On Madonna and Lady Gaga...

Although I grew up listening to all the pops, I've fallen out of that habit for a very long time. Some songs and tunes will stay with you forever. There are times when I hear some tunes or song fragments, and they would immediately transport me back to those exact moments in the past when I first heard them. I love those moments.

I can name the classics that I love because there are just so many of them that I love. There are true oldies golden classics from the 1950s, '60s, and then there are classics from the hippie times in the '70s. But it's the '80s that I love. I listen to alot of Modern Romance and Euro-pops, the Roxy Music, Police and Sting, and all those. Across the Atlantics, Madonna stood out and stands the tests of time. I've eased out of music in the 90s, and feel particularly disgusted by hip-hop. There are a few in the '90s that catch my ears, but other than that, I don't miss the '90s much. The '00s in the start of the millenium is equally unimpressive. I don't even bother with all those singers or names. Sometimes, when debates run high, I would take a second look to see what's the big fuss about. Such is the case with Lady Gaga.

I must say, I have not been impressed with Lady Gaga at all. For all her outrageous MTV, it's mostly just a rehash of the coming out of Madonna in the 1980s, and by jove, Madonna is 30 years ahead of her time. (Perhaps that would explain the enduring surccess of Madonna through these years, even though I haven't followed any of her newer songs since the 1990s.) Those dance moves and outrageous costumes of Lady Gaga look more like copycat of Madonna in the 1980s. I must say though, at least Madonna's have been more pleasing in the eye even though hers was outrageous at the times. For Lady Gaga? It's just outrageous, sans the pleasing part. I'm sure all those young Lady Gaga fans are going to rip me apart for such blasphermy. But sorry folks, your idol is not the real deal. (Those youngsters who think they have a goddess representative of their time now would be sorely disappointed that their idol now is nothing more than a mirage from 30 years before.) Given time, we'll be able to judge if Gaga can grow out of this copycat phase to have something more original of her own, because one cannot survive to be a copycat forever.

Sure, there's talk of Gaga the person, and how down-to-earth she is. Madonna has been famous for her personality when she was starting out, of how she grew out and grew up from being manipulated by record companies to put out sugarpop songs like Borderline, to give us much more sophisticated Vogue, Justify My Love, Express Yourself, Papa Don't Preach, and the more mallow Crazy For You, Take A Bow, and more.

Speaking of Madonna's Express Yourself, there's rage over the very obvious plagiarized tune and idea in Gaga's Born This Way. For all the rage, I've decided to check it out and see/hear it for myself. I must say, I'm so surprised on how similar in the tune snippets of the two songs, the idea of the lyrics, and even the arrangement of the song's instrument and the heavy use of drums in the dance beat too. Perhaps Gaga has provided a very ripe opportunity to prove herself that she's indeed a copycat, given Madonna's ahead of Gaga for 30 years. Disappointing.

While I would admit that some of Gaga's songs like Alejandro are pretty good dance beat, but she's no comparison to Madonna, in terms of originality in songs, creativity and even as a dancer. And even in the Alejandro music video, it's a mix of the copy from Madonna's various music videos, including Express Yourself and Vogue.

Perhaps Madonna has given us the shock-and-awe factor that there is still yet to be topped. For all the talk of Gaga's costume, like covering herself in raw meat, sure it's a first, to be sure. But it's never going to be like Madonna who single-handedly made wearing your undergarment (corset and all) fashionable that others can and will copy. And that's what makes Madonna enduring. I'm sure how Gaga can top herself since her racy MTV's are already literally putting sex show on stage, boy-on-boy, boy-on-girl, and what-not. I've always enjoyed Madonna's music videos; but Gaga's copycats are simply so low in taste and style, forget about class.