Pop Culture Retrospective Episode #17- Madonna: Beyond corsets and Kabbalah, a story of determination, resiliency and becoming the Queen of Pop!

Show # 17:  Madonna:  Beyond corsets and and Kabbalah, a story of the Queen of Pop and never giving up.

My memory is not nearly as good as my sister’s was.  I don’t remember much from high school.  I don’t really remember the names of any of my teachers.  I couldn’t pass a Geometry test to save my life if I had to take one today.  I don’t remember how World War I started.  I don’t remember how I managed to pass Chemistry because it didn’t make much sense to me.  I do, however, remember that if I was ever home by myself as a teenager, especially in the evening, I often blasted the CD “Immaculate Conception” which was a greatest hits album released in 1990 by Madonna.  As I mentioned in a previous episode of the PCR, I borrowed this CD from my sister and never gave it back.  If anyone walked past my childhood home in the mid 1990s, they likely would have seen me dancing to “Get Into the Groove,” my favorite Madonna song at the time.  I often danced in my black Umbro shorts - perfect for both soccer and dancing in your living room. A few lines from that song in hindsight really applied to my situation at that time:  “only when I’m dancing can I feel this free, at night I lock the door where no one else can see.  I’m tired of dancing here all by myself, tonight I want to dance with someone else. I think there are many stories like mine as Madonna has been a part of our musical culture for decades at this point.  It’s hard not to dance whenever I hear “Like a Prayer” or “Lucky Star” and I know I am not alone with this thought.  

On today’s show we will be discussing the performance icon and arguably the original Queen of Pop, Madonna. You will learn how she went from being a lost little girl in the Mitten state, to a naturally gifted dancer to being known all over the world to being banned from the Vatican, of all places.  Madonna’s goal early on was to be famous and to leave her mark and she has stopped at nothing to make that dream a reality. So put on your stone washed jeans, your black lace gloves and your dancing shoes, here we go!

Hello and thank you so very much for tuning in to the Pop Culture Retrospective Podcast, a show inspired by, and in memory of, my big sister Rebecca and her love for all things pop-culture, especially the people, places and things of the 80s, 90s and early 00s.  My name is Amy Lewis and I am your captain aboard this pop culture time machine.  You are tuning in to Episode # 17 - Madonna:  the incredible and controversial journey from determined young woman to becoming the most successful female recording artist of all time.  

Madonna Louise Ciccone was born on August 16, 1958 in Bay City, Michigan which is about 2 hours northwest of Detroit.  She was the eldest of 6 children born to an Italian Catholic Family.  Her father’s name was Tony Ciccone and Madonna Fortin.  Her father was an Engineer at Chrysler.  Since her mother’s name was Madonna as well, her nickname growing up was “Little Nonnie.” 

In 1963 when Madonna was just 5 years old, her mother died of breast cancer. Understandably, she was devastated by this loss. Her father would go on to hire a succession of housekeepers to care for all of the children. He ended up marrying the 2nd housekeeper he hired, her name was Joan Gustafson.  Madonna resented him for it.  It didn’t help that Joan was incredibly strict.  Madonna hated to admit it, but Joan’s strict nature did have an impact on her.  Her father and stepmom ended up having 2 children together, bringing the grand total to 8! Even though her relationship with her father was strained at times, when she was little she often slept near him, afraid she was going to lose her dad also.  Coming from a Catholic family, she was confirmed in 1966.  Religion would end up being a recurring theme in her music and music videos in the future, much to the dismay of religious groups, but more on that later.  

