Dewrede said:

I'll give you that fact that she doesn't have the greatest voice (but then alot of the big stars don't...Bowie, Paul McCartney, etc) and she has never admitted that she has.

As for dance, you clearly don't know enough about her to make that comment. I assume you are unaware of dance and ballet academies she trained at in her younger days, the time she spent in France before she was famous, productions on the New York stage she took part in. Pick up one of her biographies and you'll find out she's had a hell of alot more dance training than you think.

Instrument wise, she can drum and play guitar (though, granted, not to any great standard). As for song-writing, again you're making assumptions without having all the facts. Just check out the writing credits on any of her albums and you'll be surprised. She had more than a hand in some of the great pop tracks of the 80s and 90s...Live To Tell for example, a great song.

I'm not gonna tell you she's perfect, far from it. I'm a fan but I'm not stupid....but it does annoy me when people make bold, sweeping statements without knowing all the facts.

avasdad said:

Madonna had 'Like A Prayer'.She had 'Ray Of Light'.She's had too many hits to mention.Rock and Roll is not just about "landmark recordings".It's also about fun singles,it's about dancing.Madonna has had some of the most impressive dance/pop singles ever.If you were around in the 80s,you would know what I mean.But more importantly than that,she has had several amazing albums as well.





I always say that Madonna should write the book on "How To Successfully Handle Your Pop Music Career".Practically everyone else in pop music (young and old) could learn a few things from her.




I can look back on her career and say that 'Like A Prayer' is one of the greatest pop albums of all time.I can say the same thing about 'Ray Of Light'.It's all a matter of opinion but there are many factors involved when they select a Rock and Roll Hall of Fame nominee.It's pointless to try to undermine the impact that Madonna has had on pop music since 1983.

I think it comes down to that old adage of liking something and appreciating something. Just because someone doesn't like Madonna or her music they just label her as sh*t.....now, I don't like Elton John (for example) but I don't go round saying he's crap, and I can fully appreciate the talent he has and what he's achieved. I just don't like him or his music; doesn't mean he's rubbish at what he does.

TheMightyCelestial said:

Though,
on occasion,
I do prefer a bowl of Honey Combs, instead.

One time,
I tried some Grape Nuts.....

whoo the fuck came up with that nasty-tasting shit?

Now someone explain that one to me....

WildStyle said:

I'll give you one for every year you've been alive:

1985: Into the Groove
1986: Live to Tell
1987: La Isla Bonita
1988: Who's That Girl (OK, it's really from '87)
1989: Cherish
1990: Justify My Love
1991: Rescue Me
1992: Deeper and Deeper
1993: Bad Girl
1994: Secret
1995: Human Nature
1996: You Must Love Me
1997: (not a great year for her)
1998: The Power of Good-Bye
1999: Beautiful Stranger
2000: Music
2001: What It Feels Like for a Girl
2002: Die Another Day
2003: Hollywood
2004: Nothing Fails
2005: Hung Up
2006: Sorry
2007: Future Lovers/I Feel Love (Live)

That's 22 and I didn't mention "Vogue," "Papa Don't Preach," "Ray of Light," "Like a Prayer," "Take a Bow," or countless other hits. If you don't get it by now, you probably won't.

She has an extremely unique voice, outlook and musical legacy (her film career is really bad, but that of course is not the issue).

I know that it can irritate some, but I’d much rather hear her voice in the studio (not live), even back, or perhaps even especially back when it was even less over most people who were trained vocally with big degrees that are near flawless in execution.

And her music -- some of the greatest pop/dance songs ever -- hold up much better than a thousand others who’ve displayed similar traits. She's at the top of the mountain for what she does, even if it's an obstacle you care not climb.

And, finally, she’s proved one of the bigger voices of female sexual defiance at a time when it was really needed in the audience at large.

The double standard where male sexual empowerment is a pat on the back where for females it was – and to some degree still is – a cause for disdain, simply had to be eroded.

Yes, millions of others already knew this, but it was a refreshing refrain in the mainstream taking ones clothes off while always remaining in full control.

Britney Spears, even before the shaved head and the embarrassing attention seeking, could never, even in spite of all her popularity, be anything but the superficial Madonna.

So, yes, I think she clearly belongs in the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame.

But with regards to her being one of the rare first ballot inductees, I’m not nearly as convinced.

AlexdeParis said:

Which one is penned or produced by Madonna all by herself?

TonyVanDam said:

I would argue that she has done this more effectively than anyone else in pop music.

avasdad said:

if someone has to explain it to you, you'll never get it anyway.

Cheek said:

I didn't know that was a requirement.





Oh wait, it isn't.

AlexdeParis said:

She can't sing, write, produce, arrange. Get it now?

The R&R hall of fame is about performers who made an impact
in the 'rock' era..it's not genre defined.

Cheek said:

And The Beatles I guess produced all their work all by themselves too ha?


And Prince even had no input help with Wendy & Lisa....which he failed to input on some album credits...and that makes Michael Jackson and the Jackson 5 less of a artist(s) because Quncy Jones and berry Gordy and the Corporation produced him / them I guess... Less we not even get to the Supremes and the Temptations
[Edited 2/27/08 7:43am]

AlexdeParis said:

She's had so many great songs it's unbelievable. I can just about name an alternative hit for every one of those years. You might not think she can sing but you simply can't deny the way she has continously been able to have her music exposed to an incredibly fickle music listening public. I admire her incredible drive and focus and will to do whatever the f**k she has wanted to do throughout her career.

mynameisnotsusan said:

right but that's all luck... Madonna's abilities and talents had nothing to do with

ehuffnsd said:

how does a heterosexual woman have a homo look and sound ?


ok

Dewrede said:

cause she is a Faghag or alternative lifestyle companion.

AlexdeParis said:

I guess that's it then

paisleypark4 said:

Oh lawd!

You just can't mention Madonna on the same musical page with John Lennon, Paul McCartney and George Harrison.

She's just Madonna. There's something visceral about being a Madonna fan. Something cerebral as well. Yeah, a lot of it is disposable or highly stylized pop, but there's just something there that grabs ahold of me and won't let go. Attitude, style, image, drive, and yes, the music also.

To me, she is unbelievably large and multi-dimensional. She's much more than music, she's culture itself. I think for girls who grew up with her, like me, she changed the very fabric of the way we think about ourselves and our role in the world. She forced the culture to reconfigure its attitudes. She's so powerful that people have to hate her in an attempt to keep her away. She re-codified our understanding of gender, sexuality, expression, image, character, and success.

Madonna writes a lot of her own lyrics. A lot. She doesn't write the music, but she did tell Kurt Loder that she sometimes went to, say, Patrick Leonard or Steven Bray (or whomever she was writing with at the time) and would sing her lyrics to them, and they would simply write the music or tune she was singing.

I'm not about to try to coerce someone into becoming a fan of Madonna's. Some artists click with some folks, others do not.

True, there are better dancers out there, better live performers, better singers, and better lyricists - but it's hard to combat the point that the woman has incredible staying power.

The media's always had a love/hate thing with Madonna, but even when it was at its worst (around the time of "Erotica," "Sex," and "Body of Evidence"); she still sold albums, did the interview circuit, appeared on magazine covers, etc. And nobody has referred to any of her albums as a 'comeback album.' Perhaps they called "Confessions" a 'return to her roots' or something of the sort, but it wasn't as though she disappeared and resurfaced with the hopes that a bunch of dance-oriented tracks would put her back into people's stereos or water cooler conversations.

Now, are a nose for business and a unique ability to market oneself enough to get a person into the R&RHOF? Probably not. But I believe writing a plethora of catchy dance & pop tunes is.