Madonna at 60: why the Queen of Pop can still dance to her very own tune

IWAS never a big fan of Madonna’s music. Of course, I liked some of her songs, but I was more interested in her as a global phenomenon, and the image that she presented to the world. You might say I preferred the sizzle to the steak. So I was surprised, just over 20 years ago, when I was asked to fly to Paris to film a profile of the star that would coincide with the launch of her latest album. After a nanosecond of reflection, I jumped at the opportunity.

Madonna had already established a reputation for her ability to re-invent herself. And at that time, it seemed she was in serious need of some sort of reboot. In the previous few years, she had been involved in two highly controversial projects.

One of these was her fifth studio album, ‘Erotica’. In that album, and in the accompanying videos, she had explored themes of sadomasochism and bondage. The other project was a coffee-table book that was released at the same time as the album.

To say the least, this was not your run-of-the-mill coffee-table book. It was called ‘Sex’, and it featured a series of photos of Madonna. In most of these, she was naked, and in many of them she was taking part in graphic and unconventional sexual activities. Her book sold more than a million copies in just three weeks. But it received a very negative response in the mainstream press and it dismayed many of her fans.

This disapproval was believed to have damaged the sales of ‘Erotica’, which was the first of Madonna’s albums not to top the charts. Her difficulties were compounded when she appeared on David Letterman’s TV chat show. In the course of her interview, she handed the host a pair of her panties and asked him to smell them.

Her critics thought she had finally gone too far, and predicted that we were witnessing the eclipse of her career.

Nowadays, the images in ‘Sex’ do not seem as shocking as they did back in the mid-1990s. But Madonna obviously felt that she needed to change both her public image and her musical direction in order to sustain her popularity.

Her next album was called ‘Bedtime Stories’. It marked a clear move away from the provocative sexuality of ‘Erotica’ and ‘Sex’, and projected a softer and much less aggressive persona.

When I arrived in Paris, Madonna (right) was staying at the Ritz Hotel. She had taken the whole of the top floor for herself and her entourage. I went there to prepare for our shoot, and was greeted at the entrance by two of her bodyguards. They were both huge black men from the Nation of Islam, wearing conservative dark suits, and the Nation’s trademark bow ties.

We ate lunch in the outdoor restaurant at the Ritz. Madonna was going to be interviewed by Ruby Wax. I had seen Ruby remain unfazed, even in the most difficult of situations. But, on that warm summer day, she seemed genuinely nervous about how to deal with Madonna.

Over lunch, we were joined by another party. One of them introduced himself to me as one of the producers of the Oscar-winning movie, ‘Chariots of Fire’. His name was Dodi Fayed, and a few years later, he would leave that same hotel with Princess Diana, and begin the frantic car chase that would end in both their deaths.

Later, Madonna spoke to us about her own empathy with Diana, whom she clearly regarded as working in a related area of show business.

Madonna was, predictably, smaller than the impression she created on stage or on screen, and had an unexpectedly toothy grin. What was also evident from the beginning was her impulse to control our filming.

She began by questioning the positioning of our cameras and lighting rig.

It was obvious that she understood the critical importance of lighting in framing every shot. She summoned one of her many assistants for advice. He was a very tall and very camp individual who peered through our camera lenses before making some minute adjustments, and declaring himself satisfied.

Throughout our filming, Madonna remained acutely aware of our camera angles, and made sure that she did not stray far from her key light. She didn’t want to be shot from the left side of her profile, and interrupted our filming on several occasions to check that we were observing her request.

ALTHOUGH she had a reputation for being outspoken, Madonna seemed quite guarded while we were filming, and she maintained a sense of distance for most of the time we were together. Afterwards, both Ruby and I felt that we had not been able to break through her defence mechanisms. Indeed, the only time I thought we glimpsed something deeper occurred off-camera. Madonna told us that she had been to a dance show the previous night. Her original ambition had been to become a professional dancer, and, when she described the show, her enthusiasm was infectious, and seemed entirely genuine. For those moments, I thought we were actually listening to Madonna Louise Ciccone, and not her stage persona.

I was also aware that we had become a small part of her strategy to reposition herself in the eyes of the public. In the following months, that strategy seemed to have paid off. Her new album once again topped the charts, and Madonna was cast to play the female lead in Alan Parker’s movie of ‘Evita’. She won a Golden Globe for that role, and has said that this was the most fulfilling period of her creative life. Since we made our film, Madonna has reimagined herself on many more occasions. As she enters her seventh decade tomorrow, there is no reason why that process should not continue. After all, if Mick Jagger can still strut his stuff at 75, why shouldn’t Madonna?