The stuff released before Madonna's WB years - what do y'all think?

The Otto Von Werner(sp?) songs are a bit silly and repetitive. It sounds like she went in and sang/screamed/shrieked about 10 different lines and then he sampled her at will. I can just see her in some cheap German studio:

"Time time, got the time, Time to dance! W-w-w Wild Dancing! O-o-o On the Street!"

They're hilarious if you've never heard them.

But the Pre-Madonna stuff on the other hand is quite impressive. I love the demos of "Burning Up", "Everybody", "Ain't No Big Deal" and especially "Stay". It kicks the shit out of the 1984 version. And the new songs are the biggest discovery. They all sound like top-notch, fully formed songs. "Crimes Of Passion", "Laugh To Keep From Crying" and "Don't You Know?" are wonderful. The latter was even bounced around as an idea for her first single. And people say that Prince invented the Minneapolis sound.

LOVE it! All of it! "Time, time, got the time" cracks me up every time!

I just made a disc combining her stuff from 1980-1982 with the first album. It's pretty tight.

1. Everybody '81
2. Lucky Star
3. Crimes Of Passion
4. Borderline
5. Laugh To Keep From Crying
6. Burning Up
7. Cosmic Climb
8. I Know It
9. Ain't No Big Deal
10. Holiday
11. Stay '81
12. Think Of Me
13. Time To Dance
14. Physical Attraction
15. Don't You Know?
16. Everybody

I like how you alternated album tracks and pre-stuff. It's nice!

Moonbeam said:

Thanks.

I'm just listening to it now and it plays nicely too.

Do you have Pre-Madonna or In The Beginning?

Tron,I have the 'Pre-Madonna' CD and the 'In The Beginning' CD.They're basically the same tracks,just in a different order and with different artwork.


I can never get enough of the song "Don't You Know".That song appeared on the 4-song demo that got Maddy signed to Warner Bros in 1982.But,strangely enough,it didn't appear on her debut album.What a shame because it's a kickass track!!


Another great song is "Laugh To Keep From Crying".According to the liner notes,Maddy is playing guitar on this song! I wonder what would have happened if Madonna had pursued a more rock and roll sound as opposed to dance/pop.

DavidEye said:

So what do you think of my cd?

Yeah, I always think it's strange that she says she's such a beginner at guitar right now. She was obviously comfortable with guitar, keyboard and drums when she first started out. I don't know why she gave them up. But I imagine part of the reason might be that she felt that being a musician might hinder her icon status. Who needs to play instruments when you're the most famous woman of all time, right?

I think your CD is excellent


I like how you start it off with the 1981 demo version of "Everybody",then conclude the CD with the regular version.


So,have you downloaded the new CD yet??

DavidEye said:

No. I'm holding out. I want to just pop in the cd and experience it as a whole.

I've downloaded albums ahead of time before. Sometimes it heightens my excitement. Sometimes it cheapens it.

With all of the speculation about this album and my own concerns, I don't want anything tainting it.

There's an indie record store around here that sells albums on the Monday before they're released and sometimes as early as Saturday. I was hoping to pick it up tomorrow, but they told me that their shipment will arrive late. So I'll be waiting until Tuesday most likely.

So what do you think of some of the demos circulating right now? Especially the Ray of Light ones like:

Revenge
Like A Flower
Gone, Gone, Gone

I wish they were all b-sides. They're all worthy of official release, imo. Love all 3.

And they would sound great on the 2nd half of the album as well.

TRON said:

Those songs are cool! I hope Madonna releases some of this stuff on her upcoming box set.Maybe have an entire disc devoted to her unreleased songs."Revenge" is my favorite.

DavidEye said:

Did you get the new, high quality download of "Like A Flower"?

i'm not really a fan of either CD, but Pre-Madonna is okay. the Otto Von Werner stuff is just crap. humorous, and charming, but still crap

"The Early Years"
"Pre-Madona"

The "Pre-Madonna" stuff was so good that some (well, some more of it) should have made the first album. "Don't You Know" is right up there with songs like "Think Of Me" and others from "Madonna", which was a very good disc. That album was so stunnning, now wonder she is still a star. I think its better than "Like A Virgin" sometimes.

AaronSuperior said:

How can you make a fair judgement when you don't even remember the songs?

VinnyM27 said:

Oh for sure. "Like A Virgin" has its moments, but as a whole I'd say that her debut is twice as good.

VinnyM27 said:

"Don't You Know" KILLS anything on the first Madonna album.I don't know why this song wasn't on the album.Back in 82'-83,it would have been a HUGE hit!!

DavidEye said:

And it's too bad we don't have a version of the song with clearer vocals.

It would've at least made a great b-side for "Everybody".

TRON said:

Yeah,the sound quality isn't very good,is it? I would love a good,clear version of this track.

DavidEye said:

The music actually sounds fine to me. It's mostly the vocal that gets lost in the mix. It's hard to tell what she's singing.

TRON said:

"Sometimes I feel I need to get away...I change my mind when I look in your eyes"

love that line!

DavidEye said:

Are the lyrics online?

Does she say something about making her life much brighter and her load much lighter in the chorus?

TRON said:

i actually remember the OVW songs better than i do the Pre-Madonna ones


time time, got the time...

TRON said:

You can find the lyrics to EVERY Madonna song by clicking on this link...


www.cs.rpi.edu/~kennyz/ma...ePage.html


The lyrics for the new CD are also on this site.The lyrics are NOT included in the CD booklet,so you may wanna print them out and save them.

What about Emmy & The Emmys featuring MADONNA? A live recording actually with 1 studio track. Anyone else have this disc? DavidEye? :WINK:
Track listing is:

Best Girl
Hot House Flower
Bells Ringing
Simon Says
Nobodys Fool
No Time For Love
Drowning
Love For Tender
Love Express
bonus: Drowning (studio)

AaronSuperior said:

And that's the very best part!

Chico319 said:

I don't have this CD and I want it REALLY BAD!!! Does anyone know where I can find it?? TRON,are you familiar with this CD? It's Madonna and her rock band performing LIVE at a nightclub in 1980.I actually saw footage of their performance.Maddy is up-front,playing guitar!! I gotta find this CD!

DavidEye said:

I am familiar with it, but I've never heard any of it. I saw it in a store a couple years ago, but didn't buy it cuz I knew nothing about it. Now I wish I had it. I wonder if you can get it on Kazaa.

Are those "Ray Of Light" outtakes a good soundquality??
I'd like to hear those.

Any chance of the lyrics being posted to those??

DavidEye said:

Act fast, their only copy!
http://www7.gemm.com/c/se...L425841087