Inside The Groove - Madonna’s Music

Matt Cain, author of The Madonna of Bolton discusses the Madonna songs that have soundtracked his life.

Madonna's 2009 track recorded with Paul Oakenfold is a great song which references some ideas from her previous hits and was the lead from her greatest hits compilation of that year. Hear about its creation along with some elements left out of the final mix.

Madonna's classic track lifts inspiration and samples from other songs. Here's a refresher, but we've also identified a key loop that's used throughout the song - revealed for the first time.

When two podcasts meet! We try and find out Madonna's most underrated song.

One of Madonna's most experimental recordings and the title track to her ninth studio album, the song is memorable for its rap which was largely unliked by non Madonna fans, yet the song is adored by her closest followers. This episode tries to work out why the song wasn't quite so loved by all.

The second part of my discussion where we talk Leonard, Bray, Shep, Orbit, and who we'd play in Madonna's upcoming biopic.

To celebrate six months of the podcast and 100,000 downloads, here is the first part of a discussion on the various songs Madonna has written and recorded for movies. Edward discusses songs such as Beautiful Stranger and Sooner or Later with Darren Hayes.

Madonna's first, big, international release and the opening track on Immaculate Collection - this song may sound very 1983, but it still cuts it when played on the radio today. It was almost never recorded by her but was turned around in under five days at the cost of $10,000 - why has it endured?

A dive into the most famous of all Madonna's remixes - and a listen to the changes made for the single remix, too. We try to examine why Madonna would become so smitten with this version that it would be what she took on the road for 1990's Blond Ambition tour. 

One of Madonna's first songs. Hear how it was written, how it was recorded, what the people behind the song think of it and we also go there... down the Lady GaGa route but not before examining what song Madonna was "influenced" by. Plus there are a few things you may never have heard before...

This stunning song won Madonna a Golden Globe for its use in the movie WE and would also be an emotional highlight of the MDNA album. This episode discusses the creation of that record and shines the light on other tracks. Included in this episode are Madonna's raw vocal - without effects - and also a version of Masterpiece sung by the original writer.

Madonna's most recent album, Madame X has also been her most ambitious and diverse. This episode looks at one of the more radio-friendly tracks along with insight into two of the other songs including one which was the subject of some contention from another writer.

A teaser for the patron-only episode about the live versions of Vogue including rare rehearsal audio and examples of the many iterations of the song.

The third single from Madonna's Confessions On A Dancefloor album is a fan favourite. Originally recorded in Sweden, it was reconstructed by Stuart Price in London before being included on Madonna's tenth studio LP.

Madonna has sold 300 million records worldwide in a career fast approaching 40 years, but people only talk about the scandals and never the music. Here at Inside The Groove, we break it down...

When Madonna performed this song - for the very first time - at the MTV VMAs in 1984, her manager told her that her career was over. He was wrong. It's the song that turned her into a household name. It was written by a pair of songwriters and produced by the top producer in town, Nile Rodgers. This episode discusses that process and plays in tracks from the studio session and the subsequent remix...

Penned by Bjork and British producers Nellee Hooper and Marius De Vries, this song would be the turning point for Madonna as she moved from commercial music to a more avant garde sound. The podcast also talks about the jettisonned follow up to Erotica recorded with producer Shep Pettibone, naming many of the lost tracks that Madonna dumped when she had a change of direction on the album - includin...

A brief discussion on this 1989 song through the use of demo recordings, interviews with the collaborators and a rare live recording from the 90s.

The 20th movie in the James Bond franchise was released on 007's 40th movie anniversary and who better to write the theme tune than Madonna? Die Another Day was also a sneak peak of her upcoming new album, American Life, which would be released a few months later and once again paired the singer with producer Mirwais. But the song's story was not an easy ride as it went through at least one title...

A demo of this 2005 song has leaked with quite different verses, so here's a chance to hear it and find out a little more about how it ended up on the internet. 

The ultimate 1980s dance tracks and one of the finest musical compositions and productions of all time. Yet 'Into The Groove' couldn't be simpler and this podcast discusses the lead up to its recording, including Madonna's inspiration for the lyrics along with studio recordings and isolated tracks, a demo of the song and elements that were used in the subsequent remixes.

The song that flagposted Madonna's most controversial era, released in conjunction with her fifth studio album of the same name and her collection of erotic photographs called Sex. Erotica went through many versions before becoming the final piece of music and this podcast includes an exclusive interview with one of the songwriters.

Tony was the composer of so many tracks on Erotica which he discusses in great detail along with his experiences on the songs Vogue, This Used To Be My Playground, Rescue Me and the mixing of Immaculate Collection. There are some terrific recollections here on both a technical and personal level.

This stunning house pop track launched the Rebel Heart era, but this time with a controversy not of Madonna's making as it was rushed out early following a leak of 13 songs from Madonna's new project. But this is an opportunity to explore the creation of the song and listen to isolated tracks including the piano played by Alicia Keys. We also get to hear a demo of the song which may be regarded as...

Has Lady Gaga ripped of Madonna? That's what some fans are saying... so I'm hot off the line to NYC where I spoke to Tony Shimkin, the man who recorded and edited Vogue and wrote several other songs with Madonna for the definitive word.