If You Only had 4 Minutes To Save The World, What

If You Only had 4 Minutes To Save The World, What

ICON MAGAZINE #49 - Quarterly publication of The Official
Madonna Fan Club - Web: www.madonna.com - Honorary
Madonna - Edited by Johann Delebarre - Assistant Editor
David Marion - Additional contributions by Annie Lennox,
Philippe van den Bossche, Jonas & Francois - Art direction,
layout & design Johann Delebarre & David Marion - Photo
Credits Steven Klein, David Marion, Guy Oseary, Shavawn Gordon, Barry Peele, Frank Micelotta - Special thanks to Alice «the
nails» Poulain - The usual suspects Madonna, Guy Oseary, Liz
Rosenberg, Sara Zambreno, Denise Lambertson, Stephanie
Patafio, Christophe Caron, Magali Devernay, Bibi & Krys, Théo,
Lola and all Madonna fans around the world... Copyright ©
2008 Boy Toy, Inc. All rights reserved. Reproduction without
written permission is prohibited.
Dear Friends,
There has been so much going on in the Madonna world lately that I don’t
even know where to start! In less than 3 months, our queen released a single,
a video, a full length album, and promoted all of it through 3 exclusive live
shows. Earlier in the year, she was inducted into the Rock N’ Roll Hall Of
Fame, and just recently premiered her ‘I Am Because We Are’ documentary
in New York and Cannes. As if all of that was not enough, Madonna also
filmed the video for Hard Candy’s second single and announced a world
tour! If you know of another artist doing so much in such a short period,
please give me a call now!
While we’re all in love with all of Madonna’s recent achievements, there’s no
way we would be able to cover them all within just one issue of Icon... And
that is why we’ve decided to make this issue a double one, with the second
part to be released within the next few weeks.
On a more web-based note, I hope that you like the brand new website
and community features that are now part of your membership. Also, don’t
forget that you can now get your printed copy of the magazine sent to you
by using our new «print-on-demand» option!
Enjoy this new Madonna year!!
xo
Johann
04 EXPRESS YOURSELF
08 MY SUGAR IS RAW
16 SPEAK MY SISTER SPEAK
22 4 MINUTES
26 JONAS & FRANCOIS
32 MAKING A DIFFERENCE
36 ROCK N’ ROLL HALL OF FAME
4 - ICON 43
EXPRESS YOURSELF
Hi Madonna,
It was 24 years ago when I was 15 that I first
discovered your music. Ever since then, you have
been there in my life. Your music always seems
to reflect my own life. I hope it will do so for
many years to come. Keep on doing what you’re
doing!
Love you.
Patricia, UK
I think you are so awesome and I wanted to let
you know Drowned World is my favourite song in
the whole world. It meant so much to me when
you sang it so beautifully during Confessions.
Your music is in my soul. It’s everywhere I go.
I love getting down and into the groove with
Bedtime Stories. You’ve stolen my heart and I
want to thank you for it.
Love,
Anthony, USA
Dearest Madge,
For as long as I can remember, your music has
(literally) played a part in my life. My close
relationship with my older sister (a fellow
Madonna-maniac who I have idolized from
birth) has had me hooked on you for as long as
I can remember. Your music has both inspired
me and brought me up from some of the worst
times in my life. For all of my life, you have
been a fixture in the background of my life. Your
music has been the soundtrack of my life, eerily
mirroring my real-life happenings. For your
music, your signature attitude and spunk, your
skill and of course your live performances, I could
never thank you enough!
Brian, USA
Hey M,
Just wanted to say THANK YOU for giving me
inspiration and encouragement, and for showing
me how to use the tools that life gives us to
make this the best life we can all possibly live!
Life has not been kind to me, yet with you in it
and everything you share with all of us I have
found strength, unconditional love, and the
ability to succeed. Having only a single moment
to catch your eye in Philly at ‘Confessions’
during ‘Lucky Star’, your energy surged so
strongly throughout me everyone around me
knew we made that connection and they felt
it too! Although I will never give up hope that
one day I will have the honour of making your
acquaintance in person I will never forget that
moment. I always share with everyone how you
continue to educate and empower me in hopes
that they will also find the encouragement you
continuously give to everyone. I love you!
John, USA
Hey Mrs. Ritchie!
That’s what I shouted at the Filth & Wisdom red
carpet in Berlin and cought your attention. The
brief moment that you looked at me brought
the biggest smile to my face and it still lasts on.
Thanks for my very own Madonna moment.
Sometimes even the shortest moments in life are
the most special. You made Berlin sparkle a little
brighter that night!
Love
Dirk, Germany
You’re too fabulous Madonna. Can’t wait to see
both of the movies coming out (IABWA and
FAW). But I want you to act again. Swept Away
was brilliant. I had a very intense emotional
response to the ending and I thought the
movie had something to say that most movies
don’t. But whatever you are up to, I am always
interested in seeing what that might be. You
keep me entertained while inspiring me in my
own life. Maybe one day, we will work together
if you deem me worthy (after I have proven
myself, I’m sure. LOL).
William, USA
Dear Madonna,
It’s been almost 13 years that I got interested in
your music. Amazing how time flies by. Over the
years I have enjoyed «getting to know you» - and
I do not mean only the music. It’s the things
you stand for and the person you are. You have
inspired me in many ways and you keep showing
me that dreams do come true. Beside all that
you keep giving me wonderful music to enjoy.
I hope to see you on stage any time soon again
because I missed you last time - unfortunately
you did not make it to Australia and that’s where
I was at that time. It’s wonderful to see how life
has turned into a certain direction for you that
seems to make you happy and settled. Marriage
and children suit you very well. But you never
sit back, there are always new challenges. And
that’s what makes you so special - you surprise
us with new ideas, new styles, new projects.
Your energy is amazing and infinite. Thank you
so much for everything you do. Maybe one day
I will get the chance to express my gratitude in
person, we never know. Until then...just know
that there are people out there who really
appreciate your courage and honesty. All the
best for you and your family, may you be blessed
with good health and happiness.
Love,
Marian, Germany
It looks like it’s going to be another busy
Madonna-filled year! I know you’re going to
be incredibly busy so here is just a quick note
expressing my love and gratitude to your never
ending reign as Queen of Pop. The album that
changed my life was Ray of Light – as soon as
you started singing with euphoria on the track
Ray Of light, I was hooked. Line and sinker.
Seeing you live (twice) has been the highlight
of my summer’s and I hope that I get to live that
incredible feeling as you make your entrance
on stage. It’s been a rough couple of years what
with beating Cancer and learning to live with a
disability. But my determination to succeed at
Uni and get my degree is forever strong because
of your influence. I’ll be seeing you on tour
(crosses fingers!)
Claire, UK
Hi Madonna!
I think you’re the greatest monarch the world has
ever known! I’m not a fan from the beginning,
since Hung Up, but I’m only fourteen. You started
while I didn’t exist yet. After buying Hung up and
Confessions On A Dance Floor I started to collect
all of your CDs, and after that I started collecting
your CD-singles. I surprised myself by liking it all!
At first I didn’t really like the R&B thing, but after
Timbaland confirmed he collaborated with you
I listened to some of his songs, and I really liked
‘The Way I Are’.
I’m busy now learning ‘Hollywood’ and I can
already play songs like ‘X-Static Process’ and
‘Don’t Tell Me’.
As the Vulcans from Star Trek say: live long and
prosper!
Thomas, The Netherlands
ICON 49 - 5
EXPRESS YOURSELF
Thank you Madonna, your passion and drive
motivates me to work as hard as possible to
achieve the best results out of everything i do in
life. I have been a fan since 1984 and it just gets
better and better all the time, I have enjoyed the
thrived on every moment of your dazzling career.
Thank you Madonna, you are a true inspiration
to us all.
Gaynor, UK
Dearest Madonna,
I’ve loved you since I was 10 years old. I’ve never
really been a person to write celebrities, but
you’ve made such an «impact» on me like no
other artist ever has. I truly believe that you had
a big influence on me growing up. You helped
to make me a strong and confident woman.
But....You also taught me how to be sexy. I too
had Catholic Parents (Irish). So there were no
«Sexiness» teachings. LOL On your first album,
l listened to every song. Not only the hits like
«Lucky Star» and «Borderline». I also loved the
rest of your songs too, like «Everybody» and
«Spotlight» Which are still great today! Oh, and
«Burning Up» will be bitching for a long time to
come. To my surprise, I can’t think of anything
else that I want to say right now! Except, that
you’re the «Marilyn Monroe» of our generation.
By that I mean you’ve made such a major impact
on society, that you’ll never be forgotten.
