Pat Leonard Article from 1991

[Guest bluejean]

To be fair, Madonna needed "Frozen" as well. Especially in the UK, where she only had 2 bigger hits between 1990 and 1998. Even though "ROL" is the most acclaimed, remembered, performed etc. since then, "Frozen" proved to be the safest choice for a transition between old and new Madonna.

I think only the string arrangements remained from the Pat version in "Frozen", the rest of the production is undeniably Orbit's. However, I always thought "Nothing Really Matters" sounds so dated with those drums and Orbit only added those bleeps in the intro and the bridge...

I never understood the claim that 'Frozen' bridged old Madonna with new Madonna. The song was a huge dramatic departure imo. It does sound quite dated now, as does all the Orbit stuff, especially next to Mirwais funnily enough.

I don't even think Frozen was that good of a song, or an obvious single choice. I think it's the production and the lyrics that make that song, but the melody in the chorus is abit bland. It was in no way a safe choice.

As for the string arrangements, weren't they done by Craig Armstrong??

[Guest Danny86]

I never understood the claim that 'Frozen' bridged old Madonna with new Madonna. The song was a huge dramatic departure imo. It does sound quite dated now, as does all the Orbit stuff, especially next to Mirwais funnily enough.

I don't even think Frozen was that good of a song, or an obvious single choice. I think it's the production and the lyrics that make that song, but the melody in the chorus is abit bland. It was in no way a safe choice.

As for the string arrangements, weren't they done by Craig Armstrong??

Because it was still a downtempo/ballad song, and in the 5 years before it, she only had ballad hits.

It was a huge departure in terms of vocals and some of the production, but the melody is one of the safest ever, but I wouldn't call it bland at all, it might be her catchiest ever.

If "ROL" was the lead off single, it would have been a much bigger departure and would have come with a bang. But Warners probably didn't want to risk it. I think "Frozen" was tailor-made to be a hit, and then "TPOG" was released later to continue on that style.

Yes, the string arrangements are credited to Craig Armstrong, but I meant it most likely comes from the original composition, not exactly sure how that works, but I'm thinking it was already there before Madonna took it to Orbit.

[funkydita]

Is that your favourite version of "Keep It Together", rather than the "Back To Life" one?

The 12" Remix is one of my all time favourite remixes. I've only just noticed the Back To Life beats now that you pointed it out. Whenever I listen to it I have to stop myself from singing "Unfortunately Europe it's time for us to say bonsoir" over the end.

Although dated I like a number of Shep's mixes, the Deeper and Deeper Fierce Dub / Fierce Extended Mix, Shep's Deep Makeover Mix, the Vogue dubs, a couple of the Fever mixes (although Murks were better) and a few of Rescue Me mixes. I downloaded a mix set from 89 / 90 a while ago and it had the EY Stop & Go Dub on it and sounded great in that context (I always remebered it being a mess). They're dated and of their time but I'm seriously rediscovering my love for late 80s / early 90s house at the moment.

[agclef]

I love FROZEN but find myself listening to the Victor Calderone mix only--the album version never gets going, sometimes I'm just not in the mood, whereas the Calderone mix totally pumps it up and gets things going. She can use more of Calderone to pump up her stuff!

[Carta]

Madonna herself wanted to release ROL as the first single, but it was considered to be too much of a departure for her. In a TV interview, Molly Meldrum told Madonna that he thought that "Frozen" was a risky track for the first single, to which Madonna expressed surprise and then talked about ROL. She said that "Frozen" was a nice bridge between old Madonna and new Madonna and also mentioned that it was the track that the Warners executives worldwide felt would work best. She also admitted in that interview that she was bad at choosing first singles.

[Guest Danny86]

^Thanks for the info Carta!

Madonna IS terrible with choosing first singles, she went with "American Life" and wanted "Candy Shop". You can bet she wanted the first single of COADF to be "I Love New York"!

[Guest bluejean]

Madonna herself wanted to release ROL as the first single, but it was considered to be too much of a departure for her. In a TV interview, Molly Meldrum told Madonna that he thought that "Frozen" was a risky track for the first single, to which Madonna expressed surprise and then talked about ROL. She said that "Frozen" was a nice bridge between old Madonna and new Madonna and also mentioned that it was the track that the Warners executives worldwide felt would work best. She also admitted in that interview that she was bad at choosing first singles.

Yes, I know. Like I said, I don't understand this and I agree with Molly Meldrum. I don't know that it was risky, but more "bold." From memory, I think that's the exact word he used.

Madonna is most likely bad at picking 1st singles because she's too emotionally attached to the work. Didn't she want 'Give it 2 me' over '4 minutes?'

