LIES: fake, non-story from some internet nobody about Madonna & WB in 1994

[tasteinmen]

Hmm well, she soon got over the backlash, the era produced a fantastic album, couldn't ask for anymore

[Guest CzarnaWisnia]

I'm pretty sure they were never planning a proper release for "Bye Bye Baby". It was only put out because of the tour, bit of fun, nothing more and nothing less. Certainly I don't remember anything about it at the time anyway.

didn't she perform the song at some awards show?

[frzndrwnwrld]

VMAs

[nick00]

As a Madonna fan in the early nineties, I did not even realize there was such a huge backlash taking place or her popularity was somehow fading.

At least in the US during the erotica era, she always appeared to be on MTV, regular television, & the radio.

[Kim]

Death at everyone acting like a deranged teen just because someone posted a link to an interesting article that may or may not be true.

Back to your usual form I see.

[Guest Rachelle of London]

My ankle hurts

[Simo9jo]

Death at everyone acting like a deranged teen just because someone posted a link to an interesting article that may or may not be true.

The article really isn't interesting. It's a bunch of exaggerated, made-up shit. I remember the time well (it's my favorite Madonna era), and while there was a backlash, it wasn't anything like this article says. Do people think we wouldn't have heard about her father getting beaten up? Ridiculous.

[Mad_On_Her]

I did wonder why Bye Bye Baby made it to promo but didn't get released in the US but I assume the reaction wasn't that positive so it got canned. So, it might be embellished in places but out of the whole of her career, this was definitely pretty much the lowest point aside from the MDNA album only lasting two months.

Bye Bye Baby was released to make up for the cancelled Frankfurt concert

[5iVe Elements]

The flushing in this thread is the highlight.

[Je5u5]

The flushing in this thread is the highlight.

It definitely is! Expect more Madonna bashing if this Cindy person is actually Ms. Cheng.

[karbatal]

I guess you had to be around in 1992-93 to understand just how bad things were. Someone could literally shoot Madonna in the head and get away with it. History is always rewritten and people actually believe that 1992-94 were creative and glorious years for the Madonna empire. They weren't.

That's not true. She was annoying for some people but she was not threatened. Please...

She sold maybe less, but she was incredibly famous and succesful.

[Larkspur]

That's not true. She was annoying for some people but she was not threatened. Please...

She sold maybe less, but she was incredibly famous and succesful.

I know anything about with whom you are talking too but I have to say something when what your saying is wrong or wrong in the United States. I don't want a debate. It's impossible to debate anyone in here and maybe where you are from things were different but the Erotica era was hell for Madonna. I cannot shut up and not say anything while people paint rosy pictures. If you have a problem with someone on here why do you have to alter Madonna's history to deal with it? Her history and this person have nothing to do with eachother.

[karbatal]

^ uh?

Are you quoting me by mistake, I asume?

[Mad_On_Her]

I'll just add my two cents given I was a fan in the backlash days of 92-94. I remember clearly the beating Madonna got in the press, even when Madonna came to Australia there was definitely hostility towards her in the press. But it wasn't that bad that people stopped paying attention to her. When Bedtime Stories came out, you could not pick up a teenage magazine like Tv Hits or whatever they were called without seeing massive articles on Madonna. Madonna was still very relevant in those days and there was always intense interest in what she was doing. Even in early 94 after the Girlie Show, Hard Copy were hunting her down to find out what she was doing.

Madonna at that time was still making fantastic pop songs and people in general liked them even though they weren't as big as the 80's material.

[Supernatural]

It wasn't just the Sex book she was also overexposed and needed to take it down a notch which she did. Big hits continued to come including her longest stay at US #1

[Kurt420]

This article is so OTT and ridiculous, but I think some people are undermining the backlash just a bit. Sure, looking back on an album that produced multi top 10 ten songs, sold 6 million copies and now is considered a gem that is perhaps her artistic peak (amongst her diehard fans) and calling it a flop seems to be a bit dramatic. I can only give the perspective of a 12 yr old at the time, but it seemed like literally almost overnight she went from a fascinating, tantalizing figure we had never seen the likes of before to just your average run of the mill sleaze bag in the eyes of the GP and media. I think it's safe to say her diehard fans pretty much stayed intact but there was a VERY noticeable shift in public opinion between ALOTO/TUTBMP in Summer '92 vs her public perception as we closed out 1992 and headed into '93.