Love you always,
Jennifer, USA
Madonna - What to say to a legend and an icon
such as yourself...I have been a fan since the
first single release and have continued to follow
your work through the years. I never cease to
be amazed with the way you continue to push
the limits with everything you do. I applaud you
for the impact that you have had on MILLIONS
of people, your fans...such as I who adore you
and thank you for the difference you have made
in my life, not to mention the difference you
have made in the lives of the children in Malawi
through Raising Malawi. You are an inspiration
for anyone who has a dream and have inspired
me to persist at everything I do. I am 42 years
old and have had many dreams that I just didn’t
believe could ever come true. As I’ve grown
older I have come to realize that my dreams
are just as important as anyone else’s and that
with determination, strength, persistence and
belief in myself, I can achieve great things in my
life. NO ONE has had as much of an influence on
6 - ICON 49
my life as you have. Whenever I start to doubt
myself, my dreams or my place in this world, I
think of people like you and remind myself that
you got to where you are today by doing all of
those things I thought I was never capable of
doing. I also have to remind myself that you are
a human being just like the rest of us, and that
the difference between you and me is you never
stopped believing in your dreams. I love you
Madonna!!!
Gina, Canada
Madonna, Madonna, Madonna.... Just hearing
your name makes me feel better, I’d like to
express how I feel when I sing your songs, when
I hear you on the radio, when I see you on TV,
when I play your music... you make me feel very
good and I’d like to thank you for it cause you’re
very special for me and all the people around
me, you are part of my life. My children sing your
songs and know perfectly who you are and they
know you are a special person for their daddy,
and I LIKE IT. Please, never stop to make us feel
that way.
Paco, Spain
I have been a fan since first hearing Borderline
and Holiday (that ages me). My parents always
said my Madonna fascination was a phase. It has
been a long phase that has only intensified over
the years. I get just as excited with new songs
and videos now as I did back then. I’ve grown up
with Madonna and she still influences my life.
Her song «Jump» helped to motivate me to go
back to graduate school and start working on my
master’s degree. I can not wait to see what the
future brings for both me and Madonna!!
Todd, USA
Madonna!
You are and will always be there for me. I was
14 when you came into my life and changed it.
Today I’m 37. I will always admire your courage,
intelligence and sense of humour. You are my
role model. You push me. You teach me how to
never give up and to fight for what I want. You
show me how to be strong and brave. You have
given me so much joy with your music and the
lyrics to your songs. You have made me a queen
on the dance floor so many times and I love to
dance. I’ve been able to see you perform live
twice, and that’s the best experiences I’ve ever
had. It was totally surreal and I was on a natural
high all the time. You are really something else.
Madonna, is there something I can do for you?
Just tell me. I will always support you and send
you happy thoughts. I hope that your dreams
will come true in the future and that you and
your beautiful family will have a happy life filled
with lots of love.
Melinda, Sweeden
Hello Madonna,
I have been a long time fan and never fail to
enjoy your creative energy and spirit. You are
so uplifting and have been a beneficial part of
who I have become today. Thank you for all you
do and for your impeccable artistic vision and
presence.
Love,
Norman, USA
I just wanted to say that I’ve been a fan for
22 years and counting. Ever since I saw that
gorgeous cover of True Blue, I’ve been hooked!
You’re music is so amazing and brings so much
joy to my life. Your live shows are spectacular
and well worth the price of admission! Can’t wait
for the new tour, I’m on pins and needles! Thanks
so much Madonna!
Brian, USA
Dear Madonna,
I really look forward to your 25th Anniversary
later this year and I have so high hopes that you
will release a new Hits Collection and a new
more Complete Video Collection on DVD with all
your 62 Videos on it and I have been dreaming
of this for such a long time. And a few of my
favorite Videos that are not including on any
Collection is Dress You Up, Live To Tell and True
Blue. I really really loved these Videos of yours so
Please Please Madonna I just hope that you will
release them as part of your 25th Anniversary
Celebration
Krister, Sweeden
HARD CANDY
“Say which flavour you like
and I’ll have it for you”. Madonna has officially opened
her own Candy Shop on
April 30, 2008. Don’t pretend you’re not hungry, she
has seen it before. Time to
taste Madonna’s brand new
flavours and to join her on
the dance floor!
It’s time to celebrate Madonna fans! The queen is back and once
again, she is giving us what we were all waiting for: Amazing music.
25 years have passed since the release of her very first solo album,
but it all seems just like yesterday. When you put on a new Madonna
album, it never sounds the same as the previous one, but there’s
one that will never change and that is its ability to make you dance
or sing, to get up and to do your thing. ‘Hard Candy’ is her 11th
studio effort but also another instant classic. How can you get to
always make the right choices and go for the music the public is
waiting for? That is part of the Madonna Magic. Whatever people
say, she never disappoints. After the ‘Confessions On a Dance Floor’
storm, you thought she couldn’t get any better. But once again, she
has done it.
Back in early 2007, when Madonna started to work on her new album, the disco vibe was still huge and she had the option to go for
a follow up to ‘Confessions’, which was the best way to guarantee
a commercial success. By now we’re used to that girl from Detroit,
Michigan and all know she will never go for the easy stuff. It’s not
because you’ve brought back the disco that you need to make it
your own for the next two decades, right? When she first listened
to Justin Timberlake’s ‘Future Sex/Love Sounds’ album, she just hated it. But she then got to give it another try during some friends’
party and decided to add it to her Ipod playlist. It soon became the
soundtrack to her daily workout sessions and the album she would
play to everyone, all the time. While it is true to say that Timberlake’s
ICON 49 - 9
HARD CANDY
album was a killer, having our girl to work on her own with him
was no evidence. What you also need to know is that the Timberlake/ Timbaland collaboration was not part of Madonna’s plan at
first. When she decided to contact them, she was already working
on some demos with Pharrell Williams, the guy behind a lot of the
R&B hits released during the past four years. Those demos included
‘Candy Shop’ and ‘The Beat Goes On’, which were later reworked and
added to the finalized album. Madonna was delighted with Pharrell’s contribution at the time, but she also wanted for her album to
use different styles/sounds and to cover all of the options R&B could
bring to her own music. Was it her first R&B experience? Not really as
her 1994 ‘Bedtime Stories’ can be described as “Pop meets R&B”. But
when you get Pharrell to create some Funk inspired tracks, you want
to see how far it can take you, and that is probably what Madonna
had on mind when she offered Justin to join her. Would describing
‘Hard Candy’ as “Funk meets R&B” be wrong? Probably not…
Ok, so we now have Pharrell and Justin. Asking for Timbaland’s
contribution was Justin’s idea as Timbaland was the other name
behind his last studio album, providing his so unique touch to most
of the songs included on the lp. ‘4 Minutes’ was the first track Justin
and Madonna wrote together. Originally recalled as ‘4 Minutes to
Save the World’, the track can be best described as what two different musical worlds can bring one another through a single song.
The sound is loud, the lyrics are deep and we have two voices to
illustrate a virtual race against the clock. You can instantly feel Timbaland’s touch here, not just because of his vocal introduction, but
also because of the heavy beats coming out of the speakers as if
they were about to explode. If you fell in love with ‘Hung Up’, back
in the late 2005, you probably felt very surprised when you first got
to hear ‘4 Minutes’… And that was Madonna’s intention with this
track.
Back to the first song of the opus now. ‘Candy Shop’ being the opener, it had to reflect the album’s overall mood. “Come into my world,
taste all of my flavours and you’ll find the one to boggle your senses”.
In a world we’re all afraid to go for things we’ve never tried before,
‘Candy Shop’ is an invitation to go ahead and release our fears and
just enjoy what’s offered to us. Maybe we could end wanting more
of it… It’s all up to you… Who better than Madonna could get us to
think outside the box?
“Nothing’s gonna stop me, if that’s what I want, I will get it”. Doesn’t
it remind you of someone we all know? Yes, ‘Give it 2 Me’ is probably
one of the most autobiographic song Madonna has ever written.
Both the sound and lyrics depict her true self, the girl who never
takes “no” for an answer and who will always get what she wants,
no matter if you’re not ready to give it to her. That’s also the story to
her life, fighting the elements and to get where she wanted to go
from the beginning. This song has to be one of the most positive
songs you could wish for, as it makes you realize that you’re the only
one controlling your destiny. If you want something, don’t wait for
someone else to give it to you, go ahead and get it yourself. No
wonder why ‘Give It 2 Me’ is one of her fans’ favourites. ;-)
‘Heartbeat’ is Madonna’s tribute to music but also to what she is
made of. “Don’t you know, Can’t you see, When I dance I feel free”.
You can’t write good songs when music is not the key to your heart.
Basically, Madonna has proved it all the way during the past two
decades, and music will always be her own way to express herself.
As she said while being inducted into the Rock N’ Roll Hall of Fame
earlier this year: “I have gone on to do many things in my life, from
writing children’s books to designing clothes to directing films but
for me it always starts with the Music.” Everything is said.
We’ve been asking for it for such a long time and there we have it.
‘Miles Away’ has to be another classic Madonna ballad. We like it
when our girl makes us dance the night away, but we also love it
when she takes us miles away from the dance floor, right back to
our own feelings and roots. ‘Miles Away’ is not about the beginning
or the end of a love affair. It’s more about the way you love someone
for who he/she is or not. Most of us always tend to want for their
lover to look like them or to think the same way as they do. It’s only
when the loved one is gone that you realize you were wrong. “Love
me for who I am or I’m gone”, that is my own understanding of it.
