halloween! This year I (finally) dressed up as Madonna...so in honor of that, I'm picking a Madonna song for this week's Song of the Week. Since I wore a Blond Ambition Tour wig, I decided to go with Vogue, her most popular song around that time in 1990. Ultimately, this is also one of the most famous songs of her whole career.

Believe it or not, this song was actually meant to be a B-Side for the single "Keep It Together" off of Madonna's "Like A Prayer" album. Madonna co-wrote and co-produced this song with producer Shep Pettibone. The song, and later on the video, were inspired by the dance of the same name, which was being performed in the New York underground gay club scene. This of course only strengthened Madonna's connection to the gay community.

After the song was presented to executives at Warner Bros. records, everyone agreed that the song was too good to just be a B-Side. They decided to release it as a single from the next release on Madonna's calendar, "I'm Breathless," which contained songs from AND inspired by Madonna's film, "Dick Tracy." The song hit number one in over 30 countries, including the U.S., and has since, along with its music video, become an iconic piece of pop culture. It truly is one of my favorite songs and one of her best. Enjoy!



Strike a pose
Strike a pose
Vogue, vogue, vogue
Vogue, vogue, vogue

Look around everywhere you turn is heartache
It's everywhere that you go (look around)
You try everything you can to escape
The pain of life that you know (life that you know)

When all else fails and you long to be
Something better than you are today
I know a place where you can get away
It's called a dance floor, and here's what it's for, so

[Chorus:]
Come on, vogue
Let your body move to the music (move to the music)
Hey, hey, hey
Come on, vogue
Let your body go with the flow (go with the flow)
You know you can do it

All you need is your own imagination
So use it that's what it's for (that's what it's for)
Go inside, for your finest inspiration
Your dreams will open the door (open up the door)

It makes no difference if you're black or white
If you're a boy or a girl
If the music's pumping it will give you new life
You're a superstar, yes, that's what you are, you know it

[chorus, substituting "groove" for "move"]

Beauty's where you find it
Not just where you bump and grind it
Soul is in the musical
That's where I feel so beautiful
Magical, life's a ball
So get up on the dance floor

[chorus]

Vogue, (Vogue)
Beauty's where you find it (move to the music)
Vogue, (Vogue)
Beauty's where you find it (go with the flow)

Greta Garbo, and Monroe
Deitrich and DiMaggio
Marlon Brando, Jimmy Dean
On the cover of a magazine

Grace Kelly; Harlow, Jean
Picture of a beauty queen
Gene Kelly, Fred Astaire
Ginger Rodgers, dance on air

They had style, they had grace
Rita Hayworth gave good face
Lauren, Katherine, Lana too
Bette Davis, we love you

Ladies with an attitude
Fellows that were in the mood
Don't just stand there, let's get to it
Strike a pose, there's nothing to it

Vogue, vogue

Oooh, you've got to
Let your body move to the music
Oooh, you've got to just
Let your body go with the flow
Oooh, you've got to
Vogue

Madonna Leaks Like A Broken Faucet

Every artist has songs that are left on the cutting room floor, so to speak. These are songs they recorded for albums or other side projects that never end up seeing the light of the day. Sometimes, when they are feeling generous, artists release these songs as B-sides, but most of the time the tracks just sit idle unless the artist chooses to re-work them for a future album or give them to another artist to sing.

The past couple of weeks have found a flood of Madonna demos leak on the internet. There have been both new demos of songs that have never been released (or even heard) before, as well as early demos of songs that were officially released, such as "Give It 2 Me" from the "Hard Candy" album and "It's So Cool" from the "Celebration" collection. For some of these songs, it is obvious why they were trashed and never officially released. Others, however, are actually really good and deserve to be heard by the general public.

I have decided to post the newly-leaked demos of songs never released in any form (as opposed to the demos of songs that were turned into songs we all know). After the jump you'll find the songs in chronological order of when they were recorded with a short review of each one. Enjoy!

Song of the Week (Week of August 29, 2010)

Happy Sunday everyone!

This upcoming week is my birthday week (I turn 24 on Tuesday!!) so I thought it was fitting that I chose a Madonna song for the Song of the Week, being that she is my all time favorite artist who I've adored and admired since I was 9 years old.

I also thought it was fitting that I choose my favorite Madonna song of all time, which is "Ray of Light," from her 1998 album of the same name. I remember taking photos of my television screen with my Polaroid camera when the music video premiered on TRL haha.

After giving birth to her daughter, Madonna totally reinvented her sound and image with this song (and album) and truly cemented her status as a legend and a pop icon. The song is based on Curtiss Maldoon 1971 folk song "Sepheryn," but "Ray of Light" is basically an entirely new song with its electronic beat and even some new lyrics. This is a complex, classic song that is not like many others out there, even all the pop songs that tried to duplicate its sound and style after its immense success. Enjoy!



