Madonna's "Into the Groove" with Guillermo Díaz

Hey One Song Nation, this week to celebrate Madonna's return to the dance floor with her brand new album Confessions 2. We're revisiting one of our favorite episodes where we break down her 1985 song Into the Groove with actor and Madonna fanatic Guillermo Diaz. On this episode you'll hear us talk about 80s Madonna, the movie desperately seeking Susan, and of course we're going to listen to the song's isolated beats since and stems and bask in the beauty of the Queen's isolated vocals. So in case you missed it the first time or if you want to listen to those 80s sounds again, stay tuned as One Song breaks down Madonna's Into the Groove. Welcome to One Song, the podcast that I host my name is Luxury with my co-hosts, T yellow riddle and today we help a guest named Guillermo Diaz, he's great, starting the show now. I'm actor writer, director and sometimes DJ Diallo Riddle. I produce her DJ and songwriter Luxury, also known as the guy who talks about interpretation on the internet. All over the internet. And this time on One Song, we're getting into the groove. All right, today we have a very special guest so you might know from his roles on TV shows like Weeds, Chappelle Show, Broad City, and Girls. And you most certainly will recognize him as Huck from Scandal. But today we are talking to him about a different role. It's a party place in his daily life as a Madonna superfan. Welcome to the show Guillermo Diaz. Thank you, thank you, thank you, thank you for coming down to our show. And we, you know, I have to say right off the bat that one of the reasons I was so excited is because I feel like, you know, outside of the TV shows, like you're just a funny dude and we'd been, you know, we were like, oh my god, he wants to come on One Song, no way, no way, no way. So this is very exciting for us. Thank you for being here. Thanks, man. You know, it's funny, you say I'm a funny dude because I've done all these movies with comedians and I'm always, I don't do stand up, I'm not, you know, I'm much more comfortable doing drama and like serious stuff. But I just kind of got thrown into these, you know, comedic movies that I remember being on sets and all these guy Dave Chappelle and, you know, Tracy Morgan, everybody just cracking jokes left and right. And I was just like, hey guys, you know, I was just like the audience, but anyway. But I do think that there is something, I mean, first off, there's a lot to be said about the person who's taking it seriously, the straight man, right, comically, ironically speaking, comically underrated in comedy. But I think that, you know, what you bring is so, it's a certain amount of just that straight, funny realism. It's like, what do you, I have three kids, it's like the kid who's not trying to be funny is always the funniest. Right. Oh, yeah, I'm brilliant. Yeah, there's no doubt about that. I love it. Yeah, I'm really good. You have three kids? Oh my god. I have three goldfish and a little dog. And sometimes I'm like, I got to feed them again. Like, depending on me, I can't imagine having three little humans running around. You learn that life is resilient every day. Life is very, you know, these kids, they, they tend to survive and we're so happy to have them here. Do you have any siblings? That I don't know. I have two older brothers. Oh, no. So I have three boys. Oh, yeah. But my, my older brother was like into like Judas Priest and Ozzy Osborne and all that so I grew up like loving heavy metal because he loved it, but then somehow I, I went to the blonde ambition tour when I was like 17 and that's when I was like, oh my god, I love this woman. But you had been like the, that morning you had put on like metal up your ass or something like that. Exactly. Yes. Talika. Talika. Yeah, I was listening to the radio, but at home, you know, my brother would bring home and he was cool. He was like your older brother. So the music was cool. Yeah. And then I really did, you know, I really did appreciate it. I loved Ozzy Osborne and Artian Maiden and all that stuff, but of course, I listened to the radio. I love Lisa Lisa. Oh, yeah. We're going to talk about Lisa the cold jam because style, some of the things that brought me personally to this song and thank you again for choosing it because to our listeners, we sent him a couple of Madonna songs to choose from. And this is when he sent back and I'll say, you know, as a as a fan of like what later became known as freestyle, like this was really this song, like just sounds like a sound that to me never gets old the way that other genres get old, you know, but we're going to get into all that. It sounds like you first fell in love with Madonna at a concert. Yes. Yes. Yes. And I had never seen her live. I mean, she'd only done like one, two tours before that. What album is this for? This is for like a prayer. Okay. Yeah. And so I saw and that, you know, that was her first tour. It was, she was like the first artist that that sort of had a, you know, made every, every song was like a theatrical piece on stage and then, you know, here comes like a virgin and she, you know, rises up out of the floor on a bed and masterbates at the end. And it was like nothing I had ever seen before on stage and you're with your family watching this. I was with like two friends. Okay. Yeah. There wasn't like cringey. No. Yeah. My parents would have been cool though. My parents took us to see like the exorcist in the movie theater and lipstick. Do you remember that movie lipstick? Yeah. About a woman that gets raped and my parents didn't get it. Well, you're growing up in New York City. Yeah. Yeah. And they also didn't speak English. They were like, Oh, cool. We were just traumatized. They didn't know a rated arm. Yeah. Really good. No. Our for really solid. What neighborhood? Washington Heights. Washington Heights. Yeah. Yeah. Manhattan. Yep. I wouldn't get it to all this so much. But can I ask you real quick? What stood out about Madonna to you that first time you saw it? I think the fact that she didn't give a fuck about anything and she was like just willing to take these risks that were, you know, just so over the top and so provocative and sexual. Like she wasn't afraid of being sexual and then she was like, and I'm freaking read, you know, you know, 100 books a year. Like she's super intelligent. She's just not, you know. So there was like thought behind everything she did. And of course, you know, for growing up as a gay man, like, I don't know, she just became like that middle finger that was like, you're, you know, just your typical hetero normative, whatever bullshit. Yeah. And she just became like a, you know, like a hero, like an icon who was out there speaking out for us. And, you know, she was the first one that spoke, spoke out, you know, about gay rights and AIDS and, you know, practicing safe sex and all that stuff. I mean, like I will say, definitely she came with a political component that I didn't see from any of the other like that. I don't know if this is the current pantheon, but like when I thought about the 80s then and like in the 90s and 2000s, I always thought there were three. There was Michael Jackson, there was Prince and there was Madonna. Me too. And they're all born in 1958. No way. Really? Yeah. I've always think of them as connected. I was in the water. Probably radiation. Probably. Probably. Yeah. The atomic fall off. Can we please bubble wrap Madonna? We cannot lose the third. We need to protect her. Oh, that's crazy. Yeah. We made it longer than those guys. Yeah. But you're right. Like I think about Michael. I think about Prince. I love their music. But like Madonna. Like for the time that she was doing, you know, videos where she was kissing Jesus to, you know, even even, even before I really even knew what LGBT was back then, like I was like, Oh, her friends seem to run the whole rainbow. I think it turns out right, but like it was very obvious like she was friends with her dancers. Yeah. They were in the videos. And it was a different vibe. And you're right out of the three of them. Prince was obviously very sexual. And he has, am I black or white? Am I straight or gay? Every now and then there's lyrics that are like, but she means that that's early on. Like that's pre-primble. I was going to say, I think