Jump to content

Reimagined: Madonna Remixers/Producers


Bobo
 Share

Recommended Posts

I started to think it recently, who I might have liked to have remixed Madonna singles in the past. I limited it to only those she already contact with, either personally, through her label or management, rather than just anyone. I came up with these. 

I chose Prince for the LAP singles as they were already working together. And I chose him again for Erotica as that would have been amazing, considering the production on Diamonds and Pearls and the Love Symbol albums. Am sure it would have been something filthy.

Shep for the 80s mixes as he could have had easy access in preparation for the Immaculate Collection mixes. I liked how he would rebuild a track from scratch, actually producing rather than just remixing. I chose him again for Human Nature as I'm sure he would have found a way to sample Express Yourself! 

Ken-Lou and Murk Boys are frequently listed as I really enjoyed what they did on Erotica and Fever and thought they'd add something incredible to the chosen tracks. Same for Betts and Orbit. 

I imagine Pablo Flores would have done something amazing with You'll See. Danny Tenaglia's remixes of Human Nature didn't really work for me, but I could imagine him reworking Don't Stop. 

The Ray of Light era could have seen Trent Reznor, Massive Attack and Air doing great stuff. 

The Beastie Boys pop up on my list too, would have been awesome, considering their history with M. 

My list stops at American Life though. I didn't really seem to care about remixes after that. 

Who would you have liked and what tracks could they have remixed, and why?

 

Open Your Heart (Shep Pettibone) 

Papa Don't Preach (Shep Pettibone) 

La Isla Bonita (Shep Pettibone) 

Gambler (Shep Pettibone) 

Over And Over (Shep Pettibone) 

Where's The Party (Shep Pettibone) 

Who's That Girl (Shep Pettibone) 

Like A Prayer (Prince)

Express Yourself (Prince) 

Justify My Love (Beastie Boys) 

Rescue Me (Lenny Kravitz and William Orbit)

This Used To Be My Playground (William Orbit)

Erotica (Prince)

Rain (Murk Boys, Ken-Lou, David Morales, William Orbit)

Bad Girl (Andre Betts, Ken-Lou) 

Waiting (William Orbit)

I'll Remember (Shep Pettibone)

Secret (Shep Pettibone, David Morales, Dallas Austin)

Take A Bow (Ken-Lou, Andre Betts, Dallas Austin)

Bedtime Story (William Orbit, Murk Boys)

Human Nature (Shep Pettibone)

Don't Stop (Danny Tenaglia)

You'll See (Pablo Flores)

Crazy For You (Steve Hurley, Dallas Austin)

Frozen (Massive Attack, Craig Armstrong, Robert Miles, Trent Reznor) 

Ray of Light (Beastie Boys, The Prodigy, Orbital) 

Drowned World (Air, Kruder and Dorfmeister, Marius de Vries, Orbital) 

Nothing Really Matters (Mac and Quayle, Massive Attack) 

The Power of Goodbye (Talvin Singh, Moby, Mac and Quayle, Kruder and Dorfmeister, Marius de Vries) 

Skin (Marius de Vries, Stereo MCs, Kruder and Dorfmeister, BT) 

To Have And Not To Hold (Talvin Singh) 

Mer Girl (Talvin Singh, Trent Reznor, Massive Attack) 

What It Feels Like For A Girl (Air, Stuart Price, Bix Sigurdson) 

Paradise (Air, Talvin Singh) 

Love Profusion (Air, Stuart Price)

Nothing Fails (Stuart Price) 

 

 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

But were Prince, Beastie Boys and Lenny Kravits known to "remix" music?  That said, I like your ideas. 

I do know that I wish Stuart Price was more in the picture. I really enjoyed all the work he and Madonna did together.  It may be too long since they've work together, but I still would love to have them work together on another album. 

As for the remixes themselves, I am actually a fan of the earlier mixes, which just extended the songs.  I do like a number of remixes that took the songs further, but some remixes like for POG just sucked big time.  I also really didn't like NRM remixes either. 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

@LiamIn my fantasy they would have made exceptions at the request of Her Majesty :) I was always under the impression that M and Lenny remixed The Beast Within together, but that's perhaps something that got muddled in my memories. I'm 50/50 on that one.

Ah damn I forgot to add Dress You Up in my Shep list! 

That's it exactly, I was thinking of the Luke Slater TPOG mixes and 100 mixes by Rauhofer for NRM when I started to reimagine them by different remixers. Just tightly edited, nicely remixed tracks under 5 minutes. Something alternative to the album versions. Not 10 minute long repeative ones. 

