The boys from DanDTV have been known to record YouTube reaction videos on everything from the latest Sam Smith/Demi Lovato video to RuPaul’s Drag Race, but their recent reaction videos to a certain famed music icon’s collective musical catalog is gaining them a great deal of attention. This past week, DanDTV dove into the music video catalog of Madonna, and we got to watch them check out some of her most provocative and landmark videos for the first time.
Watching them watch “Vogue” for the first time may seem completely foreign to us, but the unbridled and pure enthusiasm at one of the Material Girl’s most classic videos is beyond refreshing in today’s world. While hearing them toss a phrase like “do you think any of these were professional voguers” can be slightly cringeworthy, they pepper their viewing of the video with questions on the era, the lyrics and what the affect this track had on the clubs and culture at that time.
Their reaction to the lead track from the still polarizing and landmark “Erotica” era is beyond interesting, but the boys are smart to know that Madonna’s era of “whips and chains” helped pave the path for other artists who wanted to showcase their own sexuality, like Rihanna. Watching them see Madonna morph into Mistress Dita on-screen and simply being able to appreciate the music without the media circus that surrounded Madonna at that time is also refreshing.
Their first impression to “Ray Of Light” starts with the declaration that they did not initially know the track was sung by Madonna, but the boys quickly become entranced with the anthem track of her Mother Earth era, which many still consider to be one of her best. They also pinpoint what has made Madonna’s career maintain relevance decade after decade, when they acknowledge that “Ray Of Light” is a massive change from the era of videos that they reviewed previously. In a nod to today’s world they utter-“it looks like she could be on TikTok right now”.
It’s amazing seeing YouTubers using the massive platform that they currently have to bring amazing music to a generation that did not get to experience it when it was initially released. What they said about the video for “Vogue” reflects how so many of us felt watching that video (and so many others) for the first time; “Imagine being a little gay boy watching this video and you’re in your living room trying to reenact it? I got chills. Was that ya’ll?”
Yes it was…..