Again, it may not seem a big deal now but to have her new album and single miss number one, sell barely half of what her previous album sold and by early '93 release singles that barely scrape the Top 40 was completely unheard of for her at the time. While it's true the press always liked to try to write her off, it became BRUTAL around this time. To this day, the nastiest, most hateful things I've read about her are from this time period. I definitely don't think it's out of the realm of possibility that she received death threats at this time. Not only was she showing her naked ass everywhere (a no no in itself in conservative Bush era America) but she was incorporating so much from gay culture into her work at a time when gay people were still just depraved, AIDS infested faggots to a good number of people in "middle America".

Naturally, I think this era was imperative in cementing her as the legend she is today, but it got real ugly there for a minute! Again, that's how I remember it as a 12 yr old growing up in the Southeast US.

[Genevieve Vavance]

This article is so OTT and ridiculous, but I think some people are undermining the backlash just a bit. Sure, looking back on an album that produced multi top 10 ten songs, sold 6 million copies and now is considered a gem that is perhaps her artistic peak (amongst her diehard fans) and calling it a flop seems to be a bit dramatic. I can only give the perspective of a 12 yr old at the time, but it seemed like literally almost overnight she went from a fascinating, tantalizing figure we had never seen the likes of before to just your average run of the mill sleaze bag in the eyes of the GP and media. I think it's safe to say her diehard fans pretty much stayed intact but there was a VERY noticeable shift in public opinion between ALOTO/TUTBMP in Summer '92 vs her public perception as we closed out 1992 and headed into '93.

Again, it may not seem a big deal now but to have her new album and single miss number one, sell barely half of what her previous album sold and by early '93 release singles that barely scrape the Top 40 was completely unheard of for her at the time. While it's true the press always liked to try to write her off, it became BRUTAL around this time. To this day, the nastiest, most hateful things I've read about her are from this time period. I definitely don't think it's out of the realm of possibility that she received death threats at this time. Not only was she showing her naked ass everywhere (a no no in itself in conservative Bush era America) but she was incorporating so much from gay culture into her work at a time when gay people were still just depraved, AIDS infested faggots to a good number of people in "middle America".

Naturally, I think this era was imperative in cementing her as the legend she is today, but it got real ugly there for a minute! Again, that's how I remember it as a 12 yr old growing up in the Southeast US.

yes it's true over night she suddenly turned into a sex addict and became a tabu in the public eye. she must have lost lots of fans during that time.

[Kurt420]

yes it's true over night she suddenly turned into a sex addict and became a tabu in the public eye. she must have lost lots of fans during that time.

I know all the IC loving little girls I hung around with adored her before Sex, afterwards, I can't tell you the number of times I heard classmates say Madonna is "gross"........lol. We all know how middle school children can be, and this was the time the "Madonna likes to fuck dogs and horses" rumors started going around school. LOL

[Camacho]

http://youtu.be/wF7qw6TSP8g

[LikeAPrayer]

In many ways, a public backlash was always inevitable. By the early 90's, she had reached a peak that was uncommon and hadn't been soon before (or after really) for female entertainers. The press and public always want to break something down that they've built up (though in Madonna's case, the press never really liked her, but she was beloved by the a huge intersection of the general public). She may have pushed things too far with SEX/Erotica/BOE, but they were used as a kind of a scapegoat to break her down, which probably would've happened regardless.

