The Time I Made Madonna Laugh

[@todddepue681]

Thanks for sharing! Been Madonna fan since Day One, so it's cool, when you think you've heard all the stories about her, to have another one pop up. I definitely remember hearing how her "overnight" success after the MTV performance changed things on the DSS set, which up till then had been a relatively low key operation. Not to mention the shift from it being a vehicle for Rosanna Arquette to being marketed as "the Madonna movie".

[@ReidRosefelt]

It was one of many things. Her first Rolling Stone cover came out while we were shooting. And don't forget, that while her career was just picking up steam in the US, she was already a star in many overseas territories. Anyway, the DSS set continued to be a lowkey operation, and nobody paid much attention to us. It's not like she was mobbed like she would have been a year later.

[@joegotham27]

Such wonderful stories , thanks for posting!

[@ReidRosefelt]

Thanks, Joseph!

[@richardhutchings4324]

I love these stories. Learning about photos I have seen for years

[@ReidRosefelt]

Glad you like the videos. I enjoy doing them.

[@Beneaththeglitterball]

Another great story - Thank you. I love Mary Lambert's work. The videos she made with Madonna were among the best in my opinion, Both seemed to respect each other and complement each others abilities.

[@ReidRosefelt]

Yes, Madonna had the highest praise for Mary.

[@helgafever768]

I "met" Madonna for the first time in 1993 among 120k people in her Girlie Show Tour at Maracanã/Brazil 😅

[@ReidRosefelt]

Better to meet her with 120K people than not at all. PS did she show up on time?

[@Joey.Alvarado]

Great stories. Thank you

[@ReidRosefelt]

Thanks Joey.

[@EAB82]

Thank you so much for sharing such a great story from her early part of her career.

[@ReidRosefelt]

Thanks for watching it!

[@marigoldsfever1538]

Desperately seeking Susan is probably the movie that was most closely related to madonnas personality. She personified being bad ass cool in this film. Yes, I dressed exactly like her after this film came out and loved every minute of it. Madonnas lack of her biological mother in her life drove her to be successful while keeping her tough.

[@ReidRosefelt]

I don't think there was a big difference between "Susan" and the real Madonna. Whatever that character might have been with another actress, she made it into herself. Susan Seidelman was so wise to cast her, and she had to fight to do that. There's a lot of things that went well on that film. Susan Seidelman and Rosanna Arquette were great, but Madonna really made it. And that's why the film has lasted.

[@marigoldsfever1538]

@@ReidRosefelt love Rosanna but the movie would have been awful without madonna.

[@howiet1971]

Another great story, thanks for sharing. I met her the first time in 2000 at her next best thing premiere after party in London. She was surprisingly polite and chilled that night, especially considering she must have been 6 months pregnant, so I'm lucky my 1st meeting was pleasant. To be fair, I've met her a few times and she's always been at the least 'pleasant', lol

[@ReidRosefelt]

That's great. Glad to hear that. There were many people on the set of "Desperately Seeking Susan" she was very friendly with--and, as I said, she was friendly to me in private. She had attitude and could be bratty, but she was funny and smart too. She had many good qualities, and I feel lucky that I got to spend the time I did with her at that pivotal moment in her life.

[@douglashill3008]

Great job, Reid! Do you have any Bowie stories? Or Vincent Gallo, Warhol, Basquiat, etc? Such an amazing time in history. Many thanks!

[@ReidRosefelt]

I have a Warhol story, that I blogged about once. But it's not much, do I don't know if I can stretch a video out of it. 😀 I encountered Bowie and Basquiat, but never spoke to them. Basquiat was a friend of Jim Jarmusch's, and he came to a party with him once. Everybody was around in those days, but I'm not going to do a video unless I have a decent story to tell.

[@douglashill3008]

@@ReidRosefelt That's very understandable, the personal stories are more engaging than sightings and incidentals. Cheers!

