Little Bastard in conversation with DJ, David Robson discuss Madonna’s commercial flop Erotica and the event taking place on Sunday August 18 which celebrates this forgotten album whilst raising money and awareness for HIV charity St. Stephens…

“Erotica contains a sample of Jungle Boogie? I never knew that…” And so began my afternoon with DJ David Robson, as he sent an email confirming another Burlesque act for The Erotica Ball this Sunday. “She wants to do it to ‘Erotica’ … we’ve already got one of those!”

“How about ‘Waiting’?” I ask, perched on his sofa, watching him scan through the track listing for the album, “Yes, I spose that’s quite grindy, isn’t it?” He plays the intro … “Yes, I think this would be quite good for Burlesque.” The purpose of my visit is to discuss Madonna’s famed commercial flop Erotica, which is coming of age this year, turning 21 in December. Despite being an artistic triumph, it had lacklustre sales, mostly due to its tie in with the infamous SEX book, and has only recently been regarded by some critics as a forgotten classic, being the victim of mostly scathing reviews on its release. But before our conversation turns to the album in question, David gets out the vinyl.

“I’d been looking for this for years…” he said producing a copy of Erotica on double gatefold vinyl, which we were listening to. I pick up the sleeve and open it to reveal the artwork from the centre of the cd booklet … only bigger. I’m in heaven. His Madonna vinyl collection is impressive … he has most of the 12 inch singles from each album, things I have only ever seen on CD in the (now defunct) singles section in HMV, picture discs, gatefold vinyl albums, coloured vinyl – it’s an impressive collection and one that he is obviously proud of.

I recall my first memory of Erotica the album … and it’s a vivid one. I was 11, and I used to go home from school for my lunch (it was only a ten minute walk) and to coincide with the release of the album, BBC Radio One were running a Madonna Day, where they were premiering tracks from the album which my Mum had been taping for me to listen to when I got home. So there I am, sitting on the floor in the living room, eating a slice of a chocolate orange cake for dessert and listening to the dance anthem ‘Deeper And Deeper’ for the first time. I like it, but don’t understand the lyrical themes in the song … (I wouldn’t, I was 11) … but it made me even more excited for the new album (and the gay boy in me was beside himself that she used ‘Vogue’ at the end of it).

“Well, if we’re talking about introductions to the album,” David says he leans forward, casting his mind back as far as he can, “mine was definitely the Girlie Show landing in London. I don’t think my Gran or my Mum were too scared about that because from a young age I used to listen to Like A Virgin and I remember turning round to my Gran and saying, “What’s a virgin?” (Cue a cackle from me) “And my Gran shit herself and was like “someone who doesn’t sleep with someone, love” and I said “well I sleep with you, does that mean I’m not a virgin?” She was on the phone to me mother, “KERRY!!!! That BLOODY Madonna…”” I venture that may be one of the reasons why some people don’t like Madonna, because she forces people to confront things they don’t want to confront, whether its regarding other people, or indeed themselves.

Erotica is a very bleak album, dripping with sadness and regret, and even the cover art, with its blue tinge (“with the foot,” David prompts me … “Naomi’s foot,” referring to Naomi Campbell, whose toe Madonna is famously sucking on the rear of the album) adds to the solemn feel of many of the album’s songs. In his Erotica Diaries, Shep Pettibone muses whether he influenced the somber tone of the album by writing so much of the music in a minor key, and talks about how intense the songs he worked on with Madonna were. It’s a brave record, that David thinks would be hard to top in the current pop music climate. “I mean, is there anyone who could do it now with that sort of punch?” It was a very bold move for Madonna, who was at the height of  her fame, to use the styles of music present on Erotica. In 1992, the only place you could hear Philly House and New Jack Swing were in the underground clubs she was frequenting, and it was the music of the gay scene that she was using to tell her own story of sex, death and dancing. The most upbeat moment on the album, the raw House Disco of ‘Deeper And Deeper’, talks of realising your sexuality on the dance floor of a gay club. Elsewhere, we’re treated to stories of bad girls, cheating lovers, break ups, oral sex and HIV, all delivered in a cheap, phone sex drawl that many have imitated over the years, but never quite pulled off with such maturity.