definitely Madonna kind of held her own in terms of like being very explicitly like this is important. Gay people matter. A million versions of like using her platform for like spreading the word of diversity and just like anti-headonormativeness toward and in truth or dare is the first time we saw two men make out on the big screen. That was, that was, that was huge and you know, being a teenager, no, I was gay and I'm not out of the closet seen that it was like, okay, I'm, I'm okay. Like I'm. Wow. I was going to ask the 17. You were probably, you were not. Yeah. No, I didn't come out. I was like 27. It was the eight. It was the fucking eighties. Washington Heights. I was like, I'm out. You guys. But this plan for the seed for you of like representation. Exactly. Yeah. It was all about, you know, hiding who you were and you couldn't be yourself. But anyways, just seeing those two, you know, Gabriel and Slam make out on the big screen and in a Madonna documentary, not mockumentary, a documentary was like exhilarating, you know. It was so sad. Who are Gabriel Slam? There were two of the dancers. There are the two dancers that made out in the film and they were dating during the time of the tour. And they were both HIV positive, which no one knew Gabriel Slam and Carlton. They're super open about it now, but they were all, they had just found out they were HIV positive. We know, but I want to let the audience know that you have a tattoo of Madonna. That is super cool, but I have to ask, what is the most extreme thing you've done? for your love for Madonna. Yeah, I not only have one tattoo I have like nine Madonna tattoos. I have nine. I've gotten more. When did you get the first one? When did I get it? Yeah, how long was it? It was like eight years ago? Ten years ago. Maybe wasn't that long ago. It wasn't right after the blind ambition tour. It wasn't right after the blind ambition tour No, but then I have another Portrait of her on my chest He's actually taking up this pose. You can't see No, people on YouTube can see we're watching all of that. Oh, I guess I should take it off I used to work at a photo stock agency in New York City and I used to file pictures of celebrities so session photographers and and paparazzi would would come in and bring their slides and it was all on slides and Anyway, so I would I would file all the pictures, you know, in the appropriate files and And they all knew I loved Madonna and one of the one of the photographers Steve Eichner I still remember his name was like, hey, I'm shooting the girly show tomorrow. Do you want to come with me? And I'll I'll say you're my assistant and you will be in the pit So the photographers get to go in the pit, which is right there in front of the stage for three songs and then they leave But they, you know, they're photographing her and I was like, uh, yeah And he brought me in there. I was like cut to me in the pit with and he gave me a camera because he was like just act like you're taking pictures because I wasn't. But as I'm taking pictures, I kept just putting the camera down and going And people were like, the other photographers are like this guy's not professional And I got some photos back and I have this one amazing photo that somehow, you know, I took one really good one And it's up in my wall. You being all the professional photographer, right? Yeah, yeah, so it was love. There was love in your clicks, you know, there was a certain so like I get this there was love in my clicks. Yeah And you've seen almost every tour of hers, right? I have the only two I haven't seen are the virgin tour and the who's that girl tour Really? The current tour. She's on the current tour. The name of which celebration. Celebration tour Has it come to a layout? Not yet. It'll be here in March. In March. I'm going in March. I think we all should go, right? How much fun to go. I actually hear us. Can we get to it? Like this is where the photo of the photo would happen. Yeah Now we asked you what song you wanted to talk about on today's show and you chose into the groove. Good choice I'm just curious of everything in the Madonna catalog What do you love about this song? What does it mean to you? Um, honestly, I've been obsessed with desperately seeking Susan lately because it's on to be. Yeah, out of to be. Shout out to to be on the to be conversation If you want to talk about extreme and fandom, we're talking to be Come on to me. Come on to me. Um, so I've been watching this movie like almost every week. It's one of those movies too I love it. It's a really good movie, but then it just it's a really field. I don't know why it makes me feel good Maybe it's New York City in the New York in the 80s. Yeah, familiar and it's Matana Oh, no, sorry, I was just gonna say this Steven Wright is in it plays the guy on the couch in his latest. Yeah, yeah Um, this little movie called half big that I did Uh But yeah, and then you know this song is just so it's so New York. It's so disco. It's so it's just so viby It's so good and and another this song also has this this funny Story for me because you got you guys aren't from New York, right? You We both lived there though. You both lived there. Do you remember the Robin Birch show? Yes, of course on access the sort of C. Don't porn interview. It was like a porn like she's she's in her 50s or 60s or 80s who knows and she's sort of taking it off Yeah, after like one o'clock in the morning You would you could see the show on public access and you know as a as a young horny teenager Watch it and and she would have female dancers come out and strip and then she'd have male guys come out and strip And I remember there and I used to record when the male guys would come out But this one guy the first guy recorded danced to into the groove So whenever I see it in your brain There's a lot of sains in my head. I mean other things too, but that very specifically. I think of this guy coming out and you know Can you say shaking you can say all of us please say all the words say everywhere. We're hoping that they see us It's more publicity. I hope so, right? We uh hell yeah That's so interesting because it plays into what we're saying about Madonna and the sexuality. Yeah Really critical She was representation not just for all the not just for gay and lesbian like it This is representation for sexuality as good. Okay. Yeah, because we've had a little bit of that Maybe with Prince like we mentioned a little David Bowie, but for the I feel like Madonna coming out The first of all remember she was in playboy. It was a quote-unquote scandal But then she goes on stage at live aid and says I ain't taking it off today Yeah, and she totally makes it erases it instead of being a shameful thing She's like call y'all. Yeah, I had I got boobies. I'll show them again if you like Yeah, I really love to come out also and say I'm not ashamed. Yeah, I'm not ashamed I'm not ashamed of sexuality Yeah, and she's doing that all while being named Madonna. Yeah coming from a very Catholic upbringing Yeah, this whole juxtaposition where she's constantly like the vert playing with the version more dynamic literally like on screen in these videos That's so important for us as kids growing up to see and be like Sex isn't just bad. It can be good. But also I think that like let's be honest. She's also white and so her fan base Like she had middle America on lock with like the the Fingerless gloves and like the 80s style like you know like she had them like she was you know They were there and then all of a sudden she's like bangles remember the bangles At the bracelets and necklaces. Oh, yeah, lucky. They had her given her for taking the name of Jesus's mom Maybe they and then she's like oh, okay, so you're listening. All right Here I come with like, you know, these controversial I mean like just I remember how big it was that Jesus was black in her video like that's right Yeah, yeah, well first of all he was a he was a saint. It wasn't it wasn't Jesus Like he thought it was when he was black and she makes out with him Yeah, and he's supposed to represent the black man that's being You know, per se because he's black and they assume he committed a crime. I think I was too young to get all that How I know all of us kissing every time who which by the way would be Like a little incest too like so