That said, I’m sure you have your own! Also, and in opposition to
what was said about the song at some point, Madonna didn’t write
it while on a plane to New York. The idea of it sounds pretty romantic, but you don’t necessarily need to be far away from love to write
about it.
Do you remember when you first saw that special someone and
that you instantly fell in love with him/her? A brand new love makes
you feel so different, so much more confident and happy. With ‘Incredible’, Madonna wants to go back in time and feel that way again.
All of you who met love at least once know what she is talking about
but also that such a feeling doesn’t last for long. Is it just because we
get used to it or because passion grows to a more “classic” love after
a little while? ‘Incredible’ is not there to answer that question, but to
make you feel that way again. It starts pretty slowly and gain more
speed, just like a heart beating faster and faster as we get to fall in
love. Good things always have to end, but don’t we all secretly hope
for it to invade us again at some point?
‘Beat Goes On’ is one of those songs that will make you want to
move your feet and celebrate. While you can feel the Pharrell touch
as soon as the song starts, it’s also the only song on the album featuring Kanye West. It reminds you of some of the late 70s’ best anthems, like all of the Chic and Imagination stuff, but with a pinch of
R&B. When it comes to the lyrics, they are meant to make you get up
and to just be who you are, no matter what the others around you
can think about it. As with several Madonna songs, this one reminds
you that life is short, that time goes by and that you need to stop
10 - ICON 49
HARD CANDY
thinking too much and just go for some action instead. Play it loud
and just let the rhythm take you!
Here comes the second and last Madonna & Justin duet featured
on the album, the other co-produced tracks mainly involving Justin background vocals. ‘Dance 2night’ is probably the sexiest song
those two have worked on. If you ever need a seduction lesson, just
listen carefully to those lyrics! I’m sure you can imagine the both of
them standing on a deserted dance floor, flirting and using dance
as the ultimate way to turn the other on while listening to it. “Do
you wanna take it further?” is the only clue the song is giving us
as to what could happen afterwards. Will they get to fall in love or
just dance with someone else? That is all up to your own imagination…
Ok, I can hear the bell ringing right now… ‘Spanish Lesson’, the song
that generated lots of comments. It even received mixed reviews
from die hard fans who thought it had nothing to do on the album. Do you really think Madonna would go for it if that was the
case? No need to discuss her love for Spanish music after listening
to ‘La Isla Bonita’ or to the Spanish version of ‘What it Feels Like For A
Girl’ or even the ‘You’ll See’ one. It is true to say that when listening
to ‘Hard Candy’ for the first time, you have to wonder why ‘Spanish
Lesson’ pops up right in the last part of it. But after a few of them,
you understand that it was meant as a transition between the mid
to up-tempo first nine songs and the last two, which are more tortured and dark. ‘Spanish Lesson’ gives you the opportunity to not
take things too seriously before going for more introspective material. Just forget about your job, your bills and your problems, just let
yourself go and you’ll soon realize ‘Spanish Lesson’ is what you need
when life doesn’t treat you right. Olé!
‘Devil Wouldn’t Recognize You’ was co-written by Madonna’s brother-in-law, Joe Henry. Love sometimes lasts, love sometimes go,
but never on its own. There are always two people involved in a
relationship and always two to put an end to it. There’s usually one
of them to blame for it and the other to feel sorry for. When it ends,
it’s also usually because the one to blame was too blind to see that
he/she was not acting the right way. And it’s also usually because
the one to feel sorry for got to finally open his/her eyes on the situation. Love can hurt. Love can make you do things you’ll get to regret
at some point. The one you fell in love with can change along the
way and turn to be someone you never thought he/she could be.
Why don’t we realize it when we go too far and cross the line? Why
can we get to be so bad that even the devil wouldn’t recognize us?
Some will keep on asking for more and some will just decide to
reject it. Love can make you do or accept crazy things, the only limit
being your own desire.
‘Voices’ is the pretty mystical song Madonna chose as last track for
the album, and was co-written with Justin Timberlake and Nate
“Danja” Hills. The lyrics are not only telling you about someone else’s
story but also forces you to think about your own. Introspection is
the word that would describe the song the best. It goes beyond
what your eyes can see and take your vision of life and love to another level, a more complicated one. Are you in control of your life
or its poor victim? You need to make a choice at some point and
decide on what you want to do: Assume who you are or just deny it
by saying it’s someone else’s fault. When one is not strong enough
to be the master of his own destiny, then he can get for those who
love him to pay the price of it. Can you hear the voices? Will they tell
you what to do? Could those “voices” be your own conscience?
12 - ICON 49
Released as a 12 tracks CD on April 30 in the US and two days earlier
in the rest of the world, ‘Hard Candy’ went straight to the number
one spot in more than 20 countries, making it a new success for
Madonna. Talking about success, the Material Girl sports a wrestling
belt on the picture of the album cover as well as on those featured
in the booklet (photographed by Steven Klein). Madonna decided
to use the boxing theme and the lyrics to her ‘Give It 2 Me’ song as
main inspiration for the photo shoot, adopting the look of a sexy
fighter ready to break a new record. Also part of her boxing themed
look is a “M-Dolla” (M-Dolla being Pharrell’s nickname for Madonna) ring made of gold and 258 diamonds, which was designed by
french jeweller Chopard.
When it comes to the album’s title, Madonna had it on mind while
in the studio, recording the first demos. “The title is a juxtaposition
of tough and sweetness - kind of like I’m gonna kick your ass but it’s
going to make you feel good. And of course, I love candy». This is
how our lady described her choice and we have to say it was a though one! Pushing the Hard Candy theme to its most realistic end,
the limited edition of the album includes real candies you can taste
while listening to our queen’s latest effort (I’m pretty sure most of
you wouldn’t even dare to open the plastic bag and give them a try,
right?!). Once again, the Japanese edition of ‘Hard Candy’ included
a few surprises… The ‘Ring My Bell’ bonus track was one of them,
along with all of the songs lyrics being included in the album’s booklet. Co-written by Madonna and Pharrell Williams, ‘Ring My Bell’ was
also given away to those of you who pre-ordered the Deluxe edition
of the album from iTunes.
To promote her new release, Madonna created different photo
shoots and shared her thoughts about it through exclusive interviews. In addition to the “classic” media campaign, Madonna was
featured on the cover of Vanity Fair, Elle, Q and Dazzed & Confused,
just to name a few… For the Vanity Fair photo shoot, she teamed
up with long time friend and collaborator Steven Meisel, creating
a breathtaking series of photographs we most certainly fell in love
with the very minute we saw them. The giant globe featured on
the magazine’s cover was signed by Madonna and later sold by
Vanity Fair on Ebay, all of the benefits being then given to Madonna’s Raising Malawi foundation. The Elle photo shoot was created
by photographer Tom Munro. This was Munro’s first collaboration
with Madonna, but she was so happy with the whole series that she
asked for him to direct her upcoming ‘Give It 2 Me’ video! The girl
also performed 3 promo shows in New York, Paris and during BBC’s
Radio 1 Big Week-end Festival, which will be detailed in the next
issue of Icon, along with some great images.
‘Hard Candy’ is not just her 11th studio album. It not only marks
the beginning of a new Madonna era for all of us, but also another
successful project our girl can be proud of. If you’re hungry for more
Hard Candy, then you’ll soon get to see Madonna perfoming some
of the album’s songs as part of her 2008 ‘Sticky & Sweet’ Tour! It’s
the first time she embarks on a tour so soon after the release of
an album. But no worries, it doesn’t mean that she won’t serve us
with more singles, remixes and videos. The album was described
as a collection of potential number 1 hits, so get ready for more
candies coming your way. Some candies you will be able to enjoy
without moderation…
08 - ICON 45
SPEAK
MY SISTER
SPEAK
Back in 1984, Madonna’s Like A Virgin was one of the most played tracks on the
radio, another one was a song called ‘Sweet Dreams’ by Eurythmics. Almost 24
years later, the Material Girl is now also known as The Queen of the Dance Floor,
while the voice behind ‘Sweet Dreams’ is also known for her solo career and
several number one hits. Those two girls never cease to prove that talent can take
you as far as you want, as long as you know how to use it. Comparing Pop and
Rock would be like comparing coffee and tea: both are hot and taste good, but
you will always start the day with the one that please you the most. When it comes to Madonna and Annie Lennox, there’s evidence you can’t ignore: both girls
have a big heart and use their talent to make this world a better place. No need
to wonder why Annie asked Madonna to join her on her ‘Sing’ project and why
Madonna instantly accepted, right? Sing is not just a track featured on Annie’s
latest studio album. It’s also a way to raise money and awareness for the HIV/
AIDS organization. If you haven’t bought the song yet, let Annie tell you more
about this fantastic project and don’t forget that we can all make a difference if
we really want to…
ICON 49 - 17
INTERVIEW
Dear Annie, Welcome to Icon, Madonna’ official fan club! First
of all, we would like to congratulate you on such a fantastic
new album*! How do you feel now that your latest opus is in
stores?