 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I really love the early Jellybean/Shep Pettibone remixes. I wish Like A Virgin would have been given full remix treatment with dubs and special 12" mixes other than the one Extended Dance Mix.

I would have loved if songs from True Blue had been remixed by Stock Aitken Waterman/Pete Hammond, especially Open Your Heart, Papa Don't Preach or even Causing A Commotion. Also would have liked La Isla Bonita or Who's That Girl be remixed by Lewis Martineé (producer of girl group Exposé and Pet Shop Boys' Domino Dancing), as he had that unique Latin flavour sound.

Would have loved songs from Erotica album be remixed by Full Force, DJ Pierre or C+C Music Factory. I know David Cole of C+C did some piano work for the You Can Dance project. Pretender should have been remixed for You Can Dance.

I'm still surprised Vogue was never fully remixed by several remixers of that time.

Justify My Love/Rescue Me/Like A Prayer mixes were all very well done. Like A Prayer could have been given the Prince remix treatment. It could have been mashed up with Love Song too. Actually I would die if Madonna ever did a new studio cover of a Prince written song--especially Vanity 6's Nasty Girl.

I really loved the Calderone mixes from the Ray of Light/Music era. Junior remixes of Secret are epic.

I remember wishing American Life songs be remixed by The Postal Service/Jimmy Tamborello/Rilo Kiley. I think it would have been fun to hear an Indie sound to that album. 

I hope with the new album she introduces new DJ remixes especially from Portugal or young, fresh, off the tip of the new artsy underground, LOL. I'd love remixes by Penguin Prison, Tensnake, Sufjan Stevens, Grizzly Bear, Chromeo, Miss Honey Dijon and/or some hot queer DJ. 

 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

@RorySAW remixes would have worked so well for Madonna, really enjoyed the days of remixes of Sinitta, Kylie etc. Did they do remixes of artists who weren't on their label though? Was never sure.

Pet Shop Boys would have been great as well. 

If I were to go beyond those she had contact with and matching the eras, would also choose Francois K, Fischerspooner, Goldfrapp, Nitin Sawhney, Omni Trio, Underworld, Chemical Brothers, Georgio Moroder, Scissor Sisters and Vitalic for anything from ROL to AL. 

Hmmm... And...

Missy Elliott for Vogue

Timbaland for Erotica 

Neptunes for Holiday

 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

2 minutes ago, AspergerArtist said:

@Rory

If I were to go beyond those she had contact with and matching the eras, would also choose Francois K, Fischerspooner, Goldfrapp, Nitin Sawhney, Omni Trio, Underworld, Chemical Brothers, Georgio Moroder, Scissor Sisters and Vitalic for anything ...

Great list ohhh maybe for new songs!?

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I think Nicolas Jaar is a genius and I would love for him to produce some sophisticated remixes for Madonna. He also would make an excellent producer for one of her albums.

In the late eighties and early nineties I was a big fan of Mylène Farmer. Her producer was Laurent Boutonnat and I have often wondered what a Madonna album would sound like if he were to produce one. I would also love Madonna working with Daft Punk and Grimes.

In the nineties I would have loved some great remixes by Rollo & Sister Bliss.

I also think Xenomania (a songwriting and production team founded by Brian Higgins) could have produced some excellent songs for Madonna. Xenomania had great succes with Girls Aloud and they really understand pop music. The melodies were sublime and the lyrics were sassy. But perhaps the Xenomania sound would be a bit too British for Madonna? Having said that, I would really dig an album produced by the Pet Shop Boys.

Remixes by Dan Snaith, Ashley Beedle, Todd Terje, Four Tet, Solomun, Quintin Harris and Junior Sanchez would really be appreciated.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

9 minutes ago, AspergerArtist said:

@Suzy Q. God yes, Rollo and Sister Bliss would have been super! And Daft Punk was a missed opportunity. Toddy Terry and Frankie Knuckles were remixing ballads back in the 90s but we never saw them on a Madonna release, sadly. 

Well I would say Frankie Knuckles definitely influenced Pettibone and Jellybean. It would have been grand to have him work directly with her but I'm sure his sound can be mapped to Madonna in many ways.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Join the conversation

You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.

Guest
Write here...

×   Pasted as rich text.   Restore formatting

  Only 75 emoji are allowed.

×   Your link has been automatically embedded.   Display as a link instead

×   Your previous content has been restored.   Clear editor

×   You cannot paste images directly. Upload or insert images from URL.

 Share

×
×
  • Create New...

Important Information

Terms of Use