Alot of her albums (actually most) the lead single is an obvious choice. Imo 'Ray Of Light' was actually one of those moments, which is why 'Frozen' could be considered more bold. It didn't have hit written all over it imo. Ray Of Light did, and I can't believe they didn't go with it. But then, 'Frozen' ended up being the bigger hit in the end so there you go.

[Guest bluejean]

^Thanks for the info Carta!

Madonna IS terrible with choosing first singles, she went with "American Life" and wanted "Candy Shop". You can bet she wanted the first single of COADF to be "I Love New York"!

You are forgetting the other 7 or more times she got it right

[Guest Danny86]

Madonna is most likely bad at picking 1st singles because she's too emotionally attached to the work. Didn't she want 'Give it 2 me' over '4 minutes?'

No, even when the album was still named "Give It To Me", the choice was already between "Candy Shop" & "4 Minutes". Madonna was reportedly disappointed when the Warner execs chose "4M". She praised "CS" a lot and it's still the opening track for her tour, she's totally obsessed.

I agree about her emotional attachments, "CS" was the first song written for HC, she named the albums after "AL" & "ROL".

I still think "AL" is the only non-lead off single material, although its chorus melody is catchy enough. Even "Erotica" was more commercial if you consider that it was following the "JML" vibe.

You are forgetting the other 7 or more times she got it right

Not after the LAP era though. "Secret" was also a record label decision as she wanted "Bedtime Story". She didn't even recognize the hit potential of "Vogue" either.

I guess "Music" was the only time when she got it right, but the emotional attachment argument comes in too, because it was based on the Mirwais song she heard and wanted for her own.

[Guest bluejean]

What about 'Hung Up?' Surely she knew that was right? That was an obvious choice, as was Music.

American Life is tricky because that really had no obvious lead off single. Same with Bedtime Stories. (Although this worked out well anyway.) I can sort of see why she wanted Bedtime Story, although that would have been a commercial disaster after the Erotica backlash.

I think the only thing that made 4 Minutes the obvious choice was Justin Timberlake.

[HolidayGuy]

Pat was interviewed on VH1's "Behind the Music"- he even said the LAP video threatened to overshadow the song/album, as it was brilliant stuff there.

[acko]

Putting my two cents in...

With Madonna, working with a collaborater is always a case of 1 + 1 = 3.

Pat Leonard has always had a tendancy towards MOR..fortunately there's M

2 counterbalance..At this point I welcome him as a songwriter but NOT NEVER

& NOHOW a producer

As 4 Frozen those strings r definitely CRAIG ARMSTRONG he's a renowned arranger,

it's what he does..No Pat there.. . Leonard did however write the melody 4 the verses

2 Frozen ( as stated in the Belgian plagiarism case, & played by Leonard himself in that

Swedish TV special)

In This Life is wonderful as it is..its point is not 2 b some mushy ballad so fuck off

I love the chill in her vocal delivery + arrangement.

[loomer]

Madonna herself wanted to release ROL as the first single, but it was considered to be too much of a departure for her.

I always thought ROL would've been a better first single than Frozen for that reason, it sounded so unlike her and people would have been stunned.

Would have worked especially well if the album came out a couple of months later and it was more spring/summer, it would've been amazing and I think it would've sold even more. Possibly. But then the idea was probably for the title track to continue the momentum and keep the album ticking along after the taster Frozen.

[loomer]

She can use more of Calderone to pump up her stuff!

[Guest Danny86]

I always thought ROL would've been a better first single than Frozen for that reason, it sounded so unlike her and people would have been stunned.

Would have worked especially well if the album came out a couple of months later and it was more spring/summer, it would've been amazing and I think it would've sold even more. Possibly. But then the idea was probably for the title track to continue the momentum and keep the album ticking along after the taster Frozen.

I think "Frozen" had the benefit of appealing to both younger and older fans. If she got out with the title track after 5 years of diva ballads, she would have instantly alienated the "You'll See" fans.

I always thought that a lot of copies of ROL sold on the back of the 2 ballad singles. The title track got some very bad chart positions in Europe, but "TPOG" gave it a boost for the Xmas season. Of course back then MTV was alive and 5 videos from the album definitely helped a lot too, not to mention the 2 promo tours.

[Guest ursaminorjim]

These days, Leonard is more interested in talking about his band, Toy Matinee, whose debut on Warner/Reprise reflects his roots in the progressive rock sound he used to play in his first Chicago band, Trillion.

Holy shit.

Trillion was the first concert I ever saw in a theater when I was a kid. In fifth grade, these guys opened for the band Angel (who were essentially Kiss with a keyboard player). Went to the show with my mom and older brother, but we had to leave during Trillion's set due to the overwhelming amount of pot smoke (the guy sitting next to my mother asked if she wanted a hit - her response was "Hang on, let me check with my nine-year old son first. Asshole." ). Anyway, even at that tender age, I remember thinking how lame they were. Maybe I was just looking forward to the Angel show, but good lord did they suck.

