Madonna (#17) | Hall & Oates (#18) | MJ & The Jacksons (#19) – Evan’s 111 Artists

Our kids had Big Mouth to navigate “going through changes.” We had Judy Blume books (Forever) and then… Madonna videos.

Before those changes though, I was introduced to The Jacksons.

You’re gonna shoot your eye out kid! ‘76, stoic geek, celebrating freedom…

In second grade, my class performed a dance to Enjoy Yourself. I very unenthusiastically   practiced at home. Choreo didn’t come naturally to me. When my brother Eric mocked me, my mom coached me to tell him, “You don’t know how to have fun.”

Love you, Mom!

Soon, Er took up the trumpet and joined the marching band, so it all played out just fine.

In 5th grade we would go to Carolier Roller Rink on Rt. #1 in North Brunswick. They’d play The Jacksons, The Sugar Hill Gangs Rapper’s Delight, and some Queen and horrible disco too.  

The way the drums, guitar and bass brought funk into pop songs was new and cool to me.

By the time MJ hit MTV as a solo artist I was 13, the roller rink was closed, but it’s OK, we now had Action Park in Vernon Valley, NJ, to hang out and get injured.

MJ was the first time I witnessed someone I knew from a band become an absolutely massive solo artist, pretty much overnight. A concept that I would see repeated many times over in the years ahead.  

Then came, Madonna.

She was pop, but I definitely never changed the channel if her video came on. The truth is, the songs were great, buried behind what I still consider ridiculously cheesy production.

I loved Holiday.

While I never would have identified as a “fan,” over the years I started to realize what a trailblazing bad-ass Madonna truly was.

And importantly, she was signed to Sire Records, home of the Ramones, Talking Heads, and The Replacements.

Not a coincidence.

That label, and Seymour Stein, who I was introduced to and chatted with briefly at Midem one year, were clearly tapped into youth/art culture, NYC and what’s next.

Also, Madonna was dating Sean Penn, and while we didn’t have TMZ, he was pretty well known at this point, post-Spicoli, for making waves. Kind of a Hollywood rebel-punk vibe.

Sweet cut off ACA JOE, out in Jerz with Carl, Adlai and Guido in ‘87.

Junior year of High School I worked at Aca Joe, a pretty cool clothing store at the Woodbridge Mall a few towns over, along with my buddy Adlai, who I helped get the job.

Remember how simple yet powerful the referral was for our “grind” jobs back in the day? And how much more fun working those jobs was when you did it with a friend?

Our manager Mark would go to the clubs in NYC, The Tunnel, and Limelight. He was a very proud and hard-partying gay man who just happened to look EXACTLY like John Oates, so waiting in lines with the club kids was not a thing for him.

He would rock right up to the door wearing his shades, a long coat and oozing ‘80s rock star confidence, nobody cared to question whether he was John Oates.

He’d drink all night, snort a bunch to keep it going, come straight into work, go into the back, and puke.

When he recovered around noon he’d tell us ALL about his night. Then he would blast Madonna on our store sound system.

I was a rock guy. Hall & Oates was pure pop. Madonna was pure pop. MJ, same.

But they all had a FUCK-TON of undeniably amazing songs.  

Importantly to me, Madonna and Hall & Oates (even more so), sounded better live.  

This performance of Maneater at Live Aid in ’85 really held its own— the mullet, the energy and that bass…all undeniable, though I wouldn’t quite say it was at the Queen, Bowie or U2 level.

Kind of funny Rex is in commercial dance and musical theater, decades later, choreographed dancing still didn’t come naturally to me.

The Dance Dads butchered choreography to a Drake song at our kiddo’s performance, it was a surprise and pretty hilarious.

Rex with Maya, Mulaney and his class onstage for BigMouth Live at the Greek.. Going Through Changes.

MJ, Madonna and Daryl Hall are total bad-asses in my book.

___________

“Dad, you always say this song is a F*CKING MASTERPIECE… make a list.”

Madonna, MJ/Jackson, Hall & Oates masterpieces‍ are listed below, and more on my 1k+ song Spotify Playlist — Evan’s 111 Artists

You’ve Got A Friend, I’ll Be There, Don’t Stop Til You Get Enough, Man In The Mirror, Billie Jean, Like A Virgin, Like A Prayer, Papa Don’t Preach, Ray of Light,
You Make My Dreams Come True, Rich Girl, Sara Smile, Out Of Touch

Madonna with Joe Henry Guilty By Association, a cover of a killer ballad, her delivery is fantastic.