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Keeping it Together for 30 years!

MarXus

By MarXus,
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Keep It Together : Do You prefer the album or the single remix version?  

43 members voted

  1. 1. Which version of Keep It Together do you prefer?

    • Album Version
      16
    • Single Remix Version
      27

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MarXus

MarXus 92

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This week, we celebrate the 30th anniversary of Madonna's final single (in most markets) from the Like A Prayer album called 'Keep it Together'.  Which version do you prefer?  Check out the poll. 

 Keep It Together is dedicated to Sly and the Family Stone, and according to co-writer Stephen Bray, it was inspired by her family, who she missed at the final stages of her marriage with Sean Penn which resulted in separating a couple of times and divorcing.  The song's success seemed to be cut short, due the follow up single 'Vogue' which was released nearly two months later.  Still, it managed to become a top 10 hit, #8 in the U.S. 

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The song has only been performed once since it's release, which was for the Blond Ambition Tour.  It served as the final encore track of the show. he staging of the performances was inspired by the 1971 science fiction film, A Clockwork Orange. The shows featured an introductory verse from "Family Affair" by Sly and the Family Stone.  Madonna wore an all-black ensemble involving a cage vest, the long line bra, skintight shorts, knee-pads and a bowler hat. Her getup was a nod to actress Liza Minnelli in the film Cabaret.

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There was no official video for the song, which I suspect was due to the fact she and her record company wanted to spend the money promoting 'Vogue' in the coming months.  Still, it managed to sell over 500,000 copies in the U.S. and close to a million world-wide.

By the time, the song was released as a single, radio got a single remix which was significantly different from the album version.  The Japan Maxi - Single had a extended mix of Cherish on it, while the other countries only got the various remixes. 

ALBUM VERSION

 

Single Remix

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Voguerista

Voguerista 11,736

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Great thread! I love love "Keep It Together". It's always been one of my favorites. It says "fun" to me and made a statement with it's lyrics too. I loved the Single Remix and the Live Performance on the Blonde Ambition tour the most.  I agree with @wtg1987 how the choreography was "spot on" making it something unforgettable even after all the time. Though whichever version out there, they are all a blast. To "Keep It Together"!

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MarXus

MarXus 92

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Madonna tackles so many subjects, and it seems sometimes she always includes some sort of track that deals with family.  This is quite a personal track that can relate to a lot of people, especially if you're among a big family.  I remember when listening to Like A Prayer when it was first released, this was one of my favorite tracks. Believe it or not, I enjoyed this track far more than the album version of 'Express Yourself'.  For some reason, I made these two tracks compete against each other, early on.  Both are strong in message and fun to listen to.  The 7 inch version of 'Express Yourself' made me re-assess how I felt about the song.  Since then,  EY has had a slight edge over 'Keep It Together', but to me, I still relate to the song very much. I love how funky it is, and the single version won me over again. I recall driving to work one day, not knowing this song had become a single. The Deejay came on the radio, announcing before a commercial break, that they were going to play the new Madonna song.  I figured they meant 'Oh Father' as I knew that was the latest single and it was rarely played. Imagine my surprise, it was a totally different song. I sat in the parking lot of where I work (making myself late) to listen to the newer version of 'Keep It Together' on the radio.  Being I worked at a Mall at the time, I was able to stop in the music store during my break, to find the single as well as the Maxi Single.

The 80's were grand when it came to Madonna. The fact; that radio and MTV played her so much was awesome.  It was such a different time for music, where there were few artists that dominated the charts with their songs.  There were only a few artists who were considered Iconic at the time, and music still had some huge distinctions from artist to artist. 

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MarXus

MarXus 92

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7 minutes ago, Craigypants said:

Here is the Promo CD in Flac if you don't have it.

 

It contains the Single Remix And 7" Remix.

Thank you.  Though, I have to wonder if the 7" Remix is a "fan" remix. As far as I recall, there was really never an "official" 7 inch remix and this just sounds like the original album version sped up, with the her own  "hit it" thrown in.

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MarXus

MarXus 92

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15 minutes ago, Craigypants said:

Its from the US promo CD. This is the one I have. The Ending stops cold.

https://www.discogs.com/Madonna-Keep-It-Together/release/744897

 

Yeah, I have to wonder if it's not official still.  Not that I know what they played in all major regions, but the regular single remix seemed to be the version most played.  But who knows?  I had fun listening to it, but I can't help to think someone just sped up and made a quick edit for that version. I don't ever recall an official 7' Version of this (like this existing officially). But I realize some songs had Promo versions that most people never heard except from the actual promo copies.