It’s an exciting time right now. My contractual term with the record
company ended ( after 27 years of being signed!)...which leaves me
very footloose and fancy free creatively. The music “industry” as we
have known it is finally waking up to the fact that technology has
completely taken over the status quo, and everyone is holding their
breath, waiting to see what the future’s going to look like. For me,
it really couldn’t be better in a way. I see myself as a multi faceted
artist, and am looking forwards to creating unique and individual
recordings, art pieces, writing, photographs, events etc..via my website.
Back in 1983, Madonna released her very first studio album
while Sweet Dreams was already a worldwide hit. What did the
Eurythmics girl with the orange hair think of Madonna and her
music at the time?
I remember the video for “Like A Virgin”, because ( if I’m correct) Mary
Lambert, who I knew at the time, was the director, and we were all
so excited at the work she was doing.
I thought Madonna was incredibly self assured, but I don’t think
anyone could have even imagined the immense profile, and ground
breaking career, as an iconic image maker, music maker, artist, performer etc....She’s uniquely outstanding in so many ways.
25 years and several albums later, the both of you now evolve
in a world where music is available the minute after it was produced and can be downloaded from the internet in the blink of
an eye. How did technology affect your work as an artist?
It doesn’t thrill me that people can simply download your work, as
if it has no intrinsic value whatsoever, but the horse already bolted
out of that stable years ago. To be honest, I think that intellectual
copyright should have been, and should still be protected. The record companies made outrageous fortunes from artists for far too
long. The kind of contractual terms we signed and agreed to back
then were just indecent.
Just like with Madonna’s, your music has been and is still the
soundtrack to a lot of people’s life. How do you feel when thinking about it? What are your own musical roots?
I’ve been collating all my work over the years in terms of albums,
videos, awards, discs, clothes, memorabilia etc...Taking photographs of things that people have never seen, so they can be housed
in my website “The House of Me”, and shared with anyone who’s
interested. I just used to put things in storage, and forget about
them, but I think the website creates a wonderful opportunity to
have a kind of “museum/archive/gallery/space/shop window”.
If people have enjoyed the music over the years, and it has meant
something to them, then it’s a cause for satisfaction. I can look back,
and feel it was absolutely worthwhile. My own musical roots are
very eclectic..encompassing everything from Scottish folk music,
Tamla Motown and Stax, Joni Mitchell, The Beatles, the Kinks, the
Rolling Stones...Ravi Shankar..Brazil 66...classical music..Debussy,
Bach, Vivaldi...The list is endless.
18 - ICON 49
«I want to empower women... to give those who
have little power a Voice...»
Ok, as you can imagine, we now need to talk about the whole
SING project! You’ve always been highly involved in the fight
against AIDS, but when and how did you decide to turn this
human fight into a musical one?
Well, back in the day, I contributed to the first HIV AIDS charity record, called Red Hot and Blue..which was based around the theme
of Cole Porter songs. So the idea of using music to convey the message is nothing new. Basically, I became passionately involved with
the issue of HIV AIDS after my first trip to South Africa, where I had
the opportunity to meet Nelson Mandela, and understand the call
for assistance he was trying to get across to the rest of the world.
The AIDS pandemic is continuing to destroy people’s lives in an unimaginable fashion, on an unprecedented scale.
As a mother, I believe that all all mothers should have the right to
live, so they can raise their children..and equally, it should be the
right of a child not to have to become an orphan. AIDS is killing
mothers, and making orphans out of millions of unprotected, vulnerable children. I am fortunate. I have many resources in my life
that can help to facilitate helping others, and this is my goal. I want
to empower women... to give those who have little power a Voice...
That is what SING is all about!
In addition to being one of the tracks featured on your new
album, SING is also a charity project recorded to raise money
and awareness for the HIV/AIDS organisation and Treatment
Action Campaign (TAC), which was founded in South Africa,
back in 1998. Would you tell us more about your latest trip to
Africa and the situation there?
Despite having many wealthy members in it’s the society, South
Africa also has the highest incidence of HIV AIDS, which is an incredibly serious situation.
One in three pregnant women are HIV positive, which means that
their babies have a very high risk of being born with the virus, if
they don’t get access to medical treatment. Generations have been
wiped out for over a decade, and the situation will only continue
to get worse, if it is not effectively responded to. On my trips to SA
I have had the opportunity to visit hospitals, hospices, orphanages,
townships, clinics, and individuals in their homes, who are all struggling to survive under the grindingly harsh conditions of chronic
and endemic poverty. I feel that in many ways, South Africa has a
kind of AIDS fatigue. So little has been done, to really get the situation in hand, and the systems area all rife with corruption, just to
compound things even more. Women and children are subjected
to violence and sexual abuse, as a matter of course. I am deeply
concerned about what lies in store for the future of countless people....not only in South Africa, but across the continents of Africa,
India, Asia Latin America and Eastern Europe. Aids has no physical
boundaries.
INTERVIEW
Even when you’re Annie Lennox, developing a project as huge
as SING must be quite complicated. How did you get to convince all of those famous ladies to collaborate on it?
Well, I sent out a bunch of letters to various artists, who I thought
might be prepared to give it some consideration, and to be honest...
most of them did. I didn’t personally have to persuade too many of
them to get on board.
The problem is that everybody’s got a busy schedule, and they might not all be available or accessible, when you might need them to
be! Somehow we did it though!
Recording a song with 23 different artists and bands must be
above insane in terms or organisation! Did you all record your
part during the same session or separately? And what about
the mixing process? Where you behind it all?
Obviously people were in different countries and time zones. I thought it would simplify things therefore, to simply send everybody the
song, and have them record on top of the backing track in their own
way. The majority of recording took place either in London or LA, via
the benefits of modern technology. I met up with Tom Lord Algae
in Miami, and he mixed it in his studio there.
I made the decision not to give people individual lines to sing, as it
would have made things terribly complicated, but rather use most
of the voices as a “choir”.
Annie, there are so many topics we would like to discuss with
you, but you’re a very busy woman, so we’d better let you get
back to your work now. Thank you so much for taking the time
to answer our questions. But most importantly, thank you so
much for being who you are and for trying to make this world
a better place. Before you leave, would you have a message for
Madonna and her fans?
Madonna’s contribution to The Sing Campaign was hugely significant...especially as she sang the second verse ( without even being
asked more over!) I am terribly grateful for her support and endorsement, and I hope that in years to come we can all look back and say
that we REALLY MADE A DIFFERENCE to millions of people’s lives.
For more info about SING, please visit www.annielennoxsing.com
<http://www.annielennoxsing.com>
*Songs of Mass Destruction / Sony BMG
As a lot of Madonna fans would like to know about it, did you
know Madonna personally before offering her to collaborate
on SING? Did the two of you meet to discuss the project?
I’ve only ever met Madonna very briefly on a couple of social occasions. We didn’t need to meet to make this happen. People record
in other parts of the world all the time...thank god!
Quite a lot of us are used to say that they would like to help by
donating to a great cause but also end not doing it because
they are not sure their money would be used the right way.
What is your reaction to this? What would be your message to
them?
I think they are entitled to feel this way, and I completely understand how they might feel. I don’t want my time and effort wasted either, so I’m committed to following through how
any financial gain is used, so that I can be sure that it’s effective.
Treatment Action Campaign is very grassroots, engaging with ordinary people at a very local level, which is one of the reasons I like it’s
approach, and I have the utmost respect for Zackie Achmat who is
the founder of the organisation. This is not a short hit thing for me.
I’m fully committed to dedicating my time and effort, and am in for
the long haul.
You are one of those artists who believe that we can make a
difference by joining our efforts. If you could change just one
thing about the world we live in, what would it be?
Oh..only ONE thing?? OK...I think that many of us are half asleep, too
self obsessed, or distracted to realise that if we want change, we
need to BE it. It’s that simple.
20 - ICON 49
While the original version of SING is included on Annie’s ‘Songs Of Mass Destruction’ album, the song was
also released as a CD single and 12’’ vinyl single in
the UK in March 2008, including several club/dance
remixes. The EP available through online retailers includes the following versions:
• Moto Blanco Club Remix
• Dean Coleman Silent Sound Vocal Remix
• Harry Choo Choo Romero Club Mix
• Moto Blanco Dub
• Dean Coleman Silent Sound Radio Edit
• Moto Blanco Radio Remix
• Harry Choo Choo Romero Radio Mix
• Harry Choo Choo Romero HCCR Mix Show
«If You Only had 4 Minutes
To Save The World,
What Would You Do?»
«Next Question!»
…That’s Madonna’s answer to the interviewer who was taking the title of her song as a real challenge. That’s right, you can’t save the world in 4 minutes. But at the same time, 4 minutes is more
than you need to understand what this song is all about: Dance until the very last second of it.