I remember them introducing one song with the line "We think disco sucks!," which got tumultuous cheers.

[Mattress]

Mattress, after posting the LAP EY and KIT mixes by Shep that stick close to the originals, can you post his 'dancier', 'housier' reworkings? Esp the original version of what ended up on TIC and his reworking of KIT that I have on the single, only the single is not here with me I would appreciate it!

Ask and you shall receive:

Like A Prayer [7" Dance Edit] | download

I love that this version features the full album vocals at the end of the song. None of the other variations on this remix do.

Express Yourself [Video Version #1] (The house remix) | download

This is the soundtrack to the first cut of the video*. The version appearing on The Immaculate Collection home video is the second cut which removes some of the bedroom play near the end of the video and an alternate soundtrack with the beginning and ending of the 12" Local Mix sloppily spliced onto the main body of the previously posted 7" Remix.

* Note: This exact version has never been released on any audio format --commercial or promotional-- but only the first 15 seconds differ from Remix/Edit which appears on the promo CD and 7" singles. (The intro on that version is similar to what is heard on The Immaculate Collection CD.) I have corrected a tiny digital glitch that appears on all pressings of the CD, but is not heard int heard in the video.

So, about those 15 seconds; while virtually identical to the Local Mix (post "zipper"), it slightly differs by having additional echo on the usually dry line "Do you believe in love?". I have painstakingly recreated the correct version for those who love the video mix. Painstakingly. Hopefully this mess of notes made sense.

Keep It Together [single Remix] | download

This is the commercial single version of the song.

Enjoy!

[peter]

Danny, don't forget that Marius De Vries was also involved in "Nothing Really Matters." (If you listen to his recent collaboration with Roisin Murphy, "Yellow Moon," you can hear distinct echoes of NRM.)

Also, as loomer pointed out, you have to remember the timing of the release of the album. It came out in March -- first single was out prior to that. Winter in the Northern hemisphere. "Frozen" was a much better late winter into early spring track than "Ray of Light," which was good for spring into summer. As loomer said, had the album been released a little later, then maybe "RoL" would have been a better lead-off single. As it was, though, I think they made the right call. (Who knows -- maybe the iceberg that was the Titanic soundtrack would have broken up and melted by then -- and Ray of Light may have been a number one album!!! Or not... I don't recall what competition she would have faced later in 1998...)

And yes, the strings in Frozen are definitely Craig Armstrong. It's a possibility the basic chord progression might be credit-able to Pat/Madonna, but his arrangement is what makes it so lush and sweeping. (Did she abandon Craig because he is too expensive or something? After that, she used Michel Colombier until he passed away... Not sure who, if anyone, has taken over those duties now. The strings on "Voices"? I'd have to go look at my liner notes...)

Not sure if the 5 videos really helped the album as much as it might initially appear -- at least not in the States. One of them (DW/SFL) wasn't even released in the U.S. -- and the NRM single timing was totally messed up. The video debuted Valentine's Day weekend (so, mid-February) but the CD single wasn't released until the first week of May. WTF, Warner Bros.?! I think the fact that the album picked up some Grammy Awards in February was probably more beneficial to sales than the NRM video, which was a little bizarre (even though I like it). Even though she performed the track for the Grammy ceremony, it wasn't a big hit -- if people bought the album that late, it was more on the reputation (and probably the first three singles) than anything else. It also was a TOTALLY different look (Japanese geisha Madonna) -- so the casual consumer may not even have realized it was from Ray of Light.

[GimmeSomeMo]

Ask and you shall receive:

Like A Prayer [7" Dance Edit] | download

I love that this version features the full album vocals at the end of the song. None of the other variations on this remix do.

Express Yourself [Video Version #1] (The house remix) | download

This is the soundtrack to the first cut of the video*. The version appearing on The Immaculate Collection home video is the second cut which removes some of the bedroom play near the end of the video and an alternate soundtrack with the beginning and ending of the 12" Local Mix sloppily spliced onto the main body of the previously posted 7" Remix.

* Note: This exact version has never been released on any audio format --commercial or promotional-- but only the first 15 seconds differ from Remix/Edit which appears on the promo CD and 7" singles. (The intro on that version is similar to what is heard on The Immaculate Collection CD.) I have corrected a tiny digital glitch that appears on all pressings of the CD, but is not heard int heard in the video.

So, about those 15 seconds; while virtually identical to the Local Mix (post "zipper"), it slightly differs by having additional echo on the usually dry line "Do you believe in love?". I have painstakingly recreated the correct version for those who love the video mix. Painstakingly. Hopefully this mess of notes made sense.

Keep It Together [single Remix] | download

This is the commercial single version of the song.

Enjoy!

:wow: I love you.

