> At a time when many beautiful young women were selling their images on > their covers (sorry, Colin, Carly in that nightie on the cover was a > sell out) it is important to remember that a few, like Joni, Laura, > Janis, Judy, and Joan never did. In fact, the cover of Joan on Farewell > Angelina makes here look much less attractive than the beauty she still > remains today. >
I think Jerry makes a very good point here and I think it's a big part of why Joni has such a low opinion of Madonna as an artist. Joni has worked in the music business for more than 30 years, turning out work of a quality and depth that few people have even begun to approach. She has done this with dignity, grace and class. So now she sees Madonna, a person whose talent is maybe a notch or two above mediocre, resorting to every outrageous antic of self-promotion in the book and dragging down the standard that Joni worked so hard to set and maintain. On top of that, Madonna has the nerve to proclaim Joni as one of her influences. I'm no prude. I admit to having enjoyed watching Ricky Martin on tv shaking his bon-bon or whatever the hell he calls it from time to time. I own just about everything that Carly Simon has recorded but I know that she didn't appear bra-less on 'No Secrets' with her nipples on high-beam or kneeling on the floor in those black boots and black lace teddy on 'Playin' Possum' because she thought it was an artistic statement. She was using her natural attributes as an extremely sensual-looking woman to sell her albums. But there's a difference. Carly has talent in spades. Maybe not the same kind of talent that Joni has but in terms of pop singing and songwriting, Carly's in the upper echelon, imo. And Janis, bless her, was the all time Earth Mama. She was sexy, earthy, visceral and exploding with the gigantic soul and talent that consumed her from the inside out. I can hardly separate Janis's talent from her image. She wore the times, her soul and her heart on her sleeve and everywhere else on her exterior, for that matter. But Madonna? Others have said it, but I will say it again that without her shrewdness about self-promotion, her dancing ability, her bitchin' bod and the people she gets to produce and play on her records, nobody would bother with her. Her voice is ok but nothing remarkable. I guess she's co-written some of her songs but, again, they are ok as pop ditties but nothing great. So I have to agree with Joni. Madonna has taken talent (at least exceptional talent) out of the equation and become a cultural icon mostly by making herself sound good and shoving T and A in our faces. It's like she's turned live music into a Las Vegas showgirl act. Why wouldn't this make Joni, a true artist who has worked for so long to maintain a standard of integrity and excellence with dignity and class, pissed off about it? Madonna cites Joni as an influence when in fact by lowering the standards that Joni has worked so hard to set, she is really pissing all over those standards. Mark E in Seattle on the soap box tonight.
