Article - MADONNA - FROM GENESIS TO REVELATIONS [ Bruce Baron ]
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MADONNA - FROM GENESIS TO REVELATIONS by Bruce Baron
In the beginning there was light, "Ray Of Light".
Crucified by the media for years, Madonna has rarely been
recognized for her achievements. She has dominated the music
industry since 1985, and has even collected more consecutive top
five US singles than the Beatles (see Goldmine's first Madonna
feature "Deca-dance" July 1992), but praise has been hard to come
by. This year that has all changed. Her latest album "Ray Of
Light" was honored at the 1999 Grammy Awards with six nominations
and four awards, including a win for pop record of the year. Born
again with a fresh sound, co-produced with electronica wizard
William Orbit, her peers have taken notice. Over the years, we
have come to expect the annual metamorphosis from Madonna, but we
continue to be surprised. The reincarnated Madonna is an older,
wiser, and kinder sort. "Ray Of Light" gave us a peak at her
recent introspective journey.
Borrowing a line from the album's title track, "trying to
remember, where it all began....", this feature will explore
Madonna's early genesis and will reveal some never reported
details about her unreleased catalog for the very first time. Some
of these recordings have surfaced on various bootleg releases of
varying quality while other Warner Brother's era masters remain in
storage like the Dead Sea scrolls.
Here I will report which titles have been confirmed to exist with
my exclusive interview with former Madonna collaborator Stephen
Bray, and through online database searches of the public US
copyright records at the Library Of Congress, HYPERLINK
http://www.locis.loc.gov http://www.locis.loc.gov. This was not an
"on-site" investigation, and the database does appear to contain
errors, including name spellings. Madonna has multiple author
entries under names like "Modonna", and her last name is sometimes
spelled "Ciconi", among other creative combinations. Even Stephen
Bray has an entry under "Brey". Madonna is almost always credited
for lyrics on these recordings while her various collaborators are
usually credited for music. Some of the unreleased Madonna songs
found in the public copyright records actually have original
cassette demos on file at the Library Of Congress in Washington
DC.
Genesis
Media sensationalism has plagued Madonna for many years, and
sometimes her early days have been made to sound more dramatic
than they probably were. The truth is probably somewhere between
the published extremes. Her early press described Madonna as
growing up in poor, racially integrated neighborhoods that somehow
helped shaped her world vision and her music. She was raised in
two Detroit suburbs, Pontiac and the upper middle class Rochester
Hills. Both of these cities reside in Oakland County, one of the
most affluent in America. A few miles away are many homes of the
corporate elite that work in the auto industry and related fields.
Aretha Franklin also lives nearby. The Ciccone family in fact, did
well enough to send her to a private catholic elementary school.
Her ballet teacher Christopher Flynn exposed Madonna to a wider
cultural horizon. He took Madonna to art museums, and one of their
frequent haunts was the mostly gay disco, Menjos, in Detroit. It
was there she learned about racial and sexual diversity, and the
dance club scene. With Flynn's encouragement, Madonna decided to
pursue a professional dancing career. She enrolled at the
University Of Michigan in Ann Arbor after graduating from
Rochester Adams High. There she would meet her future song writing
and production collaborator Stephen Bray at the now closed Blue
Frog Disco over a Gin & Tonic. In the years to come, the pair
would collaborate to produce several international top 5 hits
including "Into The Grove", "Angel", "True Blue", "Each Time You
Break My Heart", "Causing A Commotion", "Express Yourself", and
"Keep It Together. At that time however, she had no intention of
becoming a songwriter or vocalist. In the end, neither career
could take off in Michigan. In the summer of 1978 she attended a
dance workshop in North Carolina, and then left Bray behind to
obtain real work in New York City that July.
Exodus
Contrary to popular belief, Madonna's arrival in New York City was
also not as poverty stricken as portrayed in many of the "tell
all" biographies. The traditional story line reported is that she
had a cab driver drop her off in Times Square where she walked
until a stranger took her in for a few weeks. This is usually
followed by stories of date rape, fires in lofts, eating nothing
but popcorn, and working at Dunkin Doughnuts. I once assisted a
crew shooting footage for A&E's Madonna Biography back in 1993.
They taped an interview with Madonna's brother Martin Ciccone. He
described off camera the reports of Madonna eating out of the
trash as, "bullshit". He mentioned that Madonna's father knew
someone in New York before she went there, and that she frequently
received money from the family. He maintained, "She was taken care
of, and those reports hurt our family". No doubt she had a rough
time at the beginning, and many describe her first NY apartments
as less than attractive, but exactly how true the stories are,
only Madonna knows for sure.
