Monday 28 February 2011

It's Oscar night! (Part 5)

March 23, 1998
Taking Pre-Raphaelite glow and cutting-edge European fashion into the red carpet.
Dressed by Olivier Theyskens. Brilliant.
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«What a shocker...»
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70th Academy Awards Vanity Fair party

Sunday 27 February 2011

It's Oscar night! (Part 4)

March 24, 1997



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Second live experience at the Academy Awards stage and in front of an audience of millions, across the planet. I was in Aveiro at Pedro's and we were as nervous as her. This time, it was all about singing. She was unsually controlled and revealed an incredible new vocal performance. Madonna's bel canto, as Eva Peron. Brilliant.



All about the bangs
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69th Academy Awards Vanity Fair party

It's Oscar night! (Part 3)

March 27, 1995
Again in good Hollywood style.





67th Academy Awards, Vanity Fair party



It's Oscar night! (Part 2)

March 30, 1992
Subversive fashion (God, I miss those days...).




64th Academy Awards, Vanity Fair party

It's Oscar night! (Part 1)

March 25th, 1991
A sumptuous premiere on the red carpet,
in pure, dazzling Old Hollywood glamour. Perfect.




63rd Academy Awards party



Sooner Or Later

Truly one of the most memorable, amazing 5 minutes in M's career... and in Oscar history.
Noeone else in this Planet but Madonna could do this.
And I can't believe it's been 20 years already...

Saturday 19 February 2011

Friday 18 February 2011

Open Your Heart


More than just another M classic, and definitely one of our all-time favourites, Open Your Heart is a true milestone, for so many reasons.

And because it happened 24 years ago - on February 7th 1987, it reached #1 on the U.S. Billboard Hot 100 chart - let's stick with it for a moment.

Follow Your Heart

Yep, this was the song's original title. Gardner Cole and his friend Peter Rafelson wrote it for over a year, as a rock song (circa 1984-85). According to Cole, «Follow Your Heart is the name of a vegetarian restaurant in Los Angeles. I was in love with a waitress there named Lisa and she was the original inspiration for the lyrics.»

Donna's first step into Planet M

At that time, Cole had already submitted a song to Madonna (the title was Motor City Girl), but she rejected it. In the meantime, the original demo of Follow Your Heart was sung by Jason Scheff, Chicago's then lead singer (after Peter Cetera left the group).

It was Freddy Demann who, after listening to the demo, saw it as a potential hit for Madonna. He asked Cole to make a new demo, with a female voice instead. Cole asked his former girlfriend to sing the demo - a girl called Donna DeLory.

Later, on he suggested Pat Leonard to use Donna as back-up singer and dancer, by the time Pat was helping Madonna put together an upcoming tour...

Madonna says Yes

Even though the original song didn't sound like Madonna at all, she ended up accepting it. M teamed up with Pat and magic was made. Some of the lyrics were altered, a new title was given, a bassline was added, mid-tempo became up-tempo, a dance-pop song was created.

But it was Madonna's interpretation that really hit the mark. Just read the lyrics alone: not that special, even silly and juvenile (yes, it worked perfectly on Glee).
Now listen to Madonna's singing: powerful, assertive, sexual. The Midas touch.
Finally, picture her in late 1985, at the recording studio. Open Your Heart was, indeed, the first cut for the True Blue album.

Breakthrough

And then, there was the music video. It is said that Sean Penn was originally set to direct it. Fact or fiction, the truth is that Jean-Baptiste Mondino came along... and a true work of art was created. Shot in October 1986, it was released two months later. And it could still be released today.


In fact, this is one of those cases where the music video transcends time and the actual song itself. We just cannot dissociate Open Your Heart from all that peep-show atmosphere. That's why the Peugeot advert was so... strange.

This is where we get to the "landmark" bit: the Open Your Heart video was the Big Bang for an entire universe of elements that would radiate from Madonna's art, for years to come. Just to name a few:

1) Sex
Before OYH, it was all about innuendo. Now, sex was reeealy on the table - and in our faces. I was 9 years old at the time and I blushed when I saw the video for the first time, at a friend's house. Oh my god, we can actually see her groins!... Remember, it was 1986. It totally pushed all boundaries.

2) Mondino
The first "French touch" in M's career (Patrick Hernandez doesn't count...).

3) The conical bra
First lesson in one of the most iconic symbols in M's career. Period.

4) Tamara de Lempicka
First lesson in Art History.

5) Super-fit
In Papa Don't Preach, we could tell she was slimmer. But now... oh my god! Meet the fucking amazing quadriceps!

6) Androginy
Boys who are girls... inside the viewing booth; and at that fantastic end.

7) The chair
Cabaret, Broadway... M finally embraced such a poetic prop. Later on, she would take it to the stage.



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Surely, there is more to add to the list. But I have to stop now. I just have to watch the video.

Sources:
Wikipedia
MadonnaTribe's interview with Gardner Cole
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Watch this visual extravaganza in pictures, Through The Looking Glass.

Monday 7 February 2011

Sunday 6 February 2011

The Fountain

Dedicated to J.

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Before Snake Eyes, there was A Certain Sacrifice: another movie I hated, after seeing it for the first time. I totally agreed on M, at the time: what a mistake. There was simply no quality in there. Just a bad attempt to make a movie.

But like Abel Ferrara's film, this was a case of bad timing: I wasn't mature enough to grasp the real essence of it - and what it actually represents.

A Certain Sacrifice (1979) can't be labelled simply as "a movie". Screenplay and characters are, actually, peripheral to a much higher purpose: to capture the energy, the vibe of a specific generation in a particular space and time: New York City, late 70s / early 80s.

Only now this can be recognized as such. This 60 min. film is an experience of time-travelling and no high-budget production could recreate it better. A Certain Sacrifice is genuine, raw (thank God it's low-low-budget) and in-your-face.

But more than anything, it is a document that gives us access to something so valuable. I was talking to a dear friend of mine - who's passionate about the NYC/early 80s era - about a specific scene from the movie, the other day: the scene when Bruna and Dashiel meet, at the water fountain in Washington Square Park.

This is, actually, Madonna's first recorded appearence ever, on film. We must not take "The Egg Film" or some other high-school home videos into account. We're talking about building up a career. And that's what she was doing here, 2 years after moving to New York.
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The more we talked about the fountain scene, the more I realized: what we are witnessing here is Madonna's prime, raw essence, coming to life. She's not just acting. She's performing. It's easy to imagine the director, Stephen Jon Lewicki, telling her: Just do your thing. Improvise. Action!

And there she was, unleashing this intense energy of Fire and Leo, bursting like a volcano. It's not Bruna in there. It's Madonna, the girl who was living hand to mouth but who fed herself on a dream; the girl who walked around the streets of New York and looked into people's eyes, warning them telepathically: One day, I'm gonna be famous and you will recognize me. It's Madonna, without the audience, the industry, the critics, the fans, the pressure to live up to any standards. Only the camera and her untouched essence.

We can see all this on this specific scene. It's really The Fountain of it all.