It’s about time. That’s the comment we probably all made when
we finally got to listen to the first single to be taken from Madonna’s 11th studio album. ‘4 Minutes’ is exactly what you could expect from Madonna in 2008. It’s just in total opposition with her
last album’s sound and there’s nothing better than entering a new
Madonna era while you know she will once again get to surprise
you. Ok, we all knew it was a Timberlake/ Timbaland collaboration
even before the song premiered, but none of us said it was just
what we thought it would be. ‘4 Minutes’ is a song you need to
get used to. It is so different from a classic Madonna song that any
fan would feel confused after listening to it for the first time. Come
on guys, it’s Madonna & Justin! You thought it would use the vibe
found on Timberlake’s ‘Future Sex/ Love Sounds’ album? You were
wrong. ‘4 Minutes’ is more to be described as a virtual sound battle
between the Queen of Pop and the Prince of R&B. Some die hard
Madonna fans were also expecting for this duet to be the Madonna & Michael Jackson duet finally coming to life. And they were
wrong too. While Timberlake is a huge Jackson fan, you just can’t
compare his sound to Jackson’s. They are both using the same influences, but Justin’s are the natural evolution of Michael’s early
80’s songs with an additional pinch of a dirty-sexy vibe.
Another comment coming right after listening to the ‘Hard Candy’ album is that ‘4 Minutes’ does not reflect the album’s overall
sound. That’s true, and it’s just probably because a battle between
a queen and a prince has to be done within just one round. Those
two had so much to bring ‘Hard Candy’, that they went for different themes and sounds instead of sticking to just one of them.
Well, it doesn’t explain the reason behind Madonna choosing it as
the first single. The rumours say that she wanted for Candy Shop
to be used as the album’s lead single and changed her mind after
several of her collaborators told her ‘4 Minutes’ should be THE one.
Remember back in 1990, when the same happened with ‘Vogue’?
Madonna didn’t know if she should include the song on the ‘I’m
Breathless’ soundtrack, ‘Vogue’ being too different from the rest
of the album… She was right by listening to her entourage and
made the right choice again almost 18 years later with ‘4 Minutes’. Another reason behind Madonna’s first choice was probably
because of ‘4 Minutes’ being a duet. And all of us fans know that
Madonna never used a duet as first single during the past 25 years.
This one time exception proved to be a success, as ‘4 Minutes’ became an instant hit worldwide.
“4 Minutes to save the world”…? When Justin attended the recording of the Ellen show mid May, he explained that ‘4 Minutes’ was
the first track him and Madonna had worked on. At the time, he
wanted for the song’s lyrics to be sexy and more aligned with his
latest studio album while Madonna wanted them to sound more
serious. “You can’t save the world in four minutes. Alright, we’re
going to save the world in four minutes” Justin told Madonna.
“Ok, I’ll call this song ‘4 Minutes To Save The World’” she answered.
Who said you had to spend hours on it to find a title that matches
a song the best? Certainly not those two! All of the song’s lyrics
were written after the title and using the concept Madonna had
on mind for both the song and video. ‘4 Minutes’ had to be about
“dance until you drop” and the fact that this song could be the one
playing right after the end of the world is announced. Run as fast
as you can or death will catch you, tic toc tic toc.
While Timbaland co-produced the song, he was also the one to
test it on the crowds during some of his own club appearances.
First playing the instrumental version of it, he then added some of
the vocals and put the whole dance floor on fire. If you can get a
mainstream song to work on clubbers, then you’re almost sure it’s
going to be huge when commercially released. And as with most
of Madonna’s past releases, ‘4 Minutes’ turned the crowds on, giving her another reason to make it the album’s lead single. Do we
need to add that it went straight to the number one spot on the
Billboard Hot Dance/ Club Play chart a few weeks later?
Turning words into images might be pretty hard, especially when
it’s all about running faster than death… At the time, Justice’s
‘Dance’ was all over music channels but our girl discovered it while
surfing on the internet (her not watching tv is a fact, really). She
instantly fell in love with the special effects featured in the video
and decided to contact the French men behind it, Jonas &
ICON 49 - 23
4 MINUTES
Francois. The guys were asked to create a story board for Madonna’s new video and won out of the different ideas submitted by
various directors. The next week, the guys flew to London for a
very special meeting with the queen of all things avant-garde. Madonna wanted for them to share more details about their concept
but had soon to realize their spoken English wouldn’t be of help.
Using their hands and smiles as the only tools to depict the different scenes to be included in the video, both guys’ vision was
just what Madonna was looking for. Filmed in London in February
20008, the ‘4 Minutes’ video includes tons of visual effects as well
as an unforgettable dance battle between Madonna and Justin,
Timbaland being seen during the video’s intro as well as within
the last few seconds of it. Did you ever try to jump from the top
of a car wearing high heels? That’s just no problem when you’re
Madonna! The finalized video premiered on iTunes April 3, just 48
hours before topping the devoted iTunes chart both in the US and
Europe. Talking about the digital world and related records, it only
took ‘4 Minutes’ five weeks to become the second single ever to
have digital sales exceeding one million units in five weeks, Rihanna’s ‘Umbrella’ being the only song to make a better score.
Once again, Warner Bros made us fans happy by releasing the remixes through 2 different sets: one regrouping all of the remixes in
their full club version as well as two dubs, and the other featuring
the edits. I really wonder why they included Junkie XL’s Dub edit
instead of the vocal one? Guess only God knows!
Now, let’s take you behind the scenes of Madonna’s ‘4 Minutes’
single. That’s your favourite part, right? Its mine too! In opposition
to the Hard Candy artwork, the single uses a black & white picture of Madonna and Justin, which was not taken by Steven Klein
but by Madonna’s manager, Guy Oseary. While on the set of the ‘4
Minutes’ video, Guy took several pictures, some illustrating this article (Thank you Guy!). And while you could think the photograph
featured on the single’s cover artwork was taken in front of a white
background, it wasn’t! It was taken in the corner of the bathroom
you can see in the video, Madonna not sitting on a black cube but
on the white chair found right next to the bathroom’s door. The
story doesn’t tell if it was Guy’s idea to have them form a “4” and “M”
with their legs, but Madonna ended up loving the pictures and
decided to pick one of them for the cover artwork.
«That’s right, critics have yet to understand
that you can’t stop our girl from going
where you think she shouldn’t go.»
While the album version of ‘4 Minutes’ was making its way to the
top of the charts, a full set of remixes was being put together by
Orlando Puerta’s office at Warner Bros. For the first time in Madonna history, none of them were pressed on promotional 12 inch
vinyl singles, most club deejays now getting remixes sent to them
by record companies as mp3 files (sad news for our Madonna collection, I know…). Classic Madonna remixers like Tracy Young and
Peter Rauhofer providing respectively tribal and hard house versions of the song (Rauhofer “saving” almost every single city in the
world through his remixes), while French remixer/ producer Bob
Sinclar was commissioned a Space Funk themed remix. For those
of you who wonder why Madonna picked Bob Sinclar, you need
to know that she had him to open the French leg of her Confessions Tour back in 2006, Sinclar being one of the most famous
deejay in his country at the time, before turning to be more and
more successful all over Europe. The sound found on his remix of
‘4 Minutes’ reminds of his first huge track, ‘Gym Tonic’, which was
released almost 12 years ago. Back in the day, Jane Fonda sued
Sinclar for including a sample of her aerobic training videos into
the song. Also featured on the maxi-single are a vocal and dub
versions by Junkie XL. We all got to discover their sound through
their hot remixes of Britney Spear’s ‘Toxic’ back in 2004, and we
now can confirm that their musical evolution has turned to be a
positive one (isn’t their ‘4 Minutes’ remix one of the most tripping
experiences you’ve ever had on the dance floor?).
24 - ICON 49
While reviewing the whole set of pictures, you can tell they both
had lots of fun posing!
So many things were said about ‘4 Minutes’ and Madonna’s new
sound… That’s right, critics have yet to understand that you can’t
stop our girl from going where you think she shouldn’t go. At
the end of the day, she always proves she was right by giving it a
chance and that’s probably what annoys them the most. Twenty
five years have passed and she is still “Ready to Jump”, setting new
trends, taking the right decisions and pushing the right buttons.
When you’ve been a musical critic for years and got used to those
one hit wonders, you can’t help but feel disturbed by that girl coming out with one anthem after another, no matter what you can
write about her, positive or negative. Yes, Madonna has changed
the music industry and is still working hard on it. “Rules are there
to be broken”, that is what she is used to say. If one of those rules
claims that you cannot save the world in 4 Minutes, let’s bet Madonna can prove it wrong!
If you loved Justice’s “Dance” video, then you’ve already probably heard about Jonas & Francois, the French
directors behind it. It seems that Madonna also liked it, as she asked for the guys to work on a concept for
her own “4 Minutes” video. The directors took the time to answer our questions and also share their thoughts
about their very first Madonna collaboration.
Jonas and Francois, welcome to Icon, Madonna’s Official Fan
Club. We would like to start off by finding out a little more
about the people behind those two names. How did you guys
meet?
We are both 25 and met 7 years ago during our 1st year at the
French Beaux Arts. We very quickly started to collaborate on several artistic projects (paintings, photography, fine arts…) but video
really helped us to “meet”. We didn’t really have the same cinematographic or video references, not even the same music culture.
But this how it all happened, with video making.
