Happy Birthday, Madonna!

(Note this was supposed to post AUTOMATICALLY yesterday...sigh)

It's her Madgesty's birthday today!

To celebrate the birth of this chameleon and game-changing Diva, here are 5 tracks from her that you've probably never heard before. Feel free to leave your own favorite songs (well known or not) in the comments, as well as your well wishes/ thoughts on the Diva.

Heartbeat: This song perfectly encapsulates the way I feel when I hit the club. No, I'm not there to pull, or get off my face: I'm here to dance! I'm not claiming to be MJ on the dance floor, but the feeling I get while flailing like an idiot to music I love is like nothing else.

That's why I'm convinced I'll still be hitting the floor when I'm a Zimmer Frame-wielding OAP. I'm there for me, not you. And that's basically what Madonna is telling those who rabbit on about her age  with this song.



Nothing Fails: Though Madonna is known for her uptempo swag, I always thought she had a knack for ballads too. With its stripped backing, and simple sound, Nothing fails is an intimate and honest love song that struck a chord with me from the first listen of American Life. The ending is particularly beautiful, with a choir coming out of nowhere to bring a second wind to the track.

Survival: Taken from the slept on LP Bedtime Stories (no pun intended), Survival brings back some great memories. Even today the song sounds just as fresh to me, with its mid-tempo knock housing some of the warmest vocals from Madonna.

Secret Garden: Here we find Madonna channeling her inner beatnik with a jazz backing and spoken vocal. It's a song that didn't really fit musically with the Erotica LP, but lyrically it mirrored the suggestive nature of the the album. Not a favorite of mine, but it does shows the Diva's love for experimenting.

Love Don't Live Here Anymore: Madonna's not known for her covers-I can't even think of any other(s) right now- but her take on the Rose Royce 's classic really got a hold of me when I first saw the video.

This is another solid, emotive vocal  from the Diva. Granted, I heard the lush, reworked video version first, which bolsters the mood of the vocal with its production. Nonetheless, her voice is no less compelling on the original, less ambient and more dated version found on Something To Remember.