The reason for the (apparently) slower sales of Like a Prayer?

[BoyToyMark 379]

6 hours ago, tscott said:

Or at least, released Keep it Together a little earlier than they did.  The fact is;  Vogue cut off any more success the song could have achieved.  Oh Father seemed like a great "fall/winter" song, so maybe it could have been released slightly earlier as well. 

I'm happy with the single choices and as I said in earlier posts, I think the comparisons of the album's success is unfair since she still had the biggest selling album of 1989.  No one sold more than her that year.  As many of us have mentioned, music sales in the mid 80's were at astronomical highs. By 1989, record sales as a whole seem to have dropped dramatically.  

That's true. All five singles were strong songs too. I'm just not sure Oh Father was ideal and money could've been spent on Keep It Together getting an excellent video.

[Donna 17,390]

2 hours ago, BoyToyMark said:

That's true. All five singles were strong songs too. I'm just not sure Oh Father was ideal and money could've been spent on Keep It Together getting an excellent video.

I'm not sure money was necessarily the issue here.  More importantly, knowing how Madonna was frugal in spending, she may have been astute to know her spending budget was with this album, and chose Oh Fathe r and Express Yourself the extent of her huge expenses when it comes to the album. Besides they did make an excellent video for Oh Father and it worked thematically for the song.  IMO, Oh Father is more of an artistic song that isn't necessarily a song that resonates with the general public, especially on radio. It's long and quite depressing. And some would call it "boring".  Not me though! LOL! I think it's important for artists to take chances in releasing songs like Oh Father, showing their range and that they aren't just a one trick pony or any other cliche' thrown out there for top 40 artists. 

As for Keep It Together, I am not sure it needed a video as videos only  tend to be further promotion for a song and album.  Being a fifth single, (six in some markets), I think LAP album manage to get as much exposure as it could.  No other song released as single would have helped LAP sell more copies.  Singles are usually aimed at the general public and tend to be catchy.  All the other songs were far too artistic and really had no chance of resonating with the top 40 audience.  Fans forget singles are more for public consumption and enjoyment.  In many cases, the singles aren't as deep as some of the album tracks.  I'm sure there is always an argument and exception to that case because some could argue that Like A Prayer and Express Yourself can be "deep" as well.  But what resonates with the general public tends to be contradictory because some artists are able to score a top 40 hit with something very artistic, while another could score a hit with something very simple and silly. It all depends on the times and the artist.  These days (2023) we are overwhelmed with short two and half minute catchy (sped up) songs.  Even catchy songs like Holiday in it's full album release (as catchy as it is) loses interest after a couple minutes in.  Music today is consumed and enjoyed like the days when Rock and Roll first debuted with short and catchy songs that didn't get so deep. And if it was message driven, it was done quite quickly without a lot of instrumentation.  Though, in the 80's (which began in the 70s') instrumentation was far more appreciated.

[BoyToyMark 379]

34 minutes ago, tscott said:

I'm not sure money was necessarily the issue here.  Besides they did make an excellent video for Oh Father and it worked thematically for the song.  IMO, Oh Father is more of an artistic song that isn't necessarily a song that resonates with the general public, especially on radio. It's long and quite depressing. And some would call it "boring".  Not me though! LOL! I think it's important for artists to take chances in releasing songs like Oh Father, showing their range and that they aren't just a one trick pony or any other cliche' thrown out there for top 40 artists. 

As for Keep It Together, I am not sure it needed a video as videos only  tend to be further promotion for a song and album.  Being a fifth single, (six in some markets), I think LAP album manage to get as much exposure as it could.  No other song released as single would have helped LAP sell more copies.  Singles are usually aimed at the general public and tend to be catchy.  All the other songs were far too artistic and really had no chance of resonating with the top 40 audience.  Fans forget singles are more for public consumption and enjoyment.  In many cases, the singles aren't as deep as some of the album tracks.  I'm sure there is always an argument and exception to that case because some could argue that Like A Prayer and Express Yourself can be "deep" as well.  But what resonates with the general public tends to be contradictory because some artists are able to score a top 40 hit with something very artistic, while another could score a hit with something very simple and silly. It all depends on the times and the artist.  These days (2023) we are overwhelmed with short two and half minute catchy (sped up) songs.  Even catchy songs like Holiday in it's full album release (as catchy as it is) loses interest after a couple minutes in.  Music today is consumed and enjoyed like the days when Rock and Roll first debuted with short and catchy songs that didn't get so deep. And if it was message driven, it was done quite quickly without a lot of instrumentation.  Though, in the 80's (which began in the 70s') instrumentation was far more appreciated.

I see what your saying. I just think it would've changed the campaign longevity and chart positions of the fourth single. I like the Oh Father video and its a good song. I also adore the Keep It Together Truth Or Dare video and the remixes. So something for everyone in the end I guess. 

[Donna 17,390]

22 minutes ago, BoyToyMark said:

I see what your saying. I just think it would've changed the campaign longevity and chart positions of the fourth single. I like the Oh Father video and its a good song. I also adore the Keep It Together Truth Or Dare video and the remixes. So something for everyone in the end I guess. 

But the album longevity didn't suffer.  It managed to chart more than a year. LAP single alone helped with that.  I don't believe for a second Keep It Together or any other song on that album as an additional single would have helped that album sell or chart better.  The album charted 77 weeks in the Billboard albums charts. Nearly as long True Blue did (82 weeks) which sold 25 million world wide.   In fact, I'm betting the release of Vogue helped LAP sell more copies than Keep it Together. 

[Roland Barthes 5,940]

Always trying to undermine Madonna's achievements in a passive agressive way, i see.....

[Donna 17,390]

14 minutes ago, Roland Barthes said:

Always trying to undermine Madonna's achievements in a passive agressive way, i see.....

??

[Roland Barthes 5,940]

12 minutes ago, tscott said:

??

talking about the OP. That's all IT does on this forum. Downplaying everything Madonna did or does in a passive agressive manner so we don't notice at first but since it's all IT does here, after a while it shows.

IT is more positively overpraising in the Gaga thread though. God forbid anyone does there what IT does here.

[Jackie 8,265]

5 hours ago, Roland Barthes said:

talking about the OP. That's all IT does on this forum. Downplaying everything Madonna did or does in a passive agressive manner so we don't notice at first but since it's all IT does here, after a while it shows.

IT is more positively overpraising in the Gaga thread though. God forbid anyone does there what IT does here.

Hey, let's not address anyone as 'it' and let's keep it to topic - everyone can have a view, against or for even against Madonna on a Madonna forum.