As far as music is concerned, Jonas used to listen to jazz, some
old rock titles, as well as early electro. I was more concentrated
on recent UK or US based rock. We later, together discovered the
electro scene. To make it short, we listen to music all the time and
the making of videos was more or less something that was bound
to happen in our lives anyway.
On the visual side, it was almost the same thing: our differences
eventually mixed in together, Jonas’ cinema culture, more video
clips for myself (François), and we both are very up to what is happening now, to everything that is…different.
Making videos was not our main goal when we started Art school.
We were there to study design, sculpture, drawing, “hand made”
animation and photography. But our first videos were some kind
of natural evolution. Our first creations were experimentations
that used video but without much emotions but rather some kind
of frenetic desire to create animated stuff on screen, building up
our own images.
During our studies at the Arts Décoratifs in Paris, we decided to
send our work to different production houses in Paris. This is how,
while in the middle on our scholar process, we got to work on our
first videos, which were small budget ones.
Working together on one project is not always easy, especially when it comes to the creative side of things. How do you
work while developing a concept?
It’s the exact contrary for us. As there are two of us, we like to mix our
ideas, concepts and different visual ideas. We don’t see it as something that needs to be 50-50 when it comes to ideas, we don’t make
concessions, we are not « creative room mates ». We can’t have each
of us developing his own ideas alone, our best ideas come when
we are both sitting down on the ground and talk and talk for hours !
We usually always start with new ideas. It’s not as if ideas that
have been developed before are useless but we don’t like to
recycle or use old concepts. To us, our ideas for a video always
reflect a certain time in our lives. Also, we get tired very quickly with it when a project is not realized quickly enough.
The other main characteristic of our work sessions is that we try
and develop as many visions as we can for one video. We carefully
analyse the sound, the lyrics, draw sketches and go very much
into details. It doesn’t always help, well it depends, but it always
allows us to bring out a lot of ideas. In fact it’s a way to take some
distance and think about it in different ways.
What we need now is a place to develop these so called concepts.
Jonas remembers « the room of ideas » his grandfather used to go
to pick up some stories and write them down along with some
drawings. It was some kind of little empty room, filled with a chair,
a bucket with water and ions, as well as a hose that would communicate with the outside (more or less). We would like to try that
kind of stuff, and see what could come out of it!
The release of Justice’s ‘Dance’ video allowed the whole world
to discover your work. Who decided to include animated tshirts in the video? Madonna brought back the “let your clothes say it all” concept back in the early 2000’s. Did it inspire
you somehow?
The idea of the animated T-shirts was somewhere in our heads,
like a video that had never been done. But nothing really looked
like the same as in ‘Dance’. We are great fans of printed t-shirts.
ICON 49 - 27
INTERVIEW
That’s what we wear all the time, along with a pair of jeans. It goes
beyond inspiration! Ed Banger, Justice’s label, actually came up
with the idea. It was already used for the visual of the vinyl single
(a frame of Gaspard and Xavier being featured on t-shirts).
So the idea of animating the artwork featured on the t-shirts was
a logical follow up to our previous video for Ed Rec Vol 2, the compilation, which everyone loved: we made an animation from all
the artworks of the label’s vinyl releases and included it on blank
moving albums.
We’ve watched almost all of Madonna’s videos at least once, as
well some other cult ones by Jackson, Radiohead or Bowie. They
are all part of our culture and inspire us at some point, even unconsciously like a bible in a way, but not necessarily something we
will consciously think about while developing our own projects.
The printed t-shirts have always been part of our lives, but it’s true
that back in the early 2000’s, some cool coloured logos and typos
started to be used on t-shirts. If Madonna is behind it, then it’s
pretty funny!
Tecktonic is almost everywhere lately, not only in France
but also in all of Europe. Your work fits that concept so perfectly… Do you feel inspired by Tecktonik or is it more about
people using your work as main inspiration while developing
Tecktonik related projects?
We don’t really see the link between our work and Tecktonik, except they wear bright coloured t-shirt and sneakers. That’s the
only thing our work and the artists we work with have in common
with Tecktonik. We don’t like to be part of a movement that uses
its own defined codes while pretending to be all about self-expression.
Your creations use a mix of images and graphic effects. How
would describe the filming of such a video? Do you have to think
about all of the effects you want to add to a particular scene before filming it?
We’ve always liked to mix different techniques, including motion
images and graphic design, real and fake cameras moves, visible
special effects or hidden ones, anyway, everything helps us to
show what we have on mind. Sometimes it works, sometimes not
that much, but the idea that comes out of it is the most important
point.
That was how our vision worked a year ago. We keep on following
the same logic these days but we also tend to explore frames and
images and use them in a more photographic way, adding more
narrative stuff to them. That said, we could just change our minds
and do something totally different in the next month. The thing is
that we’ve found a new playground and we want to explore it as
much as we can, working on images in a way we couldn’t in the
past or that we thought we couldn’t. As mentioned before, we
have our moments, we just don’t get stuck to a particular medium
or concept.
A shooting is always organized after the effects we will want to
add afterwards. No one can shoot a scene and then decide on
what he wants to do from it, mixing things without respecting a
logic defined before the filming. We know you can’t because we’ve
already made that mistake. As graphic designers and video artists,
we are used to use bits and try to make something out of them.
We just like it when we have to work in a messy environment.
Anyhow, there are always lots of ideas popping up after a shoo-
28 - ICON 49
ting, and that we then try to include in the finalized video (when
they work). We just can’t help it… It’s our own way of working!
Your Myspace page states that you are both 25 years old. Almost all of the past 25 years were filled with at least one Madonna hit. Can we say you’ve grown up listening to her songs
or were you more into other music styles?
Of course, we grew up with her. By the way, during the last days
of production, while we were putting together the last seconds
of the video, we made a blind test: it might happen that we
didn’t remember the title, but all the gigs were very familiar. It’s
really great to think that this one « will be ours »! Back in the day,
If one of us was listening to some particular stuff while the other
was more into a different style, we both listened to Madonna.
Let’s discuss your latest creation… You’ve just directed Madonna’s ‘4 Minutes’ video. How did you get to work on the
project? What was your reaction when Madonna decided she
wanted to work with you?
One day, our producer called us: Madonna was inviting us to listen
to the first single of her new album. A few days later, we went to
London, in her office, and listened to « 4minutes » and « Candy
Shop » as a bonus! Like with any video related project, there was a
competition between several directors and so we decided to write down a concept and create an artistic file. Some days later, we
were back there again, presenting our project using sketches and
drawings all over the floor, while « 4minutes » was playing in the
background: it was totally incredible, us standing on our knees,
with Madonna, showing and tracing the movements of each part
between the different sets, already thinking of all of the dancing
playgrounds to be used for the choreographed parts.
Most importantly, we were very touched that she thought about
us. Madonna always worked with video artists, photographers
or young directors that were just in their early steps, with total
confidence. Chris Cunningham or Johan Renck were about the
same age as us when they directed their first Madonna video. So it
was really incredible to realize that she was interested in our work
and that we had some ideas that could bring her something new,
INTERVIEW
thinking about all of the videos she has done during the past years
(most of them turning to be mythical ones).
We all know that Madonna is also famous for being a perfectionist and that she knows exactly what she wants even before developing a particular project. Can you confirm? How
would you describe your collaboration with her from a human and artistic point of view?
Madonna is a perfectionist, we realised that during the rehearsals.
During the filming, and even after, during post-production, she
always kept an eye on the film and never let go what she wanted
to get. At the same time, she didn’t want to impose us a specific vision and so she gave us the opportunity to think about the project
on our own. We came up with the idea right away, the concept,
the sets and what we wanted for the public to see. She left us free
to do what we had in mind and only showed up when she felt we
were running away from the original idea.
Speaking about concepts, what was the one behind “4 Minutes”? Did it evolve during the filming?
Weird or funny things usually happen while on the set of a
video or movie. Would you share a few behind the scenes memories with us?
In the video, there is a scene that was filmed in a bathroom built
on a set and Madonna was supposed to put her hand in the bathtub at some point. Once all of the cameras were ready, the bathtub was supposed to be filled and put on the set. To us, it sounded
like that it could be done within a few minutes before we could
get to shoot the related scene with Madonna, but the bathtub
was much more deeper than we thought it was! There was no sink
close to the set, and buckets of water would have to be carried
again and again. It couldn’t be done faster so everybody started to
help filling up the bathtub (electricians, assistants, art department,
people on set….us). We were more than 20 people around it.
The Cadillac made us laugh too as it was really huge and we had
that « man with big muscles » pushing it. Then Madonna had fun
playing on the shiny and slippery car hood while wearing highheeled boots. She was supposed to walk on it in the first place, but
we then found a more sexy way for her to step over it!
We wrote the video’s concept after our own understanding of the
title. When we first listened to “4 Minutes”, we went through different feelings that we all wrote down on paper: some kind of emergency, a very strong relationship between Madonna and Justin,
with Timbaland as the narrator, the idea of something you can’t
avoid, that something was there and was following them, at the
same time relating to our own universe.