[Kurt420]

In many ways, a public backlash was always inevitable. By the early 90's, she had reached a peak that was uncommon and hadn't been soon before (or after really) for female entertainers. The press and public always want to break something down that they've built up (though in Madonna's case, the press never really liked her, but she was beloved by the a huge intersection of the general public). She may have pushed things too far with SEX/Erotica/BOE, but they were used as a kind of a scapegoat to break her down, which probably would've happened regardless.

Very true! Sex just made it a lot easier.

[jonski43]

and coming so soon after Like A Prayer and Justify My Love scandals, it was the final straw in the media's eyes!

When Deeper and Deeper didn't go top ten and then Bad Girl stalled at No.10 in the UK, I was wondering if it was all over!

[Kim]

When Deeper and Deeper didn't go top ten and then Bad Girl stalled at No.10 in the UK, I was wondering if it was all over!

All the Erotica singles went Top 10 in the UK. Deeper got to no.6

[realityisalways]

and coming so soon after Like A Prayer and Justify My Love scandals, it was the final straw in the media's eyes!

When Deeper and Deeper didn't go top ten and then Bad Girl stalled at No.10 in the UK, I was wondering if it was all over!

But some years ahead you would learn that it is never over for La Ciccone, never, unless she says so...

[Carta]

and coming so soon after Like A Prayer and Justify My Love scandals, it was the final straw in the media's eyes!

When Deeper and Deeper didn't go top ten and then Bad Girl stalled at No.10 in the UK, I was wondering if it was all over!

Did you mean Top 5? It reached the Top 10 in both the US and the UK...not bad for an artist who was suffering from a major 'backlash"...!

There was definitely an air of "she's gone too far this time" during the "Erotica" era, and Madonna herself admited that she probably shouldn't have released "Body of Evidence" at the same time (the book and the movie combined to overshadow the music, and she was disappointed about that). As for Madonna being "forced" to tour, record companies don't actually make money from tours, do they? The artist and the promoters (and their management team) make the money, not the record company. That's why the music industry is in so much trouble - the artists can't make a lot of money from music sales, so they have to tour to generate an income.

During the "backlash", Madonna continued to have hit singles right throughout the world, including the US (although to a lesser degree than in the past). Had there been no "backlash", "Erotica" would have gone to #1 (it still holds the record for the highest ever debut on the Billboard Hot 100 Airplay chart - #2 - and it was predicted to go to #1 by the chart experts until sales dropped off quickly, in spite of strong airplay. Remember that just two years previously, "Justify My Love" was a massive hit in the US, so there was no reason to believe that "Erotica" didn't have the potential to be just as big). DAD could easily have followed it to #1, although "Bad Girl" might have been another "Oh Father". "Rain" would have returned her to the Top 5. Of course, all of this is speculation, but again, Madonna herself feels that BOE and "Sex" overshadowed the music, so if the three projects had been separated, the music would have fared better.

I don't for a minute believe that Warners wanted to break their contract with Madonna. As others have said, some of the conservative managers might have been concerned about what she was doing, but I'm sure there were plenty at Warners who thought she had destroyed her career with LAV, LAP and JML.

As for Patrick Leonard being "forced" to "put together" IR for Madonna, I can't see that happening at all.

[karbatal]

I think the issue is not that people understimate the backlash, but OVERSTIMATE Madonna's image during 1990. She was incredibly critisized, people, after LAP/ BAT/ JL! Do you really think that she simply released in 1992 Sex/Erotica/BOD and then people started to hate her? That's why some of us say that the backslash wasn't that dramatic moment, because in fact all the backslash started in 1989, when the Vatican got angry with LAP.

If she sold less with Erotica,it was not only because of the backlash, although it made damage, of course. It was that Madonna killed her former self, changed dramatically her musical style and that meant losing a big chunk of her fanbase. Just before Erotica was released 'This Used To Be My Playground' was number one! Because it was a classical Madonna ballad. That's why 'Rain' was well recieved, or 'I'll Remember'.