it's just she was always You ever think about who I've never thought about I just said Madonna because of Jesus, but also I used to think that Madonna was a made-up name that she made up for the stage. It's not it's her mom's name That was her mother's name was Madonna, and they named her Madonna And I think a lot of people thought that it she just you know, it can't possibly be a real name, right? Yeah seem like a real name. Yeah, but it wasn't what they thought you know up until you just said that I think I've always thought it was a made-up name and I'll never forget the first time that we as kids came to school And kids were talking about Madonna, and I remember this girl was like it's real messed up that she took you know The Lord is Lord and Savior's mother's name like that and I and you just forget the certain things that we just accept now Yeah, they were big deals back. Yeah, you know Yeah, and then she named her daughter Lord is right which is also another biblical Isn't that another biblical name? I think it is or it's a place or it's I don't know It feels like it feels like it's in that word cloud of like stigmata and like sort of like the p.a. Ta like sort of agony Yeah, agony of Christian. Yeah, I don't know. Yes. Yes, and now Madonna's daughter has chosen the stage name lola whole As her stage, okay, and what does that mean? Whole find out showing home by the end of the hour, but she's amazing All right before we go any further here, but I just want to say all the show we go really deep into the song that we discuss and we'll be playing you the Isle of Stimps So that you can even hear Madonna's vocals with no baggage track But before we get there luxury, I know you want to help set this Yeah, we're gonna set the stage a little bit of history before we get into the specific moment That's one of the fun parts of the show is that we are because it's one song It's also one moment. It's one era and Madonna as we sort of been alluding to jumping around historically She wonderfully I said so many eras like let's steal that word back from Taylor Swift like Madonna has this song that exactly right Madonna is the true queen of pop and this era for her. I mean, let's talk about it to me I think about I mean first of all she's at university of Ann Arbor. Is that right in the 70s? And she starts moved to New York and she starts being in bands which are kind of punk e-bands or kind of rock punk bands So she said she wanted to be a part of Bowie's scene, didn't she? Okay, is that right? I feel like I read that song He was a huge inspiration. Yeah, David. That makes so much sense because what she's doing is she's an artist, a dancer and a musician and the musician is arguably just kind of one of the things she is Like pop music is a vehicle to express as we've just been discussing What do we think about all of these things about Madonna and sexuality? Music is a means of expression for that. So she comes to New York She is in a band called I think the first one was the breakfast club That's right, and then that is like an 80s explosion right? So it is that before the movie before the movie. Yeah, did it inspire the movie? Do we know? I don't know I don't think so. It's just kind of a thing. Who knows? Yeah, then she's an Emmy and the Emmys. Oh, that's right I don't know much about these bands. It's hard to find the actual recordings But she hasn't gotten into synth pop yet, which is the next era And in my mind this song into the groove is kind of a little bit the end of the synth pop era in the beginning of the next one But we'll get into that when we get into the music a little more about the history. So, she's in these bands, she's going to Danceteria, she's becoming a queen of the nightlife, she's meeting everybody, and actually one of the, and she's, by the way, importantly, meeting all these DJs and underground producers, which becomes a throughline for her whole career, because she's always attuned to what the next trend is, and which DJ is spinning it. So, she's bringing in the jelly beans later in life, it's the Shep Butter Bones and the Stewart Prices and the Nelly Hooper. She's always, like, making pop music with who, was the coolest underground. Danceteria, she's friends with Mark. At Danceteria, she's friends with Mark Cayman, is that how we pronounce it? And between that connection and one with Steven Bray, who goes back to her college days, actually, and apparently they moved to New York together, and I think they're in a band in the breakfast club as well, yeah. So, Steven Bray is an important part of this break, because he is the co-writer of Into the Groove. So, we're going to get into some of the work he did when we listen to The Stems. I just want to finish giving Steven Bray his flowers, because out of all of his collaborators, he's maybe one of the lesser known, I would say, but he's incredibly important. Obviously, huge Madonna fans know exactly who he is, but for those who don't know, as I mentioned, he came to New York with Madonna, was in the breakfast club, one of their first bands, Emmy and the Emmys. They were in both of those bands together. And he co-wrote actually half of, like, a version. You know, people think of, I think of that album as like, it's Nile Rogers album, but he-- Like a prayer, you mean? Like a version. Like a version. Like a version. He actually co-wrote half of the songs, and he also co-wrote Express Yourself, which is arguably, it might be my favorite Madonna song. It's so good. It's such a good song. I was listening back to it. I was like, I forgot how-- I don't know why. That song really hits me kind of in a similar way to this one. He co-wrote that one. He co-wrote Angel. He co-wrote True Blue. And now he continues to be a musician, but he actually just got a Grammy Award for being the composer and lyricist for the version of the Color Purple on Broadway. Stephen Bray, I met him one time. Oh, you did. I used to work for a guy named John Lynn at Hollywood Records. And John Lynn actually wrote, "Live to Tell" for Madonna. Like, what if her first-- Yes, such a good song. Such a good song. And such an early balance. Shout out to John. Unfortunately, I think he passed away about two or three years ago. I didn't really keep it touch with him, but him and Stephen Bray, I feel like they were all part of that, you know, songwriter collective. We're going to go back. We're going to now land in July 1985. It's into the groove time, y'all. And this song actually is released two days after "Live Aid," where it was performed. I didn't really realize that, which means that it wasn't necessarily widely known by people when she played it. It's a really fun version that they play at "Live Aid." But the story behind it, which is really kind of crazy, is that it was kind of an afterthought desperate leasing from Susan, this amazing movie, which we need to talk more about for all the reasons. We alluded to a little bit. It's New York. It's the mid-80s. It's club culture. They needed a song for that scene that we were just talking about in "Dance Ateria." So when the husband goes to the club to meet Madonna, I don't want to ruin the movie, but like, go out and see it. It's a really fun movie. It gave me that 40 years to see it. Yeah, it had time to see it, it's true. Maybe it's time to ruin it. Let's ruin it right now for everybody. You don't deserve to know what this movie is about if you haven't seen it. So Madonna has a demo which she had written with this Mark Kamens, and it was intended for this artist name, Shane. Now, Shane is at the time a 15-year-old, and when you read now with 2023 Eyes, a 15-year-old protégé of Mark Kamens, you're like, "Why does this man have a 15-year-old protégé?" So no shade, but like, that's a little bit, you know, I'm sure everything was on the level. But Shane actually went on to have a couple hit songs, including this one. This is "Call Me Mr. Telephone," which went to number one on the dance charts in 1985, and listened to her voice. Because when I heard it, I was like, "Oh, just listen when the vocals come in." A little bit to me, it's got sounds like Madonna. Madonna, vocal similarity, right? But this is a 15-year-old black girl. So Mark Kamens is not happy that the song is given away, and later goes on to say that, you know, he's pissed in quotes. That's a big 80s thing