Madonna's new single comes out Friday! I can't wait to hear what Elton John's husband says about it ...
Mmm, Cheetos ...
Mamaw bought me Madonna's first album on cassette tape from the Walmart in Laurel.
It surprised me, considering she'd make me cover my eyes whenever people kissed or just walked into a bedroom on "Another World." Usually, she'd sequester me to the smaller, black-and-white TV in the kitchen to watch cartoons on TBS.
Anyhoo, just months before at that very same Walmart, Mamaw bought me the 45 record of the Eurythmics' "Right by Your Side," the cover art of which had Annie Lennox in red leather boots and gold lame with silver trim, not to mention her Cheeto-colored shock of hair. (That wasn't a slam on Annie's coif, by the way; just a pleasant memory of eating Cheetos as a kid, drawing a face on my index finger and singing "Sweet Dreams Are Made of This.")
Mamaw asked the sales clerk at Walmart if the record with that flame-haired woman in gold was appropriate for kids. The clerk, who was probably in her teens, looked down at me, then back at Mamaw, and said, "Yes, ma'am." Awesome!
Months later and back at Walmart, with Madonna's eponymous debut album in my hot little hand, I asked Mamaw if I could have it. Lo and behold the mayo, she said yes. It's not like Madonna wore gold lame on the cover or had Cheetoh hair -- it was just a simple portrait of her, right hand held to the side of her face, the left clutching ... What were those things around her neck, chains? Whatever, Mamaw deemed it tame, and I went home happy.
Other than that weird period when I became holier-than-thou and labeled Madonna's album "Erotica" as devil-ordained trash, I've had a rather constant affinity for Madonna, with "Ray of Light" and "Music" being my favorite of her albums.
I'm excited to hear her new single, "Give Me All Your Luvin'," which comes out Friday, followed by her Super Bowl performance this weekend and new album drop after that.
Did your grandmother ever buy you an album, not realizing the kinda stuff that was on it? Do tell ...
Peace, love and Cheetos ... XOXO