One of the ways Madonna made money on her own from 1979 to 1981
was by modeling in the nude. Past biographical explorations tend
to paint Madonna as the starving model for art students and
photographers who was later scandalized in 1985 when some of these
pictures showed up in Penthouse and Playboy magazine. However, her
own resume from this period proudly lists her as being featured in
the German Penthouse Magazine of December 1981. This resume and
other items can be seen at Stephen Caraco's "Early Era Collectors
Guide and Photo Gallery at his Madonna Catalog Home Page HYPERLINK
http://www.madonnacatalog.com/earlyera/earlyera
http://www.madonnacatalog.com/earlyera/earlyera.htm. It was
probably no surprise to Madonna when theses pictures resurfaced,
at least with Penthouse. Some of them have also turned up on
bootleg recording covers, and picture discs over the years such
as, "Oh God, She's Madonna" which features her 1985 Live Aid
performance with an introduction by Bette Midler.
Chronicles
In 1979 Madonna hooked up with boyfriend Dan Gilroy who was one of
the founding members of the band Breakfast Club, with his brother
Ed. Angie Schmit played bass, and Madonna joined the band as the
drummer, while continuing to pursue avenues for professional
dance. She continually auditioned for parts in Broadway shows and
movies. However, it would take a trip to France to give Madonna
the confidence to believe that she could be a vocal performer.
One of her auditions in early 1979 was for producer Jan Vanloo,
who was looking for backing vocalists to tour with "Born To Be
Alive" one-hit-wonder, Patrick Hernandez. It was decided to take
Madonna back to France, all expenses paid, to make her into a
disco star. After six months, about all that was accomplished was
filling Madonna's head with ideas of pop stardom. Collectors have
been surprised that no Madonna recordings of any kind have ever
surfaced from this period, and there is no evidence to suggest
that anything was ever recorded. Madonna eventually became ill,
and claimed that she would return-if she could go back home to NY
for a few weeks. She left everything in Paris, returned to Gilroy,
and never went back to the Hernandez posse.
Back to New York in October 1979, Madonna was cast as the lead
character of "Bruna" in the 8mm-cult film, "A Certain Sacrifice".
Former director Stephen Lewicki described his experience to
Goldmine last May; " I met Madonna just after she returned from
France. Madonna was very close to Angie (Schmit of Breakfast Club)
who was one of the (extra) "slaves" in my movie. It was made for a
small group of punk aficionados, and then Madonna became famous,
and reached a much larger audience (on VHS). It was an amateur fun
thing to do and then it was fun to make money with it, get sued by
Madonna, get interviewed countless times, and why not?" Today
Lewicki is "very happy" not being in the entertainment industry.
An outtake of this film recorded Madonna singing the Fifth
Dimension hit "Let The Sunshine In" with other cast members and a
short audio clip of this has been circulating on CD in the
collector's bootleg market. The film itself contains the ensemble
chant, 'Raymond Hall Must Die" and both of these are considered to
be some of her earliest recorded performance vocals.
The second portion of "A Certain Sacrifice" was filmed later in
November 1981, and in between filming Madonna recorded some
bizarre backing vocals for Otto von Wernherr. "Otto" is thanked in
the film credits, and it is possible he may have been one of the
many extras in the film. Director Lewicki couldn't recall for
sure. These songs were released in 1986 on independent labels
after Madonna became a household name, and can be best described
as sounding like "The Rocky Horror Picture Show", but not as good.
On "Cosmic Climb", Madonna sings the chorus "Man have you got the
time, to make this cosmic climb". "We Are The Gods" features her
childlike backing vocals such as: "Oh my god! Mommy, mommy it's
the gods!" and "Hail hail the gods are here". "Wild Dancing"
sounds a little like the early B-52's with Madonna on the main
hook "I'm looking for some wild dancing out on the street, looking
for a chance to dance to the beat". Frequent Madonna collaborator
Stephen Bray didn't know much about these tunes as he explained;
"She never discussed these songs with me, and I have never heard
them. They were probably just another job in her mind."
The three original Otto and Madonna recordings would have remained
an interesting curiosity, had they been left alone. Greed however,
encouraged the additional release of several re-sequenced songs
that were never meant to exist. This turned many fans off to the
original oddities, and to many other early era releases for the
fear that they might be more bizarre tunes like "Give It To Me",
"Shake", "Time To Dance", "On The Street", and "Oh My". Otto also
taped an answer video to "Papa Don't Preach" called "Madonna Don't
Preach" which aired in part on MTV in late 1986. Today he is
reportedly retired somewhere in Europe.
In 1980 Madonna decided to perform lead vocals with her own band
called Emmy. Gary Burke played bass (while also playing for
Madonna's former group Breakfast Club), Brian Syms played lead
guitar, and Madonna's college pal Stephen Bray joined them from
Michigan to play drums. I spoke with Bray last March, exclusively
for Goldmine. He explained how it all started; "Breakfast Club was
always Dan and Ed Gilroy as front men with various back up.
Madonna played the drums. Her time (with them in 1979) helped
develop her early songwriting skills as well as instruction on
guitar, which was later helpful when she formed Emmy. She already
had 12-14 songs written when I showed up, and I just had to learn
them." The songs from this period have surfaced on the bootleg
release "Emmy & The Emmy's Live, First Time Out Of Manhattan".
