From disco decadence to maternal introspection, Madonna's changing image has been as much the story of the evolution of the media as that of a consistently successful pop star. She has carefully manipulated our interest in her unusually public existence, cultivated scandal, and maintained a stream of quality music for over 15 years, always recreating herself with each new album.

It was one of the great moments on British TV. Certainly, Top Of The Pops had never seen anything like it. The longest running television chart music show in the world had witnessed the likes of the Beatles, Stones and David Bowie performing on its cramped stages. But no one had made quite the impact - before or since - that Madonna Louise Ciccone did in that summer of 1984.

Writhing around singing 'Like A Virgin', with vivid pink wig flapping and a chest that refused to be ignored, this was no ordinary New York dance diva, plucked from obscurity to promote the work of a glamour DJ before disappearing back across the Pond. This was a genuine, all-singing, all-dancing Superstar. And didn't she know it.

It was but the latest step on the path to immortality for the woman named Madonna. From tragic beginnings in Michigan, USA, through a tough education in New York's artist community as a dancer and model, the little girl who lost her mother to cancer before she even knew her, had masterminded her rise to fame every inch of the way. No shadowy Svengali-figure guided the career of Madonna. Only a woman with her drive and talent for media manipulation - and man manipulation? - could have written the CV of this particular artist.

There have been the albums - from the dance-inspired Madonna, through the blatant pop of 'Like A Virgin' and 'True Blue', the more adult and revealing 'Like A Prayer', the sensuality of 'Erotica', the less interesting and decidedly more 'adult' 'Bedtime Stories', up to the recent return to her dance roots and commercial success of 'Ray Of Light'.

There have also been the films. Strangely, the first - 1985's Desperately Seeking Susan - and last - 1996's Evita - being the ones that have garnered most praise and box office success. It may be no coincidence that in both, Madonna can be seen to be playing characters not a million miles away from herself. Despite the more colourful moments of her career - the soft-porn shots in her book Sex, the on-stage mock-masturbation during the 1990 Blonde Ambition tour - the hype that has surrounded Madonna since the mid-eighties has never managed to obscure the quality of her music.

Madonna may be well known for the men she has dated, but it's the men she has utilised to enhance her own musical talents that have helped keep her at the forefront of modern music. Jellybean Benitez - the legendary DJ at New York's Funhouse club - steered her through her first incarnation as dance music star. Nile Rogers produced 'Like A Virgin' while Patrick Leonard collaborated on some of her greatest work - most notably the brilliant 'Like A Prayer' that finally established her as a truly mature recording artist.

Currently, British techno-dance producer William Orbit is the man in control of the Madonna sound, with 1998's 'Ray Of Light' re-establishing her at the cutting edge of music following the disappointments of the middle of the road 'Bedtime Stories' and her necessarily downbeat contributions to the soundtrack of 'Evita'. Both the album and single of the same name helped put the 40-year-old star back at the top, while their collaboration on 'Beautiful Stranger' from the soundtrack of the Mike Myers film, Austin Powers: The Spy Who Shagged Me, saw Madonna achieving her biggest ever singles hit. The accompanying video, climaxing with Madonna pushing her bottom into Mike Myers' face, proves that while maturity and motherhood has not blunted her musical style, they now enable her openly to laugh at herself.

The men in Madonna's professional life have undoubtedly been important to her - maybe more so than those in her personal life - but make no mistake, this artist's success has been all of her own making. Even back in 1984 before the world-wide triumph of the 'Like A Virgin' album shot her into the ranks of global mega-stardom, she knew how to promote herself. When dotmusic's sister publication Record Mirror flew to New York to interview the then up-and-coming dance star, she was friendly, accommodating, but steadfastly refused to have her picture taken despite the fact that a photographer had travelled all the way from London just to snap her. Her reason, she explained, politely but firmly, was that she had a cold and would not look good enough in the pictures. In some this could have been interpreted as insecurity, but this was Madonna - who even at that early stage in her career knew how to control her public image.

Some have called Madonna the great feminist icon of the 20th Century. A US university has even offered a degree in Madonna studies, so seriously is her public persona studied. Certainly, her in-your-face femininity mixed with a single-minded wielding of power more traditionally seen as a male preserve, established her as the Goddess of Girl Power before Baby Spice was barely out of nappies.

Like David Bowie, Madonna has the ability to reinvent herself; to tap into the underlying vibe of the moment. Unlike David Bowie, you get the feeling that musically, Madonna's best is yet to come.

