Skip to main content

Happy birthday, Lady Gaga!

Since today is Lady Gaga's 28th birthday (no 27 Club for her, thank goodness), I thought it would be fun to share the story of how I got to know and came to love her. I know the day's almost over (well, depending on your time zone), but I knew I had to write a post about it.


I first heard about Gaga back in January or February 2009, after online commentators suggested that Christina Aguilera had borrowed Gaga's style, to which Xtina responded by stating that she wasn't sure if Gaga was a man or a woman (I kid you not). I mentioned this incident to one of my best friends, who quickly dismissed Gaga as a poseur. We decided to check out some of her music videos, and we soon concluded that she wasn't that bad. It all changed during a fateful weekend in early March (I remember it was my sister's birthday), when I decided to give "Poker Face" another chance, and I got instantly addicted to the song and its video—there was something about Gaga slowly emerging from a pool wearing a mirror mask as those ice-cold synths played in the background that really creeped into my brain. Next thing I knew, I was playing her debut album, The Fame, nonstop. Even my aforementioned friend eventually admitted that Gaga had grown on her!



At that point, I was completely obsessed with everything Gaga did—her fashion, her live performances, her statements, her concepts. I just found her so fresh, exciting, and inspiring, not to mention the girl could sing. I honestly didn't know that many artists that were as eccentric or thought-provoking as her, and as a fan of stuff like soul, R&B, and jazz, I hadn't been properly exposed to synthpop, or electronic music in general. Everything else looked and sounded so dull to me, and I simply refused to lump her in with just any ordinary pop star. With a little help of Last.fm, Gaga introduced me to other artists of the genre, including Little Boots, La Roux, Goldfrapp, Robyn, Annie, Ladyhawke, and The Knife, to name just a few.

2009 was a really weird and bittersweet year for me. It was extremely exciting and extremely bleak all at once, and I'm really glad Gaga was a part of it. In December of that year, Gaga released The Fame Monster, the darker, more personal companion to The Fame. Themes included love, sex, alcohol, and loneliness. Although songs and videos like "Bad Romance" and "Telephone" would cement her status as a global superstar, the album also included brilliant yet criminally overlooked songs such as "Dance in the Dark," "So Happy I Could Die," and "Monster."




In 2011, Gaga released her second studio album, Born This Way, whose main themes were self-empowerment and individualism. Despite all the controversies surrounding the album's release (the alleged similarities between the title track and Madonna's "Express Yourself," "Judas" being released near Holy Week and Easter, Amazon's 99-cent sale of the album, canceling her tour prematurely due to a hip injury), and in my honest opinion, the questionable single choices, the album managed to produce some awesome—and again, underrated—tracks, namely "Government Hooker," "Bad Kids," "Heavy Metal Lover," "Electric Chapel," and "Scheiße."



Gaga's third studio album, ARTPOP, was released last November. As I opined in my personal review, the album has its fair share of exciting moments, but I didn't find it as consistent as Gaga's previous offerings. The album has been subject to much media scrutiny, with several commentators pointing out its underperforming sales. To make matters worse, the music video for one of my favorite songs from the album, "Do What U Want," involved two of the most controversial people at the momentR. Kelly, who is featured on the song, and Terry Richardson, who was going to direct the video. I highly doubt the "Do What U Want" video will ever see the light of day, but luckily, Gaga seems to be back on her feet, as she released the music video for "G.U.Y." last Saturday, a video that reminded me why I fell in love with her in the first place.



Love her or hate her, so much could be said about Lady Gaga—way more than I can remember right now. Granted, I'm not sure if I'll ever get all wet over a new Gaga release like I used to in 2009–10, but to me she remains one of the most creative and multitalented artists of our generation, and she will always hold a special place in my heart.

Happy birthday, Mother Monster.


Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Give JR a Break

Recently, I've been reading some sites that have criticized James Roday, the lead actor on the USA show PSYCH for an apparent weight gain. But you know what? Who gives a flying fizzle stick if James Roday is slightly larger than he was 4 years ago. Apparently, it wasn't enough to scare away his current girlfriend/ co-star Maggie Lawson. (Who is one hell of a Catch!) And NO they are not engaged. That seems to be nothing more than a rumor, but there is a very high chance of it happening in the near future. Anyway, as long as PSYCH continues to entertain I don't mind about James Roday's waist. He, and Dule Hill, and Corbin Bernson too, can eat all the fried broccoli they want. The last episode of PSYCH wasn't so smashing, but I don't blame it on dietary issues. QATFYG: Are you keeping up with Psych? And who is hotter, James Roday or Maggie Lawson? (Trick Question but idk why) PS: If you have heard any more news on Roday and Lawson becoming Roday-Lawson, send it

An Open Letter to the Actress: Milena Govich

Dear Milena Govich, Hey, how are you? What is up? Well, I assume you might get 5-7 fan letters a week, but I hope the glitter on my envelope stood out to you. In all seriousness, I have not been the most loyal fan of your filmography, but in the opening credits of the 2006 show, “Conviction,” I got to see you in your underwear. Ever since then, I have been one of your most active online stalkers (not a crime in all states I think). In the next letter, I promise to include an underwear photo for you, so we'll be even. Milena, I remember even back to the days when you worked on one of those other 200 Dick Wolf projects you did...what was the name of that show? “Law and Order.” Yes, that was it. You made history as playing the first female lead detective on the “Law and Order” original franchise for your role as Detective Cassidy. However, I will have to note your performance was strongly tainted when Chevy Chase guest-starred and gave you the nickname, “Detective Sugar-Tits.” At leas

No Time to Fuck: The Goldfrapp Essay

Konnichiwa! This is Irina Cummings and I'm here to discuss one of the most brilliant, innovative, and creative artists in the entire history of mankind: Goldfrapp – or as I like to call them , GODfrapp – the fantastique, highly inspirational, and sometimes criminally overlooked electronic music duo from London consisting of Alison Goldfrapp and Will Gregory, whose godly music has certainly influenced the vast majority of today's synthpop ladies, including Lady Gaga, Little Boots, La Roux, Annie and Florence + the Machine (not electro but still worth your while). They're primarily known for their mind-blowing music (which have spanned pretty much every style of electronic music – and some non-electronic as well), their abstract, sexually ambiguous – at times forthright – lyrics which are often not gender- specific , and their elaborate shows, not to mention the amazing visual aesthetics of their work, conjuring images that masterly complement