Included are the live tracks "Love For Tender", "No Time For
Love", "Bells Ringing", "Drowning", "Are You Ready For It", "Best
Girl", "Hot House Flower", "Simon Says", "Nobody's Fool", "Love
Express", and one studio version of "Drowning". These songs
resemble the punk rock of that period more than the Madonna we
have come to know today.
Alternate versions of the Emmy songs and other live cuts have
surfaced on various bootleg vinyl and CD releases ("The Early
Years") that were not included on the original "Out Of Manhattan"
release such as "Remembering Your Touch". "Little Boy", and "Safe
Neighborhood" (according to Bray incorrectly called "Shit On The
Ground" on bootleg releases). Bray was especially fond of "Shine A
Light" which he instantly began to sing on the phone when I
mentioned the title. These last three tracks appeared on bootleg
vinyl in Europe and are credited as being written by Dan
Giorlando. Bray didn't have any idea who that was, or why they
would be listed that way. Some have thought that was a misprint
for Dan Gilroy, but nobody seems to know for sure. Madonna
recorded the lead vocal, and Bray had always thought that Madonna
wrote them. The band played many gigs around town, and soon they
got serious about producing their first studio quality demo.
On November 30th, 1980 Emmy recorded a four cut studio demo which
was later distributed on TDK cassettes around New York. Today they
are surfacing on various bootleg CD's. I asked Stephen Bray to
describe what he remembered from these songs, and he commented on
each this way;
"I Like) Love For Tender" - "Sort of our Byrds thing. Nice song,
arrangement was too long though".
"No Time" - "This was a giddy up tempo romp, with drums and rhythm
section stuff inspired by the fast playing Police and XTC
attitude, but with a pop top. "
"Bells Ringing" - "Our most Psychedelic number I recall, too long
again. It had a definite Stone's -ish attitude".
"Drowning" - "The best tune of the moment, I always thought. "
The Emmy demo was recorded at the Music Building on 8th Ave. in
New York City, and Bray revealed;
"...I believe in room 1002 which belonged to Regina Richards. "
Better known as just "Regina", she cracked the American top ten
with what was considered to be the first Madonna sound a like hit
called "Baby Love" in 1987. It was released as Madonna reached her
apex with the "True Blue" album. Apparently Madonna was not amused
according to Bray; "Regina Richards is a pro at imitation, she can
do it all, and any singers style of voice. Madonna was not too
happy with it." Contrary to popular belief, Madonna did not help
write this song under another name, and there is no Madonna demo
of this song. Bray commented; "She wouldn't do anything unless it
had her name on it". His association with Regina also runs deeper.
Her husband operates Black Lion Music and holds the publishing for
Stephen Bray's compositions. This includes his portion of the
publishing he splits with Madonna on their collaborations.
Eventually Emmy disbanded and Madonna moved forward with her first
manager Camille Barbone of Gotham Management. She tried to
cultivate Madonna into a solo artist in the style of Pat Benetar.
Stephen Bray joined the studio band that provided the music to
this August 1981 recording session. Madonna 's first solo demo
included "Take Me (I Want You)", "Love On The Run", "Get Up", and
"High Society (Society's Boy)". Bray made a special point to clear
up an inaccuracy in reported Madonna history; " The Gotham tape
was recorded at Media Sound, which was NOT Camille's (Gotham
Sound) studio. Media Sound was a converted church where Camille
got "spec" time with engineer Alec Head and Jon Gordon (he went on
to produce Suzanne Vega). Gordon produced and played guitar.
(Camille's) Gotham studio was a writing studio only. I don't
believe anything but "room sound" tapes were made there". This
revelation by Bray explains why there are very different studio
and rehearsal versions of these songs, which have started to
surface in the collectors market.
According to her July 22, 1981 Gotham contract, Madonna was
supposed to get $250 for every unreleased master, and $500 for
every released master plus a 3% royalty on the retail price of
every record sold. This demo would eventually be circulated and
turned down by the likes of Geffen and Atlantic Records. The
ownership of the songs recorded during these sessions remained in
a legal battle for years when Madonna later signed to Warner
Brothers Records.
Stephen Bray and Madonna also recorded their own songs
independently at The Music Building between 1980 and 1982. Some of
these have appeared on Bray's high quality independent label
release "Pre-Madonna" in 1996 and was not authorized by Madonna.
However, it's not a bootleg since Bray owns the masters. Today,
the remaining CD copies are now available through Bray's Soultone
Entertainment web site http://www.soultone.com Featured on the
disc are the previously unheard "Laugh To Keep From Crying",
"Stay'81" and "Crimes Of Passion". An obvious highlight on this
release are the original versions of four songs produced by
Madonna and Steve Bray which got Madonna her Warner Brother's
contract with Sire Records in late 1982. These are "Ain't No Big
Deal", "Everybody", "Burning Up", and "Don't You Know".
Once Madonna signed to Warner Brother's, much of her material from
her first three Sire albums started out as demos produced by
Madonna, and Bray. Bray described the process this way; "I would
call her up and say 'I have another track for you', then we would
get together. I am used to collaborating with others, so we would
just work on a few songs, and she would use some of them later."
