Madonna (40 page)

After all the things Bobby Glenn had heard about Madonna, he was surprised by how down to earth she was in reality. “One of the things that I was really astonished about was that she came to the rehearsal driving herself—with no security or anything, driving one of her cars herself, a black Mercedes convertible. She was very, very nice, and very comical—she's a very comical person. She knows what she wants and she has the attitude—'I'll do what I want to do.' And she doesn't care what the comments are. I didn't know at that time that this was going to be one of the videos that had a lot of controversy behind it. Neither did I know what the concept of the video was. When I saw the lyrics of the song and everything, I said, ‘Oh this is great! She's going to do a gospel video, and a gospel song on her album!' I didn't really know until after it was shot.”
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When the troupe was taking a break amid their only rehearsal session, Bobby approached Madonna. “The first rehearsal was really nice, and spiritual,” he claims, “and, after it was over, I got a chance to chat with her, and to introduce myself, and she knew I was with Diana, and we began to talk about Diana. She said, ‘Tell Diana I said “hello,” and “We don't get a chance to get together anymore since she married that rich man [shipping tycoon Arne Ness].' And I said, ‘Well, you're rich, too!' And she said, ‘That's right!' I found her to be very comical.”
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The actual filming of the choir scene was done in a thirteen-hour day at a soundstage on Melrose. The video choir members worked with choreographer Vince Paterson, Mary Lambert, and Madonna all day on the scene which was about one-eighth of the final five-and-a-half-minute presentation. “She has a boldness about her,” says Glenn in retrospect. “If she feels she wants to do something—she does it. She's got a lot of boldness, and I found her overall to be a very exciting person to work with.”
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The real excitement, however, began when the public got a look at the finished product.

By this point in her career, Madonna realized that the more scandalous the project, the more successful it would be. She was clearly begging for either the KKK or the “moral majority” to kick up a fuss. In a way she got more than she bargained for. It was only a matter of days before the controversy erupted onto the front page of every major newspaper. It was inevitable that Madonna's video was bound to stir up some sort of negative reaction from one right wing religious group or another. Reverend Donald Wildmond of the fanatical American Family Association, a self-righteous Christian group, threatened to have his
AFA Journal's
380,000 subscribers boycott Pepsi until the company bowed to his demands. From his home base in Tupelo, Mississippi, Wildmond demanded that Pepsi nullify their deal with Madonna because their commercial is “putting Madonna up as a clean, wholesome role model,” while her video is busily “ridiculing Christianity.”
¹⁹⁷
Wildmond had just cut his teeth on a boycott of Martin Scorsese's film
The Last Temptation of Christ
, and he was primed and ready for a holy war with a soda pop company.

Stymied Pepsi spokesman Tod MacKenzie tried to deflect the negative press. “Why isn't he going after the video?” he asked with bewilderment. “Why has he targeted really an innocent, wholesome commercial people have responded favorably to?”
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Oddly enough, the Pepsi executives didn't think to ask for a view of Madonna's video prior to its airplay on MTV. According to MacKenzie, “We have no right.”
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Pepsi immediately put a hold on further broadcasting of the Madonna commercial until they could see which way the cards were going to fall. Next, a Catholic bishop from Texas, Rene Gracido, jumped into the fray and labeled Madonna's video offensive. Hot-headed Gracido not only called for a boycott of Pepsi but of its other holdings as well—including multimillion-dollar fast-food restaurants Taco Bell, Pizza Hut, and Kentucky Fried Chicken.

To put the frosting on the cake, Catholic groups in Italy started to protest. When a statement from the Pope was released by the Vatican that banned Madonna from appearing in Italy, Pepsi finally had to make a decision.

Fearing a situation that could lose the company a fortune, Pepsi bowed to Wildmond's and Gracido's pressure, and agreed to discontinue broadcasting Madonna's ad and to drop their sponsorship of her next concert tour. Furthermore, Madonna was allowed to retain her entire $5 million advance.

