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 - Open Your Heart + Sleeve - UK - 12" vinyl - £15.00, $19.05, €17.55 (New Item) (arrived 16-May-2024 10:36)on May 17, 2024 at 2:55 am
MADONNA Open Your Heart (1986 UK 3-track 12" vinyl single featuring the Extended and Dub mixes of the title track plus the Full Length Version of Lucky Star. The picture sleeve displays some wear and the vinyl has only light signs of play W8480T)
- Madonna - Like A Virgin - German - vinyl LP - £10.00, $12.70, €11.70 (Back In Stock) (arrived 09-May-2024 07:15)on May 17, 2024 at 2:55 am
MADONNA Like A Virgin (1984 German 9-track vinyl LP including the singles Material Girl, Angel, Dress You Up and the classic title track. The glossy picture sleeve displays some minor wear to the edges but comes with the illustrated lyric inner and the vinyl remains in excellent condition)
- Madonna - The Immaculate Collection - German - 2-LP vinyl set - £25.00, $31.75, €29.25 (New Item) (arrived 29-Apr-2024 10:55)on May 17, 2024 at 2:55 am
MADONNA The Immaculate Collection (1990 German 17-track 2-LP set, gatefold picture sleeve with inner picture sleeves. The sleeve shows a little light shelfwear and the vinyl shows little signs of play WX370) #Top 500 Greatest Albums Of All Time
- Madonna - Live To Tell + Sleeve - UK - 12" vinyl - £15.00, $19.05, €17.55 (New Item) (arrived 29-Apr-2024 12:05)on May 17, 2024 at 2:55 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 - The First Album - UK - vinyl LP - £20.00, $25.40, €23.40 (New Item) (arrived 07-May-2024 15:17)on May 17, 2024 at 2:55 am
MADONNA The First Album (1985 German manufactured UK issue of the 1983 self-titled debut 8-track vinyl LP including the hit singles Holiday, Borderline and Lucky Star. The glossy picture sleeve shows a little light edge scuffing and comes withthe illustrated lyric inner and the vinyl remains in EX condition)
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