August 21, 2018

Madonna's tribute to Aretha Franklin is deemed too Madonna-focused.

You be the judge. Here's the full transcript, from "'Beyond disrespectful': At [the MTV Video Music Awards], Madonna gets backlash after bizarre Aretha Franklin tribute" (WaPo):
Aretha Louise Franklin changed the course of my life. I left Detroit when I was 18. $35 in my pocket. My dream was to make it as a professional dancer.

After years of struggling and being broke, I decided to go to auditions for musical theater. I heard the pay was better. I had no training or dreams of ever becoming a singer, but I went for it. I got cut, and rejected from every audition. Not tall enough. Not blends-in enough, not 12-octave range enough, not pretty enough, not enough, enough.

And then, one day, a French disco sensation was looking for back-up singers and dancers for his world tour. I thought, “Why not?” The worst that can happen is I could go back to getting robbed, held at gunpoint and being mistaken for a prostitute in my third floor walk-up that was also a crack house.

So I showed up for the audition, and two very large French record producers sat in the empty theater, daring me to be amazing. The dance audition went well. Then they asked if I had sheet music and a song prepared. I panicked. I had overlooked this important part of the audition process. I had to think fast. My next meal was on the line.

Fortunately, one of my favorite albums was “Lady Soul” by Aretha Franklin. I blurted out, “You Make Me Feel.” Silence. “You Make Me Feel Like A Natural Woman.” Two French guys nodded at me. I said, “You know, by Aretha Franklin.” Again, “Mmmhmm.” They looked over at the pianist. He shook his head. “I don’t need sheet music,” I said, “I know every word. I know the song by heart, I will sing it a cappella.”

I could see that they did not take me seriously. And why should they? Some skinny a– white girl is going to come up here and belt out a song by one of the greatest soul singers that ever lived? A cappella? I said, “Bitch, I’m Madonna.”

No, I didn’t. I didn’t say that. Cause I wasn’t Madonna yet. I don’t know who I was. I don’t know what I said. I don’t know what came over me. I walked to the edge of the pitch black stage and I started singing.

When I was finished and drenched in nerve sweat. Y’all know what this is, right, nerve sweat? They said, “We will call you one day, and maybe soon.”

So weeks went by and no phone call. Finally, the phone rang, and it was one of the producers, saying, (French accent) “We don’t think you are right for this job.” I’m like, “Why are you calling me?” He replied, “We think you have great potentials. You are rough for the edges but there is good rawness. We want to bring you to Paris and make you a star.”

We will put you in a studio . . . it sounded good, and I wanted to live in Paris and also I wanted to eat some food. So, that was the beginning of my journey as a singer. I left for Paris.

But I came back a few months later, because I had not earned the luxury life I was living. It felt wrong. They were good people. But I wanted to write my own songs and be a musician, not a puppet. I needed to go back home and learn to play guitar, and that is exactly what I did. And the rest is history.

So, you are probably all wondering why I am telling you this story. There is a connection. Because none of this would have happened, could have happened, without our lady of soul. She led me to where I am today. And I know she influenced so many people in this house tonight, in this room tonight. And I want to thank you, Aretha, for empowering all of us. R-e-s-p-e-c-t. Long live the queen.
But it continues! And here's where you know she intended disrespect:
Another anecdote I would like to share: In 1984, this is where the first VMAs were, in this very building. I performed at this show. I sang “Like a Virgin” at the top of a cake. On the way down, I lost a shoe, and then I was rolling on the floor. I tried to make it look like it was part of the choreography, looking for the missing stiletto. And my dress flew up and my butt was exposed, and oh my God, quelle horreur. After the show, my manager said my career was over. LOL.

So I would now like to present the nominees for the video of the year.
I can only think that Madonna has a long history of shaking things up at the VMAs and, like she says, "Bitch, I'm Madonna." She's the ultimate diva, and if you ask her to give a tribute to the ultimate diva, you get what you asked for. She made it through the wilderness...

59 comments:

rhhardin said...

Maybe Madonna is just a raconteur and the offended are entertaining themselves with being offended.

rhhardin said...

In Veep Selena's hated mother died and at her funeral Selena found out she'd lost the recount in Utah. Her friend added "Sorry about your loss" in the perfect funeral whisper.

People attend for various reasons.

Temujin said...

I never got Madonna. Junk radio personality as far as I'm concerned. Aretha is on another level so far above Madonna they should not even be in the same sentence (sorry I just did that). Madonna's approach to a tribute is reminiscent of Obama commenting, complimenting, or paying tribute to someone. It was always about Obama, even when it was supposed to be about someone, or some thing else. His speech would be infested with 'I', 'me', 'my' and not much more. It was always about how the world revolved around Him and how He affected that world.

