Category Archives: Madonna

Reggie Lucas 1953-2018

20 Sunday May 2018

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Reginald Grant Lucas was born in Queens, New York in 1953, the son of a doctor and a teacher. “Although no one in the family was a musician or singer,” he recalled, “music was an important and natural part of our lives.” He began taking piano lessons aged six, and was given an electric guitar for his eleventh birthday. Enthralled by the “music explosion” coming from Motown and England in the Early 1960s, it was “the beginning of a lifelong romance.” Continue reading →

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When Avicii Met Madonna

23 Monday Apr 2018

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In March 2012, Madonna made a surprise appearance at the Ultra Music Festival in Miami alongside the twenty-three year-old Swedish DJ/producer Avicii. She had enlisted him to remix her latest single, ‘Girl Gone Wild’. “I’ve been here in spirit for many years, but it’s good to finally be standing on the stage, looking at all you people who have come here from all around the world,” Madonna told the crowd. “In my world the words ‘music’ and ‘dance’ are not separated. Electronic music has been a part of my life since the beginning of my career. I can honestly say that a DJ saved my life.” Continue reading →

Madonna’s ‘Erotica’ At 25

27 Monday Nov 2017

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In 1991, Madonna’s fame was at its height. Truth or Dare, her behind-the-scenes documentary filmed during the Blond Ambition tour a year earlier, caused a sensation with its revealing take on the star. After reaching her pop apotheosis with Like a Prayer, she had struck out in new directions with ‘Vogue’ and ‘Justify My Love’ (a sultry, experimental track produced by Andre Betts, with a video banned by MTV.) Continue reading →

‘True Blue’ at 30

30 Thursday Jun 2016

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Madonna’s third album, True Blue, was released on June 30, 1986. Recorded during the honeymoon period of her stormy marriage to Sean Penn, and revealing a sleeker, more sophisticated style, True Blue yielded a slew of classic pop singles, affirming Madonna’s status as one of the decade’s musical icons. Thirty years on, you can read my expanded review here.

Art Decades 7: Bowie, Madonna and More

18 Monday Apr 2016

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Ever since the death of David Bowie in January, there has been an outpouring of public grief. Not corporate-led, but a genuine groundswell of feeling from generations of fans to whom Bowie was not just an idol, but an inspiration. Continue reading →

2015: A Year in Books

16 Wednesday Dec 2015

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Reading Clarice Lispector for the first time is like falling in love. Each of her stories is a rare jewel. Shocking, funny and wildly imaginative, this collection is a landmark, reclaiming her as one of the underrated voices of the twentieth century.

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The final volume in Elena Ferrante’s Neapolitan series rages like a cyclone. No happy endings here, only the transcendence of real art.

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Lucia Berlin was a wonderful American writer, whose stories are warm, yet unflinching. She led an eventful life, and while there are strong autobiographical elements in her work, she was also richly imaginative. Continue reading →

2015: A Year in Music

15 Tuesday Dec 2015

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Madonna’s Rebel Heart arrived in March, though it leaked months before. Her 13th studio album is a hot mess, with some twenty-five tracks in all: some brilliant, others bizarre, but always fascinating. Continue reading →

2014: A Year in Music

20 Saturday Dec 2014

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My favourite album this year was Lana Del Rey’s dark, brooding Ultraviolence, and my song of the summer was ‘West Coast’.

A close second was Lykke Li’s epic tearjerker, I Never Learn. You can watch her incredible Glastonbury performance here.

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I also enjoyed Samantha Crain’s Kid Face; Angel Olsen’s Burn Your Fire for No Witness; Small Town Heroes, by Hurray for the Riff Raff; and First Aid Kit’s Stay Gold.

Looking forward to 2015 – the reigning Queen of Pop, Madonna, will launch her new album, Rebel Heart, in March. A six-track EP, including lead single ‘Living for Love’, was released on i-Tunes this morning.