Madonna was incredibly bright and did well in school, often earning straight As.  In addition to her academic strengths, it was quite apparent in her early years that Madonna was also incredibly gifted when it came to dancing. She was eager to formally learn how to dance so after taking piano lessons for some time, she asked her father if she could take ballet lessons instead and he agreed.  When she was just 12 years old, she and a friend hitchhiked to a holiday camp in Michigan where she went disco dancing.  She was there with a friend named Moira and she could not believe what an amazing dancer Madonna was.  Everyone there was watching, mesmerized by how well this little kid could dance.  Sort of reminded me of the time I went to a wedding reception with my parents when I was in elementary school.  After dancing to a few songs, the DJ called me a “Young Paula Abdul” I’m sure I was just as gifted a dancer as Madonna.  Okay, not so much but that was certainly a very flattering compliment in the 90s.  It’s the nicest thing anyone has ever said about me.  Again, not really.  Anyways.  

When Madonna was in high school, she was incredibly involved and committed to furthering her skill with dancing.  She was a cheerleader for her school and she was also a mentor for a program similar to Big Brothers, Big Sisters.  She danced in her school’s talent show and blew everyone away.  Even her cheerleading coach would make her dance because people couldn’t believe that someone so young was so talented.  Whenever there was a school dance and she started showing off her moves, everyone would back up and circle around her so they could catch a glimpse of her dance floor dominance.  She was so committed to learning dance and furthering her skills that she would often drive to Detroit for lessons and this wasn’t a short trip.  She was definitely her own person even as a teenager, apparently she often did handstands and did cartwheels down the hallway of her school.  

Madonna’s goal, as a young person, was to become a performer and ultimately, to become famous.  She wanted to succeed.  Madonna graduated a semester early from HS.  She had earned a full scholarship to the University of Michigan to study dance.  

Her professors often remarked that although she was small (Madonna is about 5, 5’) and while in college she was probably around 100 lbs, she was incredibly strong and stood out. Even as a freshman, she was often cast in the school’s stage performances which was very rare. She was so naturally talented that her professors felt she could have become a professional dancer had she not gone into music.  

To help diversify her dance repertoire, Madonna often went out to gay bars with some of her dance teachers.  Her dancing style was very theatrical and her fashion sense was already incredibly unique, two things that further added to her stage presence.  

In the late 1970s, after studying for dance for 2 years at U of Michigan, Madonna dropped out and decided to move to NYC.  She didn’t want to go the traditional route anymore, she wanted to do everything she could to get and be noticed.  Many articles and interviews indicate that Madonna arrived in NYC with less than 100 dollars in her pocket.  Madonna knew how to conserve money though, having grown up in a family with so many children, her parents taught her how to conserve.  For many years, Madonna was essentially a starving artist.  At one point, she and a boyfriend of hers live in an abandoned synagogue. One of her dance teachers in NY helped her land a job at the Russian Tea room in the coat room with the understanding that they would feed her as the teacher was concerned she wasn’t getting enough food.  She also had a stint as a model for artists, whether they be painters or photographers.  She was very natural as a model and her eyes drew people in. She would often fall back on this job if she was in need of money. Madonna also worked as a waitress for a short time at DD (I completely forgot about that) and was allegedly fired because she squirted jelly in a customer’s face.  Madonna is unapologetically sassy, so I wouldn’t be surprised if this story was actually true.  While Madonna worked these odd jobs, she still continued pursuing her dream of becoming a performer.  She got a job as a back-up dancer, performing with the Patrick Hernandez disco review.  Although she got to travel to Paris, Madonna didn’t really enjoy this experience.  I imagine that was because she really didn’t want to play second fiddle if you will, she wanted to be front and center.  In addition to being a struggling artist, Madonna was sadly the victim of an assault in 1979 by an unidentified man.  This was a horrific experience to say the least, however Madonna realized she needed to become more aware and streetsmart and I think anyone who has even a vague sense of who Madonna is, knows how powerful, commanding and aware she is.  

In addition to getting her artistic fill with dancing, she also started to get interested in playing and performing music.  She joined a band called the Breakfast Club and in that group she played the drums and the guitar.  She eventually started to sing more with the group and that became her musical focus.  As I previously mentioned, Madonna was essentially squatting in a building with her boyfriend but they eventually had to leave when the electricity and water got shut off.  She ended up living where she and her band recorded music.  

