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Was Madonna ALWAYS considered an edgy/controversial artist?


Kae-Leah Williamson
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Hi, I'm new here. I always felt I was born about 10 years too late because I LOVE LOVE the '80s even though I'm a millennial born at the tail end of that decade so of course I don't remember it ;). I'm an avid Michael Jackson fan too, but right now I'm freaking obsessed with '80s Madonna, especially her whole persona with her first two albums. One thing that dawned on me while watching her first tour on You Tube over and over(pun intended) was how relatively tame it was. Sure there's some suggestive choreography here and there and showing her stomach would've been considered a bit "immodest" by Reagan-era standards, but was she always considered edgy and controversial by the public? How was she perceived by most people circa 1984-1985? I love this era so much, and would love to hear insight from people who were alive at the time as what her fandom was like then and how most people perceived her then. 

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I would say Like a Virgin kicked off her controversial persona.... 

1) the song itself

2) the performance at the MTV music awards when she was rolling around in a wedding dress

3) the lyrics of Dress You Up were considered very sexual

4) Papa Don’t Preach

I feel those kind of solidified her controversial status, then came Like a Prayer music video, Justify My Love music video, SEX, Letterman, etc

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She was considered edgy/controversial from day one where I live. People were very prudish back then, and the mere fact that she showed off her bare midrift and belly button in photos/videos/perfermances was enough . She was very sexual in her dialogues on the Virgin Tour. Talking about her "box" and making moaning sounds in front of teenage girls.  In the Open your heart video she had a boy at a peep show and kissing him in the end. That too was considered controversial. From 1987 to 1989 she was considered more PG and there were talks that she had softened after Whos that girl, but then in 1989 when Like a prayer video was released there were no doubts that she always was and always would be a controversial artist. That is my expirience and opinion.

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So good to have people discovering her.

i was very young about 12 yrs old when she started and she was super controversial from the beginning.

Some kids werent allowed to listen to Like a virgin at all.

It probably seems very tame now but there was no one taking such a control of their sexual presence other than male artsits like Prince

The MTV awards performance Of Like A Virgin was splashed all over the papers and she has even mentioned in later interviews that her manager said to her after that performance that she was over! career is finished. How wrong they were.

Cyndi Lauper ( another artist to check out if you havent yet) started at the same time and pop was all about them 2 with michael Jackson.  Everyone thought Cyndi had the staying power and madonna was just a flash in the pan.  Once again Madonna proved them wrong.

Huge turn around from the Public when Live to tell hit.  People really started to take her seriously and she was more than just a pop artists.

Enjoy all the early years they were GOLD

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Definitely what everyone has already said.

For me, it was after Playboy and Penthouse published her nude photographs without her consent. And she famously replied "So what?". Even though she felt like her skin had been ripped off and mortified by what her father would think, she never showed it.  I think that was when she became controversial. People expected and wanted her to be ashamed. And I really think that "so what?" was the moment. It was even immortalized by a Keith Haring/ Andy Warhol collaboration. 

 

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I think 84 - 86 she was considered a threat. A lot of it was overblown because "THINK OF THE CHILDREN" and Tipper Gore was after anyone that wasn't as uptight as her.

Back then she had a free and fun sexuality that got more serious, dark and edgy the more everyone gave her a hard time. 89 - 93 Madonna (still sorta 80's) was far more edgy and controversial and she seemed a lot more in your face about it.

I think any woman in the 80's that enjoyed their sexuality and sex and their body was considered controversial or as many called her "a slut". 

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"Free and fun sexuality" is a good way of describing circa '84-'86 Madonna. She was sexual, but in more of a lighthearted, fun-loving kinda way than say Erotica-era M. 

I find it kinda interesting that Tipper picked Dress You Up as the song to get up in arms about, as while it's pretty clear if you pay close attention to the lyrics that the song's about...something more than just clothes, it's subtle enough that I doubt most kids would pick up on it. It isn't exactly Prince's "Darling Nikki". 

Edited by Kae-Leah Williamson (see edit history)
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I remember how German magazines referred to her look as the “slutty/skanky” look from the very beginning. Everyone was such a prude. And that’s why all of pop culture capitalized on sexual liberation and controversy. (Prince also being at the very forefront.)

So yes, she has been edgy and controversial from the very beginning. Her entire charisma was oozing sexual energy. A liberated woman = scandalous.

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My mom and I've been listening to a lot of '80s Madonna lately together, and she said she was surprised by how many of her songs were actually quite positive for kids at the time to listen to: Spotlight, Love Makes The World Go Round, Over and Over, Angel, and Keep It Together were some tracks that triggered that comment, like she said people would be surprised by the lyric content of some of those songs since she's so strongly associated with sex. 

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I think it depends who you ask. I think to older conservative people, yes.

But in saying that she was always a mainstream artist that generated huge publicity. So there were definitely people that did not think she was edgy but believed her “controversies” were just marketing gimmicks.

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1 hour ago, Kae-Leah Williamson said:

My mom and I've been listening to a lot of '80s Madonna lately together, and she said she was surprised by how many of her songs were actually quite positive for kids at the time to listen to: Spotlight, Love Makes The World Go Round, Over and Over, Angel, and Keep It Together were some tracks that triggered that comment, like she said people would be surprised by the lyric content of some of those songs since she's so strongly associated with sex. 

Madonna has always been edgy, but then again, she also had this romantic, more innocent side to her. You do mention songs like Angel and Love Makes The World Go Round. They're very good examples of this. And what about Cherish and True Blue? 

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2 hours ago, Kae-Leah Williamson said:

My mom and I've been listening to a lot of '80s Madonna lately together, and she said she was surprised by how many of her songs were actually quite positive for kids at the time to listen to: Spotlight, Love Makes The World Go Round, Over and Over, Angel, and Keep It Together were some tracks that triggered that comment, like she said people would be surprised by the lyric content of some of those songs since she's so strongly associated with sex. 

Because early 90s Madonna , her music was more sexual (Justify My Love, Erotica album etc)

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This comment on the YouTube official "Burning Up" video is quite telling, I think:

People don't understand how revolutionary this was at the time. It seemed like cheap pornography and was released late at night on MTV (her second video but first one on mtv) Female artists do this all the time now. (it's called writhing) but nobody did it back then because it was considered vulgar and too overt.

I guess her image and attitude were too much for some people since day 1.

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On 1/19/2021 at 1:47 PM, Pootz333 said:

People expected and wanted her to be ashamed. And I really think that "so what?" was the moment. It was even immortalized by a Keith Haring/ Andy Warhol collaboration. 

 

Oh I love that collaboration, I saw a few versions at a Haring exhibition a few years ago. Would love to get a high quality print and frame it on my wall. I once saw someone wear a t-shirt with the newspaper cover on it.

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20 hours ago, Kae-Leah Williamson said:

My mom and I've been listening to a lot of '80s Madonna lately together, and she said she was surprised by how many of her songs were actually quite positive for kids at the time to listen to: Spotlight, Love Makes The World Go Round, Over and Over, Angel, and Keep It Together were some tracks that triggered that comment, like she said people would be surprised by the lyric content of some of those songs since she's so strongly associated with sex. 

Welcome to Madonna Infinity. Thanks for coming. I think Madonna has always been edgy to no fault of her own. It's just in her natural make up and it comes through in her personality, art, and career, etc. But, there is a softer, youthful, and cute side and just wanting to let go and have fun without all the troubles and deeper side of life .

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