I am not a huge fan of Madonna's musical output. Her music has always seemed at least 6 months behind the curve. I have always envisioned her walking into a club, liking some tracks, meeting the producers, throwing money at them and saying "make me sound like that". On the other hand, her marketing and attitude have always been cutting edge. Camille Paglia's disco playlist puts anything Madonna has ever done to shame. The pop titans on that list, particularly at the beginning, make Madonna seem like the fortunate mall rat that she is. Ms. Paglia's precise pinpointing of how soul begat funk which begat disco and so forth is a great starting point for any serious scholarship of the history of modern club music.

Hey, Camille, if Olivia Newton John's clunky and funkless novelty disc is indicative of the "deep dynamics of disco -- its implacable grandeur, its liquid pulses and skittering polyrhythms, its flamboyant emotionalism," then I got a couple Weird Al Yankovic records you should check out. The list is straight off the back of a K-tel "Dicso Hits!" album; I mean, "1999" but not "Erotic City?" And ABBA? WTF? Abba's disco like Kenny G's jazz, babe. Drop an ABBA record on a dancefloor anywhere other than a bar mitzvah in Ronkonkoma and you best pack up your crates in shame.

And yes, the failure to include Chic's "Good Times" is just unforgiveable. Back to school, Camille.

If I am banned to a desert island with one old turntable and only three albums, I will take the Bee Gees, Donna Summer's 4 Seasons, and Leroy Gomez's Santa Esmeralda.

As far as I know, Rick James had nothing to do with Teena's "Behind the Groove" or "Lovergirl", although he no doubt had an immense influence over her sound.

For the most part I love this list, as I own about 95% of these records. However, I am puzzled by the Chic omission, since they embody everything about the disco aesthetic that Paglia finds appealing. Also, she seems to have no appreciation for Freestyle, although I guess that really didn't take off until around or shortly after Madonna's debut.

And for what it's worth, I enjoy Madonna's "Confessions on a Dancefloor" despite it being a tad undernourished. It can't hold a candle to Kylie Minouge's "Fever" which I think is the preeminent dance/pop album of this young century.

Make my funk the P-Funk, I want my funk uncut.

For some reason, I thought that would be her favorite song. After all, George Clinton IS Dionysus. He's a much better live show that Madonna. He gives you wild Dionysian excess packaged with a reach towards cosmic consciousness and a warm all-inclusive throbbing heartfelt humanity that makes Kabbalah look prim, artifical and contrived in comparison.

But then, Camille doesn't dance. She's trying to free her mind, but her ass just won't follow.