Madonna is a similar personality. Perhaps that's what it takes to be Madonna, Bitch.

Humperdink said...

I remember being at a business meeting in the late 80's. Prior to the start of the meeting, someone mentioned Madonna. To which someone else replied: "Oh that slut". Still fits decades later.

rhhardin said...

Curiously, as far as I know, nobody's mentioned Rodney Dangerfield's tag "I don't get no respect" with Sharpton's R-E-S-P-I-C-T.

rhhardin said...

I don't get any officially-hot singer act.

Birkel said...

Did anybody see where I left my last GAF?

narayanan said...

Madonna presenting her "remembered self" based on her "acting self" -

she tributes Aretha by the choices influenced by her.
What more can you ask for in terms of "Thank you, Aretha"

Would Aretha approve? I hope you betcha.

Quayle said...

[Singing]
Me me me me meee meee me,
Find out what it means to me.

Mike Sylwester said...

Madonna's story about her audition was interesting.

However, I did not get her anecdote about her shoe.

rhhardin said...

Me me me me meee meee me,
Find out what it means to me.


That's what the offended are doing.

Ann Althouse said...

"Would Aretha approve? I hope you betcha."

The test is, what if Madonna had died first and Aretha was asked to give a tribute to Madonna. I have a feeling you'd have seen something similar.

Drago said...

Madonna making a Franklin tribute all about herself.

Who could possibly have seen that coming?

Ann Althouse said...

"However, I did not get her anecdote about her shoe."

If you watch the video, it's pretty obvious that she's deliberately taking her shoes off. She's standing on top of the wedding cake with a man (like the figurines on a cake) and then she rebels and gets off the cake. Not only didn't she want to walk down the cake, dangerously, in heels, it was also symbolic of rebellion, the rejection of heels.

Barry Dauphin said...

That was more filibuster than tribute.

Mark said...

“You Make Me Feel Like A Natural Woman.” Two French guys nodded at me. I said, “You know, by Aretha Franklin.”

By Carole King. But at least Aretha Franklin sang it better than Whitney Houston's torturing of Dolly Parton's "I Will Always Love You."

Bill, Republic of Texas said...

It kind of reminded me of talking to my really old father. He'll start talking about something and then he'll start telling a story from the past (a story we've all heard many times before).

Then when he runs out of steam on that thought he'll start a whole new unrelated story. That's when everyone gives an inaudible sigh.

But what can you do but indulge him.

Rob said...

How very Obama-esque of her.

rehajm said...

I don't think it's deserving of 'beyond disrespectful'. She meanders too much and the connection to Aretha is weak for the quantity of bloviating.

It could have been tighter but what's tight about Madonna at this point?

Ralph L said...

Cher's eulogy of Sonny was all about her, too.

Whitney Houston's torturing of Dolly Parton's "I Will Always Love You."
But it was perfect for the pepper spray baller.

rhhardin said...

Natural Woman is supposed to be a song about orgasm.

That would have been a point of commonality for an anecdote.

exhelodrvr1 said...

I just wish she had told us what is on her summer reading list.

Robert Cook said...

"The worst that can happen is I could go back to getting robbed, held at gunpoint and being mistaken for a prostitute in my third floor walk-up that was also a crack house."

I've been in that building where Madonna had lived. It was in Alphabet City. A friend of mine moved into a sublet apartment there and lived there for some months back in the late 80s. I (and others) helped move him in--carrying his belongings up to the fifth floor via the dim staircase. Afterwards, we sat and had beers and watched "How To Murder Your Wife" (with Jack Lemmon and Virna Lisi) on tv. I visited the building a handful of times while he lived there.

It was certainly a shitty building. I'm sure heroin was being used there as (or more) often as crack.

Robert Cook said...

Yes, Madonna's speech was certainly about her, and not about Aretha. Madonna--who has recorded songs I've liked--isn't fit (as a singer) to be the grime on the underside of Aretha's shoes.

M Jordan said...

Interesting story of Madonna’s start that I, of course, knew nothing of. But, yeah, it seems disrespectful to me to give a “tribute” in which the tribute is a rung on the ladder in a story about how you climbed the ladder of success.

Now is the winter of our discontent made glorious summer by this son of New York said...

It was fine, and I don’t even like Madonna. Ok, I did like Desperately Seeking Susan, and her ‘80s stuff.

Ralph L said...

When does she get her shoes back on? It doesn't look like she ever drops the bouquet.
IIRC, the writhing on the floor helped make her famous.

Now is the winter of our discontent made glorious summer by this son of New York said...

Maybe Madonna is just a raconteur and the offended are entertaining themselves with being offended.

+1

Limited blogger said...

Good to see Madonna still making an impact

Sebastian said...

"She's the ultimate diva"

Surprisingly self-deprecating.

