大象传媒

US music critic and broadcaster Ann Powers remembers the first time she laid hands on Madonna. On her photograph, that is - kohl-rimmed eyes gazing with laser intensity from beneath her platinum-blonde New Wave pixie cut, neck and arms adorned with the rubber bangles and metal chains popular among punks and club kids alike in 1984.

For Ann, a card-carrying alternative kid, Madonna was a guilty pleasure. She was watching and listening as the self-made ingenue made her name on songs about virginity and pregnancy, women鈥檚 pleasure and their secrets. Ann related to her inner struggle as a Catholic girl trying to overcome a rules-based childhood, but she still had questions - was Madonna just an opportunist cashing in on every hot issue of the day or did she really mean to get us thinking?

Then, in 1989, Ann went fully public as a Madonna fan, with the release of Like A Prayer, which claimed the rock and roll centre of pop for a woman. The album also contained an insert, Facts About AIDS, meant to both save lives and fight against the homophobic myths about the disease that were rampant.

Not only were critics dismissive of Madonna because of her glamour, and conservatives afraid of her because she was so bold, she proved challenging to many precisely because she put her pleasure, a woman鈥檚 pleasure, first.

As Madonna ascended into pop superstardom, the controversies raged. When Ann became an activist fighting for AIDS awareness and free speech, she started to see Madonna as an ally, later interviewing her for the New York Times (as the paper's chief pop critic) on the release of Ray of Light in 1998. They talked about yoga and Ann was impressed with this studious, earnest Madonna. As more controversies hit the headlines, the superstar just kept going. A new vista always beckons.

But as the Material Girl turns 65, what should we make of her now? The world's best-selling female recording artist in history, Guinness World Records acknowledges that only The Beatles, Elvis Presley and Michael Jackson have conclusively sold more records worldwide than Madonna.

Contributors include:
Composer Stephen Bray who co-wrote many of Madonna's hits - including Into The Groove, Express Yourself, True Blue - and produced Papa Don't Preach.
Writer, academic and former record label exec Carol Cooper
Playwright Brian Mullin whose stage show Live To Tell is about writing a Madonna jukebox musical while living with HIV
Carlton Wilborn who appeared in the Vogue video and was a backing dancer on two of Madonna's world tours
Scholar, artist and queer activist Kay Turner whose books include I Dream of Madonna: Women's Dreams of the Goddess of Pop. As a singer and musician, she has performed in numerous all-women bands including the rock punk lesbian-feminist art band Girls in the Nose whose repertoire includes the track More Madonna Less Jesus.

Producer: Victoria Ferran
Executive Producer: Susan Marling

A Just Radio production for 大象传媒 Radio 4

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