
Kathy Griffin makes her debut to talk about one of the most influential music artists of the 1980s and the best-selling compilation album of all time.
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Josh Adam Myers
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Kathy Griffin
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Josh Adam Myers
Express this show is brought to you by Distro Kid. Bring your music to the masses. The 500 the 500J been walking us down through that 2012 edition so it ain't nothing to you Hundreds more to go in and of a friend the king of peaceful angelo Talking the 500 until the end Talking the 500 until the end with my man JM.
Kathy Griffin
On.
Josh Adam Myers
The 500 Talking the 500 until the end Want to be something better than you are today.
Kathy Griffin
I know a place.
Josh Adam Myers
Where you can get away it's on the dance floor and here's what it's for so let your body move to the music the song is Vogue, which rules Strike a pose. God damn. I wonder if, like, during the time people were like Cindy Lauper versus Madonna, the way they were like Prince versus Michael Jackson. Either way, we're not talking about anybody but Madonna, the Queen of Pop. I think you can also say that about Janet, but we're talking about Madonna from 1990, even though it's a retrospective. Is that what it's called? A retro? A collection? An immaculate collection? And it's number 184 out of 500 on the 500 with Josh Adam Myers. What's up party peeps. My people, my dudes, my Fleece Army. Thank you for joining me on the only podcast that's going through Rolling Stone magazine's list of the 500 greatest albums all the way down to one. Want to watch the podcast instead of listening to it? While episodes drop on our YouTube page every Thursday, just search for the 500 podcast channel. I think it's YouTube.comBackslash the 500 and I have my own YouTube YouTube.comBackslash Josh Adamire 79 where I post clips. I've got a whole bunch of new stuff in the works. We're gonna start releasing it. Please follow me and follow the podcast. It helps. Also, subscribe to the Patreon. Watch full episodes on YouTube every Thursday or get it a day earlier by signing up for the Patreon for $5 a month. And if you want to rep the 500 at your next concert or show for 25amonth, you get some cool merch that Morty Coyle will be wearing or actually his daughter now. Actually, Wayne Fetterman is going to be wearing it soon because we're sending him a hoodie. Really great stuff, guys. Go to patreon.com backslash the 500 podcasts join the Fleece Army. Support the show this weekend. I am at the House of Comedy Friday through Sunday in Phoenix, Arizona. No, I'll be at the Comedy Store in Los Angeles. Oh yeah, I'll be the Comedy Store in Los Angeles December 15th and the 16th. And then I'll be at the La jolla comedy store December 20th through the 22nd. And then I'll be closing out the year at the House of Comedy in Minnesota December 26th through the 3030 through the 31st through the 31st. Go to Josh AdamMyers.com I'm so excited to be in Minnesota for the New Year's. I'm gonna go to the Vikings packers game. I'm gonna eat a juicy losing. I'm gonna go to Paisley park, buy some more merch. If you've never been to Paisley park gay I wish Madonna had her own museum. I would go to that. I would. By the way, I want to give a big shout out to my buddy Cedric from the incredible band the Mars Volta in amazing documentary out called if it ever gets weird about the friendship between him and Omar from at the drive in from Mars Volta from Anti Mosque. Incredible. Incredible. We got to have them on. Emily, get us Cedric. I'll just reach out to him because he's a. He's an Internet buddy and yeah, it's incred. It's really great. It's. Even if you don't like those bands or you don't know those bands, I think anybody could dig it because it really just shows you what it's like to, to create art and, and do it with somebody that you like. It just really brought up a lot of emotion because it made me think of Angelo. Yeah, so go check it out. I think it's probably you could direct, direct to buy or something like that also. You know what? Hold on. I gotta give my cousin a shout out. Let's promote some. My cousin Brian, who is a big reason why I am in this position, because when I moved to Los Angeles, he was living there and he let me stay on his couch and he really just supported me and he's an amazing person. And what a great episode because I know there's gonna be a lot of people listening to this one because it's Madonna. We got Kathy Griffin. So let me give my cousin a shout out. He wrote a book, started writing a book for his son and it just evolved and evolved and, and now I am holding a copy of the the Sci Fi Adventure for. I'm guessing it's got to be like, here, you know what? I'm just gonna, it's here. Let me read what he wrote and then we'll go from there. Okay. This is what he sent me. You know, I wouldn't have made it this far in comedy if I didn't believe in myself. Success in anything comes down to telling that little voice in your head to shut the up. And it starts early. That's exactly what 12 year old Henry Dolan learns in Captain Henry and the Planet's Guard, the debut novel by my cousin Brian Sydal. After a spaceship crash changes everything. Henry teams up with Mosha Rank, the crash's only survivor, to take on Medola, a ruthless alien bent on wiping out both the Tamaga and Earth. Holidays are coming and it's the perfect adventure to share with your son, daughter, niece, nephew, or anyone that you know that reads middle grade books pre order now on Amazon or visit Brian K. Seidel for all the details. That is Brian K. Letter K S E-I-E-L.com he sent me the book. I haven't had a chance to read it, but my buddy, him and his kids, they've read it and they love it. Go get it. Seriously, I, I, I can't. I'm not just saying this because this dude's my cousin. Dude, that would rule if his book took off and he became the new J.K. rowling because he made the greatest sandwiches. And I love him so much. I love Brian. He's my buddy. Brian K. Seidel, Captain Henry and the Planet's guard. I'll put a link on my website. Josh Adam Myers dot com. And I'll put a post up on Josh Adam Myers on all social media. Get the book. Trust me, you. You'll help a guy out. Dude, if he sells. I mean, dude, that'd be so dope. If he sells like a thousand books. I think it's all more than that. All right, let's. Let's talk about this record, Madonna. What do you need to say about Madonna that hasn't already been said by every horny teenage boy that grew up in the 80s and the 90s? She is an icon. She is incredible. She is talented. She is sexy. She is taboo esque. Taboo esque. Taboosk. She's just Madonna one name before everybody else. She share Madonna, Beyonce, 50, but dude. And then you have a guest who's one name. Kathy. Kathy Griffin, everybody. Kathy Griffin. If you don't hear by now, you should go out and get out of the rock that you're on. She's a comedian. She has performed all over the world, both on tour for her troupe. She's won two primetime Emmy awards for hit reality series My Life on the D List. She's on tour right now, if you haven't seen her. And she is hilarious. It's called My Life on the D List. With dates running through March all over the country. She got into some trouble with the photo shoot about djt, which we'll talk about. She's a really interesting person. I. I'm. I'm a fan. I've always been a fan of her. I've always liked her comedy. And when Emily told us we booked this one, I was really excited because Madonna is one of those people that brings out, you know, really, really interesting guests. I mean, Bonnie McFarlane, Justine Marino. We've done three women. I'd like to get a gay guy. We did wait, didn't we? No, that was. That was Solomon Giorgio doing Janet. Either way, this1rules. RAID review and most importantly, subscribe to the 500 listen free on all platforms or anywhere you get your pods. And if you could do us a favor, leave us that five star and a review on Apple. I want to. I want to bury those people that hate me. I feel like there's people that just hate me. There's people that just hate me. Like, there's no way that many people hate me probably. But like, dude, they're all. They're very good at hating me. So let's. Let's get them. Let's bury those guys, because that would be nice if I didn't open up. Oh, let me see. You say, don't read comments. And for me, do not. Do not. If you don't. I mean, you should read the comments because they're quite funny of the hate. But besides that, I can't read them. So. Raid review and most importantly, subscribe. Follow me at Josh Adam Myers on all social media. Follow the podcast at the 500 podcast. Email the podcast@500podcastgmail.com Follow the Facebook group run by Crazy Evan. And for all things five zero zero, go to the website the 500podcast.com. Okay, kiddos, fleece army Madonna. The immaculate collection at 1-84-on-AN undercover cop. Ah, there she is.
Kathy Griffin
How does she look?
Josh Adam Myers
I'm good. How does she look? He just got his hair done.
Kathy Griffin
Right. Perfect.
Josh Adam Myers
You look beautiful, by the way.
Kathy Griffin
Oh, that's nice.
Josh Adam Myers
Ah, no, but I mean it, though. I'm not just. I'm not just sucking up to you as a huge fan and a fan of you for many, many moons. And it's really cool. It's like everybody I've talked to that. That has either worked with you or knows you. My friend Justine Marino, she's a comic that I work with a lot. And she had just. She had a couple runs with you and I think did some shows with you. I don't know if it was recently or. But. But when I told her I was doing this because it's funny, she actually did. We did Like a Prayer on the podcast. I guess it was about it within the year because she's a huge Madonna fan. And then she said, who's doing Immaculate Collection? And I. And I told her it was you. And she. She was. First she was mad that she wasn't doing it, and then she was like, no, I get it.
Kathy Griffin
Okay, good. I took her gig. I took her gig.
Josh Adam Myers
Sure. But. But this is the thing, you know, and we're in it now, and. And hold on. Before we even get into the Madonna stuff, just please promote. Promote away. Anything you want to promote for us, please.
