MADONNA AND ME - Rock & Roll Induction Tonight

Tomorrow MADONNA IS INDUCTED INTO THE ROCK & ROLL HALL OF FAME. If I wrote a book the title would be "Chasing Madonna, my life as a Paparazzi." Although I have seen Madonna in concert half dozen times, I have never seen her in person as a paparazzi. Once in 1988 a friend of mine who lived in NYC hung out with her and invited me to come along, but there were rules, no photos, no talking to her about her music, I had to keep it under control, and treat her like everyone else. Believe it or not, I turned him down, it made me too nervous, I told him I didn't think I could remain cool. Here's my Madonna Story: EVERYBODY: Madonna's first radio played song, it didn't catch on. I noticed her though, and when it was announced she would play at the Playpen in Wildwood, NJ 6 months later in August I was so there, but them they released "Holiday" and it shot to the top and they cancelled her appearance 'cause the dive place was no place for a superstar. At first many people thought she was a black performer, until the video was made and put out on MTV. I always hated this song because it cancelled her appearance. I knew she was going to be someone and I wanted to see her first. LIKE A VIRGIN debut at MTV Music Awards: She got the worlds attention. PAPA DON'T PREACH Madonna pisses off the Catholic Church again. Someone close to me was forced to give their baby up for adoption. I cried a lot that year whenever the song would come on. LOVE DON'T LIVE HERE ANYMORE: Madonna doesn't release this song. She's met Sean Penn and she was in love. Me: Love was hard for a young gay boy like me. I spent alot of time drinking and crying into my rum & coke. LIKE A PRAYER. Madonna held a mirror up to the Catholic Church to reflect their hypocrisy. Having been rejected by my family and my Church based on that religion, I embraced what I thought would be an embarassement to the Catholic Church. Instead the world held Madonna album burnings. DRESS YOU UP WITH MY LOVE: Madonna is making money, she needs to go on a diet. ME: It's my favorite song still today, I am so co-dependent. TRUE BLUE, nah AIN'T NO BIG DEAL. Everyone was listening to True Blue, I like what was on the B Side: CHERISH: My 2nd Favorite Song. Madonna wrote this when she was married to Sean Penn. By the time the song came out, they had broken up. ME: Madonna inspired me to visit the Pacific Ocean. I was in love (with the wrong guy) when this song came out and it made a lot of sense to me. TIL DEATH DO US PART- Madonna: It's not biographical (she's not always good with the truth.) ME: I could relate to this having just ended a violent four year relationship. I was going to paralegal school during the day, dancing at Pulsations and Gatby's at night. Madonna - Express Yourself - Madonna gets her real message across - "Don't Go For Second Best"; I was coming into my own, I moved into Philly expecting to move to NYC within 5 years. VOGUE - Madonna embraces the gays again and again. Me: Someone at work asks me if "Gave Good Face" met giving a BJ. It was sad that people were so out of touch with Rita Hayworth. Party harty at KURTS on Chestnut Street. Later Pink would make her debut there. I love it when a dancer steps on Madonna's dress and she throws him attitude. HANKY PANKY- Madonna begins her slide into exposing her sexual fetishes. This clip is from the Blond Ambition Tour: The pope banned the show, she was almost arrested in Canada because of the masturbation segment, she lost her voice while on tour and filmed the whole thing which was later to be known as the film 'Truth or Dare'. I saw Dick Tracy at the first midnight showing, and then about 12 more times that month. I like Hanky Panky alot, it was fun. This was my Butch period. EROTICA: Madonna was at the pinicle of her "in your face" attitude. The song gave us permission to explore the darker side of partying, drugs, sex, and S&M. Life was out of control for Madonna and me. Her career was circling the drain and so was mine. Madonna shocked the world with her SEX BOOK; Why did she do it? Her career took a nose dive, and would take Evita and a pregnancy to get it back on track. ME: I got sober this year, I had no money and couldn't afford to buy this book. On my Five year anniversary of being sober a good friend gave me his copy as a gift. FORBIDDEN LOVE: Jake Gyllenhaal & Madonna ONE MORE CHANCE: She filmed this at the same time as TAKE A BOW. She had a crush on Antonio Banderas during this period. He wasn't going to leave his wife for her. She probably wanted to know what happened to her career too. Me: It's haunting and my life is finally on track, I am in love, we bought a house and my relationship with my parents is better than ever. DROWNED WORLD: Madonna: Gave up everything for her dream, but now wants Love and a Family. Me: Sometimes I feel guilty being a paparazzi. NOBODY'S PERFECT: Madonna: doing her best Cher impersonation. Constantly reminding us that no one is perfect, she's not perfect, she's made mistakes in her career. She didn't realize how influential she really was. She doesn't want her mistakes to effect her children so they're not allowed to watch TV, watch MTV or read magazines. ME: I regret a lot too, but won't dwell on it, and people have the right to re-invent their lives, it's our lives. I LOVE NY: Madonna started her career in NYC. When she arrived she told the cab driver to take her to the middle of everything, he dropped her off in Times Square. The first time I saw HUNG UP, it was on the Screen in Times Square, I was living in NY when CONFESSIONS ON THE DANCE FLOOR CAME OUT. I named my blog Confessions of a Paparazzi after the title of her CD. GET TOGETHER: Madonna has reached ZEN, Me Too!! 25 Years of Madonna Tomorrow night Madonna gets inducted into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame. I won't be there, I didn't get credentialed. I guess I will have to continue the chase. (EDITORS NOTE - SUNDAY NIGHT I WAS IN NYC HANGING OUT BY MADONNA'S HOUSE, LEFT AFTER 30 MINUTES TO GO SOMEWHERE ELSE 'cause I was thinking maybe she's not even in town yet, WRONG, she was rehearing at the Waldorf (she's not even singing [FIRST TIME ANY INDUCTEE REFUSED], what is she rehearsing?) SHE CAME, ONE PERSON GOT THE PHOTO, IT WILL SELL WELL, I AM AN IDIOT AND SHOULD HAVE BEEN PATIENT. A fan saw her the day before and didn't take her photo, and someone forgot to tell me that nugget, otherwise I wouldn't have second guessed myself and would have stayed -Shitz!!)