Saturday, August 30, 2014

COULD MADONNA COLLABORATE FOR THE FRIDA KAHLO EXHIBIT ?




DETROIT, MI — The Detroit Institute of Arts and several Metro Detroit arts organizations will celebrate Diego Rivera and Frida Kahlo next year in a series of events focused on the famed art couple’s time in Detroit.

Kahlo’s inclusion in the exhibit – she lived in Detroit while Rivera created the DIA’s “Detroit Industry” mural in its Rivera Court – could draw some star power to the celebration. Madonna, who was born in Bay City and raised in Pontiac and Rochester Hills, recently played up her connection to Detroit, is a well-known collector and passionate fan of Kahlo’s work, often speaking publicly on the painter’s impact on her life.

Madonna’s passionate support of Kahlo, combined with her Detroit ties, leads to speculation the pop star could play a role in next year’s exhibit. A DIA spokesperson acknowledged last week that Madonna is a known collector of Kahlo’s works. However, no announcement from the DIA or the singer herself has been made to include her paintings in the collection.

Several attempts by MLive.com to reach Madonna’s publicist Liz Rosenberg, to gauge her client’s interest in selling or loaning part of her Kahlo collection to the DIA, were unsuccessful.

But Madonna has appeared to have a renewed interest in Detroit, its charities and efforts to overcome bankruptcy. Less than two month ago, she agreed to help fund three organizations in the city including a youth boxing gym.

Work displayed by Rivera and Kahlo, best known for her self-portraits, should make for one of the most popular DIA exhibits in recent memory. It be held March 15 to July 12. Kahlo is arguably the most famous woman painter of all time, and was even portrayed by Selma Hayek in the 2002 movie, “Frida.”

Madonna’s has said often publicly that Kahlo is an inspiration to her, and she reportedly wanted to play the role of Kahlo in “Frida” before Hayek received it.

She even wrote last fall in an essay for Harper’s Bazaar that Kahlo’s mustache in her self-portrait helped her tackle living in New York city.

An excerpt from the essay:

“Sometimes I would play the victim and cry in my shoe box of a bedroom with a window that faced a wall, watching the pigeons s*** on my windowsill. And I wondered if it was all worth it,” she wrote.

“But then I would pull myself together and look at a postcard of Frida Kahlo taped to my wall, and the sight of her mustache consoled me. Because she was an artist who didn’t care what people thought. I admired her.

She was daring. People gave her a hard time. Life gave her a hard time. If she could do it, then so could I.”

It’s unclear exactly how many Kahlo paintings Madonna owns, but the website FridaKahloFans.com says she owns Kahlo’s 1940 “Self Portrait with Monkey.”

The reported sale price for that painting: a cool $1 million.

Rivera lived with Kahlo in Detroit in the early 1930s and painted the two iconic Detroit Industry murals that are displayed inside the DIA’s main entrance. During that same time, Kahlo had a miscarriage at Henry Ford Hospital in Detroit, a life event she painted in “Henry Ford Hospital.”

Rivera died Nov. 24, 1957 at the age of 70 in Mexico City; Kahlo was 47 when she died July 13, 1954 in Mexico City.

The DIA’s exhibit next spring will coincide with an opera about Kahlo’s life performed at the Macomb Center for the Performing Arts in Clinton Township March 7-8.

Subsequent performances will be held March 21-22 at the Berman Center for the Performing Arts in West Bloomfield and March 28 at the DIA’s Detroit Film Theatre, 5200 Woodward Ave. in Detroit.

Source : MLive

Friday, August 22, 2014

More Details From Diplo On Madonna's New Album And Songs!




Billboard magazine talked with Diplo and learned 5 details about his high-power collaboration with Madonna on her upcoming album. They had three studio sessions so far, MNEK is also involved on her new album…

Diplo has joined Madonna for three studio sessions so far, and the alcohol was flowing on one night: They were in New York and London, and he’s clearly excited about how the recording went. “One [song] is super weird,” Diplo says. “Late one night in the studio we got a little bit drunk and she improvised a little hook and we made a song out of it. I think it’s going to be a breakthrough if she can manage to get everything together and get it out properly.”

What does Madonna drink when she gets drunk in the studio? Rosé. “It was nice,” says Diplo. “I don’t think she really drinks, either.”

Ariel Rechtshaid and MNEK are also involved. Rechtshaid, who has collaborated with Vampire Weekend and Sky Ferreira, and MNEK, the London songwriter who worked on Disclosure’s album, have gone into the studio to work out the verses of a song that Madonna has taken a shine to. Rechtshaid has joined Diplo and Madonna for their studio sessions.

Madonna invited Diplo to her Oscar party… but he couldn’t make it. Still, the pair began texting, and Diplo sent Madonna over some music. Madonna took the production more seriously than Diplo could have imagined. “She wrote me back like a 20-page text, notes about all these songs,” he says — and a collaboration was underway.

One of the in-the-works Madonna tracks has unwittingly evolved into a big pop record. “That song is on like version 20,” Diplo says of the as-yet-untitled track. “It went from a piano ballad to a ‘Turn Down for What’-style song, which I didn’t like. Now it’s somewhere in the middle.”

