8 Tracks: Of Madonna Remixes With Sonikku

Human Nature was Madge’s unapologetic response to the outrage caused by her ‘SEX’ coffee table book and the ‘Erotic’ era in general.
“And I’m not sorry, It’s human nature/Express yourself don’t repress yourself/Absolutely no regrets” chants Madonna throughout a piano house dub.

Madonna was once quoted as saying “I’m really good at simple, I do simple really well” – This statement rings true on ‘Get Together’, simple and hypnotic song-writing dance around a euphoric trance instrumental.

I love to play this at parties or after a really intense rave. Shep Pettibone is a huge inspiration for me, and would go on to be responsible for Madonna’s hits in the 80’s and 90’s.

Madonna performed this remix at the 1995 Brit Awards and seriously you should Youtube it – it’s the most breathtaking-ly camp thing you will ever see and I love it. Bedtime Story was once the most expensive music to ever be made, (only to be beaten by Michael Jackson’s ‘Scream’) The music video is now archived at the Museum of Modern Art in New York. Another tid-bit is that Bjork also co-wrote a lot of the lyrics, you can hear Madge imitating her voice slightly in the song.

This track was so good that her then-husband, Guy Ritchie, decided to shoot a music video specifically for the remix – which features Madge in a sports car with an old lady…

Although not technically a remix, it basically sounds like one and features vocals from an unreleased demo. ‘Up Down Suite’ was featured on the extended cut of Madonna’s single ‘Rain’. The track is a testament to Pettibone’s skill as a club music producer. I sampled this track on ‘Untiled (Club Use)’

Madonna would work extremely closely with her Remixers as to her, the club edit was just as important as the radio single. Here we hear Junior Vasquez on Remix duties, whom himself and Madge were once close friends until he released a dub-plate titled ‘If Madonna Calls’ which features a recording of her leaving an angry answer-phone message.

Madonna ended off the 90’s with the legendary ‘Ray Of Light’ LP which saw her taking an introspective approach to song-writing, and combined William Orbit’s left-field trance production, came an instant classic no one was expecting. ‘Nothing Really Matters’ encapsulates the the inward and hedonistic nature of this Madonna era.