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September 04, 2008
Retrohump: Burnin' Up
Madonna - "Burnin' Up"
"Unlike the others I'd do anything, I'm not the same, I have no shame"
The pop music of the moment when I became aware of pop music, as an active, shaping, cultural force, was all loud guitars and jaded deadpan. I like that still, as it was the crucible in which my sensibility was forged. As a result, my younger years were spent in denial of Madonna, as the insincere predecessor to my beloved sarcastic truth and light. But now, with the great and fleeting alt revolution behind us, I have to say that I've spun Madonna's self-titled debut far more lately than, say, Siamese Dream. "Burnin' Up" is one of the record's classic singles, though the video's iconography is quite up to her later memorable best. It would however, be amazing as in a shot by shot remake for a song from the Hercules & Love Affair album.
Of course, ragged grunge types who were then far hipper than my middle school self dug her from the start...
But I'm always sort of torn about whether Sonic Youth's 1988 larf side project Ciccone Youth was was designed to exalt Madge as sort of a 80s pop-art icon, or if they were really just taking the piss out of the chart toppers of their day. Maybe those aren't mutually exclusive. Mike Watt's demo of "Burnin' Up" isn't quite convicted enough to do either, despite an occasion flirtation with an Elvis snarl.
It's certainly not as deconstructive or lightly mocking as Kim Gordon's Robert Palmer take...
Kids these days have embraced Madonna without much ironic distance.
Starfucker - "Burnin' Up" (stream)
A questionably named Portland band digs into the song here, finding complicated synth patterns to co-exist within the original's sleek frame. Watt's demo sounds unfinished, like the end result of a dare barely pulled off. This version is the work of musicians who respect the pop hit, and not just in a shits and giggles, dress-up sort of a way. How it both embellishes on and dials down the original might actually be some sort of minor miracle.
Posted by Jeff Klingman at September 4, 2008 12:00 AM
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