It’s been more than three decades since our beloved and (more often than not) lycra clad Queen of Pop sashayed onto the stage and into our hearts. Today she celebrates her 55th birthday and although her number of music videos has overtaken her number of cake candles, we thought we’d attempt to compile a list (in no particular order) with a few of our favourite music clips to date.
‘Like A Virgin‘ 1984
This song holds a special place in our editor, Graeme’s, heart. It stems back to when he first heard it at the tender age of eleven (yes that’s correct, I said age eleven), where this clip taught him the meaning of being a virgin. This song hasn’t just been picked to reveal Graeme’s age though, it has other cool stuff going on; Venice, lions, rolling around on the ground wearing a wedding dress… it’s a keeper.
Like A Prayer ‘1989’
It features a Gospel choir. Do we need any other reason? Well apart from the fact that the provocative concept of a forbidden interracial love story complete with burning crosses and a crying religious icon probably deserves acknowledgment. This raised the hackles of religious groups all over the world. We say, Sing it, sister!
‘Vogue’ 1990
This tribute to the silver screen with its delicious black-and-white cinematography definitely gets our vote. It’s hard to believe this track at one point this track was going to just be a b-side. Don’t think, just hit play and ‘let your body move to the music’.
Justify My Love ‘1990’
Potentially one of Madonna’s most controversial clips to date, this Film Noir style clip throws in bisexuality, and voyeurism and androgyny in a hotel catering to couples with alternative lifestyles. Although being banned from MTV this song didn’t struggle to reach number #1 on the Billboard Hot 100 and still remains a steamy favourite of ours to this day.
‘Hung Up’ 2005
Rocking out in her pink leotard, ‘Hung Up’ is a tribute to John Travolta’s iconic dance moves. Modonna actually fell off a horse only a couple of weeks before filming which apparently created some difficulty in her dancing queen ability, we still think she nailed it! Fun Fact: it features a sample of ABBA’s ‘Gimmie! Gimmie! Gimmie!’ and let’s face it, who doesn’t love a little bit of ABBA?
Katie Cameron
