Since we've been discussing Madonna so much lately,I had the urge to watch her old videos yesterday.One of my favorites is the "Like A Prayer" video.I remember being totally fascinated by it in 1989.It created alot of controversy back then...burning crosses,Madonna wearing a skimpy dress as she sings and dances in a church with a black choir,a girl getting stabbed,a black saint,an interracial romance...lol...I don't think the world was quite ready for this video!


So,what are your thoughts? What did you think the first time you saw it? Were you offended,intrigued or both?

I thought it was a great video... it shed some light on some subjects that neither the church or other groups wanted to explore.

Vashti said:

Exactly and that's why I love Madonna.She wasn't afraid to tackle controversial subjects that most people would rather avoid.And she's still doing it to this day.Her recent "American Life" video couldn't even be shown.

It was her best period, i think. The whole Prayer-album is a classic...btw.: my CD still smells of Patchouli perfume after 14 years , anyone here who noticed this too?

I can't wait until this album finally gets re-mastered.I know of several unrelased tracks and demo versions from this project.These are the songs that should be included...


Madonna 'Like A Prayer' Remaster tracklist...


"Like A Prayer"
"Express Yourself"
"Love Song"
"Til Death Do Us Part"
"Promise To Try"
"Cherish"
"Dear Jessie"
"Oh Father"
"Keep It Together"
"Spanish Eyes"
"Act Of Contrition"

BONUS TRACKS...

"Love Attack" (previously unreleased)
"First There's A Kiss" (previously unreleased)
"Supernatural"
"Love Song" (demo version that appears on a Prince bootleg)
"Cherish" (previously unreleased remix by Hank Shocklee)
"Express Yourself" demo version (producer Steve Bray has said that this version is "better than the released version")
"Keep It Together" (demo version)



Come on Warners,what are you waiting for?

DavidEye said:

who was looking at madonna...mmm Leon was yummy in that video and I don't like him...

Rhondab said:

What a beautiful man. I had the pleasure of meeting him in Chicago years ago.

Rhondab said:

I saw him once at the courts when I went to postpone jury duty service. He had just recently played Little Richard in a made for tv movie. As he passed I said: "Hey Little Richard!" He smile, but homey looked like he was still role playing. Can you say "Tootie Fruity"? He was on fire, if you know whutumsayin'.

UptownDeb said:

I don't care. A lot of gay men are hot!!!

stymie said:

I don't care. A lot of gay men are hot!!![/quote]

You don't have to tell me twice. When I did the AIDS dance a couple of times they were the hottest guys in the place! How, come some straight guys don't work out like that? My friend went to a gay men's club and said she had a blast! Those hot, sweaty, tight bodies... Now, I want to go.

"Like A Prayer" is a classic video. I have fond memories of it in my childhood. I was a bigger fan of Madonna's MUSIC and videos during the time period of that video (1987-1990). I still remember the stir caused by the depiction of a black disciple! The Western World wasn't ready for that, especially America, people still see Jesus and anything Christian as blonde hair and blue eyes and white skin. I give Madonna props for acknowledging different viewpoints and expanding things, even if it may have been all in the name of controversy.

This is arguably Madonna's most classic and essential video. I was an impressionable 9 year old boy when it came out, and I loved what I saw. I never understood why it was SOOO controversial back then- I guess children have to be taught to be narrow-minded.

I still think her best video, though, is "Oh Father."

UptownDeb said:

Was it good? I saw the DVD in the wrecka stow and thought about buying it.

My 1st reaction was like "WTF,,,did she just kiss Leon's feet?"

Harlepolis said:

NOOO...don't buy it, Harle!!!

stymie said:

Word?

Was it the acting or the whole sequenced production that u didn't like?

Off topic, he also portrayed Jackie Wilson in another movie but its wasn't a basic role, it was only a camoe. Even tho they don't look like each other, the brotha knew how to act like him singing "Lonely Teardrops"
[This message was edited Thu Aug 21 13:57:22 PDT 2003 by Harlepolis]

Moonbeam said:

"Oh Father" is an amazing song...but I can't listen to it...
the words are very personal to me.

Vashti said:

Have you seen the video?

Moonbeam said:

yes
the part where the girl goes to kiss her dead mother, and you see the metal braces that closes her mouth...

My only problem with the Like A Prayer video was the fact

racial edit
[This message was edited Fri Aug 22 11:33:52 PDT 2003 by Janfriend]

JANFAN4L said:

Absolutely! I was just commenting on the white jesus look earlier today in GD!

a great video! really spoke to me as a teenager, and is still a fantastic video today. one of the things that makes her so great is the genius of her videos, many of which stand the test of time, and play like mini-movies with a strong beginning middle and end.

Great video & great song.

Vashti said:

I used to sing it to myself when I wanted to die during my childhood. whenever I wanted to kill myself, when the pain in my life post-molestation, post-coming out, while I was in foster homes where I was being abused was too great, I would sing it to myself to chase the tears away. Any time I hear it, it just reminds me of how much I have survived, but it chokes me up. I lvoe it, but I can't listen to it a whole lot.

cborgman said:

aww, thank you P... how ahve you bee? we ahve not talked in a long time!

and rally, i didn't mean to kill the thread, i was just chatting. i hate when i kill a thread like that.

bananacologne said:

ditto what he said!

Apparently,the video was originally planned to be even more controversial than it was...


"Having previously taken on the social issue of teenage pregnancy with great commercial success,Madonna now sought to tackle racism by having the new video depict a mixed-race couple being gunned down by the Ku Klux Klan.However,upon further thought and in keeping with the song's religious connotations,she decided on another provocative theme.The video's director,Mary Lambert,says "I felt it was a song about ecstasy and very specifically sexual ecstasy and how it relates to religious ecstasy.We listened to it together and Madonna agreed that that's what it was about.Madonna said she would like to make love on an altar in the video".

When Lambert kept Madonna's initial idea of an interracial love affair in the concept,the result was a hodgepodge of controversial images---Madonna kissing a black saint,receiving the stigmata,dancing in front of burning crosses while scantitly clad in what appeared to be just a black slip and,as per her request,making love on an altar to a black man (who,in the course of the storyline of the video,had been falsely accused of murder).It was a terrific video.A brunnette Madonna danced throughout the spectacle with such wild abandon---at one point singing and dancing while wearing her little undergarment in church,being backed by a black gospel choir---it was as if she knew she was about to cause a commotion and couldn't wait to see how it would all unfold".


(from the 2001 book "Madonna-An Intimate Biography" by J.Randy Taraborrelli)

FED UP WITH SEEING THAT 10% OF THE THREADS ON THIS FORUM ARE DEDICATED TO AN "OVEREXPOSED WANABEE"

Peace

DrD said:

LOL...the Madonna threads were just about to die until YOU decided to re-vive them.As a huge fan of hers,I have to thank you

DrD said: