Yeah, hits collections tended to come out after at least 4-5 albums for acts that were still considered commercially viable. The only acts who released hits collections with fewer records than that were acts that had already arrived at a state of obvious commercial irrelevance. They were kind of like a tombstone marking the end of a major commercial career for those acts. No way would Madonna say yes to that, and I'd be surprised if Warners even floated the idea for fear of offending her.
Had Madonna earned respect by 1987? Maybe the record company were expecting the bubble to burst any second like with all the artists they forced to record 2 albums a year in the 70s. I get the feeling not many people took her seriously until after Like A Prayer. Despite her huge success prior to this.
I have one with the patchouly scent in quite good condition, minor marks on CD readible side, plays and rips flawlessly, booklet is almost in mint condition. Actually, I have some more Madonna staff I'd like to sell.
She certainly had commercial success, a respected artist? I think she really made the industry (as well as us) take notice on "Like A Prayer." The video alone. I'm glad she took the time to make this album........even though we are not officially talking about that yet! lol I'm glad that artists didn't have to put out 1-2 new albums a year. With touring and promotional trips how does one find quality time to spend in the recording studio?
That's also true. Madonna was a superstar in 1987, but still, it had been just 3 years (!) since her starmaking performance of "Like A Virgin" at the VMAs. She wasn't that established. Pop stars often had short(ish) spells of being super hot. She would become the exception to the rule, but how could Warners have been absolutely certain in late 1987? I know they believed in her, but even so... they must have been wondering, what if she cools off suddenly (like, everyone does, don't they?)
Olivia and Elton John were artists who put out 2 albums a year for a chunk of the 70s. It's a wonder those records were as good as they were. As you say, they weren't JUST recording either...
Yeah, how did they survive the abuse! Madonna would of told them (the record co.) to F-off. Literally! ;-)
It's been well documented how Elton John coped with it. Maybe the ladies deal with the pressure better, but again there are exceptions. Even Madonna, as outspoken as she can be, seems to have coped with fame, even though she wanted to rule the world, in a somewhat normal vein. How is that?
I have an original Like A Prayer CD from 1989, German Teldec pressing with patchouly scent, an 1989 LP record, no patchouly, in very good condition. I have ALL the CD Maxi-Singles released in Europe from Madonna S/T to Who's That Girl, Dress you Up is the Japanese with Ain't No Big Deal, plus the two CD Maxi-Singles released in Europe for Like A Prayer. I don't Know How Much should I asked for these staff, maybe you could help me. The CD Maxi-Singles will be Sold as a bundle.
It was being said even by the early 90's (Erotica era) that Madonna was too old to be pulling this off. 25 years later she's still at it........
Diana Ross is another one. During the 70's she was recording to up to 3 albums a year. In her biography I think it states that Berry put her under a lot of stress at that time. Enough for her to develop an eating disorder and fall terribly underweight (seriously) Movies/Music. It all came to an end on the set of Mahogany when, let's just say Miss Ross had had enough of him. I don't know at all how acts then managed making all those albums. No wonder their catalogues are f'in massive
I think Madonna is just a force of nature. She could have burned out or gone the way of someone like Whitney Houston, but she always seemed in control. Even later on when things occasionally went sour for her. I'm not saying she hasn't had vices, but if she has they haven't destroyed her or even slowed her down much!
If you've seen the Sex book. And you're a clean living boy so I'm sure you haven't, you'd see that Madonna looked the best she'd ever done (IMO) in this period. See also Body Of Evidence (at your peril) and the Bad Girl video.
This is true. a lot of people don't realize that Madonna broke through late in the game compared to other female vocalist. When she had her first #1 hit she was already 26, her first massive year was 1985 and she turned 27 that year. Rihanna, Britney, Beyonce, Christina Aguilera had all scored #1 hits before the age of 20. Even veteran acts like Barbra, Olivia, Diana, Cher etc. broke through in their very early 20's.
And a lot of Diana's 70s albums are very good. Far better than they had any right to be under those conditions.
You're right I haven't actually had the book in my hands, I've seen some photos, and yes she looks great! I love the Bad Girl video. Body of Evidence must of been "one of those" movies, I take. Was there any music from it worthy of noting?
I guess I missed that one completely. I never heard of it.....probably because there was no new Madonna music!
I'm sure "Live To Tell" woke people up, people who were listening. But most I'm sure were still just dismissing her. Yeah, she was smoking hot during this period. I'm not sure how much of that was purely natural and how much was already the result of tweaks, but it all certainly looked real. Her plastic surgeon for many years was Dr. Ryan. I don't know when she started seeing him, but he did great work. She hasn't looked as good since she departed for Europe and (AFAIK) stopped using him. And of course he's since passed away...
They also had all of their material handed to tell them. They were told how to dress, how to act, how to be appealing to a mass audience. Madonna came up late in the game and dictated the trends and sounds, which further sets her apart from all the others.
