Posted by AlanS on July 22, 2007 at 00:05:05:
In Reply to: Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: Probably 2008 Rock n'Roll Hall of Inductee who should be played, but hasn't yet posted by Dave on July 21, 2007 at 19:07:01:
FLASH BULLETIN: MADONNA IS GROSSLY OVERRATED.
I'm a GenXer. I was in my senior year of high school when Madonna hit. When I first heard 'Borderline' I thought it was a remake of a song by Gloria Gaynor, Evelyn 'Chamagne' King, or one of those solo Disco artists from the late 70s. Good pop song? Yeah. The thing about Madonna though is that I don't at all see her as a relevant "musician". It doesn't seem to me that her mission was to plant herself into the conciousness of the world by JUST doing music. She's more like a starlet who has, and continues to persue music as one of her creative endeavors. What she definitely is is a performer the same way for example as Ann-Margaret was a performer, the same way Chita Rivera was a performer, the same way Mitzi Gaynor was a performer, etc, etc. I think she wants the world to believe that she is a real musician and 'rock star' but I just don't see it like that. She's not a songsmith locked up in her manor crafting away at catchy or meaningful pop songs. And she's not an accomplished vocalist like Barbara Streisand, Diana Ross, or Ronnie Spector; people that you KNOW have an understanding of music and get that across in their work. Madonna is more likely to be researching the best way to project her image, or rehearsing a bunch of dance moves for her next tour. The strongest thing about her is her image NOT her musical ability, and she didn't really enter the pop world as a musician, but now you see her playing guitar sometimes which is kind of a sham. I doubt she has the same encyclopedic knowledge of chords and technique that a real guitar player has. As a singer she's marginal at best. Not a pro singer by any means. I'll give credit where credit is due, and say that Madonna did enter show-biz with her own style and seemed to have come from an honest place with that which is more than I can say for alot of these co-called 'pop divas' the we unfortunately have to hear about all the time now. But to honor Madonna as a musician is just misdirected praise. In contrast, a flashy personality like Prince can be seen as an artist and a performer. He is undoubtedly a true musician, and if you look at it from that perspective Madonna isn't even close to being in that league.
Should Madonna be on CBS-FM? Yeah sure, I could see alot of her early tunes being in the rotation, but I would only limit it to that.