Chris Cunningham directed the ‘Frozen’ video back in 1998,
which was filmed in the Mojave desert. When Madonna got
to watch the very first roughs of it, she called Cunningham
in the middle of the night, being afraid the images wouldn’t
fit the original concept of the video. What was her feedback
after watching the ‘4 Minutes’ video for the very first time?
And this is how the concept became a video in which Madonna
and Justin Timberlake only have 4 minutes to escape their “imminent” fate: they happen to walk through revisited daily life spaces,
go through the each other’s life, pass by some people that indifferent by and unaware of the imminent threat. There is no panic,
no drama, but an energetic tension brought by the game and
Madonna and Justin’s choreographies. It also gives us the opportunity to see things like never before, watching the film through
the eyes of the “threat” at some point.
The video was already working without the effects. The effects
just add the graphic and dramatic dimension that was missing.
Madonna kept an eye on the post-production process and could
see finished scenes, including effects. She liked and approved all
of the steps of it, and at the end of the day, we came up with
something that we all found very interesting and unique. Then
Madonna found a way to make us add more stuff than we thought we would! And it really helped the finalized video. The view
from the interior of the effect was an idea we developed with the
graphic crew. We wanted to add some effects where we thought
we couldn’t and that was Madonna who pushed us to work on
such solutions.
Madonna, Justin Timberlake and Timbaland all appear in the
video. How do you get to direct such famous people and at
the same time handle the pressure it surely involves?
The pressure was always there, but not for that particular reason,
just because we didn’t have much time to shoot all of the stuff
we wanted to at first. We were willing to shoot difficult stuff and
sometimes we had to go to the essential instead. Madonna, Justin Timberlake and Timbaland arrived on the set with a precise
idea of the story and concept on mind. Once everybody is on the
same wave, it’s pretty easy to make people understand why we
are going in a specific direction, or why some things need to be
changed.
The choreographies had been rehearsed several times. It was
great to film them. The most difficult part was to adjust our « characters » to the 4th actor: the camera. Once on the set, things are
not always as they were on paper. There were the 3 of them, very
concentrated and listening to our directions, but also sharing their
feelings on some specific scenes with us. You can’t control stress.
When it appears, you have to handle it and get rid of it as soon
as possible by finding the right solutions. We didn’t stop doing
this for 3 days. The most helpful against stress is to be reactive,
not being overwhelmed or lost without answers to possible problems.
30 - ICON 49
In addition to the ‘4 Minutes’ video, you’ve also worked on the
new Flairs. What are your projects for the next 12 months?
The Flairs video was released at the same time as ‘4 Minutes’. They
are 2 very different videos: process, budget, concept and result…
Anyway, it’s good for us to show that we work like schizophrenic
people! We receive projects for advertising, look for people we’d
like to work with. Everything depends on the idea and the music.
Nothing is decided yet but we are working on it.
Guys, thank you very much for taking the time to answer our
questions. Do you have a personal message for Madonna?
Yes, of course! We would like to thank her for her trust in us. We’ve
already given her our personal messages, but we’d also love to say
that we are ready to sign on for another 3/4 months adventure,
working on another video with her!
INTERVIEW
There is a very special man involved in Madonna’s Raising Malawi foundation. Someone who understood
Madonna’s desire to make things change in Malawi the very second she asked him to join her. Someone
who understood that loving someone else at least as much as himself could make a difference. He is not
the kind of person you will find posing for photographers. No, he prefers to give the best of him to people
who are in the need. He is someone we admire, but also a man who doesn’t take no for an answer, just
like Madonna. Philippe Van Den Bossche is most certainly the best person to tell you more about Madonna’s involvement in the whole Raising Malawi project. Let’s learn more about him through this exclusive
interview.
Dear Philippe, Welcome to Icon, Madonna’s Official Fan Club. As
the Executive Director for Raising Malawi and Director of Development for the Spirituality for Kids Foundation, you are the
man behind causes close to Madonna’s heart. Would you tell us
a little more about you and why you decided to get involved in
both projects?
Thank you so much for the opportunity to share my experiences
with you. It’s always an honor to serve madonna and communicate the power of her intention. I have been involved with many
projects around the world (for madonna and others) – projects
that help those in need. And i am motivated by the belief that
“we can never truly be happy in life – not really happy - until we
care for other people at least as much as we care for ourselves.” So,
several years ago, i decided that i would, in my small way, work
to quietly serve two masters: the most vulnerable people in the
developing world, and those who possess the greatest resources.
I see myself as a middle man between those who want to share
their gifts and those who need those gifts most. Over time, i have
learned that madonna is really my favourite philanthropist. She’s
a model of intelligence, compassion, commitment, sharing and
tenacity. So, when madonna asked for my help, i knew that she
would pursue her philanthropy as she does her career, and i had
to be a part of that.
You are behind the whole Raising Malawi project, helping Madonna to spread the word on a really great and important cause. What is your day-to-day schedule made of? What about the
collaboration process between you and Madonna?
I see myself as a manifestor. Every day, i try to create a series legendary accomplishments – not of profit and gain, but of contribution. I simply help madonna create the projects that are most
closely connected to her values. She loves to care for all children
in need, especially girls who are abused and repressed – which is
why we are now creating an innovative, progressive and sustainable academy for girls in malawi.
Earlier this month, you’ve attended ‘A Night to Benefit Raising
Malawi and UNICEF’ with Madonna in New York. How did it all
happen? How would you describe that very special night and
the way it helped spreading the word?
The event, like everything we do, was an incredible collaboration
– a collaboration between GUCCI, the United Nations, UNICEF and
RAISING MALAWI. The experience for me was evidence that we
are turning a page in our culture. That people all over the world
(not just the wealthy and powerful) are starting to realize that we
all share a common fate. That we have a responsibility to help
the poorest and weakest members of society. That it’s not just
something that we should do, but something that we will do—
together.
So many celebrities attended the event, including some of Madonna’s close friends. How did you feel when all those famous
people joined you and Madonna on the red carpet, ready to donate of their time and financial help?
My personal mission is to help create great change in the world by
leveraging the gifts of the world’s agents of change. And, many of
them were at the event. I knew that the depth of their generosity
would motivate and inspire others, especially the countless fans
and supporters who admire them, to feel that they too can join
Madonna in this effort. On a personal level, this event felt like the
manifestation of 2 years of hard work and commitment.
You’ve joined Madonna on her last two visits to Malawi and
already went there several times during the past years. How
can you describe her reaction when she first met with all those
children? Would you say that the woman you saw that day had
nothing to do with the one singing and dancing on stage?
That kind of journey has a profound impact on anyone willing to
embark on it, and Madonna is no different. I think any mother who
meets a young child who is leading his or her household or an
ICON 49 - 33
INTERVIEW
infant who is dying of treatable illness is moved on a very deep level.
What I saw that day was a woman who could connect with children experiencing overwhelming pain and chaos; a woman who
could share their suffering; a woman who would make a lifelong
commitment to raise their standard of life. It was not her position
in the world, but rather her humanity and compassion that was displayed.
When visiting the Raising Malawi website, you can’t help but feel
moved after looking at those pictures and the mix of joy and pain
you can see in those children’s eyes. Do you get to talk to them
when visiting the country? Put aside their situation and own
culture, are they different from children you would meet in other
parts of the world?
I do have an opportunity to connect with these children during my
visits, and in many ways those are the relationships that provide me
with the strongest motivation to do more. There is one child in particular that inspires me and haunts me to this day. I met him during
my first visit; he was about 10 years old and he was the head of his
household, which unfortunately is very common in certain parts of
Malawi. Within moments of meeting him I knew that I had to do
everything I could to help him. I also knew that this was going to
be a challenge: if I was to give him money to buy food or medicine
or a pair of shoes, he would become vulnerable to theft and attacks
from older children. All I could do was try in my own way to make
him feel really special and let him know that he had value. While
spending time with him, I discovered that despite everything that
he had suffered through: poverty, parental loss, chronic hunger—he
was exactly the same as any other child in the world. A few months
later, I found out that he had died of AIDS. After experiencing this
kind of personal loss, it has become so important to me that we
all recognize that we are equal. That these children are no different
than children in any other part of the world—no different than our
own children. And they need our help and support.
Three years ago, most of us had never heard of Malawi. Thanks
to your amazing work and to Madonna’s devotion to the cause,
we now know more about the situation there. How did donations
help since the creation of Raising Malawi and what are the main
goals for the future?
At the end of the day, you can have an incredible program, the most
experienced team, and the best of intentions, but if you don’t have
the necessary funding, those programs are not going to be effective—they are not going to manifest lasting results. Having said that,
the overwhelming response that Raising Malawi has received because of Madonna’s involvement and personal commitment is having a tremendous impact on the lives of Malawi’s children. We have
been able to expand feeding programs, place doctors and dentists
in orphan care centres, scale up our commitment to providing psycho-social support to abused and traumatized children—and this is
only the beginning.
Our main goal for the future is to constantly improve the work
we are already doing. If we can create a precedent in Malawi—a
country that many had previously written off as “hopeless”—then
we can also help a lot of other children who are in need elsewhere.
34 - ICON 49
In collaboration with Consol Homes, Raising Malawi recently
opened an Orphan Care Centre. What is the main purpose of the
centre? Did you go to Malawi since its inauguration?