There wasn’t a shower there so she essentially took bird baths in the bathroom sink which only ran cold water.  She left that band and formed another band called Emmy with her boyfriend at the time who was a drummer.  They started writing some songs together but soon Madonna started to emerge as a solo act.  As she was producing music, at first she was encouraged to pursue rock and roll and emulate Pat Bennetar who was incredibly popular at the time. 

 However, Madonna and Stephan Bray, her boyfriend at the time, were composing more pop/disco type songs.  She had found her niche. They started to put together demo tapes which would prove to be a brilliant idea. She was really starting to go somewhere and ended up getting hooked up with a manager.  When the manager heard that she was living at the recording studio, she immediately moved Madonna to a hotel, coincidentally called the “Star Hotel” but the living conditions weren’t all that much better than she had experienced previously.  The hotel was pretty much run down and she lived next door next to a man who had recently been released from an insane asylum and it sounded like he wasn’t  getting much help while living there so she would often hear him screaming.  She did manage to befriend the landlord though and would often visit with her and they would have coffee together.  Eventually she moved out of the hotel and into a small apartment.  Drug dealers and violence had a pretty heavy presence in her neighborhood.  She noticed that kids were often lookouts for the drug transactions and there was a special whistling sound they would make when a police officer was spotted.  She actually befriended a lot of the kids and would play music with them.  Madonna didn’t have much but she did have quite the collection of synthesizers stacked in her apartment.  These kids were very protective of Madonna.  They would walk her down the street at night to make sure people left her alone and they would rarely let a man Madonna was seeing come in to the apartment building, they didn’t trust them.  Unfortunately, one day one of the kids turned on her and broke into her apartment, stealing all of her equipment she worked so hard to purchase and acquire.  And if that wasn’t bad enough, because Madonna has so little money, it was hard for her to eat an appropriate diet.  She had to budget her money each week to purchase things like peanuts, cheese puffs and yogurt.  Despite all of these setbacks, which I think would send most people crying home to their parents (I think I would be one of those people) she did not give up. And never for one second did she doubt that she wouldn’t reach the spotlight and that her situation was permanent. She knew, deep down, even when she felt like calling home and crying that she had to make it on her own and not ask for help.   

Much like she had done for years, Madonna went out dancing almost every night while living in New York and she also had some demo tapes in her pocket. She would often ask the DJs at various clubs to play her music and it was almost always well received and people danced to it.  One DJ named Mark Kamins heard her music and as it turned out, he was also a music producer. 

He thankfully had connections in the industry and he gave one of Madonna’s demo tapes to President and CEO of Sire Records, Seymour Stine.  Sire Records is an offshoot of Warner Brothers records.  Stine actually listened to the music while he was in the hospital. He was so impressed that he asked that Madonna be brought to the hospital to discuss a future with the record company.   Madonna signed a deal that included the release of several singles, first being:  Everybody in 1982, followed by Burning Up in early 1983.  During this time Madonna also auditioned for a role in the television series FAME! But unfortunately did not earn a spot because her audition felt a bit flat.  Although Madonna has gone on to act in a lot of films, she often receives this criticism.

 Back to the music though, both songs Everybody & Burning Up were smash hits, especially in the club scene.  The success of this led to her first studio album entitled Madonna which was released in July of 1983.  This album featured memorable songs including ‘Borderline’, ‘Lucky Star’ and ‘Holiday.’ Madonna really wanted to have control over the production of her music, beginning with her first album.  Sire wouldn’t let her though because she didn’t really know what she was doing.  However, she was a quick learner and incredibly determined and by the time her next album came out, ‘Like A Virgin,’ Madonna was in charge.  She collaborated with several producers on the album and it became a number #1 hit on the Billboard charts.  It was the first album by a female artist to sell over 5 million copies.  To date, it has sold over 21 million copies.  This album includes the hit songs:  ‘Material Girl’, ‘Angel’, ‘Dress You’ and of course, ‘Like a Virgin.’  Madonna got a lot of flack for the song ‘Like a Virgin’ as people assumed it was all about romantic escapes, but really it was about experiencing new things for the first time.  