Kathy Griffin
Okay. Please come see me on tour. The Kathy Griffin My Life on the PTSD List tour. And you guys, it's been seven years since I've been allowed to tour because of the Trump photo scandal where I'm holding the decapitated Trump head And I was on the no Fly list and investigated by the Department of Justice, and one thing after another. And so I talk about. Not that I actually don't even talk about Trump in my new show, but I do talk about ptsd because I feel like you gotta talk about the dark stuff if you're gonna talk about the light stuff. And I talk about everything from cancer to addiction, but lots of celebrity gossip. In fact, I have a story about going to the Madonna concert, this current tour with Sia Lunel, Paris Hilton, Nia Vardalis from My Big Fat Greek Wedding. And we all went. And this is really embarrassing to say, but we actually left early because of Madonna's no air conditioning policy.
Josh Adam Myers
What?
Kathy Griffin
I know, it's unacceptable. I'm a bad gay man. I'm losing my gay man card.
Josh Adam Myers
No, no, no, no, no, no, no.
Kathy Griffin
First of all, I'm dripping, sweating, and even Paris, who was wearing very little clothing, I just want to go on record. You can look this up. Paris was barely dressed, and she turned to me and she's like, sis, oh, my God, too hot. And then I see Sia and she's wearing a backless dress. And I'm like, are you doing okay? And I touch the back of her. I touch her skin and it's just wet. And then Lunel is in like head to toe Fendi, but like sweatery stuff. And I'm thinking, okay, we're gonna lose her. She's gonna pass out. And this is very embarrassing at the ripe age of 64, but we actually took a party van there, so we had to leave in shame early because here we were all literally getting overheated. And then Rosie O'Donnell told me that Madonna has a lifelong policy of no air conditioning, even in her home. So I thought it was just broken. The form that night or the sofa, I didn't know. So expl. By the way, come see me on tour. Go to Kathy Griffin dot com. I'm in. Gosh, where am I? I'm in Oklahoma City this weekend. San Antonio. I'm playing beautiful theaters. I played Carnegie hall two weeks ago, and I literally kissed the stage at the end of the show. And so the audiences have been outstanding, and I'm just glad to be off the no Fly list and back touring where I belong. Now talk to me about Madonna's air conditioning issue. And how can I be prepared because I wanna. I don' Ever want to have to leave a Madonna show early.
Josh Adam Myers
So I actually. I completely understand why. I think it's a ridiculous. She does it for the entire show. I can understand in her house. I can understand in the recording studios, because an air conditioner will dry out your vocal cords. It's like, I figured. I mean, I figured it's all voice and Madonna, you know, no disrespect to, you know, arguably the queen of pop.
Kathy Griffin
Yeah.
Josh Adam Myers
Her voice isn't what is drawing us in. So what she has is what she has. And she needs every bit of juiciness on those vocal cords to. To hit the. The high notes in lies. La Bonita. I have a question. I have a question. I got, like, nine questions out of everything you just said. Okay. Who starts the text chain for that groupling of people? Because that was. I'm surprised you didn't say former president Jimmy Carter is going, we got him on.
Kathy Griffin
No, I mean, it was. It was. I'm a text chain fiend. And one of the things that I do just because it's pure evil and it makes me laugh, is I like to add Sharon Stone randomly to text chains.
Josh Adam Myers
Sure.
Kathy Griffin
So Sharon Stone, the movie star who is quite private in her real life, is probably going to come to my house and absolutely strangle me one day because I think I have her on seven text chains of people she's never met. And so the funny thing is, every so often, she'll chime in. So she. I was using the text chain to try to get her to come to Madonna with us, and instead she was side texting me going, who are these people? And so I'm like, well, if you don't know who Paris Hilton is, Sharon, then you're the problem. And then she was like, oh, I love Paris. She's adorable.
Josh Adam Myers
She's basically you. And she's basically you. For the beginning portion of the movie Casino. She's like the fun version before the cocaine destroys her life. It's just a fun social life. And sexy. Yes.
Kathy Griffin
Right. And so I try to make it real, whether it's real or not. And so, no, she did not come with us that night. But I. I love Lunel. And so I. I saw her, like, one of the last times I did the Jimmy Kimmel show. And I thought, you know, I don't hang out with Lunel enough. And she. If you don't know, she is. She played the prostit, and boy, I.
Josh Adam Myers
Know I'm very close with Lunell. Very, very close with her.
Kathy Griffin
I love her.
Josh Adam Myers
I love her.
Kathy Griffin
And so I have these parties at my house that I call salon parties, and it's either lunch or dinner, and it's Usually to celebrate somebody. Well, every time there's a guest of honor. And I thought, let me have a salon for Lunel. So I had one for Lunel, and her daughters came, and I invited a nice little mix of ladies. And this one was ladies only, which pissed her off, of course. And so, you know, we just stayed buds. Because when I have these salon parties, there's no phones allowed at the table, and I'm very strict, and I don't want to hear about your fucking kids. They could call me from school. They're all grown. Shut up. Put your phone down. And somebody actually had the nerve to say, but I'm bidding for something on ebay. And I'm like, okay, phone down. And so what happens is these conversations happen. And guess what? When you put your phone away for a couple of hours, you actually get to know people. And I allow one person to speak at a time so everyone is heard. So I'll put an introvert next to an extrovert, and I place everybody at the table in a way where everybody gets to say something, be heard. Sometimes there's a topic, sometimes there's not. And that's. You know, Sia famously, is so private. She wears a wig that covers her entire face except for her lips. And so Sia shows up at these. And then, of course, because I'm a pain in the ass, I put her on the spot, and I make her sing acapella. So she'll usually belt out something, and she really hits those notes, baby, like she's real deal. And then Nia Vardalos I've just known forever, and she's, you know, an Oscar nominee and a woman who's got a franchise of movies, which is unusual. So anyway, And Paris Hilton finally knows that my jokes aren't meant to hurt her. They're just meant to make people laugh. And so she and I become friends. And Paris is 40 now, and she's got two kids, and she still lets me call her every name in the book. And that's my kind of gal. And so, you know, Rosie O'Donnell will show up at 1, and then all bets are off. You never know who's gonna say what. And she and Madonna go way back.
Josh Adam Myers
Oh, yeah.
Kathy Griffin
Rosie is able to speak to Madonna, you know, in a way that we couldn't. I've never even met Madonna, but I love their friendship, you know? And Rosie flew all the way to England to see Madonna's opening night. And, you know, I. Everybody loves them. Together in a league of their own. And when Madonna used To go on the Rosie O'Donnell Talk Show. So anyway, this one was very female centric, but I did think we really should have had, you know, some dudes with us. But we got the girls together and we went. And then we sat there and then I was. We just started melting. I mean, my eyelash was melting off my face under my fucking cheek. It was humiliating. And then to show we had some class, even though we left the Madonna concert early, which was a mistake, we shouldn't have because the show was amazing. But we did as long as we were in Inglewood, because she played the Forum here in Los Angeles. We did take the party van to Randy's Donuts. And we did console ourselves by getting.
Josh Adam Myers
Yeah.
Kathy Griffin
And then we drove to lax, the airport, the Los Angeles airport to drop off Lunel because she had a double the next night, Virginia Beach. And that's how our night ended.
Josh Adam Myers
What a incredible. You literally told me I had all. How it all came together. So just in case anybody was wondering how that for this friendship started. I love it. And also, Sharon, go see Madonna. Mrs. Stone.
Kathy Griffin
Come on, come on, Stoney, go see Madonna. She probably. I'm sure she knows Madonna. Like, I'm sure they're. They've crossed paths and all that stuff, but if, you know, when in doubt, I say throw a Sharon Stone on a text chain.
Josh Adam Myers
Also. I love that, you know, I love that you. Because we're going to talk about controversy because Madonna is so, you know, not, I would never say engraved in it, but like, you know, every, every everything about Madonna, you know, is, is, is, is. Is, you know, in your face. She's in control of it. She. She knows what she's doing. Yeah. And. And you also too, like, we'll get into all of that. And I'm glad that, that you're like really getting back out there because in the Carnegie Hall. Congratulations. Probably one of the most famous venues, if not the most famous venue in the world, next to, I think the Garden and Carnegie. All New York has is just the two biggest. Maybe the Acropolis, maybe someday, something like that. But. But yeah, it's. It's. It's almost perfect. It's apropos that you're coming on to do this because, you know, this isn't just a singular record about Madonna. This is what she's doing on tour now. This is, this is everything. This is everything that she's worked for up until. And this is what's so crazy. This record immaculate collection came out in 1990 and it is 17, 18 hits.
Kathy Griffin
Massive hit after hit after hit. It's a ballad, it's a protest song, it's a rock and roll song, it's a pop song. It's one after another. And just the number of hits. And also songs that are meaningful, you know, they're written in a way that's meaningful. They touch a part of your life. You can't help but go back to where you were when this one came out or when this song came out. And, and like, when you're talking about Like a Prayer, I know the director of that video very well, Joe Pitka, and he talked about the Pepsi campaign that was loosely tied to the Like a Prayer video and how that got her into trouble and how PepsiCo had to deal with it. But the song was popular. And I mean, just, that's just one song alone. Every song has a story and history.
Josh Adam Myers
So you, you and her are, you're, you're younger than Madonna, but, you know, you say what? She's. I think she's, she's almost. I know you're younger than her because I think she's about to be. She's about to be. I think she's 69. 68. 69. Like, just, you know, I actually, I saw. She's six. Adam said she's 66. I actually saw her in person at a BLM gay pride rally in downtown LA during, during the Summer of George Floyd. And she's, she's next to me. I think she had. Had like a leg injury, but the. She's literally like five, two. She's so tiny.
Kathy Griffin
She's tiny.