The philosophy behind the Orphan Care Centre—and of all of our
work in Malawi—is simple: empower and support the smartest and
most dedicated people on the ground and in the villages. Give the
mothers and grandmothers and village headmen the resources
they need to help create a better future for their children. As we
provide daily meals, medical care, educational scholarships, and
psycho-social support through the Orphan Care Centre, we also
seek the input of the entire village on how to best manage this process. We have hired many of the widows and elderly caretakers in
the community to work with us at the Orphan Care Centre, which is
very much appreciated by the villagers.
I’m proud to say that I have been to Malawi many times since the
inauguration and I can tell you that the village is so proud and thankful to have the Orphan Care Centre. Moreover, the children really
have the education to succeed – not just survive- in their lives.
Philippe, thousands of Madonna fans are going to read this interview. As the man who gives so much of his time and efforts
into the Raising Malawi project, what would you like to tell them
about the different ways to get involved and help you and Madonna to “Raise Malawi”?
I would first ask them to adopt the philosophy that we all have the
responsibility and power to help these children – even though we
may not be celebrities or aid workers; even though we night think
we have few gifts to share.
I would ask them to understand that if we all just cared a little bit
more, and then took action to prove our care - even if only in our
small way - that the world would be a better place. I would ask them
to make a commitment to dedicate an hour or two a week or a
month to help children in need—it’s so easy to do. Contact us, we
will help you. You can do it from home.
Thank you so much for taking the time out of your busy schedule
to answer our questions Philippe. On a more personal note, is
there something you would like to say to Madonna about her fight for children in Malawi but never got to tell her before?
I think even Shakespeare would find it difficult to choose words that
adequately convey the deep sense of gratitude, respect and love I
have for Madonna. I have become a better person because of her. I
think the best thing I could tell her is “Thank You.” Everyone should
realize that behind the exterior is a woman who is using every
ounce of her energy, intelligence, resources and love to improve
the world.
For more info about Raising Malawi or to get involved, please visit www.
raisingmalawi.org
MEETING HER FANS
ICON 45 - 15
On March, 10 2008, Madonna was inducted into the Rock N’ Roll Hall Of Fame. In order for one to receive such honor one
needs to be a living legend, an artist who has brought a lot to the music world. Madonna is without question one of those
people and has proved to be the most successfull female artist in history. When it comes to accepting an award, our girl can
be quite shy. But this time, she came up with a speech those in attendance will not soon forget. Making funny references
to her early years, she also shared some facts even her most devoted fans didn’t know. She most likely had a blast writing
and reading it... But maybe not as much as Liz “The Validator” Rosenberg while discovering what the Material Girl had to say
about her first encounter with her! We asked Madonna to give us a copy of her memorable speech as we’re sure that you’ll
enjoy reading it again and again…
It’s a great honor to receive this award and I am grateful and appreciative for
the acknowledgement that this implies but there is something finite about an
award and I would like to reflect for a moment on the things in my life which
have not been and continue to not be finite.
I have always, been fortunate to have people around me that believed in me.
Starting with my ballet teacher in Detroit Michigan, Christopher Flynn, who
told me at the age of 14 that I was special and that I should go out into the
world and follow my dreams. I can assure you I did not feel special at the time
and those words meant everything to me.
And then there was Dan Gilroy. He lived in an abandoned synagogue in Queens
with his brother Ed and they had a band together. Dan was my boyfriend at the
time and I was sick of being an out of work dancer so he taught me how to
play the guitar. When Dan and Ed were away at there day jobs I would practice
playing the drums to Elvis Costello records. I would practice the 4 chords I
learned on the guitar.
I wrote my first song in that synagogue. It was called Ironically, Tell The Truth.
I remember the hair standing up on my arms when I finished it and thinking,
“Who wrote that song?? That wasn’t me.” It was almost as if I was possessed by
some kind of magic.
And that magic continues to miraculously possess me.
And even now my Manager Guy Oseary, who is out there in the audience, says
to me almost everyday, “M, anything is possible. What do you want to achieve”
and I know that he means it.
35 years later people are still encouraging me to believe in my dreams.
What more could I ask for?
There is a saying in the Talmud that for every blade of grass there is an angel
that watches over it and whispers Grow, Grow.
I can still hear those angels whispering.
And even the nay sayers, the ones who said I was talentless, that I couldn’t sing,
that I wouldn’t last. They helped me too. They made me question myself and
they made me push harder. And I am grateful for their resistance.
I know that I would not be up here right now without all of it.
Without all of you. Because life, like art, is a collaboration. I did not get here on
my own. And why would I want to?
There is no way I could have ever imagined that my life would have unfurled as
it has. In one way it feels like a series of suddenly’s.
One day I was a struggling dancer in Manhattan and then suddenly I was teaching myself to play the drums in a synagogue in Queens.
Then suddenly I was in a band, doing gigs at CBGB’s and Max’s Kansas City
and then suddenly I was meeting Seymour Stein hooked up to an IV drip
in a hospital.
Then suddenly I was signed to Sire Records
and then Suddenly I was rolling around in a wedding dress at the MTV
awards with my underpants showing and one of my high heels missing
and my manager, in the dressing room afterwards, white as a ghost was
freaking out and telling me my career was over.
Then suddenly I was on the stage of Madison Square Garden and every
girl was dressed like me.
And then suddenly and suddenly and suddenly.
That’s one way of looking at it.
The other way of looking at it, is that everything happened exactly as it
was supposed to happen.
That I worked with the amazing people I was supposed to work with,
That I travelled to the places I was supposed to travel to,
That I made the mistakes I was supposed to make,
That the Universe would conspire to help me and guide me all the way up
to this moment in time where I finally have the chance to say
“Thank You to so many People”
First and foremost my record company Warner Bros. whom I have been
with for my entire recording career.
Not many people can say that.
Then there’s Michael Rosenblatt who more or less discovered me in a night club, he told me he was an A and R guy at Sire Records. I had no idea
what that meant but it sounded important so I jammed my demo tape
into his hand and after taking a tab of extacy with him and dancing the
night away I was introduced to the next person I need to thank.
That’s Seymour Stein. To know Seymour is to love him. Who takes meetings with people when they’re gravely ill in a hospital bed?? I mean I
thought the guy was going to die but he asked me to play my music for
him on the boombox I was carrying so I did. I am happy to say that Seymour is still with us, alive and well.
ICON 45 - 37
OK so far we have synagogues, nightclubs and hospitals.
Does any of this sound strange?? Believe me it just got stranger.
The next person I have to thank is Liz Rosenberg. She was and still is the
head of publicity at Warner Brothers Records. Does anyone understand the
insanity of being my publicist for the last 25 years?
I think she was smoking a joint the first time I met her. Of course she put it
out as soon as I walked in the room but I knew we were going to hit it off. She
was tough and irreverent and funny. My kind of girl.
After dealing with the nutcases she has had to deal with and putting out the
fires she has had to put out it’s a wonder she isn’t shooting up heroin now.
I don’t mean to grass everyone up or make it sound like I ended up with a
bunch of drug addicts. The reality is that I ended up with a group of very
responsible hard working, people who gave me enormous amounts of love
and support along with everyone else at my record company.
So then I needed a manager. I asked myself, “Self, who is the most successful artist in the music business today?” And my Self answered back, “Michael
Jackson” So oF I went to LA to find the man who managed Michael Jackson
and make him MY manager.
Cut to Freddy DeMann, the ultimate Mac Daddy manager, slicked back hair,
tanned, smelling of very expensive cologne.
He had a Big Desk, He smoked a cigar, He drove a Porsche,
He gave me a ride back to my hotel in that Porsche and by the time we got
there he managed me. We had an amazing 15 years together, he taught me
a lot in those 15 years and I am very grateful for that wisdom.
And it’s while I was with Freddy that I met this cocky Israeli teenager named
Guy Oseary. He was like Freddy’s step and fetch it boy. He was always putting
38 - ICON 49
his 2 cents in, especially when I did not ask for it. He was the most ambitious,
confident, idealistic, hungry for knowledge 18 year olds I had ever met.
He kept pestering me with his ideas, he never stopped scheming, he was
relentless. And today he is my manager and I know he would fly to the ends
of the earth for me. Thank you Guy.
But what’s a record label and a manager without the music?
Without Nile Rodgers, Pat Leonard, Baby Face, Joe Henry, William Orbit, Mirwais Amadzai, Stuart Price, Pharrell and now Justin Timberlake and Timbaland. I feel so lucky to have been able to work with such gifted and talented
songwriters and producers.
Thank you.
To my Fans who have stuck by me through thick and thin, God knows there
has been a lot of thick. Thank you.
To the Semtex Girls, who are my soldiers and I know they would walk through the fire with me. Thank you.
To my teachers my friends, and my family,
I thank you all for facilitating this journey which for me has only just begun.
And for reminding me that I am only the manager of my talent, not the
owner.
I have gone on to do many things in my life, from writing children’s books
to designing clothes to directing films but for me it always starts with the
Music.
Thank you.