For me, the themes that are dealt with on Erotica are especially important now, given the current political climate, with songs like ‘In This Life’ and ‘Why’s It So Hard’ talking about homophobia. With the opposition we’ve faced regarding gay marriage across the world and the current situation in Russia, how much has actually changed over the past 21 years? “I think there’s going to be a generational turn around, don’t you? When we’re gone. And we often forget, we live in a bubble here in London…”

Whilst I’ve never credited the overtly homosexual themes of the album with helping me come to terms with my sexuality, I think that songs like ‘Why’s It So Hard’, Madonna’s free-love reggae anthem, may have subconsciously spoken more to me than I could have realised at that age. The 11 year old me didn’t look at the album and see my future … “no, and you shouldn’t have done,” David says, exerting his opinion, “we were just kids! We should have enjoyed being a child, instead of being sexualised from a younger age like now. But I can appreciate, looking back now, with my knowledge of gay history and popular music, how brave and bold it was, and I don’t think there’s a star around now that could do that with such enthusiasm, or as much courage or power as Madonna! And if we’re being critical here, in terms of the album sales and backlash, maybe it was because it was speaking out about AIDS and HIV, we had a very homophobic press and culture, even more so back then, so do you think that maybe people were being anti-feminist and sexist towards her because of institutionalised homophobia?” I admit this is always possible, although it seems ironic since the imagery in the SEX book is predominantly heterosexual, despite the album being such a battle cry for gay rights. “I think people forget what a friend Madonna has been to the gay community – and recently when some were saying, “oh she needs to say it more,” I was thinking … well, does she? Hasn’t she said it enough already in times when people didn’t want to go anywhere near us? I just don’t think there’s another pop star today that has as much depth, I mean…Rihanna? We’ve already seen it! She’s all knickers and no substance! Gaga, it’s all fake – I like Gaga, but there’s no shock there, there’s no surprise! She’s what, a third or fourth album in (if you count The Fame Monster as a separate album), and if you do a comparison of careers, Madonna’s fourth album was Like A Prayer, which was a real turning point in her career as “Madonna The Artist” and I’m not sure we’ll be as impressed by Gaga when we look back on her career.”

After discussing the political aspects of the album, our focus turns to the forthcoming Erotica Ball, the party being put together by Madonna Celebrate, along with well-known Madonna Fansite ‘Madonnalicious’, to raise money for the St Stephens AIDS Trust, which David is in the throws of putting the final touches to. “I’ve been involved with Madonna Celebrate for a couple of years and when Kurt, who is the founder of the night, came up with the idea of doing the nights, it was to do a party that celebrates all things Madonna, really. But then as the years have gone on I’ve wanted to go a bit deeper, pick a specific part of her career, and make it a bit more interactive and more of an experience. The Jerusalem Bar is really Gothic, it’s all concrete pillars and candles, so when you walk in it’s going to look like some sort of sex dungeon, and there’s going to be images from the SEX book all around, so it’s not just your typical Madonna fan night. We wanted to make it worthy of the artist herself. We want to play different songs that you wouldn’t typically hear. I think that’s why I wanted to pick Erotica – and also the fact that it’s 21 this year, I thought that was quite clever.” I chip in that Jerusalem has a Secret Garden (a reference to the final track on Erotica) and am met with an excited smile. “EXACTLY!!!! Thank you!!! But that’s what’s perfect about it, and it’s not your most obvious Madonna era to Celebrate (see what we did there?!) but looking back over her 30 plus years there’s so much to work with, so why not? And I think the ’90s era of Madonna is often forgotten about, apart from Ray Of Light. I’m really excited about it, I just hope other people are as much as me.” I know I am.

The Erotica Ball takes place at Jerusalem Bar, Rathbone Place, on Sunday from 5pm till 12am. Click here to buy advanced tickets which are priced at £10