Bay Area Guy said...

"You make me feel like a natural woman"
By Urethra Franklin

Ron said...

The best thing I can say is that when Madonna finally passes away, I'll come up with a similar speech about myself....and I won't mention her at all.

whitney said...

Sounds like Obama. Me me me me me

WK said...

I remember this asa kid but know it was just a cartoon. . .
Daffys Special Trick

Fernandinande said...

Urethra Franklin

That's so juvenile, it sounds like something I was saying the other day.

tommyesq said...

Bill, Republic of Texas - perfect avatar for that anecdote!

Kevin said...

I didn't watch the awards, because I have a life and self-respect, and frankly even if I didn't I wouldn't be watching MTV for awards or anything else, but I have to know, did she really say "LOL" out loud? She spelled it, out loud, L-O-L? People nowadays, geesh. My eyes breezed past it because we're so used to seeing LOL in print, then I realized it was a quote of a line delivered orally.

Marcus said...

Madonna had __some__ talent. She was very good at self-promotion. I see that she's still at it.

Aretha was in a class of her own. Her renditions of "(You Make Me Feel Like A) Natural Woman" and "Say A Little Prayer For You" gave those wonderful compositions a second, more amazing life after the originals.

Earnest Prole said...

Madonna displays the same form of narcissism as Obama, Kanye, and Trump. No matter the subject it's all about her.

Kevin said...

"Madonna's tribute to Aretha Franklin is deemed too Madonna-focused."

Can we apply the same standards to the next tribute to MLK?

Because "too politician X-focused" basically describes them all.

Kevin said...

I vote we stop all the tributes.

They have long ago replaced the element of respect with the elements of "you must honor" and "I'm the rightful heir".

President-Mom-Jeans said...

Luckily, nobody gives a shit about MTV so I'm sure not very many people were exposed to this washed up old narcissistic whore.

Bill Peschel said...

I was just reading the Andy Cohen diaries (note: AC is a producer of the "Real Housewives" franchise, close friends with Anderson Cooper, and TV host).

While Cohen was flying in First Class, the stewardess who knew of his Madonna fixation told him that she was on the plane, in seat A1 with the proles. She may have gone on last and wasn't calling attention to herself, but she still did it. She was even on the manifest as "Madonna Louise Ciccone."

I rather like that.

Seeing Red said...

Deemed? We saw it.

I almost thought Obama was on stage with all the “I’s”.

tcrosse said...

I liked Madonna back in the Bush Era.

Francisco D said...

"I liked Madonna back in the Bush Era."

I liked her back in the early Reagan era. I recall asking two female grad students what they thought of her and was surprised when they said, "What a slut!"

Sam L. said...

Madonna DOES Madonna.

Mike (MJB Wolf) said...

I think Tcrosse’s bon mot just went over Francisco’s head. Early Madonna not early 2000s.

Francisco D said...

"I think Tcrosse’s bon mot just went over Francisco’s head.

Probably.

I thought he was referring to George H.W. Bush.

Yancey Ward said...

I liked the story about the audition- she was connecting an event of her past with Franklin- that is appropriate homage.

I have always liked Madonna's music and always will- she was one of the two biggest musical superstars during my late teens to early 30s.

Titus said...

Gays love Madonna

Jim at said...

I, I, I.
Me, me, me.

Eight years of that crap, and now people are upset at Madonna for doing the same?
Pass.

Ralph L said...

I thought he was referring to George H.W. Bush.

No, it was before women started shaving/waxing themselves into bald eagles, the bane of peter iron rails/iron weights.

The Crack Emcee said...

My friends and I were discussing the fact we're stuck with Madonna and Mariah Carey now, and a hopelessness washed over the room, like Weird Al Yankovic had died or something.

n.n said...

Me, me, me.

... me. It's me, me, me, me.

JaimeRoberto said...

@Bay Area Guy

That's Front Hole Franklin to you, buddy.

tcrosse said...

Me, me, me.

... me. It's me, me, me, me.


Mi chiamano Mimì.

Ralph L said...

It's all about Rudolfo:
I will tell you in two words,
who I am, what I do,
and how I live. May I?
Who am I? I am a poet.
What do I do? I write.
And how do I live? I live.

Not so many I's in Eyetalian.

William said...

Madonna has endured. There are people who have despised her for decades, but she's still around. I can't think of any singer who has ever inspired this much antipathy over this much time. Sinead O'Connor and Brittney has little flare ups of antipathy, but nothing like Madonna. I have never met anyone who stated that they were a Madonna fan, but there she is........I think Debbie Harry had a more profound impact on Madonna's work than Aretha. Madonna was just a reflection on Debbie Harry's bright sun, but over time Debbie has faded and Madonna continues to shine. Posterity sucks.