Josh Adam Myers
She's so tiny. And, and I, you know, and I. And it's just, you're, you're trying to pay attention to what's going on, but it's like you have this icon for me. Yeah, for me. And this is like as I'm born in 79. You know, I, I was very young during the, the initial, like, growth of her. But, you know, as. When this record came out, it was just like, I, I, you know, I would say that Madonna is one of the most recognizable names, you know, in music. It's like everybody had in the, in the world, so.
Kathy Griffin
But level. Michael Jackson level.
Josh Adam Myers
Yeah. Yeah.
Kathy Griffin
Well, it also. You had a number one hit every decade.
Josh Adam Myers
Every decade.
Kathy Griffin
She's still relevant. She's still. First of all, when you're still getting in trouble at 6. 66. That's pretty awesome.
Josh Adam Myers
She's actually just going through a breakup now because they just had. That's. I was googling her name and, and she broke it. She was. She's breaking up with her 28 year old boyfriend. So. Good, good for Madonna. Still getting the D. Still getting that young. When did you. So Wendy, I mean I, I bet you could probably couldn't escape it, you know, when, when she first came out. But let's, let's take it like from the beginning of this. I want to really. Because I don't. We don't need to go through the history morsel, you know of. She was discovered by this person and that. I feel like this album is going to tell the story of Madonna and then, you know, both of us and growing up. So, so let's take it right from the top. Was. Was Holiday the first song that you heard from Madonna? And do you remember where you were when you first got introduced to her?
Kathy Griffin
You know what I'm at actually, Lucky Star was the first one I ever heard and then I discovered Holiday and I think I discovered her on mtv. But I also remember loving Desperately Seeking Susan so much that I went to see it two separate times in the theater. So I also, by the way, I have a question for you, please. You know what song I can't find anywhere. That's maybe my favorite Madonna song, Gambler. I don't know that one from the movie Vision Quest. So it also had the ballad I'm crazy for you.
Josh Adam Myers
Oh yeah, yeah, yeah.
Kathy Griffin
Up tempo song. Because she plays the girl at the nightclub in a movie about a high school wrestler who's trying to get the tough girl to notice him. Not Madonna, a different actress. And she sings a song called Gambler. I'm a gambler.
Josh Adam Myers
I thought it was, I thought it was. You gotta know when to hold up. I gotta.
Kathy Griffin
Not the Kenny Rogers version. But anyway, I just didn't know whatever happened to that song. But I, I also loved that song.
Josh Adam Myers
I, I think if we're, you know, we're getting into favorites right now before, you know, we, we get to this record. My favorite is not on this record. My favorite is every little thing that you say. Yeah, I've hung up. I love that song.
Kathy Griffin
Is so intense.
Josh Adam Myers
Yeah, yeah, she's great. Yeah.
Kathy Griffin
Yep.
Josh Adam Myers
I, I think I, I think for me, you know, because you're saying you found you, you found her through, through Lucky Star. Through mtv, through Lucky Star. So what was up? So you. So it was. Was Desperately Seeking Susan during that era, I thought Desperately Seeking Susan.
Kathy Griffin
Yeah, it was later. But she remembers she wasn't big enough to. Like I said she did that movie Vision Quest as just random club singing girl and then Desperately Seeking Susan, she was still, I feel like, pretty new on the scene. And the big question was, can she keep up with acting? Can she keep up with Aiden Quinn, Roseanna Arquette? You know, these folks that are trained actors who happened to be in a movie that also had a music star in it. But I remember like when they were making it, it was a big deal because, you know, they're shooting on location in Manhattan, on the streets, and they had to deal with the Madonna fan base. So she wasn't as big of a star, of course, as she then became to be. But even then there was this, can someone from the music world make it in movies? Which we really don't have that question anym. And she was one of the first that made the crossover. And that movie did really well. It was a really popular rom com. The part was like perfect for her.
Josh Adam Myers
She was just cool girl, right? She was just cool.
Kathy Griffin
Kind of playing herself, kind of. Not the jacket sweetness to it, which was good for her at the time if people thought she was like too dangerous. But she was still the naughty girl stealing the jacket. Exactly. And I love that movie. And I loved the whole idea of her going from the 3 minute MTV version to seeing her actually act and play the cool girl.
Josh Adam Myers
Yeah, she did do a great job. My sister loved that movie. I remember us renting that. So. So was it an obsession when you, when you found her? I mean, were you. Was it. Was it. Because it's always like.
Kathy Griffin
I'm in Illinois and she's a Michigander.
Josh Adam Myers
Sure.
Kathy Griffin
And so I know that initially she kind of had a Persona, a New York, tough, talking accent, but when I found out she was from Michigan, I was like, oh, yeah, I get it. Like, I get that Midwestern girl that wants to go to one of the coasts to make it. You know, I get that. You know, I was raised in Michigan, but let's, let's face it, if you're going to make it the music industry, it ain't going to happen in Michigan. Nothing against Michigan. I played many shows in Michigan. I just say, you know, I identified with that. I got up and moved because I'm from Oak Park, Illinois. And I really felt strongly that if I wanted to make a living in comedy, I had to be in New York or la. So I moved to la. She, of course, famously moved to New York. And you know, I remember when, I think it was MTV used to do stuff where like they would go visit her old apartment and she'd knock on the door and all of a sudden, now she's Madonna. And so the person who's lived there is like, yeah, sure, come on in. And it was great watching her story because, you know, as a Midwestern girl, she kind of felt like one of us.
Josh Adam Myers
Yeah.
Kathy Griffin
Yet she was one of us that like got out and really got in the game. And then the stuff she was doing, I mean, the like a Virgin video, people forget how revolutionary that was. I mean, the Catholic Church, I'm a fallen Catholic, the Catholic church was up in arms, people were making archbishops, were making statements, there were bans on her. And I, of course, as a fellow rebel, I'm like, I love it. Let's go, Madonna. What's next? And she always had something next.
Josh Adam Myers
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Kathy Griffin
I had a reality show called My Life on the D list, and I'm really proud of it. It ran six seasons. It won two Emmys. It was nominated every year. And I'm proud of it because I love when people come up to me to this day and they'll be like, I remember watching that show. And that's when Bravo had, like, really real real. Like, my show was not one bit scripted. Like, nowadays reality shows, what they call soft scripted, let me tell you, a camera crew just followed me around for six months, a year, if not eight, hoping I would say funny shit. And I was doing live touring at the same time as filming the show and living my life. And sure, I would take specific gigs that I knew would lend themselves more to the theme of being on the D list, which is where I still happily reside as I bite and scratch my way back from Carnegie hall, baby. I set a record for the most times a female comedian has played Carnegie.
Josh Adam Myers
Good for you. That's awesome. That is awesome, man.
Kathy Griffin
That's one thing that I. I look at someone like Madonna and I go, she would set records so the younger girls could see. So that's why I brag about it like, I'm being an asshole. I'm glad you said girls to know, like, when you're a comic, you gotta work harder and jump higher. Like, don't think it's the same as the dudes. It's not.
Josh Adam Myers
Sure.
Kathy Griffin
And so, you know, I love what I do, and to be able to do it this long. And I look at Madonna and I look at that energy. And of course, when she was ill, I mean, the nation stood still. The nation stood still.
Josh Adam Myers
Like, oh yeah, I forgot about that.
Kathy Griffin
She's in the hospital and. What do you mean it's serious? And she's such a health nut and she's. If she's not doing yoga, she's doing this. And then she was on Oprah all the time with the latest fitness regime and now she's not eating this kind of food. So we all did that. And you know, just an example of what it was to be an entertainer that also was an Olympic level athlete for decades.
Josh Adam Myers
Yeah, you know, I was looking over her stats of the things that she's done and, and I think, you know, I would love to know the timeline of where she was at and, and Adam, if you can look it up while I go over this, because like I said, this is about, this album's not even 10 years, seven years into her career, we're doing, they're already doing the greatest. Which obviously, I don't want to call it a cash grab per se, but she probably had a contract. She probably needed, they probably needed another record she was working.
Kathy Griffin
I went out and got it. I got it the day it came out.
Josh Adam Myers
Oh, well, no, dude, this was, this, I mean, look, I, I, this is on the level of Bob Marley legend. This is, this is a record that I under, I don't usually. We, we, we've had many times on this podcast out of the, you know, 300 some odd episodes we've done where, where we've had a greatest hits. We've had like Loretta Lynn's greatest hits or we've had this part, Merle Haggard's career retrospective. We've done Neil Diamond's career retrospective. This isn't, this isn't a career retrospective. This is, this is like the Eagles greatest hits, which was one of the biggest selling records of all time way before they've even, they still have another, you know, Madonna's still. Dude, this is like not even the middle. This is the first third of her career. This is, I think the first four or five records. So wait, what?
Kathy Griffin
She's even pre. The Ava Prone movie, right?
Josh Adam Myers
Yes, this is, this, this came out in 1990. I got it right here. Evita came out in 96. A League of Their Own came out in 92. Dick Tracy came out in.
Kathy Griffin
Those also were monumental for her to play the role of Evita. They, the naysayers were everywhere. And then I correct if I'm wrong. I think she won the Golden Globe for that.
Josh Adam Myers
She did, she did. She did win the Golden Globe. Yeah, I remember that like that.