At first this author tried to group these recordings into album
"sessions" for Goldmine, but as Bray described; "We would just get
together and work. If there was something she had them in mind
for, she never told me." ". Often recordings from the same session
would end up on different albums. Therefore, this author has
listed Madonna's unreleased studio titles alphabetically following
this article.
Early Bray-Madonna collaborations were apparently divided into
individual song writing credits once Madonna got her album deal.
"Everybody" was originally submitted to the copyright office as
"Everybody, Dance" written by both Madonna and Stephen Bray. Later
Madonna alone would get authorship for this song on her self
titled debut album as Bray explained; " There was an agreement
between Madonna and I not to consider "Everybody" as a co-write,
but I guess the Library Of Congress never got word of the change
in ownership." In the end, Bray received credit alone for "Ain't
No Big Deal".
Many are surprised to learn that the song that won Madonna over to
Sire Records company president Seymour Stein has never appeared on
any of her own albums. Madonna's first Warner Brothers single
"Everybody" was released in April 1983 and was produced by club DJ
Mark Kamins (a rare remix by Rusty Egan was used on the vinyl 12"
for the UK release only). Bray revealed, "Everybody was supposed
to be her second release, not her first." After Madonna was signed
in late 1982, several versions of "Ain't No Big Deal" were
recorded with different producers in an effort to get the most out
of the song. The first production was a 24track master recorded
with Stephen Bray. The second production was done with Mark
Kamins, and the third version was done with Reggie Lucas. The
final production was a remix by Jellybean Benitez based on the
Bray version. Once the record company decided to spend the time to
produce several different versions of "Ain't No Big Deal",
"Everybody" was issued as Madonna's first single instead.
Bray however got the sole writing credit for "Ain't No Big Deal"
and in the meantime sold his publishing rights to July Fourth
Music. Disco act Barracuda then recorded and released their own
version on Epic Records before Warner Brothers had selected which
Madonna version to use for her release. The song was then dropped
from her first album and Madonna's then boyfriend Jellybean
Benitez found and produced what would later become Madonna's first
American top 40 single "Holiday" as the replacement. Years later
the Reggie Lucas production of "Aint No Big Deal" was released on
the B-side of the "True Blue" single, but the other versions
remain unreleased. Bray added; "There was also another version of
"Everybody " that Madonna used during club performances remixed by
Jellybean Benitez, which has also has never been released."
In 1983 Madonna teamed up with producers Don and David Was for
what would later become one of her least known recording sessions.
Stephen Bray explained to Goldmine how it all happened after he
joined Dan Gilroy to reform Breakfast Club; "After Emmy devolved,
Breakfast Club hired me to play drums (in 1982). That (lineup)
featured Dan and Ed on guitar and Gary on bass. This was the line
up that was signed to ZE records (without Madonna) in 1983, and
then MCA Records in 1986. (When) we got signed to ZE Records the
label's A&R guy paired Madonna up with Was (not Was). They
recorded "Shake Your Head (Let's Go To Bed)" for the Was (not Was)
album "Born To Laugh At Tornadoes". They later replaced her lead
vocal with Ozzy Osbourne for the release of the album (in 1983)".
This portion of the lyrics could be considered very Madonna-esque,
but the arrangement resembles new wave;
You can't sue Buddha for liable, You can't re-write the bible,
Shake your head You can't hit homers like Babe Ruth, Can't put
your finger on the truth Shake your head, shake your head, Shake
your head, Let's go to bed
During the 1980's Bray wrote and produced dozens of hits with
Madonna while participating as a full member of Breakfast Club,
the band that she had left previously. Breakfast Club charted
their own American hits including "Right On Track", "Never Be The
Same", and "Expressway To Your Heart" in the late 80's. The band
broke up shortly thereafter, and the second album that they
recorded for MCA remains unreleased. A few years after the Madonna
& Was (not Was) session Don Was explained to an UK newspaper; "We
brought her up and she sang really well, but I've always imagined
the vocalists as extensions of ourselves, and I couldn't relate to
female vocals being our voice". Madonna was thanked in the album
credits along with her club DJ boyfriend of the time, Jellybean
Benitez. Don and David Was eventually planned the release of a Was
(not Was) Greatest Hits collection with resurrected Madonna
vocals, but she reportedly requested that her vocal not be
released. The song was then re-released with a new mix by Tommy
Musto and new vocals by Kim Bassinger in Europe in 1992.
Another obscure song from 1983, "Sidewalk Talk" written by Madonna
was released on under Jellybean's credit for his debut album. It
features most vocals by Catherine Buchanan with Madonna on back
up. This version topped the American dance charts in 1983, and it
is common item in any Madonna collection. Bray revealed to
Goldmine however, that there is another unreleased version
produced by Madonna and Stephen featuring Madonna on all the
vocals.
Psalms
Madonna's second album the 1984 "Like A Virgin", was produced by
Chic founder Nile Rogers. Three songs however started out as
Madonna-Bray productions, and remain unreleased in their original
form. These include "Angel", "Over And Over", and "Shoo-Bee-Doo".
