From Mark Savage at the BBC
Madonna’s long-time collaborator Patrick Leonard has posted several demos from the Like A Prayer album online, in an attempt to thwart an auction of the star’s personal effects.
Leonard uploaded the first versions of Like A Prayer and Cherish, recorded on the day they were written, on Monday.
He hopes to stop fans bidding on cassettes of Madonna’s unreleased recordings at an auction this week.
The tapes are being sold by the star’s former art adviser Darlene Lutz.
Lutz is also auctioning intimate personal items including Madonna’s break-up letter from rapper Tupac Shakur, a hairbrush with strands of her hair and “stage-worn” La Perla bra.
The singer tried to stop the auction, filing an emergency court order in 2017, saying she had no idea Lutz was in possession of the items. However, a Manhattan judge ruled earlier this month that the sale could go ahead.
The auction is due to end on 26 July. Current bids on Madonna’s unreleased music have reached $1,283 (£1,031) for the Like A Prayer demos, $446 (£358) for an original recording of Justify My Love and $963 (£774) for a cassette with an early configuration of the setlist for the star’s 1990 Blond Ambition tour.
Although Madonna couldn’t stop the auction, Leonard has taken matters into his own hands.
“I hope these posts stop the sale of that cassette at auction,” he wrote on YouTube. “Not cool at all that someone would sell it. Not theirs to sell.”
The Like A Prayer demo was recorded on “the day it was written,” he added. It lacks the finished version’s gospel choir and electric guitars, but the lyrics and melody are identical. Madonna also provides some celestial background vocals that were eventually erased from the track.
Cherish retains its breezy pop shuffle, even without the harmonica solo and a capella breakdown that elevate the released version into a pop classic.
Leonard also shared an unreleased song, Angels With Dirty Faces, a lightweight, mid-tempo song which has more in common with Madonna’s water-treading Who’s That Girl soundtrack than the confessional pop of Like A Prayer.
The title was taken from a 1938 James Cagney Movie – much like the previous Madonna song White Heat. Leonard previously described the track as one “Madonna and I wrote for the [Like a Prayer] album and ultimately must have decided that wasn’t good enough”.
Earlier this month, Leonard also shared images of a 10-track demo cassettefrom the Like A Prayer sessions, which is presumably the source of the latest release.
It included working versions of Dear Jessie and Promise To Try (then called Little Girl), alongside Like A Prayer, Cherish and others.
“They’re first day versions, so the day we wrote them,” Leonard said of the songs. “They have a lead vocal and some backgrounds. Not produced. Without live players and strings and choirs etc. We worked from these versions and they became the records.”
The cassette also included the unreleased instrumentals Bossa Nova and 20s Jazz, which Leonard described as “sparks that made no fire”.
Collecting rare and out of print Vinyl Records, CDs & Memorabilia by Madonna? Explore what’s in at eil.com today…
EIL.COM Favourite Music Update Rare CDs, CD Singles, Rare Records, Vinyl Records, Albums and Music
- Madonna - Live To Tell + Sleeve - UK - 12" vinyl - £15.00, $18.75, €17.55 (New Item) (arrived 29-Apr-2024 12:05)on May 2, 2024 at 3:04 am
MADONNA Live To Tell (1986 UK 3-track 12" vinyl single including the LP, Edit and Instrumental Versions. The picture sleeve shows a little light wear to the edges with a seam split to the bootom, while the vinyl has only light signs of play W8717T)
- Madonna - Miles Away - UK - CD single - £6.99, $8.74, €8.18 (New Item) (arrived 08-Mar-2024 16:58)on May 2, 2024 at 3:04 am
MADONNA Miles Away (2008 UK 2-track CD single produced by Justin Timberlake, Timbaland and Nate 'Danja' Hills, and was the first song Madonna & Justin Timberlake wrote together during album sessions, featuring the Album Version and Thin WhiteDuke Remix. The disc is unplayed 'as new' within the clear jewel case with the picture sleeve W814CD)
- Madonna - Angel - UK - 12" vinyl - £10.00, $12.50, €11.70 (New Item) (arrived 27-Feb-2024 08:30)on May 2, 2024 at 3:04 am
MADONNA Angel (1985 original issue UK 12" vinyl single featuring the Extended Dance Mix by the legendary Nile Rodgers, plus Burning Up on the B-side. The glossy picture sleeve features an iconic image of Madonna taken by renowned photographerHerb Ritts. A classic!)
- Madonna - Who's That Girl - EX - UK - 12" vinyl - £8.00, $10.00, €9.36 (New Item) (arrived 27-Feb-2024 08:34)on May 2, 2024 at 3:04 am
MADONNA Who's That Girl (1987 UK 12" vinyl single featuring the Extended Version plus White Heat. The vinyl remains in excellent condition within the glossy picture sleeve. The sleeve shows some light foxing whilst the vinyl looks barely played W8341T)
- Madonna - Holiday - Train Sleeve - EX - UK - 12" vinyl - £15.00, $18.75, €17.55 (New Item) (arrived 27-Feb-2024 09:06)on May 2, 2024 at 3:04 am
MADONNA Holiday (1983 UK 2-track 12" single featuring the Full Length Version & Think Of Me, glossy 'train' flipback picture sleeve. The picture sleeve shows some light creasing to the reverse & some ringwear, whilst the vinyl is Excellent with just a few hairlines not affecting play W9405T)
eil.com – the world’s best online store for rare, collectable and out of print Vinyl Records, CDs & Music memorabilia since 1987
Be the first to comment