For once, even Madonna was surprised. “When I think of controversy, I never really think people are going to be half as shocked as they are at what I do. I really couldn't believe how out of control the whole Pepsi thing got.”
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In the meantime, March 21 rolled around, and two million copies of the
Like a Prayer
album hit the stores. With flames fanned high by the controversy that the video, Pepsi, the self-righteous religious leaders, and the press had created, in three weeks
Like a Prayer
was the Number One single and album in America, and it went on to top the charts in over thirty different countries around the globe. If there was anyone left in the world who didn't know who Madonna was up until that point, they certainly knew who she was now.

Her album was an assault of sights, sounds—AND smells. Each album, cassette, and CD was all doused with a splash of patchouli oil. According to one representative from Warner Records, “She wanted to create a flavor of the sixties and the church. She wanted to create a sensual feeling you could hear and smell.”
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Not only was the album derivative of the musical styles of the sixties, but the cover photo was a takeoff on one of the most famous album jackets of that era. A close-up of Madonna's crotch and hands, it was a direct copy of the Rolling Stones' controversial 1971 album,
Sticky Fingers
, which had a close-up of Mick Jagger's crotch on its cover. In the Madonna version, the first button of the beltless jeans is undone, and her navel and exposed belly comprise the background her logo is emblazoned on.

Also aimed at the groin—in a favorable way—each copy of
Like a Prayer
came with an informative insert outlining, in frank terms, AIDS prevention facts. Never before, or since, has a recording artist turned up their nose at controversy for such a worthy cause. The insert urged the practice of “safe sex,” spoke of using condoms, and listed an 800 number that could be called for further information. It ended with the message: “AIDS Is No Party!”
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Explaining the AIDS insert in
Like a Prayer
, Madonna stated in her uniquely eloquent fashion: “I'm saying I have a pussy and I'm dealing with my sexuality and you can deal with yours if you want to. I'm encouraging that. But I'm not saying, ‘Go around and fuck randomly.' You can have sex, but you have to practice safe sex. There's no way around it. I think it's horrible that everyone thinks, ‘Oh, my God! AIDS! Now we all have to sleep alone and never have anything to do with anybody.' Use your imagination. Be creative.”
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In addition to the crotch-level-view on the front of the album, Madonna was depicted full body on the back. She had again turned around and adopted a new look. This time around it was very sixties, with dark stringy hair, well-worn bluejeans, several rings on her fingers, a string of colored beads and glass gemstones hanging around her waist, and a garnet-encrusted crucifix around her neck.

As she had done on the
True Blue
album, for photos Madonna turned to Herb Ritts to capture her with his camera. “We're on the same wave-length. She trusts me, and I try to come up with the best for her. She changes, I change. It's a true image that evolves,” claims Ritts.
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“Madonna has a specialness that comes from within. She's always changing and purifying her personal and professional image.”
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The Madonna media blitz was on, and suddenly you couldn't turn anywhere without seeing her image or hearing her new music for 1989. The reviews for
Like a Prayer
were especially complimentary, and suddenly she was seen as having much more depth than her original dance diva image hinted at.

Rolling Stone
referred to the album as “Madonna's True Confessions,” calling it “as close to art as pop music gets. ‘Like a Prayer' is proof not only that Madonna should be taken seriously as an artist but that hers is one of the most compelling voices of the eighties.” The
New York Times
called it “Madonna's convincing bid for recognition as a serious rock artist,” and contended that she “has never looked more beautiful or sung with more feeling.” Several reviewers suddenly took her more seriously, including
USA Today
, which reported, “Madonna's voice will never be technically brilliant, but she summons so much emotional intensity on
Like a Prayer
that the calculated come-on in 1984's
Like a Virgin
sounds like a disembodied chirp.”

While the Pepsi video controversy was brewing, Madonna reveled in the media attention. Since her divorce from Sean, she had been keeping company with her friends—especially Warren Beatty, Sandra Bernhard, or even the combo of Sandra and Warren.

The star electricity of Madonna and Warren Beatty provided enough wattage to light up a small town. And Hollywood is exactly that—a small town, where news travels fast. Not only was the pair making plans for their upcoming collaboration on
Dick Tracy
, but romance was in the air.