to say. I feel bad that there's this whole shred of music where like a young black woman does something and reaps no benefit. Absolutely no benefit. Well, she got a number one on that song, but she didn't get into the groove, which was intended for her. Oh, yeah. Well, by the way, I love that song because in a weird way, it clearly shares some of the day with "Into the Groove" and that. I feel like I'm in 1980s, New York. Like there was such a cool merger of like this dance music with like clearly a hip-hop sensibility on that song more than "Into the Groove" obviously, but like it's just you can hear, I just imagine this club where like some people were dressed like Madonna, some people were like early B boys in the band. I'm pretty since like, you know, there was like a bunch of cultures. Like in the movie, there's a lot of like goth. I forgot that was like a big part of it. With the mohawks, a lot of mohawks. Well, that's the one part where I'm always like, does that really happen? Because anytime you look at an old 80s movie, the bad guys at street tests are always dressed like punks. And they're always like the always punks are usually like the nice of people you can meet. That's true. But in 80s, according to 80s movies, those are like the people who will stab you and rob you. Stay always the punks. And yet we know from our friends who are gods, like they're sweet and sad and kind. Not out to hurt anybody. But to your point about her being robbed. You know, who else was robbed? Madonna was robbed. This song was not a number one single. And it should have been because of just the randomness of how in the United States, right? In the United States, it was robbed of it being the number one. Because the record label had two big songs already out. And they didn't want to interfere with the chart success. Right. And they didn't, they didn't know. They didn't release it because they put it as the B side of angel. Yeah. Oh, that's my thing. Right. Yeah. It would have done it was eligible for charting because of that. It goes to number one in the UK and does in other countries. But in the US, it never gets the love it deserves on on the radio. And number one, I've always felt like this is probably my favorite 80s Madonna song. Hands down. Really? And hands down. And I had no idea it was the chart success until we were researching this episode. I mean, like to know that it is to this date her biggest single ever in the UK. I did yeah. I didn't know that. And that is really wild stuff. But like as a DJ, I will say up until just about 10 years ago, you could still play this pretty much near the peak of the night and get a huge crowd. Oh, no, it is like this is officially the music like gin alpha. This is their grandmas, right? Right. You know, I mean, like I get it. But like there's something about those punchy synth synthesizers in it that beat is outstanding. And that's why we're going to play some stems from it. Yeah, absolutely. I just one more little thing. I looked it up. So the songs that were in the top 10 already were material girl and crazy for you. So it kind of makes sense that sire records is like we're we're saturating the air waves. It's not like the Beatles in the 60s anymore. We got to like. But nowadays they would they would totally release it. Like nowadays, I feel like Taylor can have like eight songs of the top 10. Like they don't feel like one is eight being, you know, pulling off of because people aren't spending their five dollars at the record store. But this song is so special because in spite of all of these like impediments to being heard by the public, it not being released as a single, it not being eligible. It wasn't even on the desperately seeking Susan soundtrack. Oh, it's insane. Totally insane. It still has survived all these years to be as all as we're saying, to be one of the best known and best love songs in Madonna's huge catalog. It's crazy. It's like like Vogue. I never knew that Vogue is on the breathless. I'm breathless on the Dick Tracy. Dick Tracy soundtrack, which I used to think it was on the like a prayer album. I just assumed it was, but it's another like huge song that people love. And it's just sort of randomly released. Which just makes it harder to buy in access. You can all imagine it would have been had it being like. So I guess on later releases of like a virgin, they added it after the fact that anyway. Oh, they did. Yeah. Oh, interesting. I just feel bad for the desperately seeking Susan soundtrack. It's like they showed up with all those other songs. Nobody was buying it for leaving Atlantic City. You bought this after you like wait a second. I don't want to look into this. It's important to remember that Madonna was cast for desperately seeking Susan when she was a star, but not a global mega star. And what happens is they used this song. It's in the movie. Madonna's presence in the movie. All of it leads to I found this great quote where Rosanne Arquette turned out to be really unhappy about the evolution of Madonna's superstar as shooting is ongoing. She goes, it was completely unfair. As soon as Madonna came into the picture, the script was changed to suit her. I told them that if Susan was going to be nothing more than a two-hour rock video spotlighting Madonna. Well, I didn't want to be a part of it. A disco dance movie isn't what I side on to do. However, I couldn't get out of it. She's so wrong. I love Rosanne Arquette, but she's so wrong. I don't think it's that at all. I think Rosanne Arquette shines in the movie. It's amazing. It's all about her, her, you know, her re-emerging as this woman finding herself and wanting to give a break away from a marriage. Yeah, like I feel like she's with love. Yeah, Madonna's great in it, but I still think Rosanne Arquette really shines. She's a star. Yeah. After the break, you will hear Madonna's untreated vocals. You will hear a very punchy synth bass line and we'll be getting deeper into the groove with Guillermo Diaz. Stay with us. Deeper and deeper. Deeper and deeper. Oh, I love this song. Deeper and deeper is a great song. Stick around. We'll be right back. All right, luxury. I'm so excited to hear these stums. Our guests, Mr. Diaz, he's excited. Guillermo, you're excited? Oh, yeah, kind of. Fair. He's already being timidly excited because we don't want to step on your toes. Oh, no, there's no toes to step on here. Well, you know, - What'd you got for it? - Brand new shoes, so please stay away from the white. - Those are very clean. - It is very clean. - And the pineapple socks, killing it. - No, I think we're still in it. We're so excited to hear these stems. What do you got for it? - I mean, what's cool about these stems, it kind of reminds me of, we did an episode, let's go crazy by Prince. Something very similar that emerges is how low-fi this song is. It's really crazy. It was recorded on an eight-track taskam, like a home recording equipment. It was recorded, the vocals were recorded. You know how, like, if somebody gives you a microphone on stage, like even at a high school, like at a grand, you know, fifth grade concert, it's gonna be a sure SM-50. It's a $99 microphone. It's kind of crazy that that was the process behind it. And this is the huge global pop sensation, 40 years later song that we all still love. It's such a low-fi song. And again, with the Prince analogy, because when we listen to the look, let's go crazy. That song was similarly recorded, not in a big fancy studio with million dollar equipment. So that's the first thing I just wanna say before we get into it, is what you're gonna hear may shock you. - What stems are you playing for us first? - Let's start with the beats. And one more thing to say actually, is that, so this is against Stephen Bray and Madonna co-wrote this song. I believe Stephen Bray is the programmer behind all these, and performer of, this is all electronic. So it's all, I'll tell you as we go one at a time, but all of the beats and all the synths are being generated from machines, arguably in his home studio. Again, this eight track, very low-fi. There's a second version though, as we alluded to, which is arguably equally maybe more famous, which is the Shep Pedabone remix. And it is using the same elements. It adds some percussion, a piano solo. If we have time, we might get into that too. Let's start though with the original version, and let's start with the percussion. So I'll build it up from the high hats and gradually add things till you hear the whole beat. (upbeat music) There's a Tom there, clap high hats. (upbeat music) And that's this low-fi beat coming out of, so good. An Oberheim DMX. Now on the internet, this is one of these songs that has like crazy rabbit holes you can go down to get lost on. I'll spare you all of that, but it's probably an Oberheim DMX. It might be a DX. We're not sure. All that matters though is that this is the, that same drum machine that we talked about on the new order episode. So it's the same one that did Blue Monday. - Yeah. - Plate, da, da, da, da, da, da, da, da, da, da, da, da, maybe. And it's also one of the ones we talked about with Jimmy Jam, because he had been using it and was starting to switch over to the Lindrum, which is the Prince drum machine. - That's probably why we're not hearing more Roland TR 808s on this show. 