Kathy Griffin
That is a triumph and even A League of Their Own. I, I correct me if I'm wrong, but I think Debra Winger actually pulled out of the movie when she found out Madonna was going to be in it because it wasn't really common for a pop star to be in a movie that had serious moments. I mean, we think of A League of Their Own as like kind of a comedy, but it also had serious moments. And you know, Geena Davis and everybody would. But it was the Rosie and Madonna relationship that I think people really talk about the most when we think of League of Their Own. It was so organic and they obviously were meant to be buds and had more in common than apart and yet they couldn't be more different.
Josh Adam Myers
Yeah.
Kathy Griffin
And so she was able to jump off the screen in that way unlike anybody else.
Josh Adam Myers
Yeah. So. So this is where we're at now with her accolades. 300 million records sold worldwide. Best selling female recording artists of all time. Most successful solo artists in the history of the USA. Billboard Hot 100 chart chart has achieved the most number one singles by a woman in Australia, Canada, Italy, Spain, United Kingdom. Her touring is brought in over a billion dollars. A billion. Yeah. Rock and Roll hall of fame on first. She's first ballot in 2008, you know, Rolling Stone, MTV, Billboard say one of the greatest artist songwriters. Her estimated net worth, which, you know, not. Not for Nothing, anywhere from 600 million to 800 million. Only, only recently has she. Because she scored 38 top 10 singles on the Hot 100. She held the record among all artists for nearly two decades. So between 02 to 2020, being overtaken by Drake and by Taylor Swift in 2022. And I'm leaving out, you know, I'm leaving out like so much other stuff that we could say about her. And that's why I think this, this is when you have a record like this on the podcast that you're like that you're like, okay, you know, it's the greatest hits. This record stands on its own. They threw the two extra songs on at the end. Which are, which they do. It's. It's Justify My Love and Rescue Me and Rescue Me, which I don't remember.
Kathy Griffin
Rescue Me that like raspberry. Rescue Me. I know, okay. What I love about the immaculate collection too is it's the kind of album that like, if we had the old days of turntables or DVD or discs or whatever, like you could put just this album on for a whole party and nobody would notice it was only Madonna songs because the variety of one from Papa Don't Preach. First of all, Live to Tell and Papa Don't Preach are so different. And they came out at. Around the same time.
Josh Adam Myers
Yeah.
Kathy Griffin
La Isla Bonita, everybody knows that's kind of one of those, like. Everybody can love that song. There's nothing controversial about it, you know. Then the early. The. The wham bam of Holiday. Lucky star, Borderline Like a Virgin. Then we get into Material Girl. Then we get into the Sean Penn era. And everybody knows the story that he was visiting the set and then he wanted to meet her, and he had a truck that he was driving like. Like, I can even tell you, back in the day, my mom and dad. I'm from Illinois, so my whole family is starstruck. One time, my mom and dad saw Sean and Madonna together at a park here in Los Angeles called Palisades Park. And they saw them, and they said it was a matter of minutes before they had to just pack up and leave because there's so many paparazzi and people just at the very site of these two people who are either married already or gonna get married. Just like a regular couple with a picnic blanket and a basket of food and thinking, okay, we're just gonna take an hour and sit here and look at the ocean. And my parents said, minutes later, it was like, blanket up in the car, gone. And my mom said it was so scary watching their vehicle be followed by the paparazzi.
Josh Adam Myers
Imagine. Yeah, I know. I mean, but they were. That was. Well, that was, you know, one of the hottest young actors. He's just coming off of fast times. And then he really started to build, you know, as. As, like, as, you know, becoming, you know, he's not. I'm gonna call him. I never call him really, like a sex symbol, but he's like this cool. He's like. He's like the Johnny Depp. He's just. He's the man. He's the Marlon Brando.
Kathy Griffin
And she is legit and talent for days. And by the way, the Mov Close Range, which she wrote Live to Tell for. That's a great movie. I rewatched it recently. It's with Christopher Walken and Sean Ben. Man, that's a good movie. So he was filming that when they were together, and then she, of course, wrote the song, and it comes on at the end, but they play it throughout the movie. So, yeah, that was a relationship that we all, for some reason, felt like was our business, and we were all invested in.
Josh Adam Myers
It was a lot. But, yeah, you. You. You mentioned already, like, Holiday. Holiday. This Is her first single. It's off of the first record. She says it's one of her favorites. The song she's performed the most often at concerts didn't really hit number one, you know, which is kind of crazy.
Kathy Griffin
Because it's such the feel good song. Like. Well, it's just not controversial. Get you up and dancing can be played at any club or party.
Josh Adam Myers
I think Lucky Star is the very. Like, that's. That, that, that, that, you know, whereas Holiday doesn't have. It's. It doesn't. I don't want to sit here and say as an 80s feel like lucky, in my opinion, that like 80s dance. This was. This was what I'm seeing. She made this song for $14,000.
Kathy Griffin
Not today.
Josh Adam Myers
No, not. She. Was she really. Hold on. So what. I'm just saying. So Madonna didn't want to release this song around the same time she was getting sued and needed money. She said, all right, let's release Lucky Star. And then she released it. And that was the first thing to really break the album wide open. Borderlines are what I want to talk to. This is what I want to talk about. This is Borderline. Yeah. Bor. Mine is. Is a track from her debut record written by her producer, Reggie Lucas. Great example of a writer tailoring a song for a specific artist. Few would guess that this song was written by a man, but it was. Lucas got a sense of what Madonna was all about by listening to her demo tapes, watching her perform. He wrote the song. What I wanted to talk about. I want to talk about the word borderline. Now, Madonna has always seemed to court controversy, but like I said earlier, it's always on her own terms. She's doing is is planned thought of, and if. And if the press is going to talk about it, she's making sure that she's the one. It's like she did this thing like the sex book. Yeah.
Kathy Griffin
Out herself. She had her Brits or whoever was her favorite photographer take the naked pictures of her. The famous one of her naked hitchhiking on the street. Yeah. She's like, just stalk me and eventually catch me naked. I might as well put out a sex book. So, yeah, she was living on the borderline always.
Josh Adam Myers
So she knew. But she knew where that borderline was. Now, you mentioned it earlier, but I don't want to just specifically talk about that. But you've had controversy thrust upon you. You never want to shy away from it. Yeah. So in a lot of comics, we have to know where this line is that you can cross or not prior to the. The. To the Trump picture. Did you ever feel like you were flirting with that line? Like, almost. Almost courting controversy?
Kathy Griffin
Oh, yeah, all the time. I mean, look, that's what I do is I really made a name for myself calling out celebrities. And when I started working on television, then my act went from me telling about, like, bad date stories or whatever kind of normal standup would be to me taking you inside backstage. I was on that show Suddenly Susan with Brooke Shields. She was married to tennis giant Andre Agassi. He was so famous at the time. Right. And so they caused a frenzy as a couple. And so I would talk about that, and then I talked about people that would come and visit the set. And that show had a bunch of, you know, crazy guest stars. I mean, the great Joan Rivers played my mom for several episodes on that show. So I would talk about Joan backstage and the stuff we'd goof around, and Joan and I would get in trouble, and we'd try to torture Brooke, and Brooke would laugh and. And, you know, so that totally changed the course of the kind of material. And then probably my first, like, sort of real controversy. I didn't really care. But when I won my first Emmy, I thought, you know what? These Emmys are important to me, and I think they're prestigious and amazing for just a kid from Illinois. But, you know, people forget awfully fast, and if I'm ever lucky enough to win one, I better say something really outrageous so people know I won an Emmy. So I find it humorous when, like, rappers go and win an award and they thank Jesus as if that's what God is doing. If you believe there's a God that they're picking out, like, who gets a Grammy or an American Music Award. So I went up there and I said, you know, a lot of people come up here and they thank Jesus for these awards. I want you to know Jesus had nothing to do with me winning this. In fact, if it were up to Jesus, he probably would have given it to Cesar Millan, the dog whisperer. So I say, jesus, this award is my God now.
Josh Adam Myers
Okay, wait, wait, wait. I think it's great. I think it's great.
Kathy Griffin
Make fun of, making fun of. I thought everybody's gonna get the joke because everybody has seen the speech where the person thanks the Holy Ghost and Jesus and the blah, blah, blah, and, well, the cheese stands alone. Turns out that while I thought it was very funny and my friends did, then the phone started ringing from the lawyers, and it was, the television academy is demanding an Apology. And I said, no. The Academy wants their Emmy back. I said no. And so then I, I'm not saying I, you know, specifically thought only of her, but I do look to someone like a Madonna to go, no, I'm not giving back my Emmy because you think my joke went too far. Like, it was a harmless joke. This was not a joke that hurt anybody or hurt a group of people that are in danger of any kind. This is a freaky Emmy. Lighten up, everybody. It's, you know, it's, it's not. We're not at NASA. We're not, you know, curing cancer here. We're giving out awards for TV shows. And so that was kind of my first bite of the cancellation. I was canceled before. Cancellation was cool, baby. And I will say though, that experience, maybe it was a double edged sword because it did kind of teach me to never back down. And I will say my only regret with the whole Trump head photo scandal is that the day afterwards I did apologize. And now I look back at that, I'm like, ugh, why did I cave to, like, people calling me saying, american service members are going to be beheaded in your name and you're the new face of isis and ISIS is going to use your picture and say, this is for Kathy Griffin. Like, I now think back about that and go, what kind of bullshit was that? Like, I'm on the D list. I took a picture. You know, it freaked out Donald Trump, who known for 25 years. I mean, he's hired me twice to roast him. Like, he knows me. I don't like him, but, I mean, I've certainly seen him at many charity events. I. You'll see me photographed with him. He was very ubiquitous in the 80s and 90s.
