Timmy84 said:

nursev said:

Madge is still cool-she's from Michigan so she will always be cool

She went the Tina Turner route but more offensively.

Talking of Tina I was looking at albums earlier tonight and saw a 12" of hers with Let's Pretend We're Married (Live) on the b-side. I'm gonna have to remind myself to hear it somewhere. Sounds like it could be awful. Be interesting to hear what she did with the lyrics.

i am starting to see - as a biased madge stan/stalker/lover - really it was 2002/2003 when she lost her 'cool' card.

most would say it was due to age. in 2003 she turned 45. at 54, now, it is so evident that it was one thing when she was post 35 (aside from looking the hottest she'd been) - 36 to 39ish were still young enough to afford massive radio play (take a bow, secret, you'll see, don't cry for me, frozen) of most her singles and be the queen of mtv. 40 was yet another thing - yes she was now 'over the hill' but the austin powers vibe, the psychedelic trippy ROL winning best video, and then even 'music' was her biggest number one in years and had a controversial video clip to boot - and with don't tell me it was a one-two punch of mega radio rulings. 2002 she got by on the prestige of doing james bond's theme song, an instant US pop ten. but i always assumed it was the pilates-hotties-bodies rap on 'AL' that killed her radio viability and 'cool' factor ... but i really do believe that a few other things circa 2003-4 OUTSIDE of her age are what damaged her 'cool' card irreversibly (though Hung Up and CT would do some damage control, it would never be the same):

1. them damn childrens books

2. the gap commercial where for the first time she began pimping an OLD tune directly to promote her single hollywood and album AL and hawk GAP wear on tv

3. the britney spears duet - need i say more

4. the KABALLAH

5. honorable mention - the increasingly apparent british, anglophile, matronly, queen of the manor act which not only became part of her performance art in interviews and onstage but was true to her actual lifestyle of marrying a pint - swigging, duck hunting, homophobic, quentin tarantino wannabe 'higher brow' 'auteur' (read - pretentious pompous hollywood via britain director) - whom she married probably hoping to be cast in one a film or two of his...and the final nail in her movie career coffin was born

i think these add up to an unprecedented PR nightmare that Madonna and team have, on the one hand, still not weathered (for all her millions, agents, and personal marketing savvy and business acumen) and yet and still, any recoveries she's made or maintenance of any popularity (esp in the US) are that much more impressive...a woman who once titillated every evening news show from LA to Iceland with a book called "SEX" later authored something called "Mr. Peabody's Apples" with a target demo of about six and half years old and she still sells out arenas in LA and San Francisco, multiple nights...

[Edited 8/20/12 23:44pm]

[Edited 8/20/12 23:47pm]

iloveannie said:

Timmy84 said:

She went the Tina Turner route but more offensively.

Talking of Tina I was looking at albums earlier tonight and saw a 12" of hers with Let's Pretend We're Married (Live) on the b-side. I'm gonna have to remind myself to hear it somewhere. Sounds like it could be awful. Be interesting to hear what she did with the lyrics.

it's a great cover

I don't give a d..n about her music, but she was supercool when she stood up for Pussy Riot.

The last great album Madonna released, where she was keenly focused on artistic merit, was TRUE BLUE in 1987......

that album was off the charts......

RAY OF LIGHT in 1998 was good, a moment of resurgence

THE IMMACULATE COLLECTION in 1990 featured all of her classic hits starting with BORDERLINE in 1983

[Edited 8/21/12 5:51am]

Mintchip said:

I went to high school 1994 - 1998, and she wasn't cool then. Girls, guys, didn't matter. Nobody was listening or talking about Madonna.

I don't know why the emphasis on cool, though. Or "relevant", whatever that means. I think she's pretty awesome, regardless of what kids think.

Secret & Take A Bow received huge air play especially take a bow

but after that for a few years it was a bit low key for her because she was having her baby and doing the Evita film, which she & the film did wonderfully.

She but out a song or 2 but not albums so to say nobody was listening or talking about her is pretty far off

she's still cool now

but the last BADDEST cool was Confession era

OldFriends4Sale said:

Mintchip said:

I went to high school 1994 - 1998, and she wasn't cool then. Girls, guys, didn't matter. Nobody was listening or talking about Madonna.

I don't know why the emphasis on cool, though. Or "relevant", whatever that means. I think she's pretty awesome, regardless of what kids think.

Secret & Take A Bow received huge air play especially take a bow

but after that for a few years it was a bit low key for her because she was having her baby and doing the Evita film, which she & the film did wonderfully.

She but out a song or 2 but not albums so to say nobody was listening or talking about her is pretty far off

I just meant in high school. Kids, you know? The only people who really care what's cool. Evita was far from cool, believe me, and "Take a Bow" was (I think) her biggest hit ever, but it really wasn't cool.

I mean Celine Dion was doing very well in the mid 90s, but she wasn't cool either.

Madonna was too big to be cool by then, to old, and we had no interest.

I say this as a hardcore fan, who bought the albums on the first day, and never discussed them, because there wasn't anyone around who would cop to owning them as well.

Live, Alanis, Dave Matthews, Green Day, No Doubt, even Janet Jackson, I remember being very cool. Madonna, Prince, and Michael...I don't know. We were just over them.

I'd say 'Dick Tracey' - era's after that seemed to forced and contrived.

Although 'Music' was a good look for her too.