Jump to content

Madonna's radio dominance in 80s and 90s


Shane

Recommended Posts

I'm having a moment of reflection with my birthday tomorrow.

Isn't it amazing that Madonna dominated pop radio for three full decades? My boss is younger than me. He's 29, and I'm 38 (for one more day). We were discussing how unique it is that both of our childhood radio listening was dominated by the same woman, but with different hits.

Or I can look at it as her dominating my childhood radio experience AND my teen radio experience.

I remember graduating high school in 1995 and thinking it was amazing that she was on top with Take a Bow, since she had been on top with Like a Virgin when I was in second grade. She was such a veteran artist already at that point, with some of the best still to come.

19 Top 20 hits (17 top 10) in the 80s, and 19 Top 20 hits (15 top 10) in the 90s. Unreal.

And then another round of top 10s in the aughts.

There's no one like her.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

She dominated radio with Music, Don't Tell Me, Hung Up, Sorry, 4 Minutes and Give it 2 Me in the 00's where I live..

Same here. That's why I said "another round of top 10 hits in the 00's" and basically the point of this post: "there's no one like her."

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Guest gang bang

Worldwide Madonna was an airplay monster 3 consecutive decades...

nowadays she gets decent airplay in Europe, Israel , Japan and great here in Argentina with her current music..but she is a huge classic act , her catalog is played everywhere.....

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Guest gang bang

Thr biggest mistery is what happened to South america, nowadays its like they dont even send the single to play... Its not ageism here

Where are you from , Im from Argentina , and Living for love and Ghosttown had great airplay , I don t know other countries , Also the videos of those songs were hits on VH1 Latin

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Guest Rachelle of London

It's nothing to do with ageism at all. You can't go from being played everywhere to nothing and it's a coincidence especially when you've changed record label. Something's going on. I'm convinced.

Madonnas radio play and media coverage is unparalleled. She is the biggest star on Earth.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

In America I would say its 100% ageism. And even the UK deemed her "too old" for their main station, but something is weird over the fact that the Rebel Heart singles seemed to get no airplay literally anywhere.

I asked this question before and I don't know if it was answered but in America did VH1 or MTV even play any of her new videos? Not that it really matters since they only play like 20 videos a week.....Then again does MTV still play music videos in the early morning hours and does VH1 still have their Top 20 show? If not then forget my question because that would mean both stations play 0 music videos. :lol:

Anyway, if she was making music that didn't fit on top 40 radio I could understand. I mean the fact that Hung Up was as big as it was in America (even though not like the rest of the world) was huge since radio was nothing but hip/hop at that time, but the way top 40 radio is now, there is no reason why songs like Living for Love and Ghosttown didn't get the play they deserved aside from the fact that Madonna is "too old".

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Where are you from , Im from Argentina , and Living for love and Ghsottown had great airplay , I don t know other countries , Also the videos of those songs were hits on VH1 Latin

Brazil

I havent heard any song from RH once on the radio

Only in a few clubs

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I rarely hear her old hits here in Canada let alone anything from the new album. I think not having a proper label support anymore really hurt her radio play over here.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Guest eroticerotic

I rarely hear her old hits here in Canada let alone anything from the new album. I think not having a proper label support anymore really hurt her radio play over here.

it could be Warner imposing so she won't get songwriter royalties? Who knows....it is a bit odd that she went from a regular radio staple to basically zero airplay.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Guest Rachelle of London

Here in UK you can hear her older songs quite often on the radio, but never any of her new stuff. I don't get it.

Yup. I just heard Don't Tell Me about 12 mins ago. Even the other day when they were talking about the new tour they rounded it up by playing Give It To Me. A song she released at 50 years old. It's not ageism over here.

Ah well she's still the most played artist on British radio and most talked about in the press in terms of column inches

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Guest Rachelle of London

In America I would say its 100% ageism. And even the UK deemed her "too old" for their main station, but something is weird over the fact that the Rebel Heart singles seemed to get no airplay literally anywhere.

I asked this question before and I don't know if it was answered but in America did VH1 or MTV even play any of her new videos? Not that it really matters since they only play like 20 videos a week.....Then again does MTV still play music videos in the early morning hours and does VH1 still have their Top 20 show? If not then forget my question because that would mean both stations play 0 music videos. :lol:

Anyway, if she was making music that didn't fit on top 40 radio I could understand. I mean the fact that Hung Up was as big as it was in America (even though not like the rest of the world) was huge since radio was nothing but hip/hop at that time, but the way top 40 radio is now, there is no reason why songs like Living for Love and Ghosttown didn't get the play they deserved aside from the fact that Madonna is "too old".

Not our main station at all. People just like to say R1 is because it used to be. Listen views are so low on radio one. I don't even get why Madonna fans are upset they won't play her. No one will hear it anyway :lmao:

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Not our main station at all. People just like to say R1 is because it used to be. Listen views are so low on radio one. I don't even get why Madonna fans are upset they won't play her. No one will hear it anyway :lmao:

Well I know nothing about UK radio or how it works or how many radio stations there are.

From what I hear though R1 caters to teens and tweens, just like top 40 radio does here which is why a new Madonna song has a slim chance of ever getting tons of play ever again, unless she has some rare fluke in the near future.

Madonna's older songs still get tons of play on Adult Contemporary stations and okay play on Hot AC stations.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Aside from Vogue, I mainly just hear the 80's hits on the radio on a regular basis in Australia these days. sometimes you'll get lucky and it will be Ray of Light or Frozen. Though you know what 90s song I've been hearing over and over again the past year or so? Rescue Me.

I hear these same exact songs over and over again at my gym. Satellite radio, though.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Guest gang bang

Brazil

I havent heard any song from RH once on the radio

Only in a few clubs

so sad , but at least in Brazil Rebel heart sold over 40k ...1xp

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Like others have already said, in the last fifteen years there have been a few US radio hits, but nothing like the eighties and nineties.

When I've been bar hopping during the last two months, I heard so many M songs at gay places in NY, even songs off RH.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Although this thread has focused a lot on her decreasing airplay, my point in writing it was celebratory; to point out how long she dominated radio. Longer than any other artist in history, I do believe?

It's kind of overwhelming (in a good way) if you stop to think about it. Maybe more so if you lived through it, I'm not sure.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

In Australia, she basically gets 0 zero air plays and support nowadays. You might hear the occasional 80s song on some random radio station which not many people would know about. Living For Love was only played a couple of times on Nova to introduce the new single but never took of from there. Ghost town was only played like once on Nova but was never heard from again.

Pretty wierd considering she was all over radio back in 2009.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

its so that a track like GT by the same name ends up in top40 and M's brilliant GT doesnt even get played.

the track is brilliant everybody loves that song....

Link to comment
Share on other sites

×
×
  • Create New...