Josh Adam Myers
Yeah.
Kathy Griffin
You know, when that whole thing went down. That's my only regret is I do take back the apology.
Josh Adam Myers
Sure.
Kathy Griffin
But think Madonna has turned into an art form is not apologizing.
Josh Adam Myers
But I can imagine just how, how scary that is. And from my understanding, like, it, like I said, it wasn't really planned. You were just doing a photo shoot and then the head was there and you were like, hey, let's fucking. They were.
Kathy Griffin
I was like, let's do something about Trump. And I sent my assistant out for a Halloween mask and it kept folding. So I put one of my wig heads behind it and they photoshopped out the bottom. And I took other pictures that day that were totally different topics. I did, like, I think I did one picture where I was spoofing Kim Kardashian because I lived next door to her at the time and that was a comedy dream come true. And I think I took one picture as like a 50s housewife, but I mean, I was just in between gigs and I thought, oh, I'll take some fun pictures that are outrageous and they'll be on like a gay blog for two days. Well, I underestimated that one. But I do regret the apology now.
Josh Adam Myers
I, I get it. And look, you know, you did what you thought was best at the moment because I can imagine how scary that could be because, you know, both sides, both far right, both far left, are the scariest of the scary. And, and right. You know, if they, and they, they always look for, for people that, that are, that, that want to make fun of people that get offended, they get offended.
Kathy Griffin
And I wasn't working with the studio at the time, have a network backing me up. Like I didn't have that kind of infrastructure, like the guys who have late night talk shows and stuff like that. But, you know, I, I do look back on it and I do have to say I'm actually not anti government at all. In fact, the FBI was coming to my house about twice a week for a while to tell me about credible threats to my life. And so I actually credit the FBI for saving my life because there were many times when they would have to come over and they give you a letter called a duty to warn, and it proves that they came over and they told you about what they deemed to be a credible threat as opposed to non credible threats, or as I call them, incredible threats. And so it was very complicated and it went on for a long time. But no, I'm not anti government in any way. I'm just a normal Democrat that, that I don't like Trump. He knows it. But I won't do any more head pictures.
Josh Adam Myers
I think we were supposed to actually, one of the options for us to record this episode, I think was either election day or the day after. And I was like, let's not, let's just pause for a moment and see how this goes. And I mean, we could sit here and talk about what went right and what went wrong. But, but it's, you know, know, we.
Kathy Griffin
Know Madonna's not very happy about the results as well. We know well enough to know she was, she definitely is not a Trumper. And it's okay to not be a Trumper.
Josh Adam Myers
No, it's, it's okay. It's, it's, it's, it sucks that it's so divisive. Yeah. That more. And I don't think it's. I, I don't, I don't know because I've only been our life since 79, but in my lifetime it's never been this way.
Kathy Griffin
Never.
Josh Adam Myers
And I genuinely, I don't. Here's the deal is, I hate to say it, I don't think it's ever going to go back. I think the worm is out of the can and it's gon be, it's going to be attacking, attacking, attacking moving forward.
Kathy Griffin
That is so not who we are. That's not who we're supposed to be. And it's so embarrassing to other countries. Like when I go to. I went to Australia with Sia, who's Australian, and I, the minute they hear my accent, they just go, what are you guys doing? What are you doing? Why can't you get it together? And I'm just like, I know, I know we're going through a rough patch. We're trying to get back on track back, but. Yeah, I've never seen that this divided my lifetime either.
Josh Adam Myers
Somebody will, somebody will come out of the woodwork and bring it together. And it could, I mean they, dude, it could be a middle of the road Republican. You never know. It could be.
Kathy Griffin
I just want some sanity.
Josh Adam Myers
Yeah. And we will. We. I, I, look, I don't. Yeah, I just gotta hope for the best. All right. That being said, I don't want to talk about that. I want to talk about Like a Virgin because I was talking to my buddy, okay. And I always thought my buddy Morty, he was the guy that helps me write this. He. I always thought that Like a Virgin was the moment like, was her, like breakout. I had no idea that there were, there were three other hits prior to Like A Virgin. And he had explained the Like a Virgin album as a way, almost like the way that you two was, was big. But your parents didn't know who they were until the Joshua Tree came out and then everybody knew them. And Madonna, this was like her Joshua Tree, which, which, which by the way, this is her second album. So most people come out with a big record and they get the sophomore slump. Madonna has her best record, like even, like even Prince. It took like, it, you know, it took like three records before Prince did Dirty Minds, which really is the one that made him Prince. And, and Madonna's coming out and you know, with this song that, you know, it's, it, that like, it's, I think it's n. Yeah. Nile Rogers produced it. So you have one of the biggest you know, disco producers and. And probably still making incredible music with what he did with Daft Punk. But this is. This is. Is the quintessential, in my opinion, Madonna song because of the, you know, the song sounds like her, and it sounds great. The subject material with the word with, you know, like a virgin and, like, is doing a lot of heavy lifting in there because you all know Madonna be. And. And. But then also, the famous. Famous. Was it the MTV Music Awards, is that.
Kathy Griffin
Well, first of all, the video was already famous because it was her in Venice, Italy, you know, on the boat. And then when she did the VMAs, literally rolling around in a wedding dress, never looking hotter, looking sexy, but approachable. She was the girl you wanted to be, and if you're a guy, the girl you wanted to sleep with. And rolling around fearlessly singing this song that, you know, it was like you were watching her kind of roll around a bed with a guy.
Josh Adam Myers
You know what I mean?
Kathy Griffin
Like, she brought it all together. And also, just the timing. I mean, that's why she got one of the, you know, MTV Lifetime Achievement Awards, because she was so integral to that channel. Becoming, for a while, I think, a really great channel. I mean. I mean, before they turned into whatever they are now, mtv. I feel like they've just given up now. But I can just tell you, as a comic, I used to take every offer on mtv, whether it was be a judge on, say, what, karaoke, go on trl. Like, no matter what what MTV called. I went because I knew it would expose me to a whole new audience. Sure. A younger audience, an audience that was probably comedically kind of unshockable, which is good for me. And it was such an event. The VMAs were almost, like, in a contest with themselves to outdo each other. And I don't know if Joel Gallon was producing that year, but I know he cut his teeth on the VMAs. Troy Miller is a great director who did a lot of stuff at the VMAs, and they threw in a lot of comedy eventually because they saw the broad audience that it had. But that performance is iconic for a reason. There's something about just seeing our girl Madonna rolling around on the floor in a wedding dress while singing about virginity that just made our heads explode, and we all remember it to this day.
Josh Adam Myers
Yeah, I love that you brought up Joel. Joel Gallen, he actually was the showrunner on my TV show. And, you know, it's. There was a lot of, like, you know, he. I think he was one of the first few people that directed the MTV Unplugged too. MTV was, I mean it was, it was, it was so good. It was so important.
Kathy Griffin
Like it was important because it gave you shows like Unplugged. Like it gave you a history lesson about pop music and legitimized pop music and rock and roll of course and but really showed us a lot of artists and their process and we became friends. Like we feel like we know Madonna. We feel like she's our super popular cousin or whatever you feel go through the ups and the downs and all those, those shows were so important must.
Josh Adam Myers
See I, I, I, I, you know they are also. You were talking about how important they are. They create in a sense created reality television with the real world world. But then I'm so facto have ruined it. Yeah. But then they've also ruined it and taken it to the end and just it's which is unfortunate because it really was this incredible thing this song. This is her biggest selling album of her life. It sold more than 25 million copies. I mean I think the scene from Quentin Tarantino's Reservoir Dogs is, is, is to be able to, to start a movie and almost introduce your career like your filmmaking you cut your teeth with. That's the opening scene. And I think it was one of the coolest discussions, you know in it's. It's a. Quentin Tarantino obviously is one of the only few directors that can make dialogue as entertaining as any kind of action. And for it to be about Madonna, it's so great. I wanted to ask you because this song is about, you know, this is first about innocence and this isn't about sex. I don't wanna, I don't want to talk about sex. But I wanted to ask you. You. When did you lose your innocence? Like whether when you found out that the world is, you know, it's. The world wants to ruin us. We. You know you have to you for when you're a kid it's just oh, this is all great. And then you finally see the hypocrisy of the world and it turns and how cruel things can be. When did you lose that?
Kathy Griffin
Probably like this is going to be a standard actor answer but like probably dealing with the level of rejection that you get as a regular working stiff actor before you finally get a gig. Like someone said in commercials when I and I did a ton of commercials at the beginning of my career and I love doing every one of them and someone said the average audition time is 70 auditions before you book a commercial. 70 more before you get your second one. I don't know if it worked out exactly that way for me, but there's a lot, a lot of rejection and you just have to take it on the chin. And in fact, you have to take it as a learning tool. And I read a great Al Pacino quote, and I don't know him, but he said he looked forward to every audition instead of dreading it because he saw it as the only opportunity to actually work and perform for someone. And I thought, okay, what if I think of these auditions as like, like non paying gigs? I mean, at the time I just did another movie for free. Like, I'm the queen of like the student film, the independent film that's looking for funding, you know. And so you have to resign yourself to a lot of working for free, I think if you want to be an actor or comic or whatever. And so that's probably what made me lose my virginity. It was just the amount of hearing the word no.
