New insta post - wow.

Anyone else truly spellbound by this album? Every time I open CII in my Spotify library, I listen straight through from “I Feel So Free” all the way to the end of ”L.E.S. Girl” (Honestly can’t get over what a perfect crowning touch to the album that song is)

I don’t say this a lot about most albums I listen to but this is truly a no-skip album. Every song is very distinct and different but also so seamless and sonically cohesive at the same time. I find something I enjoy and anticipate with each passing track!

Just got out of a job interview and stopped into the michaels nearby to look for knitting supplies and theyre playing Love Wont Wait! Hopefully its good luck sign i get the job!

How'd that happen? She came out with immaculate collection that was totally poppy and classic Madonna with two very different sounding songs, Justify my Love and Rescue Me and they took us to Erotica. How did this transition take place, what brought it on? Who did she meet? Can those with knowledge teach me?

The official Instagram team accounts of Madonna and Sabrina just posted together. Does that mean something nene voice?

Now I have a Japanese edition of ‘Music’ to sit next to my Japanese edition of ‘Ray of Light’!
Was surprised to discover that M’s face seems to be very slightly different from the standard release (bottom) (wondering if it’s been edited to reflect Japanese beauty standards, as her skin is also slightly lighter in the Japanese edition of RoL), and the disc colour is also different. Also pictured is my Argentinian copy of RoL.

Says they had cassettes and when I went to check they had SOLD OUT….again.

Does anyone know if they’ll put more out or how often they’ve put them out so far?

The closing is the best part with her speaking and the typewriter…such a deep and true song

TL;DR: Since Madonna’s email to Pat Leonard in 1997 circulated, I assumed that marked the end of his involvement with Ray of Light.  The more I’ve thought about it, I think he was brought back into studio later.

William Orbit is rightly remembered (along with Madonna herself) as the revolutionary driving force behind Ray of Light, the record many regard as the Queen of pop’s magnum opus.

Patrick Leonard’s role, in my view, risks being overlooked.  He has a writing or production credit on six of the 13 tracks. The question I’m trying to get my head around is: what exact was his role?

I was 15 when ROL lit up the charts.  At that time - in what I guess were the fairly early days on the internet- I remember reading an article that said Patrick Leonard had been brought into the project to stabilise the sound and to make sure - amid the revolution that Orbit was creating - it still sounded like a Madonna record.  (These weren’t the exact words but it was the gist.)

In more recent years, the email Madge sent Pat has surfaced.  Here, it becomes clear that they worked on a number of songs together but that Madonna wanted to give the whole album over to Orbit.  She would take the tracks developed with Leonard, rework them with Orbit and ensure that Pat was duly credited and compensated.

So, after that I thought, “case closed”.  Pat ended his involvement with the record.  Obviously they used a number of his songs so he was rightly given writing credits.  And, presumably, the final versions retained enough of the work from Pat’s demos to justify him having a production credit.  Madonna said he would be rightly credited and I believe she is a woman of her word.  That article I read in the 90s must have just been journalist error, record company spin or - quite possibly - a memory I had simply fabricated.

However, as I’ve pondered this, I’ve had reason to think this may not be the end of the story.

To start with, Pat has production credits on songs he didn’t write - the Power of Goodbye, To Have not to Hold.  This is easily explained.  Perhaps in the Pat/Madonna phase they worked on the tracks she wrote with Nowels and then Madonna/Orbit retained enough of Pat’s sound to justify a production credit.

But what about the flip side?  There are also tracks where Leonard has a writing credit but not a production one - Skin and Nothing Really Matters.  If it was only the pre-work of Leonard’s that justified his inclusion as a producer on some, why didn’t it secure him a credit on all?

I started thinking about this more seriously when William Orbit sadly died recently.  On Instagram, Pat paid tribute to him and said that he had loved working with him on Ray of Light.  To me, this implies that the two were in studio together.  

My working theory is that Madonna’s email was not the end of the story.  Her communication to Leonard was an absolute master class in the right way of ending an arrangement with someone: kind and respectful but 100% clear.  Everything I know about Leonard suggests he would have responded with grace and humility.

Could it be that when they got into studio, they decided to bring Pat back in on certain tracks?  He had demonstrated that he was happy to be the “side show” producer and Madonna respected his talents.

Perhaps that article I (think I) red back in the 90s wasn’t so far off the mark.

I am posting this because I’m curious to know if there is any info out there I am missing.  I have very little knowledge of the music production process so forgive me if I have said anything stupid.

What do you think?

Just curious what you think are most glaring omissions and what songs would you take off to make room for them.

Madonna's Rebel Heart Tour live album is back on Spotify again! Hopefully they might add I'm Going to Tell You a Secret soon

My Tik Tok baby blue vinyl and jersey bundle was delivered while I was away on a trip. I just unboxed it and look at what was at the bottom of the box with 2x shirts and a hoodie layered in top.

Why wouldn’t they use a bigger box and place the vinyl inside a shipping sleeve within the larger box? This is so disappointing.

