Madonna: Making Noise

Intro

To be successful in the music industry, you need to do more than make music. You need to make noise. Elvis shook his hips. Madonna kissed Britney. Eminem used his potty mouth. Celebrity controversies are all around us, from Janet Jackson’s flashing incident to Britney’s flash Las Vegas wedding to an old friend, and hardly a day goes by without fresh news of some celebrity doing something off-the-wall to get attention.

Many people think of Madonna as the queen of modern music controversy. From the dawn of her career in the early 1980s she has pushed the envelope in her music and personal life. Listen to Dave and John talk about Madonna’s controversial career.

Dialogue

Dave: John, what do you think of Madonna?
John: I think she’s pretty cool. You know, she’s really made a name for herself over the years. But it seems like she’s mellowed out a little bit.
Dave: yeah. She has. Do you remember when she draped the Israeli, the Palestinian flags side-by-side on stage?
John: I remember hearing about that. How long ago was it?
Dave: It was a couple years ago. It was really controversial.
John: Yeah. And then, just what, a year ago she made out with Britney Spears on stage as well?
Dave: Yeah, and Christina Aguilera.
John: Yeah, that was really funny to watch.
Dave: Yeah, again: more controversy.
John: So, anything else that she did in the past? It seems like a lot of her fame has been built on doing something crazy.
Dave: Yeah, yeah. When she started out she used a lot of Christian symbolism in her videos, which really upset the Church.
John: I remember that. In songs like, Just Like a Prayer and stuff.
Dave: Yeah, yeah. Papa Don’t Preach.
John: Yeah, that’s right. All those songs we grew up to.
Dave: Yeah, now they’re classics.
John: Uh huh.
Dave: Madonna’s still around.
John: She definitely is. She’s been able to survive the times.

Discussion

To survive the times as a celebrity, you really have to push the envelope in every aspect of your career. It’s a difficult and stressful life, and you have to be creative and bold if you want to remain popular.