Episode 3: Ann Powers on Madonna’s “Like a Prayer” (1989)

Episode 3

17th October 2017

Music writer extraordinaire Ann Powers (NPR) joins the Heat Rocks crew to talk about Madonna’s “Like a Prayer.” Listen as we express yourselves.

Episode notes

The album: Madonna: Like a Prayer (Sire, 1989)

This week, Morgan and Oliver are joined by Ann Powers of NPR Music and author of the new book, Good Booty: Love and Sex, Black and White, Body and Soul in American Music. Together, the three dug into Like a Prayer, Madonna’s critical breakout album form 1989. As Ann lays out, Madonna had already established herself as an MTV-era mega-star with her previous albums but Like a Prayer, with its then-controversial sexual politics and surprising personal candor, marked a new level of artistic ambition.

More on Madonna and Like a Prayer

More on Ann Powers:

Tracklisting:

  • Madonna: “Like A Prayer” Like A Prayer
  • Madonna: “Like A Virgin” Like A Virgin
  • Madonna: “Till Death Do Us Part” Like A Prayer
  • Madonna: “Express Yourself” Like A Prayer
  • Madonna: “Act Of Contrition” Like A Prayer
  • Madonna: “Love Song” Like A Prayer
  • Prince: “Computer Blue” Purple Rain
  • Madonna: “Cherish” Like A Prayer
  • Madonna: “Dear Jessie” Like A Prayer
  • Madonna: “Promise To Try” Like A Prayer
  • Madonna: “Keep It Together” Like A Prayer

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In this episode...

Guests

  • Ann Powers

About the show

Hosted by Oliver Wang and Morgan Rhodes, every episode of Heat Rocks invites a special guest to talk about a heat rock – a hot album, a scorching record. These are in-depth conversations about the albums that shape our lives.

Our guests include musicians, writers, and scholars and though we don’t exclusively focus on any one genre, expect to hear about albums from the worlds of soul, hip-hop, funk, jazz, Latin, and more.

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