Another Madonna-Bray tune, "Don't You Know" from her Sire-Warner
demo was re-written into the version of "Stay" that appears on the
"Like A Virgin" album. In a late 80's interview, Nile Rogers
revealed that he had remixed "Like A Virgin" for the 12" dance
single, but his version was passed up in favor of the remix done
by Jellybean Benitez. Rogers did get his remix of "Angel" released
a few months later, but to this day, the Rogers remix of "Like A
Virgin" remains in storage.
The "Vision Quest" movie soundtrack featured two Madonna songs,
"Crazy For You" and "Gambler". The original plan however was to
also include the still unreleased "Warning Signs" which Bray
describes as "a good synth track". The tittle even appeared on
early promo literature for the film before it was withdrawn. It
was written during the same demo sessions for "Shoo-Be-Doo" and
"Gambler" along with another title, which Bray did not recall at
the time of this writing. "Crazy For You" is rumored to have had
some revisions made to it once arrangers were brought in to help
out Jellybean with the production of his first ballad. He had been
used to producing dance tracks, and there are thought to be
alternate takes of the song in the vaults. Bray revealed to
Goldmine that is was Jellybean Benitez who taught him how to get
around in the studio, and make all the equipment work together.
The movie "Desperately Seeking Susan" also inspired a tune of the
same title that never saw the light of day in addition to the
monster hit "Into The Grove". This was also written and produced
by Madonna and Stephen Bray. Bray described what happened this
way, "She was actually going to give 'Grove' to another singer to
record that was working with producer Mark Kamins, but the movie
producers heard it, and wanted it for the film. Then we did the
other song which was never used."
The "True Blue" era began when Madonna recorded the first of
several collaborations with Patrick Leonard who worked with her on
the "Virgin Tour". The pair wrote and copyrighted "Get Up Stand
Tall" in 1985. This song later became "White Heat", the third cut
on the "True Blue" album which is copyrighted separately from "Get
Up Stand Tall". During this period Madonna also recorded the
original version of "Spotlight" with Stephen Bray which never made
this album. Later, changes to the music and the lyrics and were
submitted to amend the 1985 copyright when the Jellybean remix was
released on the dance collection "You Can Dance" in 1987. The
original version of "Spotlight" remains unreleased.
Another Madonna-Bray demo for "Eachtime You Break My Heart" also
remains unreleased. Bray describes it as "virtually unchanged from
the version later recorded and released by Nick Kamen" with
Madonna backing vocals in 1986 except the original demo features
Madonna on the lead vocal.
Bray also confirmed another title that he wrote with Madonna
called "Working My Fingers To The Bone" that was never registered
with the Library Of Congress. I asked him if this was an early
version of "Where's The Party" since that song features a similar
theme, and he replied "No, that concept was already worked out
with Pat Leonard, and then I was brought in to help finish it."
Bray does have a tape of Madonna singing "Working My Fingers To
The Bone", but it has never been released in any form. Demos for
the 1988 "Like A Prayer" album generated two songs that to this
day have not been released in any form or even submitted to the US
copyright office. According to Bray, he owns Madonna demos for
"Love Attack", and "First There's A Kiss" which he co-wrote and
co-produced with Madonna. He also prefers the original demo
version of "Express Yourself" which he describes as "better than
the released version I always thought". He also holds another demo
version of "Keep It Together".
As the "Like A Prayer" album ran its course, many fans were
surprised that no dance remix was issued for "Cherish" as is the
normal custom when songs are released as singles. Billboard
Magazine reported that "a Madonna song" had been remixed by Hank
Shocklee and Phil Castellano during this period which has never
surfaced. This is believed by some to be the unreleased dance mix
of "Cherish". Also appearing on this album is the Prince-Madonna
collaboration "Love Song". An outtake of this track has recently
surfaced on the Prince bootleg "Jewels From The Vault", and is
only one of several unreleased Prince-Madonna collaborations that
are rumored to exist from that recording session.
The "I'm Breathless" album, Music From and Inspired by the film
Dick Tracy wasn't supposed to be a complete album at all.
Originally Madonna was only going to do a few songs, but the
project grew into her own separate release. The most unlikely, but
lucrative addition to the project was "Vogue", the gay-underground
influenced dance anthem that was first planned as the B-side of
the "Keep It Together" single until Warner executives heard the
track. This massive hit was co-written and co-produced with Shep
Pettibone who had remixed many of Madonna's "Like A Prayer" dance
singles. Madonna once explained to Interview magazine that she had
to change some of the lyrics because the song was on an album for
a Disney movie. Some have suspected that the original lyrics to
this favorite may have been more controversial. There are in fact
two different copyright registrations for "Vogue". The first was
in Feb 1990 and the second was submitted in May 1990 which
supports the revision theory.
There are alternate rehearsal versions of "Sooner Or Later",
"More" and "What Can You Loose" which have all surfaced on a
bootleg 7" vinyl release in Europe. Another title called "Dog
House" was reported by the media to have been recorded for this
album, but the evidence does not support this claim. A song called
"To Love You" co-written by Madonna and Andy Paley listed at the
Warner-Chappell Publishing database is thought to be from this
album period, but it also remains unreleased under that title.
