The Waves Presents: Hit Parade on Madonna
The Waves: Gender, Relationships, Feminism
Slate Podcasts
4.2 • 897 Ratings
🗓️ 18 August 2018
⏱️ 74 minutes
🧾️ Download transcript
Summary
The Waves brings you a 60th birthday tribute to Madonna. In 1998, Madonna was at a career crossroads. After dominating the ’80s with hits like “Like a Virgin” and “Open Your Heart,” she spent the first half of the ’90s wavering between roles as a provocateur (Erotica, Sex) and adult-contemporary balladeer (“I’ll Remember,” “Take a Bow”). That’s when she took a sharp left turn, working with producers and deejays in the burgeoning electronica scene. If it even was a scene: The very term “electronica” was a music-business confection, and by 1997 it was more hype than hit. But the result of Madonna’s experiment—her acclaimed ’98 album Ray of Light—was not only one of her biggest smashes ever. It also helped turn electronic music into viable pop. Email: hitparade@slate.com
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Transcript
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| 0:00.0 | You're listening ad-free on Amazon Music. |
| 0:03.4 | Hello, listeners, June Thomas here. |
| 0:05.8 | I am coming to you today, not with a new episode of The Waves, |
| 0:09.3 | but with a special bonus episode of another great slate podcast, Hit Parade. |
| 0:14.0 | This week, one of music's most iconic personalities, Madonna, turned 60, |
| 0:19.9 | and Hit Parade is here to celebrate her. |
| 0:22.5 | Host Chris Milamfi, a music journalist and pop chart historian, dug through Madonna's |
| 0:27.5 | extensive catalogue, particularly at a time when she found herself at a career crossroads. |
| 0:33.1 | So, as the Queen of Pop turned 60, the Waves wanted to be here to honour her with a little help |
| 0:38.5 | from our friends at Hit Parade. Every month you'll get new episodes that explain how some of |
| 0:43.7 | music's biggest acts broke through, along with some shows that will test your knowledge |
| 0:48.3 | of music trivia. Find Hit Parade in Apple Podcasts or wherever you listen. Subscribing is the best way to support the show. |
| 0:56.4 | Now, without further ado, I give you this special episode of Hit Parade, and happy |
| 1:01.4 | birthday, Madonna. |
| 1:04.5 | This is an encore presentation of Hit Parade. |
| 1:08.0 | We are reposting this episode about the creation of the 1998 album Ray of Light in honor of |
| 1:15.8 | Madonna's 60th birthday coming up on August 16th, 2018. |
| 1:21.9 | We hope you enjoy this celebration of a one-of-a-kind Queen of Pop's career, but also the dawn of electronic dance music |
| 1:30.9 | in the 1990s. Enjoy. Welcome to Hit Parade, a podcast of Pop Chart History from Slate Magazine, |
| 1:40.3 | about the hits from coast to coast. I'm Chris Malanfi, chart analyst, pop critic, |
| 1:46.0 | and writer of Slate's Why Is This Song Number One series? |
| 1:49.9 | On today's show, |
... |
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