[LikeAPrayer]

1990 was also arguably the peak of Madonnamania and she was still beloved by general public. During the Erotica era, it seemed like the average person was just sick of hearing about her and thought she was too desperate to "shock." Even when she was utilizing some "shock factor" in the years leading up, I don't think a lot of people saw it as shocking for shocking sake, but it felt like that was what everyone was thinking during the Erotica era.

Now, it's certainly possible the Erotica/Sex era may have been a miscalculation on Madonna's part. Perhaps the fact that she came out on top with the Justify My Love controversy got her to feel a bit invincible and wanting to push things out even farther, but it did backfire in a way that I don't think she or many fans anticipated.

[jonski43]

Did you mean Top 5? It reached the Top 10 in both the US and the UK...not bad for an artist who was suffering from a major 'backlash"...!

There was definitely an air of "she's gone too far this time" during the "Erotica" era, and Madonna herself admited that she probably shouldn't have released "Body of Evidence" at the same time (the book and the movie combined to overshadow the music, and she was disappointed about that). As for Madonna being "forced" to tour, record companies don't actually make money from tours, do they? The artist and the promoters (and their management team) make the money, not the record company. That's why the music industry is in so much trouble - the artists can't make a lot of money from music sales, so they have to tour to generate an income.

During the "backlash", Madonna continued to have hit singles right throughout the world, including the US (although to a lesser degree than in the past). Had there been no "backlash", "Erotica" would have gone to #1 (it still holds the record for the highest ever debut on the Billboard Hot 100 Airplay chart - #2 - and it was predicted to go to #1 by the chart experts until sales dropped off quickly, in spite of strong airplay. Remember that just two years previously, "Justify My Love" was a massive hit in the US, so there was no reason to believe that "Erotica" didn't have the potential to be just as big). DAD could easily have followed it to #1, although "Bad Girl" might have been another "Oh Father". "Rain" would have returned her to the Top 5. Of course, all of this is speculation, but again, Madonna herself feels that BOE and "Sex" overshadowed the music, so if the three projects had been separated, the music would have fared better.

I don't for a minute believe that Warners wanted to break their contract with Madonna. As others have said, some of the conservative managers might have been concerned about what she was doing, but I'm sure there were plenty at Warners who thought she had destroyed her career with LAV, LAP and JML.

As for Patrick Leonard being "forced" to "put together" IR for Madonna, I can't see that happening at all.

No I didn't mean top five!

Bad Girl only got to no. 10 in the Uk charts which was her lowest charting single since 84. DAD was her first song not to go top 5 since The Look of Love in 87. Warners released Fever only four weeks after Bad Girl due to its poor performance. You have to understand the backlash wasn't instant but gradually grew.

At this point, madonna still had a very large fan base to be able to get top ten hits but it was noticeable that the guaranteed top five hits and long stays in the charts were over. When Bedtime Stories was released, the whole launch was very much muted in terms of fanfare and hype. Secret was perceived as a massive attempt to detach herself from the Sex scandal and the whole era was much more low key in terms of press attention.

It was like a long hangover and it really didn't clear until You'll See came along. THat song surprised everyone and hung around for weeks.

[Carta]

No I didn't mean top five!

Bad Girl only got to no. 10 in the Uk charts which was her lowest charting single since 84. DAD was her first song not to go top 5 since The Look of Love in 87. Warners released Fever only four weeks after Bad Girl due to its poor performance. You have to understand the backlash wasn't instant but gradually grew.

OK, now I'm confused, because you said in your original post, "When Deeper and Deeper didn't go Top 10....", which is what prompted me to ask if you meant "Top 5" (since it did, in fact, reach the Top 10.....).

[Kim]

This revisionism of Madonna's early-mid 90s UK career based upon chart positions and a so-called backlash is hilarious.

This was the era of grunge and emerging britpop and eurodance. Madonna's pop/house sensibilities didn't fit the musical landscape but still sold and charted well.

Madonna saying "fuck" 596 times over the course of a weekend of concerts and the Justify My Love video were more controversial than "Sex".

There was no backlash in the UK, just a natural simmering down of the intense heat of previous years.