HYPERLINK http://www.warnerchappell.com
http://www.warnerchappell.com
Madonna's first greatest hits "The Immaculate Collection" included
two new songs, "Rescue Me", and "Justify My Love", but another
title called "Get Over" didn't make the final selection. This
Madonna-Bray collaboration remains unreleased with Madonna's lead
vocal. Another version was recorded and released by Nick Scotti
who had met Madonna at a party. It first appeared on the
Soundtrack to the film "Nothing But Trouble". This was produced by
Madonna and Shep Pettibone and features prominent Madonna backing
vocals. Another remixed version appears on his debut Reprise
album. This was Stephen Bray's last released collaboration with
Madonna before he began a five-year hiatus that started with the
birth of his daughter. During that time Bray built a recording
studio and today lives in southern California.
Collaborations with Shep Pettibone however, continued with the
album "Erotica". It is rumored that some of the songs from this
album started out as demo productions with her DJ and remixer
Junior Vasquez including a title called "Love Hurts". This song is
said to have evolved into the Madonna-Pettibone song "Erotica"
which became the album title track. Copyright records do not
support this claim, but handwritten alternate lyrics (said to be
Madonna's) did appear on the auction block featuring this
alternate chorus:
"Sometimes you cross that line - Love Hurts- You gotta be cruel to
be kind - Love Hurts-Tell me whats on your mind-Love stings- Love
burns- Love sings- Love yearns- But most of all love hurts."
There are also other unreleased orphans from the "Erotica" period.
These include "Actions Speak Louder Than Words" which is
copyrighted separately from the released "Words". Another title
called "Cheat" appears to contain a line that was used in "Thief
Of Hearts", but the copyright records also refer to the alternate
title for "Cheat" called "Drunk Girl" which may have some
connection to the released song "Bad Girl" which does appear on
the album. "Deeper And Deeper" also started out with alternate
arrangements and lyrics according to reports that Pettibone gave
to EQ magazine. Two other tunes "Shame", and "You Are The One"
have never seen the light of day in any form, but do have
copyright registrations. In fact, "Shame" has an original Madonna
demo on file at the Library Of Congress.
Evidence does not support the other rumored titles from the
"Erotica" sessions which include "Freak", "No Entry", and "Throb"
even though they appeared in trusted media publications. Early
press for this album also spoke of "Show And Tell", "Eating Out",
and "Out To Lunch" which have not surfaced, and they do not appear
in the copyright records. They may be early re-writes of the
released "Where Life Begins", or media error. Another title which
was called "Queens Pearls" or "Queen Of Pearls" by the media
eventually turned up as the club hit "Queens English" by former
1990 Blonde Ambition Tour dancers Luis and Jose. This song
features Madonna backing vocals and was produced by Junior
Vasquez. Alternate Madonna versions of this song could not be
confirmed to exist.
Just after Erotica Madonna gave a demo of "Just A Dream"
co-written and produced with Patrick Leonard to Blonde Ambition
Tour dancer and backing vocalist Donna DeLory. Donna used the song
on her MCA Records debut, but the Madonna lead vocal recording
remains unreleased. Today, Donna is the vocalist in the duo group
Bliss.
When Madonna began to record for her 1994 "Bedtime Stories" album,
she at first continued with Shep Pettibone as her main
collaborator. Several songs were recorded before she abandoned his
productions for work with producer Dave Hall who offered a more
R&B flavor. The Pettibone productions remain unreleased from these
sessions. "Something's Coming Over Me" (was later re-titled
"Secret"), "I Will Always Have You" (was later re-titled "Inside
of Me"), and "Id Rather Be Your Lover" all have separate copyright
registrations and demos different from the Madonna-Dave Hall
productions at the Library Of Congress. Strangely, Pettibone is
not credited as a co-author on these songs in the "Bedtime
Stories" album credits (he only gets a "thank you for
understanding"). He is credited as co-author for those three songs
in the Warner-Chappell Publishing database.
Also never released are "Love Wont Wait", and "Bring It". "Love
Won't Wait" was eventually given to Gary Barlow to re-record for
his 1997 Arista album "Open Road". These were Madonna's last
collaborations with Shep Pettibone before he went on an industry
hiatus. Pettibone is a favorite among Madonna fans and today
sources tell me that Shep has been investing his millions in real
estate, including a hotel in Oceanside, New Jersey. He has just
recently returned to working on music.