As much an ideal press release as it was an affair, the union of Madonna and Warren seemed almost plotted. But romancing his leading ladies has been a career-long legend for Beatty. His past loves include Joan Collins, Natalie Wood, Leslie Caron, Michelle Phillips, Julie Christie, Diane Keaton, and Isabelle Adjani. Madonna called him “Old Man,” and he nicknamed her “Buzzbomb.”

Simultaneous with the whole tempest in a soda pop bottle, Madonna had some more serious matters on her mind. Both Christopher Flynn, her dance instructor from her childhood, and Howard Brookner, the director of
Bloodhounds of Broadway
, were dying of AIDS. In both instances she was there for her friends.

On Sunday, February 26, Madonna was the star attraction at a benefit for AIDS Project L.A., which was held at the Shrine Auditorium Expo Hall. It was a fund-raising “Dance-A-Thon,” and Christopher Flynn was one of the organizers. The dancing partners she brought were Sandra Bernhard, her background singer Niki Harris, and her
Who's That Girl?
co-star Coati Mundi. “They're here to make sure that I don't perform too many nasty dance moves that Christopher Flynn is responsible for teaching me,” announced Madonna from the stage.
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Flynn, who also spoke to the crowd that evening, thanked his star pupil. He announced that she was among the first people he turned to when he was diagnosed. With that, Flynn commanded that as her oldest living disco partner, he claimed the first dance. Madonna and her friends danced for over an hour nonstop, and the event went on late into the night. The Dance-A-Thon raised $400,000 for AIDS Project L.A.

Coati Mundi says that Madonna coming that evening had meant an awful lot to Christopher Flynn. “He was a real nice guy,” recalls Coati. “He was really touched that Madonna came through for him. He just loved her, and he really was overcome with emotion to see Madonna.”
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That same year, when
Bloodhounds of Broadway
director Howard Brookner was hospitalized and dying of AIDS in New York, his friend, writer Brad Gooch, watched Madonna frequently visit. She not only visited Howard, but talked with all the other patients on the AIDS ward at St. Vincent's Hospital.

Madonna's actions continued to impress the people around her. She has proved again and again that she not only devotes her money but her time as well. Time and again she puts her money where her mouth is.

Another charitable event that she got involved in that spring was “Bungle in the Jungle.” It benefited an organization called Companions of Arts and Nature, whose mission is to save the rain forest. The tickets for the May 24th concert, starring Madonna, Sandra Bernhard, the Del Fuegos, the Jungle Brothers, Ann Magnuson, Malcolm McLaren, Rob Wasserman, and Bob Weir were $25 to $100. For an additional $250 you could attend a special reception; for $500 you could attend the dinner.

Held at the Brooklyn Academy of Music, the evening's program was basically a variety show hosted by Madonna and artist Kenny Scharf, with special guests like the B-52's and Keith Haring. The most-talked-about performance of the evening came from Madonna and Sandra. Together they performed their own version of Sonny and Cher's “I Got You Babe.” Dressed identically in cutoff jeans covered with flowers and patches and glittering bikini tops, the pair hugged and groped each other while singing ad-libbed lines like “You don't need a dick.”
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Confronting the controversy of their relationship, Madonna proclaimed, “Don't believe those stories you hear about us.” “BELIEVE them!” insisted Bernhard. That night, at the hip Vietnamese restaurant Indochine, in front of 330 guests—including Billy Joel, Calvin Klein, and Iman—Sandra made further pronouncements. “Madonna and I have a heart-and-soul friendship,” she explained. “What do you care more about, the rain forest or our sexuality?”
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The controversy continued to brew. Only a month before, Sandra appeared in London at the annual Prince's Trust Concert. In front of a sold-out crowd that included Prince Charles and Princess Diana, Sandra performed her rendition of Billy Paul's hit song “Me & Mrs. Jones (We've Got a Thing Goin' On),” which she dedicated to Madonna.
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The
London Standard
newspaper referred to her performance as “a lesbian version” of the song. When the program aired on television, the song was deleted from the telecast.