Wednesday, August 13, 2014

TMFW 49 - The "Vogue" Curse, Sadly Complete


People who write stuff on the internet are not always the most rational and reasoned bunch.  So when they call the singer Madonna a witch (45,000 Google results for "madonna is a witch") or even the devil (351,000 results), you can take their claims with some skepticism.  But one song by Madonna has been followed by some pretty spooky stuff.

Near the end of Madonna's terrible song "Vogue," (starting at 3:41 in that video) she includes a spoken-word "rap" that namechecks a number of "Old Hollywood" stars.  It's fun to awkwardly sing along on the dance floor as she calls out 16 famous names: 

Greta Garbo, and Monroe,
On the cover of a magazine

Picture of a beauty queen,
Ginger Rogers, dance on air 

They had style, they had grace,
Rita Hayworth, gave good face,
Bette Davis, we love you
 
It's a harmless little rap....or is it?  At the time of the song's release on March 20 1990, 9 of the 16 stars - more than half - were alive.  But then, one by one, the remaining actors started to die!  The "'Vogue' Curse" was almost immediately effective: less than one month after getting the song's bad juju, Greta Garbo died in April, 1990.  She was followed by Marlene Dietrich in 1992, then Lana Turner and Ginger Rogers in 1995, Gene Kelly in 1996, Joe DiMaggio in 1999, Katherine Hepburn in 2003, and Marlon Brando in July, 2004. 
 
The curse thankfully went dormant for more than 10 years, and it looked like maybe the last remaining star - Ms. Lauren Bacall - would be spared.  Sadly, Sadly, just yesterday Madonna's hex caught up with the onetime-Mrs.-Bogart.  May she rest in peace, and may Madonna be brought to justice.     
 
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BONUS FACT:  For those who can't get enough Lauren Bacall in their lyrics, give a try to the yacht rock classic "Key Largo" by Bertie Higgins.  I love that song.

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