'Cause that always felt like that's the point. - That's the drum machine that took over the world. - Yeah. - And yeah, some of our favorite songs are this - That's a great one. - D-A-Mex or DX. - One of these is, - You can debate it at home. - We'll do the Planet Rock episode. We'll be definitely getting into that. - No, they don't. - So those are the Planet Rock. - Yeah, exactly. - And Orion, don't stop. Do not stop. And now we get to the part that I know I'm the most excited about. - Yes. - Like what is arguably the heartbeat of the song, the best part is this sick, sick bass line. (upbeat music) - That part is sick, that's right. - Woo! - That's in bass. - That's so good. - Here are your reaction first. And then we'll talk a little bit about the details. - So good. I have no idea what you guys were talking about all that. - DX. - The drum machine stuff. - Lingo. - No production stuff. But as a listener and a lover of the music, it's wild because you could hear just a tiny, like a second of that and know it's into the groove. - You know what I mean? - It's so distinctive. - I have a question. I don't know. What instrument is just generating this? - So this is, again, the rabbit hole thing. I am 88% sure from my research that it's a Roland MKS 80, which is basically a Jupiter 8th synth, but as a rock mount, it is known for being digitally harsh. If you listen to it again. - I like the digital harsh. - Right, the low five thing that I was referring to. We heard it in the drums. You can hear this kind of like crunchiness a little bit. (upbeat music) - This is my favorite part of the song. I will admit, this is the part. - This is the heart. - The heartbeat and the heart. - As a DJ, you know, you try not to do too much with the treble and the bass line or whatever, but whenever I would get to certain parts of the song, especially the bridge, like I would do everything I could on my mixer to isolate this bass line. Because it is so, and I've never even really noticed the, like at the end of the, of the end of this bar. - That's a weird little moment. - It feels very dappunk. You know, I know that dappunk is trying to go for this sound, but like that harsh, that harsh synth, like that. - No, it's very, it's very marauder. It's very Georgian marauder in that moment with a da, da, da, da, da, da. - I like how crunchy it sounds by the way. - It's very crunchy, that's a good dappunk connection too, 'cause you'll hear that a lot in the dappunk, is the sort of the eight-bump, eight-bit crunchiness that they add as a filter, which at the time in the 80s is all they could do. - It's so hard, I love it, isn't it? - We are, it actually taps into a part of my soul. - We'll bring it back, but I just wanna talk a little bit for a minute about like the bass line influences, because it is this electro-funk kind of boogie moment. We talked a little bit about this with Jimmy Jam too, right? Because they're programming synths, these bass lines, which means you can do things that are very hard for a bass player to do. In particular, those 16th notes, but no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no. And it's precise, and every note sounds exactly the same, and that's very gratifying to the human brain on the dance floor, especially, right? You get into, you get into a groove, if you will. - That's both interesting and very sad, that we're falling in love with the part that it would be very hard for a human to do. - Right, it's like, let the robots play the notes. - Well, it very much evokes to me, do you remember this song by the system? You are in my system. This is one of my favorites. - Oh, one of my favorites. - They also did, don't disturb this groove. I'm sure you. - No, I just disturb this groove. - Oh, yeah, of course. - There's a way you say that. I'm so into you. - Oh, my gosh. - But this is their other song, great song, right? - Yes. - But this song, you are in my system, not only a great song, but also on the soundtrack to Grand Theft Auto by City. And so I used to steal cars and just be blasted. - You are in my system. - To this tune, but this bass line to me, it very much evokes this bass line, which is from '82, a few years earlier. (upbeat music) - Having GTF so sick. - The sickness of this, or maybe even. - Wait, wait, wait, can I just say. - Yeah, yeah, please, please. - That section you play, I just wanna see Eddie Murphy and his axle, Foley Jacket, running down the street about to tackle it. - It's doing something, right? - There's nothing about that sound. It's like screams, ladies, move, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah. - The sound of that synth program, synths with the 16th notes, and it's funky and syncopated. It also shows up, and by the way, the same person programmed, David Frank programmed, this other song, which you all recognize, called, "I Feel For You" by Shaka Khan. - Oh. (upbeat music) - Right? So this little moment of like a 16th note run of melodic one that is like, just carves its way into your, like, pleasure centers. - No one can do that. - Oh my God. - Okay, so same. - But I'll tell you what else no human can do. No human can bring up the name Shaka Khan without one of my aunts going, Shaka Khan. - Shaka Khan. - Shaka Khan. - Oh, totally. - Apparently it's impossible. (laughing) - I think I'm one of your aunts, 'cause I can't hear that without doing that, yeah. - That baseline connection is the one I wanted to make because this is sort of like the sound of the dance floor of the moment. So it wouldn't surprise me if Madonna and Stephen were like, "Let's get some of this electro-funk," David Frank is the name of the programmer on both of the songs I just played you. Let's get some of that vibe in here. The bridge on "I Feel For You" and "The Bridge On" into the groove by Madonna. Both, I think, two of my absolute favorite bridges of all time, the two bridges, ironically, the jump out to me from the 80s where I was always as a DJ trying to isolate either the bass on into the groove or that, we're symphonic, hi, the, (singing) that sound on "I Feel For You," like those are two iconic bridges that just come in and they take your heart out, "Molaram Style." - We cannot help but have this, we're gonna end this rabbit hole any minute now. I promise you, but you just reminded me because we talk a lot about like riffs and melodies and stuff. There's something about this baseline which crosses the bridge to me into like riff because a bass line is a sick bass line is usually low, kind of feel it in your body, but this one 'cause it's a little higher pitched, maybe. I'm not really sure what it is. It feel, it's one of those you take away from the song and hum it in your head kind of hooks. I mean, and there's 50 of them in the vocals that we're about to hear. We're gonna move away from this bass line, rabbit hole that we are stuck in, but it is a pleasure to be in here with you, Guillemade, yes. - It's so fun to watch you guys talk about music. You guys are so into it. I love it. - We're gonna get deeper into it. We're gonna talk about-- - So knowledgeable about it all. - We love nerding out about this stuff and it's a pleasure to do it with you. Hopefully you'll take some of it away and sort of nut your friends next time and you'll be like, that's an Oberheim D.M. X. And they'll be like, "Well, can you do that?" - And