Verse:
Zephyr in the sky at night I wonder
Do my tears of mourning sink beneath the sun
She's got herself a universe gone quickly
For the call of thunder threatens everyone

Chorus:

And I feel like I just got home
And I feel
And I feel like I just got home
And I feel

Faster than the speeding light she's flying
Trying to remember where it all began
She's got herself a little piece of heaven
Waiting for the time when Earth shall be as one

(chorus)

Quicker than a ray of light
Quicker than a ray of light
Quicker than a ray of light

(verse)

And I feel
Quicker than a ray of light
Then gone for
Someone else shall be there
Through the endless years

She's got herself a universe
She's got herself a universe
She's got herself a universe

And I feel
And I feel
And I feel like I just got home
And I feel

Quicker than a ray of light she's flying
Quicker than a ray of light I'm flying

All My People In the Crowd Grab a Partner Take It Down

This past week Britney Spears taped her appearance for a Britney-themed episode of "Glee" for the show's upcoming season. Seeing the photos Britney tweeted and thinking about an all Britney episode of "Glee" inspired me to share my thoughts on the pop singer that everyone in the world seems to have some kind of opinion about (click the "Read More" tab to continue...most of my future entries will have this from now on).

Welcome!

Hello all! My name is Mike...I'm 23 (about to be 24 in...13 days) and i LOVE music. specifically pop music. even more specifically dance-centered pop music. even more specifically dance-centered pop music by strong female artists.

This blog is not meant to be a Perez Hilton type of blog...in fact, you'll probably hardly read anything about the personal lives of any musical artists on here. Rather, it's about my personal opinions on performances, albums, songs and careers of the women I admire and respect in the music business.

My all time favorite artist is Madonna...


...Followed closely by Lady GaGa...


...Kylie Minogue...


...And finally, Robyn


So you will most likely be reading a lot of posts that have to do with these four. Out of all the strong female pop artists out there, why these four you ask? well besides the fact that they're all gay icons and all have really fun, catchy, danceable music that's relatable, they each have a very deep meaning to me personally in their own way.

Madonna set the bar for what the perfect female pop star strives to be...without her, there would be no GaGa, Kylie, or Robyn...or Britney, Christina, and Katy Perry for that matter. She was one of the pioneers of the music video and changed the way musical artists are marketed and concerts are performed. Lady GaGa's current Monster Ball Tour would be nothing without Madonna's Blond Ambition Tour in 1990 to pave the way. Not only that, but she took a stand for things she believed in, especially female empowerment and gay rights. She is known as a bitch, and she probably is, but strong women in our culture are often labeled that way because they intimidate. i have been a Madonna fan since i was 9 years old...there is no one like her and no one will ever be like her.

Lady GaGa has only been around for a couple of years, yet her mark on pop music and pop culture is undeniable. every other pop star now is trying to out-gaga lady gaga (wearing outrageous outfits, putting together elaborate performances, making big budget epic music videos, etc). yet, she does has it all: she has an incredible voice, she writes her own music that is both lyrically rich and melodically catchy, she plays the piano, she dances her ass off, and she wears costumes and outfits no one has ever seen before. plus, her explicit support of gay rights even surpasses madonna's back in the day...as a relatively new artist, she has already put her career on the line by being vehemently outspoken against homophobia and the unequal treatment of the gay community. not only that, but she cares more about her fans than any other pop star i have seen around in a while. being one of her "little monsters" make you feel like you're part of a community who accepts you for who you are no matter what.

Kylie is not a great dancer and doesn't write most of her music, but she has an incredible voice. more importantly, her music is pure fun. sometimes you dont want to listen to music without a lot of weight and meaning behind it. if im in a happy (or sad) mood, sometimes i just want to hear a beautiful voice singing about dancing and love.

Finally, robyn is an incredible songwriter who completely reinvented herself since her teeny bopper "show me love" days in the 90s. out of all these women, her music is perhaps most relatable because she writes about love and heartbreak so truthfully. if you have ever liked someone and your feelings for them have not been returned, listen to her song "Be Mine!"...no other pop star sings about these kind of subjects period, let alone as eloquently as Robyn does.

Aside from these 4 women, you will no doubt see some posts pop up here and there about some of the other female pop stars I admire such as Natalie Maines of the Dixie Chicks, Alison Goldfrapp of Goldfrapp, Beyoncé, Gwen Stefani, and Janet Jackson, among others. So I hope you enjoy this blog and feel free to comment if you agree or disagree with my opinions.

Night!