From Loudersound.
Earlier this month, Madonna announced that she’d been celebrating her four hugely successful decades in the music business with The Celebration Tour, a showcase of her greatest hits.
Given that she’s racked up no fewer than 63 Top 10 singles in the UK, deciding on a definitive setlist might be quite a challenge for the 64-year-old singer, and sadly, we suspect that one song that won’t make the cut will be the Queen Of Pop’s ‘lost’ punk anthem Shit On The Ground (Safe Neighbourhood), recorded back in 1979 when Madonna sang and played drums with New York new wave punks The Breakfast Club.
Back then, Madonna was studying to be a dancer, and dating New York singer/songwriter Dan Gilroy, who’d formed The Breakfast Club with his guitarist brother Ed. The story goes that while Madonna’s dance career was flatlining, her boyfriend gave her some rudimentary drums and guitar lessons, and quickly realised that she’d make a a great focal point for his band. At some point in 1979 the group, with Madonna on vocals, recorded a four-track demo featuring the songs Shit On The Ground (Safe Neighbourhood), Shine A Light, Little Boy and Love Express, and it’s on the first of these – pitched somewhere between X-Ray Spex and The Go-Gos – where her nascent talent really shines.
In 1980, Madonna left the band to form her own group, Emmy and The Emmys, with whom she recorded another four-track demo, featuring the songs (I Like) Love For Tender, No Time for Love, Bells Ringing and Drowning, adopting a persona not unlike Pat Benatar, according to her former bandmate and ex-boyfriend Steve Bray.
“She was playing really raucous rock & roll, really influenced by the Pretenders and the Police,” Bray told Rolling Stone. “She used to really belt. If we’d found that right guitar player, I think that’s when things would have taken off…”
Again, fame eluded Madonna, but in 1981, she signed a deal with Gotham Records and began promoting herself as a solo artist. Her creative partnership with Steve Bray endured, however, and the pair co-wrote four songs on Madonna’s 1984 album Like A Virgin plus future hits Into The Groove, True Blue and Express Yourself. These songs, we suspect, have a significantly better shot at making Madonna’s Celebration Tour setlist.
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- Madonna - Something To Remember - 180 Gram - Sealed - UK - vinyl LP - £24.99, $30.74, €29.49 (New Item) (arrived 21-Jan-2025 12:18)on January 22, 2025 at 1:45 am
MADONNA Something To Remember (UK/EU limited edition 14-track LP pressed on 180-gram audiophile black vinyl, a welcome reissue of Madonna's 1995 album of ballads featuring I Want You with Massive Attack, hit singles You'll See and Something ToRemember, and classics including Crazy For You, Live To Tell, Oh Father and Love Don't Live Here Anymore. Picture sleeve with original cover artwork, hype sticker & factory sealed. Recommended)
- Madonna - Celebration - 1st - Sealed - US - 4-LP vinyl set - £495.00, $608.85, €584.10 (Back In Stock) (arrived 15-Jan-2025 15:21)on January 22, 2025 at 1:45 am
MADONNA Celebration (2009 US 36-track exclusive limited edition 4-LP vinyl set - The ultimate compilation of Madonna songs, remastered from the original tapes and selected by Madonna and her fans, covering the expanse of the Material Girl's extraordinary career of hits including Holiday, Like A Virgin, Ray Of Light, Express Yourself, Vogue, 4 Minutes and many more, alongside new recordings Celebration and Revolver; presented in a gatefold picture sleeve [2 discs in each pocket] still Sealed & Unplayed in its original stickered shrink from new!)
- Madonna - Like A Virgin - White catalogue number - UK - 12" vinyl - £12.00, $14.76, €14.16 (New Item) (arrived 07-Jan-2025 11:54)on January 22, 2025 at 1:45 am
MADONNA Like A Virgin (1984 UK 12" vinyl single featuring the US Dance Remix plus Stay which was produced by Nile Rodgers. The glossy picture sleeve has minor shelfwear and ringwear, whilst the vinyl appears in seldom played condition W9210T)
- Madonna - I'm Breathless - Promo - Brazilian - vinyl LP - Promo - £45.00, $55.35, €53.10 (New Item) (arrived 08-Jan-2025 16:41)on January 22, 2025 at 1:45 am
MADONNA I'm Breathless (Rare 1990 Brazillian 12-track promotional-only vinyl LP 'strictly for in-house promotional use', featuring music from and inspired by the Film Dick Tracy and her second soundtrack album, including the singles Vogue andHanky Panky;The sleeve shows some light shelfwear and the vinyl displays minimal signs of play)
- Madonna - Die Another Day - German - CD single - Promo - £6.99, $8.60, €8.25 (Back In Stock) (arrived 09-Jan-2025 07:56)on January 22, 2025 at 1:45 am
MADONNA Die Another Day (2002 German manufactured UK/EU 1-track promotional CD single distributed to radio stations and DJ's in the UK and Europe, housed in a custom promotional picture sleeve! PR03599)
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