they'll be like, "Never invite Guillemade "or anything ever again." - They'll be like, "Just pass that." (laughing) - Pass the blunt and shut up. (laughing) (upbeat music) - What's the next theme that you got for us? - All right, so let's move on to the synths. The not a lot going on in this song in terms of the, there's no guitars. We just have the beats you heard, that bass line, and then we have, there's three synths technically, but two of them are doing the same thing. This is different sounds. So the simplicity is another part of, I think, what makes the song so successful, because it gives Madonna and her melodies an opportunity to shine. But first, before we get to that, here is the iconic synth melody. (upbeat music) Which is something you don't always notice, but you don't, is this. That's almost like "Depesh Nodes" level. Like, there it comes. That's in the song? Yeah. That's so trippy to hear it isolated like that. Yeah, that first part, I've never even noticed before. No, we need it for you in the mix. Here it comes. I need to tell you that. Yeah, right. This part, yeah. So it's great. Come on. I'm back in the background. Oh, in the background. You know what? You can hear it more prominently. I'm glad we're kind of backing up for a second. There's the demo version of this song that is far more listen, hearable. And it's also what's used in the movie. Yeah, oh, really? The version in the movie is not quite the version we all listen to. And you'll recognize it. Right? You can tell which one. Wow. That's great. Come on. Right? It's so interesting. So they obviously decided to bury that a little more for like the commercially released version. Oh, God. This might actually like the demo version. Wait, I do too. It's like grittier, right? Yeah. Where the rock. You can, you can, you can almost smell the sweat on West 21st. Yes, yeah. All those guts. Yeah. On that dancer dancing on the Robin Birch show, you can smell that sound. I was, we were all sweaty on that. Where is that guy? Where is that guy? Who's your wonder? Oh, man. We're all sweaty on that show. Let's get back to the synths. There's only one more sound. There's only one more stem. There's only two more synth stems, but they are doing the same thing. One of them is a Juno 106, playing the chords like this. And you can dance. Yeah. And then we have an OB-8, which doubles that. Fast, fast, the one I hear. And then together, it sounds like this. Makes it much bigger. Yeah, you know what? You don't really hear that higher pitch, then? But you definitely appreciate it. It just, it's like something to it. And we were talking with Jimmy Jam about this. So cool, right? These sounds are the presets in these synths. So at the time, like you would buy a synth, and you would just go to, you know, 42 or whatever the patch would be to find a sound and use it. So these, to any, I have a Juno 106, and I recognize these sounds. They are what you get before you start tweaking it to make it sound sort of more original. So it's really funny to hear in the mix. And this huge hit song, they just used what, when they bought the machine, it came with. Okay, but before we play those vocal stems, I do have a question for you real quick. People say never beat your heroes, but you have met Madonna. You have, wait, I didn't know this. Yeah, I, I, oh my god. Our researchers have done their flawless fact check. Please. And you've met her. What was that like? Tell us. And where was it? Like, tell us slowly. You can tell us like. It was like meeting the Madonna, the Jesus Christ mother. It was, it was, it was exhilarating. Madonna Christ. Yeah, exciting. I did a show called Scandalin. Portia de Rossi was on the show. Portia is married to Ellen DeGeneres. Ellen is a huge fan of the show. She knows that I'm a huge Madonna fan. She's had me on the show to show my tattoo. And she said, when I have Madonna back on, I'm going to bring you on as the guest, EJ. And she did. Oh, I show up. I told DJ Tony to go home then. Yeah, she said, go home. Picrocks. Scram. And so I get there and she's like, come on, we're going to go watch Madonna rehearse. And there's me, Ellen and Ellen's mom in the audience. No, we, you know, before the audience was there. And we watched Madonna do, you know, she did living for love twice. And anyway, and then we start taping the show. And Ellen has me bring up this basket of Michigan state, like, you know, blankets. And goodies and stuff. Because Madonna's daughter just started going to college there. And I walk up to Madonna and I say, look, I have you on my arm. And I show her my tattoo of her. And she's like, oh, oh, and she hugs me and kisses me. And then I get down on my knees and go down to her. And she has this look on her face. Like, yup, that's where you should be. That's accurate. But yeah, it was, it was crazy. I still can't believe that that happened. That is insane. Did you get a picture or autograph for her? I mean, you're on the episode, so there's videos. I mean, it's on the internet. It's, you know, you can Google it. I was shooting the show. I was shooting scandal in the middle of taping that. And the producers were so cool. They were like, we know you, Madonna, go tap it. But they had some a driver. They're waiting for me. And Ellen was like, stay after the show. And I'm going to introduce you properly. And we can talk and hang out. And they were like, you got to get back to set. No, I had to leave. Yeah. Did you tell them that you were like, yeah, I mean, they knew. But at that point, I had already hugged her and kissed her and, you know, on stage. So it was, it was fine. Yeah. All right, Luxury, let's get back into it. We have denied the people long enough. We want to hear Madonna's. No more denying of the people. No. So let's listen to the iconic vocal intro. And I know for some of you, because it certainly was for me. It's a bit of a surprise when you hear it. I slated what it sounds like. What's she saying? And you can dance. For inspiration. There's not much bleed there is. Come on. I'm waiting. That I'm waiting is like so sweet and fading out. But it was hard. I couldn't hear that for years. She's so demure. She's very demure. Yeah, that Madonna just a little wallflower. Yeah, I think it violent. The shrinking. But you can hear what I was mentioning about the SM58 microphone. And like, there's like bleed. It's like, this is probably intended to only ever be a demo. In fact, I would read somewhere. In fact, I read actually in Stephen Bray's Instagram where he says when they told him that it was going to be a single and they needed to redo it. He told Madonna, like, let's go in and re-sing it. She's like, I'm not going to re-sing in there. Really? Yeah. So what we're getting is intended to have been a demo vocal. But there was no problem with it. It's what we've been hearing all this time. And sometimes when you can try and do things twice. Yeah. It just doesn't say it. No. Yeah. It ain't perfect. But when you try and get it perfect, it's just something loose. It was something. You're trying too hard. Also, if the internet is to be trusted, she had a date after this song. So she was rushing to get out of the studio. Yeah, she's in a hurry. So she was like, let's get through this. And then it became her number one single of all time in the United Kingdom, of course. Well, it sounds like from what I read, she wasn't crazy about it. And we talked about maybe the record label held it back. It sounds like I've also read where maybe she wasn't so crazy about it and didn't want to release it as a single either. Maybe these things were combined. But we all love it. She loves it now. She's done it on almost every tour. It's such a hit. But I've never seen, I don't think I've ever been to Madonna concerts. So when I heard that she's performing it, no, don't leave. OK, you know what, I'm sorry, I was too honest. We tend to be vulnerable here. I don't think I've ever-- I've seen her live, so to speak, but it was in a club setting. OK. I was saying that she had a dance show around like 2010 or somewhere in there. And I went to a-- not a live taping of that, but it was her and the dancers from that competition show. And so I've been in the same-- when I worded Jimmy Fallon, she came on the-- I've been in the same space as her. And I've never been to a Madonna concert. And when I heard that Into the groove is a part of this current lineup, a little bit bad girl from around here. Yeah. I was like, you know what, I just-- I gotta go out and see this. Because I do feel like she is an artist who I have followed for many, many, many, many years. And whether it was with the ray of light album or the music album, she's always had a single or two out there. Then I'm like, OK, all right. You know, I guess I'm done with it. Just to find my love. One of the first songs to sort of activate a teenage me. And think like, oh, I think I like my Spanish teacher. Because just to find my love is such a filthy, sexy song. Yeah. Lenny Kravitz wrote it. Yeah, I believe it. I believe it, yeah. And it's got that-- Like a public enemy sample in it. Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah. Well, is that the funky drummer? Is that the-- it's one of the classic hip-hop. Yeah. No, it's not. It's a classic hip-hop sample that a lot of people have used. I think it's programmed to sound like funky drummer. So maybe it's an interpretation. I think it's an interpolation of funky drummer. But it's-- There you go. OK. But it is that hip-hop beat that so many people use. Yeah, OK. So now it is time to hear Madonna's isolated vocals for the iconic chorus. ♪ Get into the groove, boy, you've got to prove your love to me. ♪ ♪ Get up on your feet, yeah, stuff to the beat, boy, what will it be? ♪ And that is indeed a double. I started with it, isolated one take, and then we added a second one. I like the Dublin. Could you play me one of my favorite lines from the song? Sure. Only when I'm dancing. Yes. Can you play that line? ♪ When I'm dancing, can I feel it? ♪ Let's do it. ♪ Only when I'm dancing, can I feel it? ♪ And then she doubles herself. ♪ At night, I lock the doors when no one else can see. ♪ ♪ I'm tired of dancing here all by myself. ♪ ♪ Tonight, I wanna dance with someone else. ♪ Now, that is one of my absolute favorite lines from a song from this era. Before I get into what I like about that line, is there anything you can say about this line? 'Cause I think it's one of the great lines in this song. So good. She kind of sounds like Minnie Mouse a little bit, right? Very helium. She's so cute. She had such a cute voice. She was very young. Back in the year. Yeah, I was. and it of 26, 27 at this point. - Yeah, she's something like that. - Wow, no, she's already 26. - Yeah, I mean, a little older, she, her pop start-up started a little later in life, and it's amazing. - Yeah, yeah, yeah. - I just don't know how young the pop stars are now. - Yeah, I feel like even, anyway. - Do you have a favorite line from this song you wanna hear? I can, I can, if I can, can I, can I just start finishing it? - Can I just say, the reason why this is my favorite line is because, you know, there's just something about like a woman, I guess, you know, at the time, it felt like a girl. It felt like, sort of like, the two sides of a personality. Like, she's belting out this song, but then she admits that she's basically shy. Like, she has to close the door, she has to lock it, and she's dancing in a room by herself, like, you know. - Like Robin, dancing on my own, right? - Yeah, a little bit, it's confessional, you know? And I always thought that that line was excellent, just from creating a character for the song. - You know, I guess she's a shy girl, right? - Yeah, she's essentially a shy girl, who, you know, can't just be, she's not out there just being like, you know, an extrovert all the time. Well, she's locked the door and she's dancing all by herself. - And you've nailed the premise in terms of what she said about how she wrote the song, which is, she said, when she was writing it, she was sitting in a fourth floor walk up on Avenue B, and there was a gorgeous Puerto Rican boy sitting across from me, that I wanted to go out on a date with, and I wanted to get it over with, but she was basically, she's too shy. So there is a shyness and wanting to communicate with being a little too reticent that perfectly translates into the song, as we've been saying, that we were joking about Demiornis and Walflour, but that's accurately the character in the song, 'cause I think you picked up on it, yeah. - Do you have a favorite lyric? - I don't know, that's fine. It's that type of song, too, where like this is the first time that you guys are, you know, we're talking about the lyrics so specifically that I'm like, oh, that's what she's saying, you know? 'Cause sometimes you love a song, and you just keep hearing it for years, and you don't really know what they're saying or what the lyrics are, it just feels good, and it brings up, you know, just happiness in you, and so it's funny, I wouldn't even know what line to tell you this. - And that's fine, because I think, you know, sometimes you can overthink things, and sort of rob them of what makes them viscerally fun. - Yes, yes. - So we are fans of both people who've dissected every single thing, and we were like, hey, man, 30,000 feet, it's perfectly even alone. - Yeah. - I can tell you my favorite part now, I'll play it for you, it's the bridge section. It's actually got a doubling and a harmony part, so I'll play it for you first by itself, and then I'll add the double. - And I wanna hear two elements just by themselves. - Okay. - And see what that sounds like. - Okay. - Consider it a live remix, but-- - I don't even know what that is, but I'm excited. Okay, so let's start with Madonna's bridge, and then I'll tell you a brief story about how I got made. - Okay. ♪ Live out of your fantasy here with me ♪ ♪ Just let the music fade to free ♪ ♪ Touch my body, move in time ♪ ♪ Now I know your mind got to ♪ - I love the lows, when the lows come in, those are-- - Let's listen to those isolated, 'cause that harmony is really nice, and in your right, she's going underneath the lead, instead of on top, which often happens with harmonies. - Especially with girls. - Mm-hmm. ♪ Live out of your fantasy here with me ♪ ♪ Just let the music fade to free ♪ ♪ Touch my body ♪ - So cool. - Is that all her? Is that all her? - That's just her. - That's just her. - That's just her. And, you know, we've dealt with other singers on the show where we're like, "Oh, that background, "you hear that's professional background," and sing her so and so, and then like-- - Right. - But here, this is just Madonna, and you were saying that in your mind is in gray, and this dancer on a late night public access show, I can't hear these lower Madonna, 'cause the image that sticks out to me, 'cause the music video for this was just clips from the movie. - That's right. - You know, the image that sticks out to me is like, I think she kind of puts up her arms like this, and like rocks of, like, that to me. - Yes. - Sexy under arms. - Sexy under arms. - Is it sexy under arms? That kind of got burned into my soul. - I can't think about this bridge. - Exactly the moment you're talking about. - Yeah, I can't think about this bridge. - It's something you're like, oh, what's she doing? - Yeah, this is also the movie, and I think this is part of the video too, is when she's drawing her underarms, like the hand dry under the underarms in the movie, right? - So it's very arm-up-y this movie, yeah. - The train station at the beginning, right? - Yes, yes, yes, yes. - I wanna hear, could you play me the bridge with just the bass synth and her vocals? - Just those two things. - And that bass line is so sick too. - Dude, I just wanna hear Madonna bass line. Live remix happening right now, right now. - On one song. - I'll even give you the bass line isolated for us just for the satisfaction of that, and then we'll add the vocals. - And you'll bring in the vocals, okay. - That's what I'm gonna do. - Live remix. And just a quick story about this part, by the way, Steven Bray had written a section that wasn't working. So when Madonna came into sync, she had a melody in mind, and it just wasn't working. - It wasn't connecting. - So it wasn't connecting. So on the spot, Madonna came up with the melody and lyric, that whole thing that we deserved. She just had came up with on the spot to sort of solve the musical problem. That's the genius that she has. - I like your ribs, yeah. - She's going places. - She's going, this mid watcher. - Watch her. (upbeat music) ♪ Just let