The Dave Hall sessions for "Bedtime Stories" produced four other
cuts that also never made the album. "Keep On" has a publishing
record at Warner-Chappell and remains unreleased, but it could be
an earlier version of the released "Don't Stop" which shares that
lyric. "Freedom" was later used on the various artist charity
release "Carnival". "Honesty" has a publishing record at
Warner-Chapell Publishing that has never been released. And
finally, "Let Down Your Guard" appeared on a UK picture disc
b-side
There is also an unreleased rap for "Id Rather Be Your Lover" by
the late 2Pac Shakur which may later surface on a future 2Pac box
set. The released version features a different rap by Me'Shell
Ndegeocello. The 2Pac rap is currently only found on his bootleg
album "East 2 West" which is readily available on the Internet
featuring Madonna's lead vocal. The lyrics to his unreleased rap
are:
Hey, they minds diff'rent from what they lips say even when the
media is gettin' greedy you make they hips sway hitin' with the
bomb ambition. I caught you peepin', no more sleepin' I got you
freakin' through the through whole weekend. Fakes speakin', is it
mashin' or just they heat try to get me all up in your satan
sheets. What they say, a blonde and a thug brotha the way you
getting' paid, I wish I was yo lova
The late 1995 Madonna ballads collection "Something To Rememeber"
spawned the dance remixes for "Love Don't Live Here Anymore" which
were issued to club DJ's at the promotional level, but not at
retail. These are well liked by Madonna collectors, and additional
ballads converted to dance anthems were expected to follow.
Instead "Evita" took over, but not before dance mixes of the
Marvin Gaye remake "I Want You" leaked out. Junior Vasquez may
have produced this mix. It is thought to have been officially
commissioned due to the high quality of the mix. Other so-called
"official/unreleased" remixes are usually of a lower standard, and
are actually bootleg versions.
Madonna's most recent studio album "Ray Of Light" was originally
planned as techno project with Robert Miles, Trent Reznor, Nelle
Hooper, Babyace, and William Orbit as musical collaborators. In
the end, only Orbit was retained. There may be early demos of the
"Ray Of Light" songs co-produced with one or more of the original
line-up, but none have turned up so far. One track "Skin" is known
to have first been titled "Flirtation Dance", and may have had
different lyrics. This alternate title is documented on the songs
copyright submission. Ever since this album was released, reports
of a never completed dance remix album called "Veronica
Electronica" featuring songs from the "Ray Of Light" album have
been rather persistent. There are thought to be officially
commissioned unreleased remixes of "To Have And Not To Hold" by
Goldie, which were never turned back in to Madonna. Another track
from "Ray Of Light" called "Has To Be" appears on the album only
outside of North America. Other reports of unreleased mixes have
not been well supported, and are probably independently produced
bootlegs.
False Profits
The demand for unreleased Madonna recordings has increased greatly
in the last few years. Unfortunately misinformation is eventually
accepted as fact by the fan base. Sometimes releases label
recordings as Madonna or Madonna related when they have nothing to
do with her at all. The earliest Madonna bootleg fraud was the
inclusion of the song "Lies In Your Eyes" on some collections
(such as "Cover Girl"). This song was supposed to feature Madonna
with the band I-Level on this supposedly unreleased track from the
"Vision Quest Soundtrack". This has proven not to contain any
Madonna vocals. Both Stephen Bray and the Warner-Chappell
Publishing have confirmed that the unreleased "Vision Quest" song
title is the previously mentioned "Warning Signs". Bray also
informed Goldmine; I-Level sent us a demo and I remember
discussing it. We liked it but we never recorded it". Other
reports of lost Madonna songs for the mid 80's "Fast Forward
Soundtrack", and a tune called "Call Me Mr. Telephone" have also
proven to be false according to Bray, even though both claims were
printed in a major Madonna biography.
Most bootleg Madonna releases are live performances from 1985
Virgin Tour, The 1987 Who's That Girl Tour, The 1990 Blonde
Ambition Tour, or The 1993 Girlie Show. Quality varies greatly as
do the track listings. Some come direct from the sound mixing
boards at the venue. Not all releases contain the complete show,
and some are even mislabeled. It is best to consult with other
collectors to know which releases offer the best sound before
making a purchase unless you are interested only in the unique
photo cover.
Also becoming more common are counterfeit duplicates of Madonna's
official releases on CD and picture discs from countries like
Mexico, China, Bulgaria, Russia, and the Ukraine. Other popular
items are the illegitimate "Greatest hits" collections that tend
to be revised and re-issued in these same countries as Madonna's
career progresses. One release called "Madonna Best 98" from Asia
even mistakenly contains tracks by Bananarama. Many of these earn
their collectable value from the unique picture covers and
alternate graphics. These illegal issues cost the recording
industry millions of dollars in lost revenue in those very same
markets every year.
The latest bootleg scam is to imply the familiar name of a popular
producer onto a bootleg dance remix in an attempt to lend
credibility to what is really an unauthorized, and even a homemade
version. Rumors of a canceled Madonna remix album have given fuel
to bootleggers who try to pass off an unauthorized version, as
"one of those unreleased, but official" mixes. I know of at least
three cases.