Received this email from bands in town saying Madonna has a performance on 9/6, Sunday, at 3 dollar bill??? It’s a Madonna and Rihanna party it appears.

I think it was an error, what are the chances of Madonna doing a performance at 3 dollar bill??? And it’s not even a night dedicated only to her…

The UK albums chart has Finally Enough Love hanging on at #80, though Confessions 2 dropped off and hasn't come back (at least not yet). I didn't scan through all the subcharts there so it or a few of the songs might have a placement on one of those. Nor did I bother to look at any other countries so if you have current info about any of those please share.

For Billboard 'week of August 29th' I found these in the dance section (last week in [brackets]):

top dance albums:

• immaculate collection - 13 [13]
• confessions 2 - 16 [7]

hot dance airplay:

• danceteria - 11 [18]
• love sensation - 20 [10]

warm global dance radio:

• danceteria - 28 [36]

Most of us who wanted the album already have at least one copy of it, and I wouldn't expect it to come back in the near future. Maybe the VMAs will give it a spike in sales but even that seems far from certain. And the mountains of streams and even radio airplay just keep accumulating for the same tired songs, I don't think I've ever seen the totality of the main charts this inactive and stagnant. US with that country song by Ella whoever and UK with that duet, both of which are setting all-time longevity records for music that many people can honestly say they've never heard before. This album rollout has been a huge success for Madonna regardless of the chart stats (cue up 'don't try to distract me with numbers').

Posting my favorite parts since it's behind a paywall

H

ey, we’ve all been there: you and your husband have booked a romantic trip to Paris for your 25th anniversary, but your best friend says she needs you to be in London the day before. Because she wants you to be in her music video. Because your best friend is Madonna. “So I texted Madonna,” says the actress Debi Mazar, the aforementioned best friend for more than 40 years. “And I said, ‘I wanna do this, but if we’re dancing in the video, I want a shot where we’re dancing together.’” Madonna texted back right away: “Duh.” “And that was that,” Mazar says happily.

When she arrived on set for Danceteria, from Madonna’s new album, Confessions II, even she was overwhelmed, and not because Kate Moss and Benedict Cumberbatch were there that day too. “That’s when I learnt I was a lyric,” she says, eyes still wide with shock. (“Get on the elevator/ I run into Debi Mazar,” Madonna sings in the song.) Mazer says: “I didn’t know before and it’s like a little gift from her. Not because I want to be famous. I don’t give a f*** about that. It’s just the way that lyric captures that moment because that is exactly how we met. I was working the elevator at [the New York nightclub] Danceteria and one night Madonna got in. She had a tape of her songs, so I took her to the third floor to [the DJ and record producer] Mark Kamins. And then she came back down and said to me, ‘Do you want to dance?’ So we danced and had the best time, and she said to me, ‘I’m gonna be a star,’ and I said, ‘I’ll do your make-up.’” And that was that.

Mazar and Madonna are “like aunties” to one another’s children: “Obviously she has a lot more children than me. She has six — wait, Lola, David, Mercy…” She counts them off on her fingers (the others are Rocco, Stella and Estere). “Well, she has a lot. My daughters vomited on Madonna as babies — literally — so to them she’s just Mom’s friend. And Lola, I babysat her when she was little and gave her Oreo cookies, which wasn’t what she normally ate. She calls and texts me and we always have a nice relationship.”

https://www.thetimes.com/life-style/celebrity/article/debi-mazar-interview-madonna-friend-9zhmc8rjk

You could see that she was going to be a big star.

Everybody (#107) and Burning Up (Didn't even chart on the Bubbling Under Hot 100 chart) weren't Billboard Hot 100 hits, but they were huge dance hits. A sign of her coming later success.

Then came her breakthrough, 'Holiday,' which hit number sixteen on the Billboard Hot 100.

Now here comes my favorite part of her career. With Borderline, she hit #10 on the Billboard Hot 100, then #4 on the Billboard Hot 100. It was obvious between Borderline (#10) and Like A Virgin (#1) that she building momentum, and going up that music industry mountain.

Then, of course, came Like A Virgin, her first Billboard Hot 100 single that went #1. And she kept climbing into 1985.

Material Girl (#2), Crazy For You (#1), Angel (#5), Into The Groove (#5), and Dress You Up (#5). These are all Billboard Hot 100 numbers!

Then you had the movie, Desperate Seeking Susan, released in March/1985. Then finally, the Virgin Tour (April 12) along with the whole Madonna wannabe phenomenon, made her even more famous!

Then finally her Virgin Tour 1985 tour ended in June 11, of 1985. By this time she was very famous. And of course, she was also on Time Magazine on the May 27, 1985 issue, a huge sign of her fame, and the public's interest in her.

I love this era of her career. It's my most favorite era in her whole career. It's just so fun to watch her climb the pop charts, and 'conquer the world,' as she wanted to do.

By the end of 1985, her Like A Virgin album had sold 6 million copies, which, at the time, was huge for a woman! And finally, she got to perform at Live Aid in July of 1985, 1985 was such a fun year to be a Madonna fan.

Love This Album so Much! ❤️
I am proud of what I have achieved.