Diplo is the cover story of the Fall Music Preview issue of Billboard magazine. “Now the DJ is about to be everywhere, as Lorde, Madonna and Usher lean on the EDM superstar for their next hit songs,” writes Billboard on the new cover.

Saturday, August 16, 2014

AUGUST 16, 1958 – THE DAY THE MUSIC WAS BORN




Today, Aug. 16, marks the date that we welcomed the Queen of Pop.

MADONNA

38 top 10 Billboard Hot 100 singles. The Beatles, with 34, rank second. Madonna’s first top 10 was 1984’s “Borderline,” which started a streak of 17 consecutive top 10s through 1989’s “Cherish” (No. 2). Her most recent top 10 was 2012’s No. 10-peaking “Give Me All Your Luvin’,” featuring Nicki Minaj and M.I.A.

Seven Hot 100 No. 1s in the ’80s, tying her with Whitney Houston for most among women during the decade. Madonna’s total haul of No. 1 Hot 100 hits is 12, placing her fifth for the most leaders all-time. (The Supremes also boast 12 toppers). Only the Beatles (with 20), Mariah Carey (18) and Michael Jackson and Rihanna (13) have earned more No. 1s.

Coincidentally, Madonna claimed her fourth No. 1, “Papa Don’t Preach,” on this date in 1986, her 28th birthday. (Aug. 16 also doubles as the launch date of Billboard’s Dance/Mix Show Airplay chart in 2003, a list that Madonna has led seven times).

43 No. 1s on Billboard’s Dance Club Songs chart. Essentially, if Madonna releases a single and it charts on Dance Club Songs, it’s a safe bet to assume it’ll go to No. 1. Madonna is clearly the Queen of the Club. Rihanna ranks second with 22 toppers, followed by Beyonce (21).

20 top 10 albums on the Billboard 200, the most such sets among all artists dating to her first week in the top tier (Oct. 6, 1984) with her self-titled debut. Of those efforts, eight reached No. 1, including MDNA in 2012. In that nearly 30-year span, the Kidz Bop Kids franchise places second with 19 top 10s, followed by George Strait (18) and Carey (17).

Meanwhile, Madonna’s influence is reaching the latest generation of divas. “She is strength, she is freedom, she is wisdom beyond anybody’s comprehension,” Ariana Grande beams of her top idol in the cover story of the new Billboard Magazine. When suggested that the two should record together, “Oh my God, my heart would stop,” she gasps.

Extract from Billboard

HAPPY 56TH BIRTHDAY TO :The Original Material Girl, QUEEN OF POP, the one & only…MADONNA!!!




What can one say about this is iconic woman who not only changed the world through her music and fashion but who also wasn’t afraid to be different, to be unique and think outside the box, to compete with boys and break the walls of gender roles. And her no-holds-barred example broadened the palette of what artists — especially female artists — could attempt. Liberate yourself, the rest will follow; and when she sings of sex, it was as in not a way of making her a possession for man, but she sang of sex as making her stronger and bolder.

From the mid 1980’s through today Madonna’s influences on the world, fashion, and most importantly the art of pop culture/music will always and forevermore stay current.

Madonna is: original, controversial, bold, raunchy, fashion icon, humanitarian, and let us not forget The Most Influential Female Recording Artist of All Time…and without a doubt is and forever will be the QUEEN OF POP!!!

Wednesday, August 13, 2014

All 16 of the Icons Name-Dropped in Madonna’s “Vogue” Are Now Gone




By Miriam Krule
An odd bit of trivia about the passing of Lauren Bacall on Tuesday: As Marci Robin pointed out on Twitter, all 16 of the 20th-century stars immortalized in Madonna's “Vogue” are now dead. The famous black-and-white music video, directed by David Fincher, is an homage to the golden age of Hollywood.

The song came out in March of 1990; Greta Garbo died just a month later. (James Dean, Marilyn Monroe, and others had already gone, of course.) Bacall, 24 years on, was the final one.


Greta Garbo (April 15, 1990)

Marilyn Monroe (Aug. 5, 1962)

Marlene Dietrich (May 6, 1992)

Joe DiMaggio (March 8, 1999)

Marlon Brando (July 1, 2004)

James Dean (Sept. 30, 1955)
Grace Kelly (Sept. 14, 1982)

Jean Harlow (June 7, 1937)

Gene Kelly (Feb. 2, 1996)

Fred Astaire (June 2, 1987)

Ginger Rogers (April 25, 1995)

Rita Hayworth (May 14, 1987)

Lauren Bacall (Aug. 12, 2014)

Katharine Hepburn (June 29, 2003)

Lana Turner (June 29, 1995)

Bette Davis (Oct. 6, 1989)​

The song was a tribute, of course, to a certain kind of old-fashioned glamour. With Bacall gone, that flame has just about burned out.

Monday, August 11, 2014

Madonna Rare Beautiful Versace Promo Photo.




Perfection on every level! When Versace Mattered!