[@gabrielmedina66]

Are you the journalist who interviewed her in 1990 with the video scandal "Justify My Love"? 😯

[@ReidRosefelt]

No, I'm not a journalist. I'm a publicist. And I only knew her in 1984 and 1985. After that, she didn't recognize me when I saw her.

[@kimnight232]

The thousand and one stories of the New York underground of the 80s with the shadow of Madonna hovering was a period (which I unfortunately did not experience) so fascinating and so inspiring for Pop Culture whose repercussions are perceptible until today ... I think your encyclopedia of anecdotes about Madonna is far from finished... Jim Jarmush even played a role in the very New York film "Blue in the Face" directed by Paul Auster and Wayne Wang released in 1995, (and unfortunately produced by the sinister Harvey Weinstein), this curious movie which brought together in its eclectic cast people like Lou Reed, Roseanne Barr, Harvey Keitel, Michael J. Fox, Giancarlo Esposito, Malik Yoba and ... Madonna! Madonna hasn't laughed for a long time... I look forward to the sequel and thanks for sharing. "The best science is that which is useful, and the best speech is that which is listened to." Algerian proverb

[@ReidRosefelt]

I worked with Wayne and Paul on "Smoke." That was a great experience that I will write about. You should also look at the cast of "Desperately Seeking Susan" sometime. Everybody was in it, including Anna Thomson, Mark Blum, Laurie Metcalf, Will Patton, John Turturro, Richard Hell (of the Voidoids), Giancarlo Esposito. Steven Wright, Anne Carlisle (star of "Liquid Sky"), Rocketss Redglare, Ann Magnuson, Richard Hell, Shirley Stoler ("Honeymoon Killers"), Richard Edson and John Lurie, Iris Chacon, Arto Lindsay, Carol Leifer, Michael Badalucco, Victor Argo, Mary Joy, etc

[@graphiquejack]

Madonna laughed her way to the bank. She showed them all. I’m sure she probably wasn’t ‘nice’ but she probably had to be pretty ruthless considering how few people believed in her back then. That story about her throwing the negatives out the window was pretty bratty (and sort of hilarious). I wonder what set her off to do that. Definitely not nice. I’d hate to be running through traffic trying to save them all.

[@dosgos]

NYC was a center of music for years. Then all the live clubs, studios, and music shops in Times Square disappeared. That would be an interesting story to chronicle as a musician & publicist.

[@ReidRosefelt]

Definitely. CBGBs, The Mudd Club, Danceteria, Area, Hurrah. Music everywhere. This was my world. Every club except for Studio 54, which we considered ultra-lame. I was in the world of film, but many of my friends had bands. Jim Jarmusch had the Del-Byzanteens, John Lurie had the Lounge Lizards. And I was and am a musician myself. I do get a little into late 70s New York in my next video. Sara Driver sent me this link vimeo.com/629416589 It's an animated film about David Godlis, who took the picture of Jim and Sara in my Coppola/Jarmusch video. It really captures what CBGBs was like.

[@carlossantiago3182]

👑🙌

[@seanahmed9079]

Thanks, handsome!!😉

[@oliveskinboy]

i swear i thought you were Griffin Dunne in that group picture at the party!

[@ReidRosefelt]

Sometimes pictures make you look different. I would have liked to look like Griffin Dunne.

[@gabrielhidalgo7183]

Can U tell me Madonna´s adress when she was living on Broome Street? I think is one of most interesting times on her career and I would to visit when I go to NYC, Thanks! loving your videos

[@ReidRosefelt]

Hi Gabriel. It was 510 Broome Street, near West Broadway. There's a triangle in the middle of the road, where Broome splits to Watts Street. M threw precious color slides out there from her window, and I ran through traffic to get them. : ) Glad you like my videos. Reid

[@gabrielhidalgo7183]

@@ReidRosefelt OMG U made my day ..Thanks so mux ..love ur stories from that time..more please :D

[@scarlettohara5779]

🙏🙏🙏🙏🙏🙏🙏

[@seanahmed9079]

You had a passing resemblance to Patrick Leonard in your younger days!!