[GimmeSomeMo]

Okay after listening to these amazing remixes by Shep and being aware of his work with Janice I have to ask: Mattress you seem to be a fan of his work. Do you think he's better as an editor/remixer of existing work or as a full on producer? His work on Erotica is controversial to say the least.

[Mad_On_Her]

Frozen was bad first single choice. I've never liked it, has some cool remixes but thats about it. I was stunned that ROL wasn't the first single. The album and the song would have been a more likely number one hit. First singles need to be huge, not some mellow ballad and inparticular after three years of dreary ballads it would have been nice to return to the dancefloor.

The ROL singles were poorly chosen, it seemed that Warners didn't know what tracks to put out next. First, NRM was meant to be the third single and was pushed back to last in favour of DW/SFL and TPOG. With an album full of such strong dance tracks it amazes me that only two of them were released as singles with the last one being one of the biggest fuck ups of a single in Madonna's career.

[Guest bluejean]

Why did they release Drowned World as the 3rd single in the UK, that was obviously not going to do well. I'm guessing it was because pushed for it and wanted to do a video. I would have done the singles more like this:

Ray Of Light

Frozen

Sky Fits Heaven (UK only)

Nothing Really Matters

The Power Of Goodbye

[Etips]

"Ray of Light" was too abrasive to start out with. I remember being at a Madonna forum at the time that it was actually released, and there being some question as to whether radio would give it decent airplay, since it had a tempo that was much faster than everything else out at the time. Ultimately, "Frozen" was the right choice to be the lead off single.

[loomer]

(If you listen to his recent collaboration with Roisin Murphy, "Yellow Moon," you can hear distinct echoes of NRM.)

Ooh, I haven't heard of this. Appears to be very recent indeed. Good call.

[loomer]

Best. Single. Cover. Ever. :vanitybonet:

[Guest Pud Whacker]

Best. Single. Cover. Ever. :vanitybonet:

it really was. and to go to the record store WITH ALL INTENTIONS of VOGUE being the BSIDE...as reported. then FACES CRACK'D.

[Guest Danny86]

Frozen was bad first single choice. I've never liked it, has some cool remixes but thats about it. I was stunned that ROL wasn't the first single. The album and the song would have been a more likely number one hit. First singles need to be huge, not some mellow ballad and inparticular after three years of dreary ballads it would have been nice to return to the dancefloor.

The ROL singles were poorly chosen, it seemed that Warners didn't know what tracks to put out next. First, NRM was meant to be the third single and was pushed back to last in favour of DW/SFL and TPOG. With an album full of such strong dance tracks it amazes me that only two of them were released as singles with the last one being one of the biggest fuck ups of a single in Madonna's career.

They were poorly chosen for hardcore fans, maybe, but for casual fans and in marketing point of view, I do think they chose the most commercial songs. The title track was not a radio hit (only a MTV hit) so the initial appeal of the album would have been very different a high energy dance track and its audience would have been limited.

You gotta be kidding about "an album full of such strong dance tracks". Most of the record is mid/downtempo, there are only FOUR dance tracks on the album and 2 of them were released as singles. I guess "SFH" would have been better than "NRM", because the latter is kinda generic and dated, but I doubt "Skin" would have been good idea as a radio single. The 5 singles represent the album perfectly though, just like Music, even though the title track gave an impression that she was finally back on the dance floor, only 4 songs fit the dance track description. Between Erotica and COADF, strong dance tracks didn't define her albums at all.

[Mad_On_Her]

Between Erotica and COADF, strong dance tracks didn't define her albums at all.

To me, ROL is all about the dance tracks. I love some the ballads Drowned World and To Have And Not To Hold but the rest are rather bland. The TPOG should never have been released and NRM should have carried on ROL's momentum as the third single instead of being the last. I predicted that as soon as TPOG was released people would lose interest in the album and they did.

[Matt]

To me, ROL is all about the dance tracks. I love some the ballads Drowned World and To Have And Not To Hold but the rest are rather bland. The TPOG should never have been released and NRM should have carried on ROL's momentum as the third single instead of being the last. I predicted that as soon as TPOG was released people would lose interest in the album and they did.

TPOG brought good Christmas sales for the album. And to predict that the album is over after it's fourth single and 10 month on the market is easy. There was no way a fifth single would revive the album especially after TPOG did just that.

Anyway, I think "Frozen" was the best choice as lead single. ROL would have been less successful as first single and the album would have been too.

[Mad_On_Her]

Basically from the June 98 til Dec all we got were ballads. Would have been better to break it up a little bit. Out of all of Madonna's albums, the ROL singles were the worst released in terms of types of tracks and when they were released. I mean the album was seen as Madonna's comeback album of the 90's, but only produced two top 10 singles the same as Erotica and Bedtime Stories which are considered by many as "failures"