Josh Adam Myers
Yeah, that'll break you, dude. That, I mean, that's, that's the beautiful thing about, you know, it's like if you, if you, if you quit, you're never gonna be able to find it. If you can make it, you weren't.
Kathy Griffin
Meant to do it. Like I told people all the time like, that want to be famous. And I'm like, yeah, I don't know about wanting to be famous. I know about wanting to be a working comic. But if you want to be famous, I can't help you. You have to actually be good and you have to just keep doing it with all the rejection. And you have to learn from the rejection while you're crying.
Josh Adam Myers
I want to talk about something that wasn't a rejection. I know it's not really off top. Well, I guess it's off topic, but I don't give a. Because I'm, I'm very, very curious. Is like, you know, like the Seinfeld, like when you got Seinfeld, did they. You had already been, I'm assuming, been doing that show. You had already been because you had said that earlier where he was like talking about like the, the gossip.
Kathy Griffin
Yeah.
Josh Adam Myers
You know, like you were, you did it. There's so many people have done it since you, and I don't think anybody's done it as good as you. Whose idea was that? I mean, were they looking for that character? Or did Jerry or Larry see you and go, we need to put her in and add her into the episode? I'm just so curious because I've been rewatching Seinfeld.
Kathy Griffin
Yeah, no, it's amazing. They wrote it for me because. And thank you for saying that. Because Chris Rock said, I'm going to brag again. He said the nice thing. He said, kathy Griffin has changed the game more than anybody in stand up in 25 years because she was the first one to tell celebrity running stories. And now everybody's got one and he's like, Happy Griffin, you know? And so when I did my first episode of Seinfeld, I thought Jerry was kind of an asshole. And I wanted him to sign something for me. And I was there all week, and he just wouldn't like. It would have taken him four seconds and he wouldn't do it. So I then get my first stand up special at HBO half hour, or when hbo, which is now Max, but when HBO used to make or break stars, like, that was such a big deal to get an HBO standup special. So I just did what I was doing in my live act, which is I told a story about being on Seinfeld and how surprising it was to me that Jerry was really kind of an asshole and why. And the audience laughed at my little version of it. And I made fun of myself, of course. And then I said to Larry David at the time, I said, if Jerry ever sees this, I'll die. And he said, jerry will never see your HBO special. He works 14 hours a day on the show. He couldn't care less about other comics. He'll never see it. Okay? So sure enough, I get a call and they've written an episode where my character, for no reason, becomes a stand up comedian whose only topic is making fun of Jerry. So they wrote the episode for me. I was on that show Suddenly Susan at the time, which was on at 8, and Seinfeld was on at 8:30. I had to beg Suddenly Susan. In fact, the Seinfeld show had to beg Warner Brothers and Suddenly Susan to let me go. At the night after Suddenly Susan. Go do Seinfeld and Seinfeld, they would stay late for me to tape with me. And it was iconic being there because when I got to do my second episode, Jerry Seinfeld is the devil. It was when Jerry had just announced he was quitting the show and he was on the COVID of Time. So it was like iconic to be there the first time.
Josh Adam Myers
Sure.
Kathy Griffin
When he. I was like a little gnat on his shoulder. He didn't notice me. Then, of course, he does see the special where I. I mean, I trashed him. I really fucking went for him. And then, thank God, he's a big enough star to actually have a sense of humor about it, which has almost happened since, like, most of these A listers are. They don't really take it on the chin very well. And so I was so thrilled. He wrote me a really funny letter about how meaningless I am that I have framed in my bathroom. And then they wrote the episode. And then, you know, I. I got the honor of walking onto the set for a second time after I talk shit about him. And I walk into the diner set, and nobody's there but Jerry. And the stage is dark, and I just hear Jerry go, well, well, well, look, the cat dragged in. And I said, you're still here. You know, and so I got to do the second episode. And it was such an honor. And that cast just worked their butts off. And it was really iconic to be there every minute.
Josh Adam Myers
I love it. It's one of my favorite, you know, being a part of arguably the biggest show of my lifetime. But just to have such a. That's so cool that they wrote that. That for you. Yeah, that's awesome. Well, you were doing. You're doing you. You're being you. And that's. I was. That's. And that's. That's what's great. And. And now another thing, when you're talking about success, Material Girl. What was that like seeing Material Girl when that had come out? And.
Kathy Griffin
Because now you're getting very controversial because it was at a time when, if you were a feminist, you weren't supposed to be materialistic. So there was a big pop culture argument. Once again, Madonna in trouble, because, wait a minute, you were this feminist. Now you're dressed up as Marilyn Monroe, who typically played a dumb blonde, and you're talking about all you want, and it's diamonds and all the shallow stuff. So then she's going around doing interviews, going, no, no, I'm spoofing the notion of being materialistic. But like I said, by then, frankly, we had moved on to the fascination of her relationship with Sean. And so those two worlds kind of collided at the same time. But once again, as she does, was she made herself center of the conversation worldwide.
Josh Adam Myers
Well, you know, I'm looking at it right now. This is our. This is her third look. Do you know what I mean? Like, she's Holiday. Holiday, lucky star, borderline. I'm assuming that's like, the same thing. Like, those are. That's the Desperately Seeking Susan. Like a version, I guess it's still there.
Kathy Griffin
Now she's getting Smoother and.
Josh Adam Myers
Yeah, yeah, yeah.
Kathy Griffin
Hollywood glam.
Josh Adam Myers
Full Hollywood glam. She looks. I mean, she's got the bleach. This is. Is this the who's that girl era? The bleach, Blonde hair and. Yes, right, okay. Yeah. Which. So now. I mean, this is now. She's changing now. Women are like. You just said. It was like it was you. It was like.
Kathy Griffin
So first, everybody crinolines with the tights that were cut off.
Josh Adam Myers
Yeah, yeah, yeah.
Kathy Griffin
Our bow like up here. Now everybody's dyeing their hair of platinum beyond platinum white. But you want a little bit of the roots to show, because that's how Madonna did it.
Josh Adam Myers
Oh, my God. She's me right now. I'm. I'm material girl. Madonna.
Kathy Griffin
You have a pixie.
Josh Adam Myers
Yeah, I love it. I want to talk about material.
Kathy Griffin
Okay.
Josh Adam Myers
You know, when you start getting successful, what's the dumbest thing you've ever bought? Or what's the first thing? Let's start there. Well, you get money, you get the big contract or what? You finally book something you can afford. What's the. What was the first thing that you bought?
Kathy Griffin
I mean, the stuff that really. The. The stuff that was important to me was taking care of my parents. So I got them a condo and a new car, and I was like, okay, that's important, because they can't be driving around in the Toyota corolla that had 118,000 miles on it, which, by the way, they sold to me. I want you to know, they did not give me that car. They sold it to me. But it was a very fair price. I'm just saying the mileage was a little high. All right? So that stuff was important. And then, you know, I wanted to buy a house, and I was always convinced that every job I had would be my last job. So I was really good at saving money. I still am to this day. And I always tell anybody coming up, sock your money away. You don't have to be the Kardashians, where you're buying a Lamborghini and you're showing off your jewelry. It's more important to have security. And so I became friends with Susie Orman, who, remember, she used to have that show, the Suze Armand Show. Boyfriend, you can't afford that, but you're denied. And she would be talking to people about what they could really afford or not. And I got to meet her, and she said, would you feel better if your house was paid for outright, or do you like keeping the mortgage? And I said, well, my money manager said the mortgage is a tax write off. And she said, but what makes you feel more secure? And I said, well, I'd rather own the house outright because after selling Susan, I may never work again. So that's when I started really trying to sock away as much as possible and every house that I've had since I bought it, cash. Because she convinced me, if you can't buy a house cash, you can't really afford it. I don't care what they tell you about 10% down or 20% down or whatever the interest rate is, if you can't buy a cash, you can't afford it. Now I know that's not for everybody and it's, it sounds very elitist, etc. I'm just saying, take it from me, a 64 year old woman who people made fun of because I was socking all my money away or called me cheap or whatever. But when that Trump photo happened, remember I had no income, no health insurance, nothing for seven years. How many people go from being cut off from any income for seven years and still be okay? And so when I say to younger people it is cool to sock your money away, it is trendy as shit to actually have money in the bank. Take it from somebody who saved for a rainy day because honey, it's a rainy day coming. It was a long, it was a flood and not having any money coming in. So that's one thing that I, I do talk about openly is it's okay to be a saver.
Josh Adam Myers
It is okay to be a saver. But what's the thing though? What's the one thing that you were like, I shouldn't get it, but I'm getting it. A house. I get your parents again. Give me one. What was it? My Maz Maserati. There it is, there it is. Or Miata. No, I'm kidding.
Kathy Griffin
In your face. I love that car. If I could have that car, I would. I love that car more than a person. I love that car more than my family. I love that Maserati.
Josh Adam Myers
I love that you love it because it's a beautiful car.
Kathy Griffin
I, I have a fully electric Porsche Taycan.
Josh Adam Myers
Do you. Oh, that, that was. I, I had the, the last car I had before I moved to New York because I didn't need my car out here is I had the Porsche Macan S and I, I love that car so much. I love, loved it. Just. Oh, Porsches, Porsches I think are the sexiest cars ever. And, and, and it's, you know, like, dude, there's nothing wrong with Doing that. Yeah. I do miss driving. And when I do rent cars, I try to. I get. I get President Circle. But I found that if you just tip the guy 20 bucks, they'll get you a better car. So I. I usually get good Cadillacs. Yeah. Not the best, but still good. All right, what do you want to talk about? We got crazy for you. You mentioned that earlier. That's. That's.
