Ojai Sam
Staff member
Madonna - True Blue (1986)
We'll see how you feel after this pick.
I enjoyed Freak's post so much that I decided to select another album based on my own back story. 1986 was a huge year for me.
On February 14, my bride-to-be and I eloped by driving in a downpour from Koreatown to Santa Barbara in my Camaro Z28 H.O. When we arrived at the court house, we were serenaded with "We've Only Just Begun" performed by a pair of homeless women outside the court room.
So Madonna was Mrs. Ojai's favorite record? Well, no. Her taste at the time ran to Bach and Mozart. Still does.
After our marriage, having been an only child, I found myself with three siblings. One of my newly-minted nephews, let's call him Tony, lived nearby. He began dropping by after high school with his friends, bringing their boom boxes and musical tastes with them. Tony loved Madonna, and delighted in showing me this video based on my appreciation of vintage film:
After a lot of exposure, I began to really like this album, seeing it as a joyous escape from the disco dead end into a new realm of poppy dance music. Some critics agreed:
"True Blue is the album where Madonna truly became Madonna the Superstar -- the endlessly ambitious, fearlessly provocative entertainer who knew how to outrage, spark debates, get good reviews -- and make good music while she's at it. To complain that True Blue is calculated is to not get Madonna-- that's a large part of what she does, and she is exceptional at it, but she also makes fine music." [AMG]
Others resented being manipulated:
"Critics flock to her uneven product the way liberal arts magnas flock to investment banking--so desperate are they to connect to a zeitgeist that has nothing to do with them that they decide a little glamour and the right numbers add up to meaningful work, or at least "fun." I'm not saying her flair is pleasureless--the generosity she demands in the inexhaustible "Open Your Heart" is a two-way street and then some." [Robert Christgau]
I say fun is fun, calculated or not. Where's the party?
We have complete confidence in your ultimate selection, despite your presently-feigned distress.
We'll see how you feel after this pick.
I enjoyed Freak's post so much that I decided to select another album based on my own back story. 1986 was a huge year for me.
On February 14, my bride-to-be and I eloped by driving in a downpour from Koreatown to Santa Barbara in my Camaro Z28 H.O. When we arrived at the court house, we were serenaded with "We've Only Just Begun" performed by a pair of homeless women outside the court room. So Madonna was Mrs. Ojai's favorite record? Well, no. Her taste at the time ran to Bach and Mozart. Still does.
After our marriage, having been an only child, I found myself with three siblings. One of my newly-minted nephews, let's call him Tony, lived nearby. He began dropping by after high school with his friends, bringing their boom boxes and musical tastes with them. Tony loved Madonna, and delighted in showing me this video based on my appreciation of vintage film:
After a lot of exposure, I began to really like this album, seeing it as a joyous escape from the disco dead end into a new realm of poppy dance music. Some critics agreed:
"True Blue is the album where Madonna truly became Madonna the Superstar -- the endlessly ambitious, fearlessly provocative entertainer who knew how to outrage, spark debates, get good reviews -- and make good music while she's at it. To complain that True Blue is calculated is to not get Madonna-- that's a large part of what she does, and she is exceptional at it, but she also makes fine music." [AMG]
Others resented being manipulated:
"Critics flock to her uneven product the way liberal arts magnas flock to investment banking--so desperate are they to connect to a zeitgeist that has nothing to do with them that they decide a little glamour and the right numbers add up to meaningful work, or at least "fun." I'm not saying her flair is pleasureless--the generosity she demands in the inexhaustible "Open Your Heart" is a two-way street and then some." [Robert Christgau]
I say fun is fun, calculated or not. Where's the party?
. Background music rarely goes much beyond that for me.