In 1985, Madonna starred in the Cult Classic Film, Desperately Seeking Susan alongside Rosanna Arquette. She contributed the song- “Into the Groove” to the movie’s soundtrack.  “Into Groove” was Madonna’s first #1 single in the United States.  She started to have a huge impact not only with her music, but also with her unique sense of style and fashion.  Many female (and male I would imagine) fans also bleached their hair, wore fingerless gloves, fishnet shirts and stockings as well as stonewashed jeans and skirts.

In April of 1985, Madonna started her first tour in North America, called the Virgin Tour.  Her opening act was the Beastie Boys! She also married Sean Penn that same year.  He was sort of the exact opposite of her - she craved and loved the spotlight, and he despised it.  Their relationship was extremely tense.  Madonna would later recall that part of Penn’s appeal was that he reminded her of a young version of her dad.

In 1986, Madonna released True Blue which was inspired by her marriage to Sean Penn.  It would end up being her best selling studio album as 25 million copies were sold.  The album includes hits such as “Live to Tell,” “True Blue,” “Open Your Heart” and “La Isla Bonita.”  

A year later in 1987, Madonna embarked on the “Who’s that Girl World Tour.” Many attendance records were broken during this tour.  For example, 130k people attended a show near Paris which was a record at the time for a concert performed by a female artist.  Whenever she travelled somewhere, it was absolute pandemonium and fandemonium all over the airport.  I think it was called Madonna Mania.  During this tour, she visited North America, Europe and Asia.  

1989 marked the release of Madonna’s “Like a Prayer” album which featured several producers, but most notably, Prince played a significant role in it’s production.  As a matter of fact, I believe Prince plays the guitar riff at the opening of the song “Like a Prayer.” 

This album sold 15 million copies.  It also features the popular songs:  “Cherish” and “Express Yourself.”  Express Yourself has a pretty memorable music video that opens with Madonna shouting into the sky while sitting atop a large, cement swan.  Much of the music video is  set in a warehouse where Madonna’s love interest works. He always has his shirt off and gets dripped on by oversized pipes. The extent of his job responsibilities seems to be adjusting bolts with a large wrench and taking breaks to wrestle with colleagues. It sort of showcased steampunk style before steampunk was even a thing or a phrase for that matter.  And at some point on this podcast, I want to do a show solely dedicated to highlighting the many music videos of the 80s and 90s that were set in warehouses because that seems to be a theme (remember ‘Pleasure Principal’ by Janet Jackson or ‘Another Night’ by Real McCoy?  Both were set in warehouses and there are so many more, but we’ll get to all of that at another time. 

By 1989, Madonna’s popularity was on the rise and this was apparent because she was offered a lucrative endorsement deal with Pepsi involving a commercial.  Unfortunately, I guess the timing just wasn’t right.  Madonna had recently released her music video for “Like a Prayer” which was upsetting to a lot of religious groups because it had a lot of symbolism in it like a cross burning stigmata and shows Madonna having some romantic involvement with a Saint.  Pepsi end up revoking the commercial and the Vatican condemned the video.  Regardless though, this song ended up being incredibly successful and I would say this song was my sister’s favorite and mine as well.  It’s such a classic song and like so much of Madonna’s music, it stands the test of time and doesn’t sound dated when it’s played.  

Also in 1989, Madonna and Sean Penn got divorced. There has long been a rumor that Penn was very abusive toward Madonna and at one time was extremely intoxicated and tied her to a chair and beat her up.

In 1990, Madonna starred in Dick Tracy and contributed several songs to the movie’s soundtrack including the classic, played in gay bars all over the world to this day, “Vogue.”  That same year, Madonna performed Vogue at the MTV video music awards. 