Albums

Title / Label / Released

Ray Of Light - Maverick/Warner Bros - Mon 2 Mar 1998
Evita Motion Picture Soundtrack - Warner Bros
Something To Remember - Maverick - Mon 6 Nov 1995
Bedtime Stories - Maverick - Mon 24 Oct 1994
Erotica - Maverick - Mon 19 Oct 1992
The Royal Box - Sire
The Immaculate Collection - Sire
I'm Breathless - Sire
Like A Prayer - Sire -
Who's That Girl - Sire
You Can Dance - Sire - Sun 1 Nov 1987
True Blue - Sire - 1986
Like A Virgin - Sire - Thu 1 Aug 1985
Madonna - Sire - Tue 1 Nov 1983

In The Beginning - Gravity - Mon 7 Sep 1998
The Life And Times Of Madonna - Metro Independent - Mon 5 May 1997
Live To Tell - Total - Mon 3 Jun 1996
The Best Of Madonna - Action Replay - Mon 26 Jul 1993
Best Of The Rest Volume II - Action Replay - Mon 5 Jul 1993
Give It To Me - Receiver - Mon 8 Jul 1991
The Immaculate Conversation - Baktabak

Singles

Title / Label / Released

American Pie - Maverick/Warner Bros - Mon 21 Feb 2000
Material Girl - ???? - Thu 23 Sep 1999
Beautiful Stranger - Maverick/warner Bros - Mon 7 Jun 1999
Nothing Reallly Matters - Maverick/warner Bros - Mon 1 Mar 1999
The Power Of Good-bye/Little Star - Maverick/warner Bros - Mon 23 Nov 1998
Drowned World-Substitute For Love - Maverick/warner Bros - Mon 24 Aug 1998
Ray Of Light - Maverick/warner Bros - Mon 27 Apr 1998
Frozen - Maverick - Mon 23 Feb 1998
Another Suitcase In Another Hall - Warner Bros - Mon 24 Mar 1997
Don't Cry For Me Argentina - Warner Bros - Mon 16 Dec 1996 (My Birthday :)
You Must Love Me - Maverick - Mon 21 Oct 1996
One More Chance - Maverick - Mon 11 Mar 1996
Oh Father - Maverick - Mon 25 Dec 1995
You'll See - Maverick/sire - Mon 23 Oct 1995
Human Nature - Maverick/sire - Mon 14 Aug 1995
Bedtime Story - Maverick/sire - Mon 13 Feb 1995
Take A Bow - Maverick - Mon 28 Nov 1994
Secret - Maverick - Mon 26 Sep 1994
I'll Remember - Maverick - Mon 21 Mar 1994
Cosmic Climb - Receiver - Mon 27 Sep 1993
Wild Dancing - Receiver - Mon 27 Sep 1993
Rain - Maverick - Mon 19 Jul 1993
Fever - Maverick - Mon 22 Mar 1993
Bad Girl - Maverick - Mon 22 Feb 1993
Deeper And Deeper - Maverick/sire - Mon 30 Nov 1992
Erotica - Maverick/sire - Mon 5 Oct 1992
This Used To Be My Playground - Sire - Mon 13 Jul 1992
Shine A Light - Receiver - Mon 6 Apr 1992
Rescue Me - Sire - Fri 1 Mar 1991
Crazy For You - Sire - Fri 1 Feb 1991
Holiday Collection, The - Sire - 1991
Justify My Love - Sire - Sat 1 Dec 1990
Hanky Panky - Sire - Sun 1 Jul 1990
I'm Breathless - Sire - Tue 1 May 1990
Vogue - Sire - Sun 1 Apr 1990
Dear Jessie - Sire - Fri 1 Dec 1989
Cherish - Sire - Fri 1 Sep 1989
Express Yourself - Sire - Thu 1 Jun 1989
Like A Prayer - Sire - Wed 1 Mar 1989
Look Of Love - Sire - Tue 1 Dec 1987
Causing A Commotion - Sire - Tue 1 Sep 1987
Who's That Girl? - Sire - Wed 1 Jul 1987
La Isla Bonita - Sire - Wed 1 Apr 1987
Open Your Heart - Sire - Mon 1 Dec 1986
True Blue - Sire - Wed 1 Oct 1986
Papa Don't Preach - Sire - Sun 1 Jun 1986
Live To Tell - Sire - Tue 1 Apr 1986
Borderline - Sire - Wed 1 Jan 1986
Dress You Up - Sire - Sun 1 Dec 1985
Gambler - Sire - Tue 1 Oct 1985
Angel - Sire - Sun 1 Sep 1985
Holiday - Sire - Thu 1 Aug 1985
Into The Groove - Sire - Mon 1 Jul 1985
Crazy For You - Sire - Sat 1 Jun 1985
Lucky Star - Sire - Thu 1 Nov 1984
Holiday - Sire - Sun 1 Jan 1984
Get Down - Receiver

The Next Best Thing (2000)
Happy Birthday Elizabeth: A Celebration of Life (1997)
Evita (1996)
Girl 6 (1996)
Four Rooms (1995)
Blue in the Face (1995)
Dangerous Game (1993)
Body of Evidence (1993)
League of Their Own, A (1992)
Shadows and Fog (1992)
Madonna: Truth or Dare (1991)
Dick Tracy (1990)
Madonna: Blond Ambition World Tour '90 (1990)
Bloodhounds of Broadway (1989)
Who's That Girl? (1987)
Shanghai Surprise (1986)
Desperately Seeking Susan (1985)
Certain Sacrifice, A (1985)
Vision Quest (1985)

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