Kathy Griffin
I mean, let Vogue because you want.
Josh Adam Myers
To jump to Vogue.
Kathy Griffin
Okay. Yeah. Because, look, I'm a big A in the lgbtq, a big ally in the community, and Madonna obviously is. But the thing that was so significant about Vogue is, you know, there's a movie called Paris is Burning about those Vogue kids and that underground, quote, underground subculture of these kids that were often unhoused, and they found community within each other and invented a dance style called voguing. And then the fact that Madonna put the spotlight on them, took some of them on tour with her at the Blonde Ambition Tour is really putting. Putting her money where her mouth is. So she looked at every part of the gay community and somehow discovered these kids. I mean, they seem like kids to me now, and how incredibly talented they were, doing something we had not seen before. And that's probably Madame. His brand, if it's anything, is bringing us something that. We had just never quite seen it like that before. And next thing you know, every party you go to somebody's voguing, then we all try to vogue. It's embarrassing when the white people do it, but we try anyway. But, man, I still think of that tour and all the dancing and all the voguing and taking those kids with her in that video and the iconic sound of that snap that just starts the song.
Josh Adam Myers
Talk about.
Kathy Griffin
Name that tune in one second.
Josh Adam Myers
Yeah, Vogue is Vogue. Out of everything on this record, it might be one of my favorite songs on there. You know, I. This is. This is also. We were talking about this because this will go. This is like four or five things we could talk about right now. What I'm about to say is this is the era where music videos are also cologne and perfume commercials. Do you know, it's all the. It's Freedom 90. Very like George Michael. Let's get the most beautiful people together. Let's put a really great lighting, get the hip. Director David Fincher or. Or. Or this guy or that guy. I can't think there's. But. But justify my love Vogue. I mean, Christ, express yourself even like a prayer. Which. Which you had mentioned earlier was the Pepsi commercial, right? My it was.
Kathy Griffin
No, it was. It was.
Josh Adam Myers
But Vogue. Vogue is like. It was. It was Madonna's. It was the way. The way that Freedom 90 is to George Michael. She. She did something, I think, with. And this is like, probably one of my favorite eras of Madonna. Which is. Which is that, you know, the. The. This is right before the sex book, I think. Right. Am I. Am I. Is it. This is it.
Kathy Griffin
Justify showcasing her as a dancer because she's always been a dancing and singing artist, but this kind of dancing is so difficult and looked difficult. You know, like, they go, oh, so and so. Made it look easy. It never looked easy. And for her to keep up with those kids and those kids to keep up with her and then have the backup singers doing it with her, like, it was just. It all just came together. And the. I believe it was Jean Paul Gaultier with the cone breast, you know, tops that she was wearing. Like, I can still see her in that suit.
Josh Adam Myers
That's the cone titties, right? That's the. That's the pointies. Right? Okay. Yeah, see, that's real pointy. The real pointies. The. This is I. I love Vogue. Justify My Love. The music video was. Was fine. It was very, like, very sexual. That was also the one. The one song on the record that, you know, this one and Rescue Me are the two new songs. I think Rescue Me is a much better song because it's actually a song. Justify My Love is very. This is just like spoken word.
Kathy Griffin
It's like a vibe. Yeah.
Josh Adam Myers
You can. You can to it for sure. I mean, I bet you. I bet you a lot of people had sex to justify my life.
Kathy Griffin
Probably Lenny Kravitz himself. Probably.
Josh Adam Myers
Which. He. He's. He helped her write that. Yeah.
Kathy Griffin
Yeah.
Josh Adam Myers
Oh, my God, dude. Yeah, dude. She probably. She's. She. I. I would love to see her, like, body list. I bet you it is. I love.
Kathy Griffin
I hope it's a nice high count. I hope it is. I. In my imagination.
Josh Adam Myers
It is.
Kathy Griffin
I want it to be, you know, I hope. I'm sure it is. It's got to be.
Josh Adam Myers
I want to. I want to be. I. You have to. You have to get out of here soon. I don't want to keep you too long. Okay. So here. I wanna. I wanna do one more song because I wanted to ask you. I wanted to say Papa Don't Preach. I wanted to mention that. Which is a big song. I know you loved your parents so much, and I think. And I. And I. You know, I know you've lost both of them, so I wanted, I just wanted to ask you, like, what, like, what was the best advice you had ever gotten from them?
Kathy Griffin
I think. Well, I mean, sorry to go back to the financial thing, but my mom and dad were depression parents, and so my mom would always say, use it up, wear it out, make it do. And I think that advice really sunk in because I could balance a checkbook when I was 10. Like, I didn't even have one, but my mom would sit me down and say, you're going to learn how to do a budget. And that just. Piece of advice coming from these two people that had gone through the actual depression, you know, it made an impression on me that I obviously still have to this day. So. So just that what we would call it, Midwestern common sense, like, that was their expression. And that's why, like I said, I loved learning that Madonna's a Michigander because I was like, aha. Midwestern common sense. You can't escape it if you're one of us. And so I think in the Midwest, we kind of feel a little bit territorial with Madonna because we feel like she's one of us.
Josh Adam Myers
I know. I love that. I love that. And it's. I think it's a perfect way to end before we go into our final questions. And I. And like I said, I. I want. I appreciate you coming on. I wish we could do more time, but I get it. So I'm gonna ask you the finals, and we'll have you back, by the way. We'll definitely have you back. We have. We have so many more records that I think you'd love that would fit me right up your alley. All right. This isn't one of the normal questions I ask, but I wanted to ask you what is your. Out of all of the Madonna eras?
Kathy Griffin
Okay.
Josh Adam Myers
All of them.
Kathy Griffin
Yeah.
Josh Adam Myers
So from. From the start all the way to her now with, you know, the. I don't know what you'd call it, like a Captain Crunch kind of. Of outfitty with almost like a. Like the. What is your favorite era of Madonna?
Kathy Griffin
Okay. It's hard to pick an era because there's like, certain songs. If I. If I was hard pressed to pick an actual song, I think it might be live to tell because it was unexpected. She wasn't really doing a lot of ballads at that time. I remember Rosie O'Donnell telling me one time, because I'm still good friends with Rosie. I see her all the time, and Rosie telling me during that era that people underestimated Madonna's sort of musicality, and that she went into the studio with Madonna one time, and there was a full orchestra, and she talked about how Madonna could say, hey, fourth violin, you're off on this next note. And there's something about the. The song live to tell that I. I just. I don't want to say it's underrated because I love that she's doing it on the current tour, but maybe that's my favorite song. And I like to picture her in this studio with a full orchestra in command of it, knowing exactly who is doing what in the face of the media kind of trying to underestimate her. So I guess that's maybe my favorite era.
Josh Adam Myers
So that. So that's. So that was. That actually answers the. Is that your favorite song on this record?
Kathy Griffin
It's my favorite song on the record, but, my gosh, there's so many good ones to choose from. I mean, express yourself as an anthem.
Josh Adam Myers
I know, it's the. I mean, this is a hard record. The. To say what your favorite. I think mine is definitely probably Vogue. What I meant when I was saying favorite era of her, I meant not music. I went her. Her look. What's your favorite look of hers? I love. I love Ray of Light, that natural. When she's getting into, like, I think she's just about to be 50 or she's like late 40s. She glue. She glowed. She was so beautiful. That's what upsets me.
Kathy Griffin
Don't tell me. Don't.
Josh Adam Myers
Yeah. Oh, dude.
Kathy Griffin
Low rise pants, cowboy hat, you know? Yeah, that's a beautiful, beautiful era where you feel like you kind of got to see the real Madonna donna because it wasn't slow with wacky makeup and pixie haircuts and different color and stuff. So, yeah, that. That's definitely a really beautiful era because you get to see her in a more natural way a little bit more.
Josh Adam Myers
She's so beautiful and so many other. When she was younger and even. Even, you know, now, I mean. But it's just. I. There's something about her aging gracefully at that time that was just incredible. All right, you already said favorite song, and I know we got to get you out. So I got two more questions. Questions. Is there anything on this record that you skip over?
Kathy Griffin
Let me see. Gosh. I mean, I. Okay, if I. If I skipped over any of them, it's only because maybe you heard him.
Josh Adam Myers
Too much overplay.
Kathy Griffin
Yes. Like, I might skip over holiday because I've heard it so much. I might skip over. You know, I might skip over Cherish because I've heard it so many times. But none of them was like they turn me off. It's just kind of like. All right, this one might be a little overplayed.
Josh Adam Myers
I get it. I get it. All right, the next question. Ken, from starting this album right at track number one. Can you to this record.
Kathy Griffin
I can. To really anything. I can definitely to this record. And I would say I justify my love. I know it's obvious but I'd probably start with that one. Papa Don't Preach. I would not.
Josh Adam Myers
I.
Kathy Griffin
That would turn that off.
Josh Adam Myers
That's not. You know.
Kathy Griffin
But I would totally. To Lisa Bonita.
Josh Adam Myers
Yeah.