If you don’t remember it, the performance was quite risque for the time because she and her dancers were dressed in low-cut victorian dresses and there was suggestive dancing, which certainly wasn’t out of the norm for Madonna, but nonetheless I think it struck the wrong cord with a lot of people. I think this performance was another instance where my Mom jumped in front of the TV to block the presentation.  My mom often did this when my sister and I were kids if something came on to the TV that she wasn’t expecting and that she felt was inappropriate.  I believe she also did this when we watched Pretty Woman.  For some reason instead of simply turning off the TV, she jumped in front of it.   

In 1990, Madonna embarked on her Blond Ambition Tour.  It was during this time that Madonna really started to showcase the conical corset that she became well-known for. She liked to wear underwear over clothing and Michael Jackson liked to wear shin guards like a catcher in a baseball game, but his were gold.  So strange, but they made it work.  The music video for Justify My Love was also released in 1990, but it was pretty risque and deemed inappropriate for younger audiences.  MTV wouldn’t play it before 9pm and the Independent Broadcasting Company banned it in the UK.

Erotica was released in 1992.  It was definitely a shift from her previous albums and wasn’t as commercially successful.  It still garnered positive reviews from critics and sold well all things considered.  Some of the songs on this album were a bit more personal as she and recently lost 2 friends to AIDS.  This was the first of Madonna’s albums to have a parental advisory warning.  Erotica was the lead single, it peaked at #3.  Shortly after this album’s release, Madonna was officially banned from the Vatican, being demoted from simply being on their you-know-what-list (hint, starts with the letter S and rhymes with bit).  Fever, Bad Girl and Bye, Bye Baby are some of the other singles.  The album sold 6 million copies.  

1992 was also a tough year for Madonna because she was stalked by a man who threatened to kill her and she had to testify against him.  He ended up going to jail for a number of years and then went to a psychiatric hospital that he ended up escaping from.  Thankfully though, he was eventually located and was taken into custody. 

Bedtime Stories followed in 1994.  With the release of this album, Madonna tried to return to more mainstream music due to the more explicit content she had previously released in a book you wouldn’t want on your coffee table if your grandmother was coming over and also because of Erotica which was released 2 years prior.  Some of the memorable songs from this album include:  Take a Bow, Secret (Iove that song, and Take a Bow is excellent as well) and Human Nature which is probably one of the most bizarre music videos Madonna has ever released.  First of all, Madonna is clad in what appears to be pleather for the duration of the video.  She also has cornrows. 

I think they also used some recycled materials from the set of Hollywood Squares as in several scenes, Madonna and her backup dancers are proactively moving about in squares that are stacked up on top of each other.  I think they also purchased some dominatrix equipment off of Craig’s List as there are many chains and ropes present in the music video as well as a small leather tipped stick that Madonna uses to tap a dog on the behind with.  It’s very odd and one of those videos that tries too hard to be artistic and in the end the audience is left confused and uncomfortable.  Certainly not one of her best moments but so many of her music videos are the gold standard for music videos.  Bedtime Stories sold 8 million copies worldwide.  

Something to Remember was released in 1995.  Many critics felt that Madonna had already reached the peak of her fame and was going to be de-throned as the Queen of Pop.  The hope with this album was to showcase that Madonna was very musically talented, not just a controversial star on the front of every tabloid magazine. This album sold 10 million copies and included some well-known songs that weren’t previously released on a Madonna album including:  “I’ll Remember” and “This Used to be my Playground.”  

Madonna’s discography also includes songs on various movie soundtracks including “Don’t Cry for Me Argentina” which was featured in the 1996 film, Evita.  

