00:01 well hello everybody thank you for tuning in or for tuning in again and this is episode number 268. Ernest thoughts should Madonna tour again some thoughts on Celebrity and stardom I was talking to a friend of mine the other day and this friend of mine he's been in the music business for a long time both as an engineer and a producer and uh we got on the subject of Madonna's career so I thought I would share with you some of the conclusions I came to from that conversation one of the main points that I brought up

00:49 to my friend was how long should an Entertainer well entertain the main thrust of my argument with my friend who wishes to remain anonymous is that no Entertainer should keep working past the point where they become a character of themselves especially if their life circumstances does not in any way force them to do so and my friend basically agreed so it's for um it's for this very reason that I believe that not only should Madonna stop performing on tour you know but consider engaging in an entirely different life course

01:43 altogether perhaps even you know one that is completely and entirely unrelated to music altogether now I don't want to you know I don't want to be misunderstood my feeling is just because you know someone chooses to retire from a career or Pursuit that they have you know engaged in for many years I mean that doesn't mean that they're retired from life I'm talking about developing a new interest and the new interest just may in fact have absolutely nothing to do with their previous career a good example of this

t popular band leaders of the: 1930

03:23 although you know there were several other swing bands they were choosing to Soldier on because they were in a state of denial often they were saying that they believed that the rock and roll was only a fad and that it was going to go away well we all saw what happened with that yeah Goodman he knew otherwise and so he disbanded his band and other than occasional special performances for guest appearances he retired for music and and he reinvented himself as a writer that's what I'm talking about this is a long way it's a long-winded

04:14 way of me saying Betty decided to do exactly the same as undefeated heavyweight boxing champion Joe Lewis did he went out when he was on top now at this stage The Game of Life unfortunately the same cannot be said about Madonna which as far as I'm concerned it's a real shame now I don't claim to have an encyclopedic knowledge of the career of Madonna but I do know that throughout the course of her incredibly successful career she has achieved World Fame and success many many times over that few entertainers and performers

05:08 could even dream of and I don't believe that she is in need of money as she has obtained several lifetime amounts of it I yeah I think she's um she's okay in the money Department but um so you know why does she continue then well I mean you know why is she reinvented herself so many times and that you know not only musically but physically and uh you know has become almost unrecognizable I think the reason or perhaps I should say the reason in most cases and as well as this case is identity this is why it's stated that Fame is a

06:06 two-edged sword because the very things that drive your talent become an intricate part of your identity and for many performers as well as athletes you know trying to separate that part of yourself and create a completely separate identity now that can that can be extremely difficult which is why so many athletes continue playing when they should have retired two or three seasons ago that's what I believe but now I mean I don't I don't really claim that anything that I've set up to this point is new I realize that many of you

06:57 probably already know this but I'm saying and saying it for you for the people out there that may not know this and I can say this with a good bit of personal Authority you see for many years I was in the entertainment business myself and I still know quite a few people in the business some of them are musicians some of them are actors they even know a director or two as a matter of fact those of you with a good enough set of ears and well you're blessed Lord cursed depending on your politics and point of

07:45 view to have come into this world in the mid 60s you might even possibly be able to recognize me from my voice but I'll leave the speculation up to you and besides what what I'm here is talking about here it ain't supposed to be about me it's supposed to be about Madonna So let's stay on the trail there is another aspect about this but I haven't mentioned um it's Sab which is an acronym and um or at least you know that's what they used to call it in the entertainment community of Hollywood and

08:32 it stands for separation anxiety breakdown and for those of you who don't know what this is well you're in luck because uh Ernest is going to explain it to you now um if you'll remember just a little bit ago I was talking to you about Fame being a a two-edged sword and and the big problem that many entertainers run into especially if they're getting older and their careers may seem to be winding down they start having problems with their identity well this is where Sab can and often does rears its ugly head

09:24 and this in turn often leads to an Entertainer you know shutting down basically and being unable to work this includes you know any current work they can be currently employed and then they just they can't go forward they just shut down so anything they're currently engaged in of course future prospects well that's on hold um the important thing to know though is that this is the difference with Seb is that this is not usually for issues that are you know concerning or connected with uses of drugs or or

10:09 alcohol I mean it can be but not usually oftentimes you see if an Entertainer is basically suffering from sub deep enough or long enough their manager or their press agent will purposely spread a fake rumor that the person is willingly seeking treatment at you know a drug or alcohol facility to deal with that issue when in fact they may not have a real drug or alcohol problem at all but it's by doing that you see if they're explaining that it's a lot easier than trying to explain sap drugs and alcohol are much easier to

11:02 explain and not having the same social stigma attached to it rather than Sab and that the public you know they might not be that sympathetic or for that matter might not should be able to understand or at least that's how it used to be so in conclusion now that I brought you up to speed on all this in case you don't know Madonna has admitted just recently and to you know you guessed it she was admitted to a drug and alcohol recuperation facility hopefully I have been able to you know to help you better understand what's going on with Madonna

11:56 and in my opinion if you really want to show her that you care old school you could you know send her a letter not just telling you that you love her and thanking her for all her many years of entertaining you but also telling her that she doesn't have to tour anymore that's truly the greatest love any fan can express to an Entertainer especially one that's as driven like Madonna oh work themselves to death unless you force them to stop until Monday Wednesday or Friday this is Ernest reminding you but there are no

12:48 bad words just bad actions take care thank you