[@ReidRosefelt]

When I was young, people said I looked like all kinds of good-looking actors. Now everybody says Woody Allen. I guess that's the way it goes.

[@seanahmed9079]

@@ReidRosefelt LOL. I don't think so at all

[@clintmitchell8816]

Just ran across your story today. Ok. You’re a great story teller, but I’m left feeling confused about Madonna. You paint a bit of a confusing picture of her. I’ve heard she can be very cold/standoff-ish/rude, but I’ve also heard she can be very warm, down to Earth, friendly, sweet. What do you think the correct way is to describe her? You actually said “not nice, either” but then also said she was nice, funny, and smart. I’ve heard she is very guarded and doesn’t let many “in” to see the vulnerable side. But those who get in, don’t see the rude side. I mean, she’s a person so we all can be rude, nice, sweet, bitchy to those we love or like. When you say she busted your chops does she do it in a playful way? Like, mutual respect but I’m going to give you a little hell because you won’t take it personally? I know this is a long, rambling post. I’m just trying to get a real picture of her true self. And I believe Cyndi was (and continues to be) bitchy about her. Thank you for your story and for your work in the industry!

[@ReidRosefelt]

Hi Clint. I can't tell you who Madonna is or was because I don't know. My videos are memoirs, they are all about ME--the things I did, the people I met, the places I went. I spent a bit of time around Madonna in 1984 and 1985, and I have my personal impressions. Of course, they are contradictory. Somebody would have to be infinitely closer to her than I was to give a serious opinion about her character. Was she nice? Was she not nice? She was a pain in the ass who teased me relentlessly, but I really liked her. As I said in my two videos, she was very warm to other people. Did she respect me? I believe so, but who knows? Maybe she just found me useful at that moment in her life. Certainly, it's true that when the film was done, so were we.

[@clintmitchell8816]

@@ReidRosefelt Thank you, Reid, for your response. From all I’ve read about her I do think she respected you. And liked you. I know people who “bust the chops” only on people they like. I saw on another post you said you didn’t think she found you handsome. I disagree. You’re just not her type- type A white toxic males or Latino. :) I don’t know why she treated you unkindly later in life only to speculate, as a fan, she grew very jaded it seemed. From her own interviews later in her career, she admits she was very angry with how she was treated, didn’t trust many, and had a bad attitude. I do find it interesting you say she was the most accommodating star you worked with. Anyway, thank you again for your comments. I appreciate them

[@i.m.7710]

I know next to nothing about Madonna after her 1st movie and first hit songs, but I saw her brother’s book about her in the public library a few years ago and could not put it down! She is the b word flat out. Was extremely ambitious - got her way! She was the same way as a child. I hope you get a chance to read it.

[@zuider77]

That was good! Here are my two take-aways: 1. Whatever they paid you back then wasn't enough and 2. Avoid Madonna!

[@ReidRosefelt]

No need to avoid Madonna. She'll avoid us!

[@BF-up5xw]

My takeaway from all this is that Mary Lambert is surprisingly tactless! And forgetful.

[@ReidRosefelt]

Actually the Lambert story is a setup for a few more stories about people who pretended not to know me later on, including somebody with a single name that begins with an M.

[@BF-up5xw]

@@ReidRosefelt Mightymouse? Oh, no, that’s two names: Mighty Mouse.

[@Dylanguitar69]

@@ReidRosefelt She "rock-starred" you as I've heard it called. When somebody distances themselves from you when they start to move up the ladder. Probably out of some fear that connecting with somebody perceived as lower down on the food chain would in some way drag them back down. It's unfortunate.

[@ReidRosefelt]

@@Dylanguitar69 I always used to say that there was some kind of handbook they gave you when you got to LA-because this happened often with movie business people in LA, and never with the ones who stayed in NYC.