the music set you free ♪ ♪ Touch my body and move in time ♪ ♪ Now I know you're mine ♪ ♪ Get to you ♪ ♪ I'm here ♪ - That is some sugary perfection right there. - That sugar is a real world. - How do you feel about that? - I love it. I love it. - I kind of want to go dancing right now. - So good. (laughing) - I feel like that's all I keep saying. It's so good. I love it. It's great. - This bass line, the whole song, it's got like three or four different ideas. They're all very propulsive and they move the song forward. They're bouncing and they're propulsive. It's really the heartbeat of the song and just sort of the pulse that kind of guides you through the entire thing. And they're also melodically satisfying. That's another, this bass line I just played for you. It's like, I love just listening to that by itself. It's almost like it's own little melody. - It is. - It is. - I'm really genius work by Stephen Bray. - Genius work. - As we talked about into the groove from Desperately Seeking Susan, it represents Madonna's first major role. What are some of your favorite Madonna acting performances? Do you have some? - Yeah, she did what we call Dangerous Game. That, what year is that? - That was 90s, like mid 90s with a Harvey Kytel. - Oh man. - And yeah, it's like one of the best performances in my opinion. - Without any major, she's the killer. Without any major spoilers, what happens in Dangerous Game? - She plays an actress in the movie. And so it's a sort of, it's kind of like they're documenting the rehearsal process. And then the filming of this movie in the movie and the man that plays opposite Madonna is on drugs while he's doing the movie while he's offset. And then he becomes super abusive in the fake movie. It's just, it's a wonder if you haven't seen it. It's on Tubby as well, Dangerous Game. - So your favorite, your top three Madonna albums. Can you name them? - Oh yeah, erotica, number one for sure. Like a prayer. - Yeah. - Oh man, this is hard in confessions on the dance floor. - What year is that? - It was my top three. - What year's confessions? Is that 2005? - Early 2000 mid a little. - Is that the holy mid? - Is that the one we hung up? - Stewart Price. - Yes, yes. - On you. - Yeah. And uh, jump. It's got jump, which is an amazing track as well. ♪ Get ready to jump ♪ - Oh my gosh. - John the Devil Wars product soundtrack. Yeah. - Confessions is a dope album. And it was also an amazing tour, sorry. - It was an amazing tour? - No, I mean, you know, here's my thing. I loved music. I thought that was such a cool track. - Yeah. - Yeah, me too. - And I feel like it didn't do like what I thought it was gonna do. I thought it was really gonna mainstream. - Like a craftwork. - And it was gonna appear. Like kind of collab is what it is. - Yeah, totally. It just felt like, she had been listening what was happening in dance music. And for a long time, like she kind of steered clear of like full on dance album. But I feel like with that one, like she sort of came in, it's a very danceable record. - With music, music. - Yeah. - And she has, don't tell me to stop in that, in that album, which is amazing. Which I think was written by her brother in law, Joe Henry, who wrote the song. - Is that the one with the acoustic, kind of starts and stops at the beginning? Yeah, that's very, it was her cowboy era. - Yeah. - That's right. - Well, even a ray of light. She looked a little more cowboy. - Yeah. - A ray of light, by the way. - Oh, that's right. - A ray of album ray, single, my favorite song. - That's your favorite? - It might be expressed yourself ray of light into the, and this whole conversation is like, I have a big battle in my head about the best Madonna is raging right now, 'cause it's so good. - Yeah, that was her, I mean, I don't want to say come back, but she had, she had her kid, she had just had Lola, Lordeus, and this was her album right after she, you know. - That's true, 'cause it was a break from, like, erotic. - You know, like the deeper and deeper vogue. - Yes. - And then ray of light was like a big shining moment. By the way, I have to say, before I ever was obviously old enough to go out, the music video for deeper and deeper, I was convinced that like, to be able to go out to nightclubs in New York was like the most fun thing you could ever do. Like, it just looked like they were having the greatest time. It's a great house track. - I don't know if people ever mix it into house sets. I've never heard of it. But like it's a just a great early house track, you know, such a good video such a good video How many iconic like people in that hollywood lawn and Udo Kier and We're part of what I love about Madonna is that she represents this new york Nightlife undergroundness. Yeah, which we talked a little bit before the show started But like I have such a fantasy about living in other eras and and so many of them are it would New York's factory era But also New York in the CBGB era But also New York in the 80s. Yeah, also New York in the 90s the club kid era and Madonna has a kind of a through line or connections I should say to so many of these things she really represents that New York underground. I can't agree more She really does even with all the artists with you know, Jean-Michel Basquillade and The Keith Herring and you know Julian Schnabel all those all those people But it's kind of like we've been saying she's an artist first and music is one of the many avenues Yeah, she's telling a story. She's political. Yeah, it's visual. It's you know representing Ideas and it's also music and it's also dancing. She's really put this package together So make sense as you guys were saying about the Bowie connection like of course it's a Bowie connection Oh, yeah, that's also a bowie and he was such a performer to such a right a character driven Artist because he he would go on stage and create characters. I think he's yeah probably one of the first You know artists that that did drag on stage right as one of as a you know He was a musical. I mean he was already like pretty Stablished. I'm saying. I mean, yeah, some of these characters and then the last question if you were directing a Madonna biopic We hear the studio. We're saying Guillermo you can direct it Who plays Madonna? That's a really good question Lorde's Lorde is the unheard daughter. Yeah, that's that's her daughter. That's actually good. That'd be perfect Can't imagine anyone else worthy to play Madonna. I know they she she actually Cast someone for the biopic. It's the woman the girl from Ozark the lead the blonde. Oh, she was an inventing Anna the lead and inventing Anna Julia Garner Yeah, is that yeah, she's the one who has the girl here. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah, Madonna cast her. That's perfectly Madonna. Yeah, it's perfect Yeah, every now and then you just like that person became famous because you were already reminding me of a young Madonna. Is there anything that totally for the biopic? Is there anything about Madonna that you have not shared today that you Would like to share with us before we go No I know I have to think about that one. Yeah, there's I mean, I don't know Just like I'm I'm so disgustingly in love with her But I think everyone knows that already Do you know what I mean? This as a fan. What would you like to see her do next to tackle? Oh, man I really I really would love to see her um act again to see her in in a movie But she said she's she's said it in the press. Kind of retired. She's done with acting. She's just gonna do music But you know, she Said she's not gonna do stuff before and then she's done it. Yeah, so It's like I'm like you're dying on a soap opera. You're like the writers can figure out a way for their evil twin to come to exactly Is Cher really done with touring? No, she's not I love that. I love that. Well, thank you so much. Thank you. This has been such a fun fun episode with you Luxury help me in this thing. All right. Well, I'm producer DJ and songwriter luxury I'm actor writer director and sometimes DJ diolorino and this is one song. We'll see you next time Bye-bye Welcome to one song. It's a podcast that I host with my friend Diallo Riddle my name's luxury and today we have a guest. His name is Guillermo DS Here we go. Get into the groove. Oh, you've got to prove. Okay, I'm gonna stop