Kathy Griffin
Hopefully with a Spanish speaking gentleman there. It is definitely like a virgin because you know. And open your heart's probably too sweet. And the vogue for sure. Because it has the bead. And I would. To rescue me. Yeah. I'd be rescued in that way.
Josh Adam Myers
I think. I think you can. I think you can. I think it's. There's. It's like there are some ones that may not fly but. But the majority of them are very sexy. What would be your elevator pitch to get someone to listen to this record?
Kathy Griffin
I would say I have a record for you that spans eras and encapsulates what was happening in the pop culture as well as the political and artistic landscape in several eras in one record.
Josh Adam Myers
I love that. I really do think, you know, I.
Kathy Griffin
Should be your manager.
Josh Adam Myers
Listen, I'm going to tell you this right now. One, I want to be included in a Sharon Stone text thread. So please. And two, I don't think you. I don't think you could have summed that up any better. I think we're talking about. About a. A global. Beyond global superstar that. Yeah. Not only not, you know, has never had many. Hasn't had many missteps. It's all been. She set. She set the line and she walked it. And. And I think musically and even and just stylistically everything about her. It's. It's. I'm. I'm actually upset that I didn't get to go see her on tour because I was on tour. But I'm so glad that to have you come on and talk about her today. Kathy. It was what a what a what everybody that I heard how great you are. They. You lived up to it. 100 and I'd love to have you back on. So please one more time promote away. One more time. We'll promote the beginning.
Kathy Griffin
Please come see me on tour. After a seven year forced absence by the federal government. Please give me a chance. Come see Kathy Griffin. My Life on the PTSD list. I'm about 50 cities in, but I've got 25 cities left. I am definitely coming to your town and I'll be at a nice theater. Theater. And let me make you laugh for a couple of hours. It'll be my pleasure.
Josh Adam Myers
Go see her, everybody. You're incredible. Thank you so much, Kathy, for coming on. I appreciate it.
Kathy Griffin
Thanks, you guys.
Josh Adam Myers
What did I tell you? What did I tell you? The one and only Kathy Griffin. Y'all. Follow on Instagram and Twitter X at Kathy Griffin and on YouTube @Official Kathy Griffin. And on Facebook Kathy Griffin. And go to Kathy Griffin.net for all things Kathy Griffin. That's so much fun to say. She's on tour right now. My life on the D list. No, I'm sorry. My life on the PTSD list. With dates running through March all over the country now, we just listened to the 1990 record the Immaculate Collection by Madonna. Our new music pick this week, brought to you in part by Distro Kid, is a track from Little Boots called Landline. And you can find links to the music on our website, the500podcast.com and if you are in a band and were directly influenced by one of these albums or artists, you want your music featured on the 500 website, send us your song to 500podcastgmail.com. Make sure you put the album and artists and influence you in the subject line. Next week, it's Willie Nelson week. As we dig into redheaded stranger from 1975 comes in at 183chipping away downtown. Gonna be done with the podcast in 2028, but three more years, dude. Three more years. Holy. We proved a lot of people wrong. Thanks for listening. We'll see you next week. Together you know I know we are apart When I hear the music we together but when I and it breaks my heart Now I'm getting older I call up my girlfriend every day and say tell me it's fine that we're doing okay at least for today Change chasing our dreams away Tell me there's always another way Just reassure my brain Cuz I feel it clay When I hear the music we're together Even though I know we are apart When I hear the music we're together the.
Kathy Griffin
When I was a teenager I used to.
Josh Adam Myers
Call my boyfriend on the landline every night and we'd say 1, 2, 3, press play at the same time. When I hear the music we're together you know I know we are apart When I hear the music we're together Open up and It Breaks My heart.
Kathy Griffin
By.
Josh Adam Myers
The 500 keeping it fleecy for the Police Nation on the 500 the 500.
Kathy Griffin
Porn, Satan drugs therapy it's not.
Josh Adam Myers
Just the list of what I'm up to this week.
Kathy Griffin
Weekend I'm comedian Keke Anderson, and those are just a handful of the taboo.
Josh Adam Myers
Topics I've poked and prodded at so.
Kathy Griffin
Far on my podcast Indecent, the show where we peel at the wallpaper of polite society. Each episode digs into the dark underbelly of our culture to dissect the things we aren't allowed to talk about around the dinner table. Featuring conversations with comedians, activists, journalists, academics, they all help me figure out the who, what and why behind what is.
Josh Adam Myers
And isn't acceptable Because Behavior and Decent.
Kathy Griffin
With Kiki Anderson where NSFW meets lmao.
Josh Adam Myers
Hey everyone, this is Tuck from Fit for a King, an off road minivan. Every week I bring you fun interviews alongside your favorite metalcore entertainers with my new podcast, Get Tucked. Join me every Monday with bands like Counterparts, Crystal Lake, Like Mods to Flames, and many more. We play unsigned and undiscovered bands, deep dive into each artist's history and of course, provide the greatest breakdowns in current metalcore. Tune in to Get Tucked every Monday. Out now through Sound Talent Media. Next Chapter Podcasts.
The 500 with Josh Adam Meyers - Episode 184 Summary: Madonna - The Immaculate Collection with Kathy Griffin
Release Date: November 27, 2024
Introduction
In Episode 184 of The 500 with Josh Adam Meyers, host Josh Adam Meyers teams up with comedian and actress Kathy Griffin to delve into Madonna's iconic compilation album, The Immaculate Collection. This episode, part of their ongoing series counting down Rolling Stone Magazine’s 500 Greatest Albums of All Time, offers an in-depth exploration of Madonna's enduring legacy in the music industry, as well as personal anecdotes and cultural insights from Kathy Griffin.
Madonna's Influence and The Immaculate Collection
Josh opens the discussion by positioning Madonna as the quintessential Queen of Pop, comparing her stature to other monumental figures like Beyoncé and Janet Jackson. He notes, "Madonna is the Queen of Pop. I think you can also say that about Janet, but we're talking about Madonna from 1990" ([26:52]).
Kathy Griffin echoes this sentiment, highlighting Madonna's unparalleled ability to stay relevant across decades. She mentions, "She has a number one hit every decade. She's still relevant." ([25:47]) emphasizing Madonna's consistent presence at the top of the music charts and her ability to evolve with changing musical landscapes.
Key Tracks and Their Impact
The conversation navigates through several standout tracks from The Immaculate Collection. Both hosts express their admiration for songs like "Vogue" and "Like a Prayer."
Kathy reminisces about attending a Madonna concert with fellow celebrities, describing the experience: "We actually left early because of Madonna's no air conditioning policy... It was humiliating to leave because we were literally getting overheated." ([13:57])
Josh adds historical context to Madonna's performances, particularly her groundbreaking appearance at the MTV Video Music Awards: "There's something about seeing her kind of roll around on the floor in a wedding dress while singing about virginity that just made our heads explode." ([57:50])
Kathy Griffin's Personal Anecdotes and Insights
Beyond discussing Madonna's music, Kathy shares personal stories that intertwine with Madonna's influence. She talks about her own career in comedy and acting, drawing parallels to Madonna's journey in music and film.
Reflecting on her friendship with Rosie O'Donnell, Kathy says, "Rosie and Madonna go way back. Everybody loves them together in a league of their own." ([20:33]) This highlights the intertwining of Madonna's influence with other prominent figures in the entertainment industry.
Kathy also delves into her experiences with controversy, relating it to Madonna's own reigns of public scrutiny. She recounts her infamous Trump photo scandal, stating, "What I do talk about openly is it's okay to be a saver...," and ties it back to Madonna's resilience in the face of media challenges: "Madonna has a lifelong policy of no air conditioning, even in her home. So, I thought it was just broken." ([15:51])
Cultural and Political Context
The episode doesn't shy away from addressing the broader cultural and political implications of Madonna's work. Kathy and Josh discuss how Madonna has consistently pushed boundaries, both artistically and socially.
Kathy praises Madonna's role in the LGBTQ+ community, particularly through the song "Vogue." She explains, "Madonna put the spotlight on [voguing] kids and took some of them on tour with her at the Blonde Ambition Tour, really putting her money where her mouth is." ([75:10])
They also touch upon Madonna's ability to navigate and control her public image amidst controversies, reinforcing her status as a trailblazer who defines her own narrative.
Conclusion
Episode 184 of The 500 with Josh Adam Meyers offers a comprehensive look at Madonna's The Immaculate Collection, celebrating her contributions to music and culture. Through engaging dialogue and personal stories, Kathy Griffin and Josh Meyers underscore Madonna's enduring influence and her role as a pioneering figure in the entertainment industry. This episode serves as both a tribute to Madonna's legacy and a reflection on the transformative power of music and personal resilience.
Notable Quotes
Kathy Griffin on Madonna's Iconic Status: "She is an icon. She is incredible. She is talented. She is sexy. She is taboo esque. She's just Madonna one name before everybody else." ([08:40])
Josh Adam Meyers on Madonna's Career Trajectory: "This record stands on its own... it's like the Eagles greatest hits, which was one of the biggest selling records of all time." ([38:02])
Kathy Griffin on Financial Prudence Inspired by Madonna: "Take it from someone who saved for a rainy day because honey, it's a rainy day coming." ([73:48])
Further Engagement
Listeners who wish to explore more about Madonna or the topics discussed can visit The 500 Podcast’s website at the500podcast.com. For additional content and clips from this episode, check out their YouTube channel The 500 Podcast and follow them on social media for updates on future episodes.