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Andymad

Andymad 10,319

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28 minutes ago, MarXus said:

 11 People voted so far since you posted this.  You may be right, but I wouldn't rule out the alternative until after a few days.

Like, there are so many styles in the original album version of LAP, EY, KIT... you can’t duplicate those. They’re unique and so VERY turn of the 90s. That, I appreciate and adore. But I do love the remix. Now, can you imagine an early 90s style Vogue? 

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MarXus

MarXus 92

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18 minutes ago, Andymad said:

Like, there are so many styles in the original album version of LAP, EY, KIT... you can’t duplicate those. They’re unique and so VERY turn of the 90s. That, I appreciate and adore. But I do love the remix. Now, can you imagine an early 90s style Vogue? 

The difference is, the new version of Keep It Together, came around less than a year after the album released.  By this time, a lot of artist's remixes started to get more complex or in better terms, starting to branch out to sound more different from the original.  Many 80's remixes were simply extended mixes of the original, sound very much like the original, with a bit more production.  When the album Like A Prayer came along, her singles tended to get more remix treatment, and Keep It Together seemed to have more variant than her previous single releases at the time.

Anyway, my point was in my reply to yours it's a bit premature at the time of your post, and still as of my post to assume the album version lacks support. 

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Andymad

Andymad 10,319

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16 minutes ago, MarXus said:

The difference is, the new version of Keep It Together, came around less than a year after the album released.  By this time, a lot of artist's remixes started to get more complex or in better terms, starting to branch out to sound more different from the original.  Many 80's remixes were simply extended mixes of the original, sound very much like the original, with a bit more production.  When the album Like A Prayer came along, her singles tended to get more remix treatment, and Keep It Together seemed to have more variant than her previous single releases at the time.

Anyway, my point was in my reply to yours it's a bit premature at the time of your post, and still as of my post to assume the album version lacks support. 

I jumped to conclusion bahaha. I voted for the remix, yes, but I have so much love for the original, still :hug:those guitars give me life.

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IamZod

IamZod 596

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When I first heard the remix I was so disappointed my favourite track on the album was ruined.

Loved KIT on the album. Didn’t care much for the single remix. Neither did her UK label in all likelihood who released Dear Jessie instead and dumped KIT on the b-side of Vogue.

To me the single remix made the track worse, it diluted the power of the song, and made it less memorable. What it needed was a Yazz style The Only Way Is Up, energetic remix. It would have taken the message to another level. Instead we got a gear down mix. It sounded like a lot of the faders had been muted on several instruments by mistake. Bray’s own remix was better.

A rare Shep mis-fire IMO.

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Guest Nobody Knows Me

Guest Nobody Knows Me

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Such a fantastic single that deserved a lot more attention. The performance is one of her best tour closers for me and it’d be interesting to see her perform this again. I love both versions a lot, but I had to go with the album version personally, but I’d love to see the single remix perhaps appear on a future greatest hits collection. 

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IamZod

IamZod 596

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22 minutes ago, cake said:

wasn't Vogue intended a B-side of the Keep it Together single? Anyways, the song is one of the highlights of the album, as a single it got overshadowed by Vogue.

So the story goes, although I could never get my head around that, given she had lots of unreleased material for potential b-sides, I don’t know why they’d go spending money on a new song for a throwaway b-side. That said, it was done on a very tight budget I believe and the vocals were recorded in a basement or something I’m sure I read.

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MarXus

MarXus 92

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18 minutes ago, IamZod said:

So the story goes, although I could never get my head around that, given she had lots of unreleased material for potential b-sides, I don’t know why they’d go spending money on a new song for a throwaway b-side. That said, it was done on a very tight budget I believe and the vocals were recorded in a basement or something I’m sure I read.

It was her record company who believed it would be a smash. I don't think Madonna at first thought much of it being single material.

We have to remember, Madonna has admitted she never was able to pick out which of her songs to be huge hit singles.  I'm sure she knew some had potential such as Like A Virgin which she pushed hard to be the lead single from the album of the same name.  Yet, a song like Cherish, I get the impression she thought it was a dumb song and not single worthy. 

 

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