Ray of Light was Madonna’s 7th studio album and was released in 1998.  It is one of my absolute favorite Madonna albums of all time.  It’s a bit of a departure from her traditional sound, but it works incredibly well and is very catchy and well-produced.  The album actually took a long time to record due to technical difficulties, the longest in Madonna’s career.  That being said, the long wait was certainly worth it.  Some of the hits from this album include:  Frozen, Ray of Light, Nothing Really Matters and Power of Goodbye.  Some critics have said it is one of the greatest pop albums of all time.  Even my Grandmother liked this album.  I was always notorious for making mixed tapes, and later mixed CDs as I was growing up.  I worked on accumulating a lot of my behind the wheel time for my driver’s license with the help of my grandparents.  I spent a lot of time in their maroon Buick LeSabre driving through my hometown.  Because of this, I of course spent a lot of time putting together mixed tapes and one of them had several of my favorite songs on it from the Ray of Light album.  My grandmother, who was in her 70s at the time, really enjoyed the sound and lyrics of many of these songs.  Ray of Light went on to win 4 Grammy Awards and sold 16 million copies.  

In 2000, we were graced with their being no impact whatsoever from the whole Y-2K panic and also with Madonna’s album, Music.  The album sold 4 million copies within the first 10 days of release.  The album also had an electronic/dance vibe like Ray of Light, but with a bit of cowgirl flair.  I think everyone started wearing cowboy hats because of her style during this time. 

I spent a lot of time in the early 2000s going out dancing and EVERY young girl on the dance floor was rocking one, but not nearly as well as Madonna did.  This is yet another excellent and progressive album.  Both Music and Ray of Light sounded like nothing else on the airwaves in the late 90s and early 2000s and much like the rest of Madonna’s musical repertoire, the sound is incredibly timeless.  Music features classic songs such as:  “What it feels like for a Girl,” and “Don’t Tell Me.”  11 million copies were sold.

American Life followed in 2003.  It was a bit more of a controversial album as it focused on various aspects of American Culture and has more a folk or “folktronica” sound.  Some of the singles include:  “Love Profusion,” “Nothing Fails” and “Hollywood.”  Madonna performed at the MTV video awards in 2003 and sang “Like a Virgin” and “Hollywood.”  In the performance, Madonna is dressed in black, perhaps going for a traditional groom look.  Britney Spears and Christina Aguilera joined her on stage, both dressed in white like a bride. 

During the performance, Madonna very dramatically kissed Christina and Britney and, as expected, a lot of controversy followed this performance.  Nonetheless, the album did pretty well despite mixed reviews and sold over 5 million copies.    

Confessions on a Dance Floor was released in 2005.  This album went back to her roots a bit as it had more of a disco and club sound to it.  The album was primarily recorded at Prince’s studio.  Popular songs include: “Sorry,” “Get Together,” and “Hung Up” which sampled Abba’s classic song “Gimme, Gimme (A Man After Midnight).” The album achieved more success sales-wise when compared to her previous album, selling 10 million albums and launching a very successful tour.  

Hard Candy came out in 2008 and was the least time Madonna recorded with Warner Brothers Records after a 25 year run.  Several producers helped her with the album including: Timbaland, The Neptunes and my imaginary husband, Justin Timberlake.  My favorite sing from this album is “4 Minutes” which is a duet with JT, a dream come true.  Although the album didn’t quite generate as many sales as previous albums, it did result in a tour entitled:  “Sticky and Sweet” which is the 2nd highest grossing tour of all time, coming in just behind the Rolling Stones. 

In 2012, Madonna performed during the Super Bowl Halftime show.  It was one of the most viewed Superbowls of all time.  More people watched her performance than the actual superbowl itself.  Madonna was in her mid-50s during this performance, but you’d never know it.  Her performance was fun and captivating and her dance moves were stellar, all done in heels which is pretty typical for her.  Makes my arches hurt just thinking about it.   

2015 saw the release of Rebel Heart.  Madonna worked with a lot of different artists on this album which makes the album not feel as consistent as others, however, it does show that Madonna is not afraid to experiment with different sounds like Reggae, Pop, Acoustic and even, Gospel.  Mike Tyson apparently makes a cameo on the album.  It sold about 1 million copies.  

More recently, in 2019 Madonna released her 14th studio album entitled Madame X.  It was praised for it’s unique and progressive sound.  It was influenced by her move to Lisbon, Portugal.  And finally, a movie based on Madonna’s life is currently in the works.  A release date is TBD, but I will definitely check that out when it’s released.  

