Diva/Mensch pair for May 14, 2025

I'm looking at the Pop categories from the 1998 Grammys.

Diva: Best Pop Album - - Madonna, Ray of Light

Mensch: Best Pop Collaboration with Vocals - - Burt Bacharach and Elvis Costello, "I Still Have That Other Girl"

Can we all agree that Ray of Light is Madonna's best album? OK if we count The Immaculate Collection, maybe it would be tied - - but I don't think a greatest hits compilation necessarily should be categorized as an album. An album is mostly new material, yes? Am I wrong?

I saw the movie Grace of My Heart in the theater and was thrilled that the producers got Burt and Elvis together to write the song "God Give Me Strength." So imagine the level of my thrill when I heard that they were doing a whole album of new songs together. I was disappointed that Elvis was singing every one of those songs - - it would have been so great to have brought in lots of different singers but hey, these are not my choices to make. I'm surprised that the Grammys (or the record producers) chose "I Still Have That Other Girl" as the standout when there are much stronger songs on the album. My favorite is "Toledo," which I've included as a footnote.

A funny story about that album: I often made tapes for my dear friend Kathy the Mezzo for her to play in her car, the Mezzo Mobile (pronounced alla italiana, MET-zo MO-bee-lay). I made her a tape of the Burt and Elvis album and she said, "The album is called Painted From Memory but it really should be called Planning My Suicide. EVERY single song has the message of, 'I love you, you've left me, and now I want to kill myself.' "