Alternate dance remixes of "Crazy For You '96", "Candy Perfume
Girl" and "Ray Of Light" are all currently circulating in the
collectors market. They were thought by many fans to have been
remixed by Tony Moran (on white label vinyl), Todd Terry (found on
CD boot collection), and Hani (for "Veronica Electronica")
respectively. The names associated with these mixes are familiar
and popular with those who frequent the club scene, and give a
sense of quality to the collector who buys them. I recently spoke
with an unnamed industry insider who works closely with all three
of these producers on a daily basis. He strongly explained to me
"They have (had) nothing to do with (those) titles, or any other
(Madonna) tittles for that matter." At that point, I mentioned
that Tony Moran does list Gary Barlow's single "Love Won't Wait"
(written by Madonna and Shep Pettibone) on his remixography (which
appears to be truly unreleased). I was then told by my source
"Yeah, but the Gary Barlow record was a fiasco, it's better if you
just keep (them) out of anything about (Madonna)." He added "The
problem is that Madonna works only with a small group of people, a
very small camp, and (they're) not a part of it. Todd, Hani, and
Tony, they've never done anything (for) her."
If a bootleg release implies that a song was remixed by an
industry heavyweight like Junior Vasquez, buyer beware is this
authors advice! It doesn't mean that it is really true. Technology
has made it possible to produce convincing remixes. Some versions
may have been done by that big name for their own dance club as
claimed, but they still may not have been officially commissioned.
Production qualities can very greatly, and some are simply be the
original production with a new drum and bass track mixed on top of
it. Don't be fooled until you have heard it yourself. Some of them
are very good.
Confusion surrounding Madonna inspired projects has sometimes
fueled additional sales. Twice this seems to have been encouraged
by the Record Companies. When the reported collaboration between
Madonna and Michael Jackson fell apart for his Sony album
"Dangerous", many were surprised to find a very Madonna-like
"mystery girl" credited on the track "In The Closet". It was
revealed much later that the cameo appearance was actually princes
Stephanie of Monaco on the Jackson record. This was long after
many Madonna fans had already purchased the curiosity believing
that Madonna may have had something to do with the track,
including this author. Just a few years later "If Madonna Calls"
by Junior Vasquez was originally implied to have an actual Madonna
vocal sample from Junior's answering machine on the record. This
vocal was at first credited to "Who's That Girl" near a "thank
you" to Madonna on the first pressings. After most Madonna
collectors ran out and bought the record, it was later credited to
Kelly Bienvenue. Both "In The Closet", and "If Madonna Calls" do
however, remain interesting Madonna inspired items.
MY2K
Madonna has saturated our pop culture in the last decades of the
20th century. Most people have seen more of her than they ever
thought that they could, or should as far as celebrities are
concerned. We have looked down her throat in "Truth Or Dare", we
have seen up her skirt in "Sex", but what has often overlooked is
the music brought her to our attention in the first place. Finally
the respectable Madonna seems to have emerged in the public view
brought on by maturity and motherhood . The later half of 1999 has
seen the release of "Beautiful Stranger" from the Austin Powers
movie "The Spy Who Shagged Me", and the Spanish-English duet with
Latin heartthrob Ricky Martin, called "Be Careful With My Heart".
Madonna is going to end this millennium on top.
Insights into Madonna's creative process and growth since her
early days remain undiscovered on her unreleased recordings of
various kinds. There is pressure mounting from fans to release
some of these on a "from the vaults-type" Madonna collection.
There is even some concern that these recordings are not being
preserved properly. Bray revealed that his 24 track studio master,
of "Ain't No Big Deal " is "lost, and even the engineer doesn't
know where it went. Unless someone gets these recordings together,
they are only going to get damaged or lost and forgotten." Bray
mentioned that he could not release "Desperately Seeking Susan" or
another other Warner-era recorded demo without Madonna's
co-operation due to the exclusivity clause in her Warner contract.
The recordings that he issued independently on the original
"Pre-Madonna" CD feature recordings prior to her 1982 contract. He
added, "Maybe one day she will have a change of heart".
~~~~~
love&peace
laura
M M * * DDDD OOO N N N N * *
MM MM ***** D D O O NN N NN N *****
M M M ***** D D O O N N N N N N ***** R U L E Z !
M M *** D D O O N NN N NN ***
M M * DDDD OOO N N N N *
--
alt.fan.madonna |news, interviews, discussion, writings
|chat, exchange merchandise, meet fans....
|Get into the groove baby you've got to... check us out!
Stutz Bearcat
>
Hope the "fans" will start replying to you...good luck! ;)
You've posted over 400 On-topic threads...I trust; seems like the "fans" ignore
you...about 95% of the time? Why?
<sigh>
Re: Tracking/Hacker threats being made BY LoveMrs...@madonnaweb.com
(laura fairhead/Madonna Ruelz)???
LoveMrs...@madonnaweb.com Wrote:
>
> i) attacking their machine
> (ii) posting their personal information on-line.
>
The Perfect Problem
>From: LoveMrs...@madonnaweb.com (Madonna Rulez)
> MADONNA - FROM GENESIS TO REVELATIONS by Bruce Baron
CUT!!
"The Perfect Solution"
Take: 453
Ready...and...action!
---
As to cleaning up this group believe me I have been working on that...I have
the perfect solution but it will take a little time to get sorted out but I
will e-mail people on my list here as things progress, :-)
~Madonna Rulez [12-18-02]