I’ll end this week’s show with a few fun facts about Madonna that you might not know:

• She is the first and only artist to achieve a #1 song on various billboard charts over the course of 5 consecutive decades
• Before she injured her knee and Covid-19 hit the word, Madonna was on a small tour for her album, Madame X.  She banned all cell phones from her shows and performed in small venues to make the experience more intimate.  
• Madonna has composed many of her hit songs, even ones in the early days like “Lucky Star” and “Borderline” with the help of a synthesizer.  
• Madonna was one of the earliest adopters of the hands-free microphone while performing.  I mean, how can you do the arm waves behind your back while performing ‘Vogue’ if you have a darn microphone in your hand?! 
• She is deathly afraid of Thunder.
• Madonna has several acting credits including:  Evita, A League of Their Own, The Next Best Thing, Truth or Dare, Vision Quest, etc.  Apparently she has given up acting.  She’s even starred on Broadway in a play called “Speed the Plow” that was a box office smash even before it premiered because of advance ticket sales.
• Her favorite drink is a lemon drop which contains:  vodka, lemon and sugar.  
• Madonna is in the Guiness Book of World Records as the most successful female recording artists of all time, having sold over 200 million records worldwide.  We touched on her studio albums on today’s show, but there are several greatest hits albums, remix albums and soundtracks on her resume.  
• Madonna has published 10 books, several of them are for children.
• She was offered a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame, but she turned it down.
• Madonna has been a vegetarian for decades and in more recent years describes herself as primarily a Vegan
• She apparently hates the color orange
• She has 6 children:  Lordes, Rocco, David, Mercy, Estere and Stella.  With the exception of Lordes, her children were primarily adopted from Malawi.  
• In addition to her difficult marriage to Sean Penn, Madonna was married to Director Guy Ritchie from 2002-2008.  
• Like Michael Bolton, Madonna was also a fan of the infamous bistro chair.  However, instead of merely leaning on them, she often incorporated them into her dance sequences.  Case in Point, her “Express Yourself” performance at the 1989 MTV VMAs.  
• It may seem impossible to believe, but Madonna has always been very health conscious.  She does not use drugs and didn’t when she was younger either.  She didn’t allow cigarette smoking in the recording studio.  She even broke up with a boyfriend because he was addicted to heroin.  

A few lines from Madonna’s song I’ll Remember remind me a lot of my sister.  I believe this song originally appeared in the classic film- “A League of Their Own.”  As I mentioned in my introductory episode, I want to live, eat and breathe the things that my sister was in to, so whenever I am working on a show, I sort of consume myself with whatever the topic is.  So, for the past week or so I have been listening to a lot of Madonna’s music and found myself listening to this song while driving.  A few of the lines I can relate to, go a little something like this: “And I’ll remember, the love that you gave me, now that I’m standing on my own.  I’ll remember the way that you changed me.  I’ll remember.”

I hope you have enjoyed this look back at the unrelenting determination and success of Madonna.  I had no idea that she had to go through such hardships to get to where she is today.  My sister and I have long loved her music, but this makes me like her even more.  Her story has so much to teach us about determination, persistence, and how to endure instability when you have a dream.  She really is an inspiration.  And I feel like a lot of what I learned about Madonna through my research is not well-known, further attesting to her character and apparent humbleness at times. If you are enjoying the Pop Culture Retrospective Podcast, please do myself and yourself a favor and subscribe and rate the show!  Please tell your family and friends about the show!  You can contact me anytime, my email address is:  popcultureretrospective@gmail.com or you can follow me on Twitter, I’m @popcultureretro.  I hope you will join me for my next show where we will discuss the horrific and terrifying movie (aimed at children I might add) Return to Oz.  I hope I don’t regret researching that show and said research will occur during daylight hours.  Until then, be kind, be safe and hold on to your memories...