Monday, August 4, 2014

10 recent Madonna songs that prove she hasn’t lost it




http://attitude.co.u...ove-hasnt-lost/

Madonna’s love of Instagram has allowed us to see her in many new ways - proud mother of four, hoovering expert, #unapologeticbitch – but perhaps the best thing about the Queen of Pop’s discovery of her iPhone camera is the amount of information she’s been firing off about her upcoming album. We’ve seen studio snaps, lyric sheets and snippets of both a gospel choir and an orchestra in full swing… something pretty exciting is happening. Which is a relief. Because, for many fans, Madonna has never needed a fantastic album more than she needs one now.

The last time she received near-universal acclaim was in 2005, when the Confessions On a Dance Floor album mixed huge hooks, some sharp lyrics and Stuart Price’s vibrant, club-ready production to create a modern pop classic. Since then, though, Madonna’s musical offerings have been less flawless. The urban rhythms of 2008′s Hard Candy and technicolor pop of 2012′s MDNA each received a cooler response, and in between came the somewhat slapdash greatest hits compilation Celebration. Some have even gone as far as to say that the Queen of Pop has ‘lost it’.

This is, of course, total bullshit. Though her albums have taken an overall dip in quality since Confessions (and there’s frankly no excuse whatsoever for Revolver), when Madonna gets it right, there’s no-one better. Here are ten brilliant tracks she’s recorded since 2005 which prove that Madonna still very much ‘has it’.

1. Give It 2 Me

Give It 2 Me, the second single from Hard Candy, showcases the very best of Madonna’s work with Pharrell Williams. That’s right: Madonna collaborated with Pharrell before every Tom, Dick and Paloma Faith was queueing round the block for their slice of the Happy hitmaker. What’s more, Give It 2 Me has all of Blurred Lines‘ hypnotic rhythms, without any of the creepy lyrics or Robin Thicke’s gurning face – what’s not to love?



2. Devil Wouldn’t Recognise You

Don’t let the faux-lullaby intro fool you, this slow-burning midtempo track is a much darker offering than much of Madge’s recent output. Co-produced by Justin Timberlake, Devil Wouldn’t Recognise You finds Madonna confronting a silver-tongued lover who’s talked himself right into a corner. Some of the best lyrics she’s written in years.



3. She’s Not Me

Written towards the end of her marriage to Guy Ritchie, the ’80s groove of She’s Not Me sees Madonna warning her lover that no other woman is ever going to beat her. The best thing about this six-minute epic isn’t the Queen Of Pop’s cocksure attitude, but the astonishing breakdown halfway through, which seems to reveal an underlying panic in Madonna’s supposed confidence. As she repeats “she’s not me” again and again, it becomes difficult to tell whether she’s trying to scorn him, or convince herself.



4. Candy Shop

Yes, this is the one where Madonna keeps growling “My sugar is raw, sticky and sweet” (nearly 20 times, in fact). Take a moment, shake it out, and get over it. Because look past Madonna’s toffee-coated unmentionables and you’ll find slick R&B beats with a prowling bassline and hooks all over the show. Candy Shop may be sticky and sweet, but that’s largely down to the fact that it’s a total jam.



5. Celebration (Benny Benassi Remix)

While the version on the Celebration compilation sounds a little dated, the video remix of Celebration is nothing short of a revelation. Relentless, pounding production breathes new life into the track – and the highlight is undoubtedly when it all falls away before the chorus for a euphoric build-up that simply demands you get you arms in the air. Listen in the office at your own peril.



6. I’m Addicted

This is the jewel in MDNA‘s crown. Evoking the quirky beats of early Daft Punk,I’m Addicted plays out like aural Jenga: the slippery electronic production slowly stacking up layers and layers of musical tension until the whole song wobbles and collapses into an uncontainable megarave. The Number One hit that got away.



7. Love Spent

People often moan that Madonna’s lyrics aren’t “personal” enough anymore – a criticism Love Spent takes one unimpressed look at before proceeding to shut it the fuck down. Pointing the finger of blame at Guy Ritchie for the breakdown of their marriage, Madonna flips between acidic barbs (“Guess if I was your treasury, you’d have found the time to treasure me”) and wishing she could take the place of the money he apparently loved so much. That the song bears echoes of Hung Up is just the cherry on an extremely bittersweet cake.



8. Some Girls

It opens with a rave horn. Does anything else need to be said? Well, maybe only that’s one of Madonna’s snarkiest ever songs, as she lines up female archetypes before knocking them down over thick electronics and muddy beats. “Some girls are not like me” – truer words were never spoken. A basic bitch takedown anthem.



9. Turn Up the Radio

Taken out of context, the chorus could sound plodding and uninspired, but when pieced together as part of this cleverly-constructed track, Turn Up the Radio is irresistible. It’s a sweet and oddly poignant escapist fantasy: when life is shitty, everything will be fine if we can just turn up the radio. Which, thankfully, is something Madonna has never had trouble making us do.



10. Gang Bang

Thunderous, ridiculous and brilliant. And co-written by Mika! Only Madonna.