Someone made me a CD and this song is on it. Never heard it before. Is this an outtake? B-side? Chorus is sort of catchy.

was one of her early demos. (not to be confused with those awful otto von werrer demos)

Clubkid said:

is this the stuff that steve bray released a few years ago?

purplegypsy said:

Yeah. Some of that stuff is great. Check out "Laugh to Keep from Crying", "Don't You Know" and the alternate versions of "Ain't No Big Deal", "Everybody" and especially "Stay". Good stuff!

Clubkid said:

What were those Otto Von Werrer tracks all about? That was some garbage!

"Don't You Know" probably my favorite song from those demos. That would have been excellent on "Madonna", the album.
[Edited 3/18/05 22:33pm]

VinnyM27 said:

around the time she worked with Patrick Hernadez she did background vocals on some Von Werrer tracks. He later tired to cash in on her fame by bringing background tracks to the front and reselling them.

VinnyM27 said:

I think they're funny and fun.

"Gods! Gods! Gods!"

I like Wild Dancing and Cosmic Climb

jayaredee said:

Time, time, got the time?

GangstaFam said:

Now I'm really happy that I never bought one of those CDs back in the day.


The Stephen Bray stuff is really good, though. There are some great dance songs on there; I even prefer this version of Ain't No Big Deal to the released version.

Axchi696 said:

Yeah, me too. Major flange workout.

Madonna still has close ties with Pat Leonard who goes almost as far back as Steven Bray (producing Madonna's records, that is) Whatever happened to Steve Bray? He and Madonna seemed to cut each other off after his work on LAP.

purplegypsy said:

Apparently she's pissed at Steve Bray because he released the early demos without her permission.
Trying to bask in her spotlight is what he was trying to do

ehuffnsd said:

Interesting...are you familar with the released many times over Donna Summer sessions that often share the title of one of the songs on album such as "Nice To See You". Very similar but what I find surprising is the fact that Donna's have been reissued more than Madonna's!

jayaredee said:

Those aren't so bad, actually. Now "We Are the Gods" just freaked me out!

Axchi696 said:

Absolutely. The Stephen Bray stuff, dare I say, is right up there with her early releases. BTW, I'm not familar with the released verison of "Ain't No Big Deal". Is it on any import singles?

jayaredee said:

You're right, but when did "Pre-Madonan" get released? Well after LAP? I did like Bray's work with her.

VinnyM27 said:

It was actually pretty late. I think during the ROL era according to the original release dates i see on Amazon etc.

You should also listen to the "Emmy and the Emmys" demos.

VinnyM27 said:

it was the Bside to Papa Don't Preach outside the US and on the True Blue single in the US
[Edited 3/19/05 13:35pm]

Aside from the value I see in it as a Madonna Fan, I think 'Pre-Madonna' is a VERY interesting listen! She plays xcellent rhythm guitar, there's shout outs to The Pretenders, Prince, Stevie Wonder and Teena Marie. The dance songs have such a gritty, solid quality 2 them that was completely lost on her debut album. I far prefer the demo of "Everybody" 2 the offical version. Also, is it just me, or does "Stay" 81' totally foreshadow her 'Ray of Light' style? Who knew she was capable of such things in the infancy of her music career?

npgmaverick said:

"Stay '81" is really good but a totally different monster than "Ray Of Light". Not sure that I hear it but I guess I don't have your ears, I guess.

VinnyM27 said:

I don't see it either. But I do get an early rave kinda vibe from it.

jayaredee said:

yes, she didn't like that, but that was well after their falling out. their last work together was an outtake for The Immaculate Collection. shortly after that, he started giving interviews to tabloidy biographers about her. (i think it was for the god-awful Chritopher Anderson book from the early 90's).

npgmaverick said:

The song "Don't You Know" is better than any other song on her debut album.It amazes me that this song was left off her debut album.Also,"Ain't No Big Deal" is another top-notch song that also should have made it onto her debut.

purplegypsy said:

"Crimes of Passion" is a Madonna demo from either 1980 or 1981.It was produced by Stephen Bray,her main collaborator in those days.This song can be found on the 'Pre-Madonna' and 'In The Beginning' CDs,which are collections of early Madonna demos.These are actually the same CDs,only the song order is different.The version of "Crimes Of Passion" that appear on these CDs is a modernized remixed version,but several of the other tracks are in their original early-80s demo form.

"Crimes Of Passion" is a nice song...fun and catchy,hinting at the type of dance music that she would soon be making.

DavidEye said:

Better than "Lucky Star" or "Holiday" or "Everybody?....Hmmm.... I really do like that song. No arguement that it would have been great on the album and there are songs that could have been kicked off to put it on there

VinnyM27 said:

Better than Everybody???!!??

I don't think so. That is the track that Mark Kamins picked to play at the club the day after he heard her demo. It was the song Mark gave to Michael Rosenberg to take to Sire. It was the track Seymour Stein wanted to sign her with.

Madonna as we know her today is because of Everybody.

ehuffnsd said:

frankly, it's not better than any of the 6 singles from that album. but i'd say it and a few others from Pre-Madonna are better than I Know It, Think Of Me, and Ain't No Big Deal.

Tessa said:

I think with some polish it could be a great song. But truthfully, I think we as Madonna fans are so geeked about ANYTHING extra that we just eat it up no matter how insignificant or silly.

GangstaFam said:

"Don't You Know" and hte whole "Pre-Madonna" thing came out years ago so we've had a while to digust it. I would agree that it's a better song than the other three mentioned.