August 16 marked the 52nd birthday of pop icon, Madonna. She is still as relevant as ever — even if she does seem to be eclipsed by some of this wacky glam pop madness we are witnessing. If she wasn’t, I wouldn’t be wondering if she prefers Red Lobster or Olive Garden for her birthday dinner — or maybe she prefers something a little more casual like Fuddrucker’s.

I remember my sister and I played the hell out of her “Like a Virgin” tape. At the time, tapes were all the rage and vinyl were becoming a bit dated; so you could only imagine how high-tech we thought we were. I remember listening to it on long family road trips in our tan station wagon that looked like a Sugar Daddy caramel pop. My dad, being the cool guy that he is, even used her entire album as the soundtrack to my sister’s 9th birthday party — which he documented on our awesome family camcorder (the kind where you had to carry the actual video recording device of the camcorder on a strap like a purse).

Anyways, I will always love Madge. She will always take precedence in my pop culture database — which brings me to one of the main reasons why I adore her: controversy.

Actually, I never thought of any of her videos or antics as “controversial.” I see nothing wrong with simulating masturbation in her concert nor do I find offense in a book that has her in a sexually compromising position with Big Daddy Kane and Naomi Campbell.

I mean, c’mon — who hasn’t been in similar situations?

In any matter, here is a collection of some of Madonna’s greatest videos and antics that many people saw as “controversial.”

Here’s a nice family-friendly instructional on the art of fellatio (featured in the movie Truth or Dare):

The wondrous burning crosses and interracial love of “Like a Prayer”:

Follow the jump for more videos…

This video went along with her whole Sex phase. The video just kind of scared me. It’s like a sexual haunted house:

The original video for “American Life” which got banned for being a bit unpatriotic…or maybe it was her rapping (which I kind of enjoyed).

Then there was this video for “What it Feels Like For a Girl.” At this point, I think censors needed to fulfill their “Madonna Controversy” quota. Old people, ATM robberies, car crashes, pulling fake guns on cops — the only thing wrong about it was that it was TOO AWESOME:

What would be your favorite controversial Madonna moment to celebrate her birthday?

The song has been regurgitated on the radio over and over again and NOW we have the pleasure of the 8 minute Ace of Base-meets-”La Isla Bonita” song in video form. Come with me as we enjoy a journey of androgyny, Nazi femme bots, latex-clad nuns, naked men torsos, Aeon Flux aesthetics and chili-bowl haircuts.

There’s nothing like doing lunges to some early 21st pop R&B dance music.

Quick!!! Can you name all the members (besides Omarion) of B2K without looking it up on the net?

The overproduced and girl-on-girl anthem of 2003 got a bad rep. It wasn’t that horrible. The dance routine in the video was pretty darn cool. I even took time out of my busy unemployed schedule in 2003 to learn the pop dance.

Without a doubt, it is the best song for a workout. As soon as I hear the introductory synthesized vocals of Britney, the adrenaline starts pumping through my veins. It’s like audio steroids.

Oh wow. This song is really lame. What the hell are they talking about?

With her latest video directed by Jonas Åkerlund (whose resume includes a slew of Madonna video) there’s a lot goin’ on – and blatant product endorsement. When watching you can spot some Virgin Mobile and Polaroid placements. It makes sense for the latter because Gaga the creative director.

I would’ve been a bit more excited if this video came out earlier. This song has been radio diarrhea for the past couple of months. One thing I can say about Gaga is that I like the way she is making music videos relevant again. This is like her “Thriller”. Besides the lesbionic storyline a la Thelma and Louise and the lovely women’s prison movie vibe, there are a couple of things that deserve our attention…

Honey Bun: It’s Beyonce’s nickname and is the unofficial processed snack food sponsor of the video.

Tyrese: This is his best work since his “Sweet Lady” video.

Jai Rodriguez: The Queer Eye For the Straight Guy “Cultural Specialist” makes a comeback!

The Pussy Wagon: B and Gaga make their getaway in the same automobile that was seen in Kill Bill. For some reason it seems a lot less cooler than when Uma Thurman did it.

You can check out the 9 minute video by clicking here (and it has CURSE WORDS! Very naughty!)

As I continue to feed my reluctant obsession with Taylor Swift, I continue to stumble upon things that add kindling to the fire of sugarcoated country pop – and some friends help me along the way.

Within the past couple of months, I have seen her take a crack at comedy on Saturday Night Live, listened to her attempt a duet with Stevie Nicks on the Grammys and watched her in Valentine’s Day.

More recently, I saw Poreotix perform a routine to Taylor’s Love Story on America’s Best Dance Crew which prompted me to learn that song on the guitar. Then, my friend Janet texted me:

I’m in a car and the driver turned it up for taylor swift without me having to ask!

Today, my friend Jeff shared this video with me to help me forget about the fact that I actually needed to do work at my office:

It’s like Taylor Swift…but more gay.

Taylor Swift is like this pop culture virus and as much as I hate to admit it, I am happy to be infected.

Now, I have found that her modern day Romeo and Juliet pop country tune “Love Story” gives me an equal adrenaline rush:

Believe me, if you listen to this song while doing deadlift squats, your number of reps will go through the roof.

In 2000, I think I was one of dozens and dozens of people who actually purchased Christina Aguilera’s Spanish album, Mi Reflejo. In fact, I think I bought the CD the day it came out.

I was a hardcore Christina fan. I even have her Christmas album – but that’s a whole other post.

When I woke up this morning, “Ven Conmigo (Solamente Tú)” (the Spanish counterpart to X-tina’s “Come on Over”) was echoing in my head. The whole day, I was humming it and remembering those sparkly days of turn-of-the-century pop:

If you really wanna have some fun, you should listen to “Genio Atrapado”!

Only Jay-Z can make a conceptual hip-hop video really cool.

For extra credit, how many fashion references does Hova make in this song?