BURNING THE GROUND EXCLUSIVE 1989
R E Q U E S T
“Express Yourself” is a song by American singer-songwriter Madonna from her fourth studio album Like a Prayer. It was released as the second single from the album on May 9, 1989, by Sire Records. The song was included on the greatest hits compilation albums The Immaculate Collection (1990), and Celebration (2009). “Express Yourself” was the first song that Madonna and producer Stephen Bray collaborated on for Like a Prayer. Written and produced by them, the song was a tribute to American funk and soul band Sly and the Family Stone. The main inspiration behind the song is female empowerment, urging women never to go for second-best and to always express their inner feelings.
“Express Yourself” is an upbeat dance-pop song that features instrumentation from brass, hand claps and drum beats, while the chorus is backed by the sound of saxophone and percussion. The lyrics talk about rejecting material pleasures and only accepting the best for oneself; subtexts are employed throughout the song. “Express Yourself” received positive reviews from critics, who applauded the gender equality message of the song and complimented the song for being a hymn to freedom and encouragement to women and all oppressed minorities. The song was also a commercial success, reaching the top of the charts in Canada, Italy and Switzerland and the top five in other nations. It also became Madonna’s sixth number-one hit on the European Hot 100 Singles chart.
*As a bonus I have added the 7″ Remix taken from the US 7″ single.
SIDE A:
Express Yourself (Non-Stop Express Mix) 7:58
Express Yourself (Stop & Go Dubs) 10:50
SIDE B:
Express Yourself (Local Mix) 6:20
The Look Of Love (LP Version) 4:03
Producer, Written-By – atrick Leonard
BONUS TRACK:
Express Yourself (7″ Remix) 4:34
VINYL GRADE:
Vinyl: Near Mint
Sleeve: Near Mint
U.S. CHART HISTORY:
| Year | Single | Chart | Position |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1989 | Express Yourself | U.S. Billboard Hot 100 | #2 |
| 1989 | Express Yourself | U.S. Billboard Hot Adult Contemporary Tracks | #12 |
| 1989 | Express Yourself | U.S. Billboard Hot Dance Club Play | #1 |
RELEASE INFORMATION:
Label: Sire – 0-21225
Format: Vinyl, 12″, 33 ⅓ RPM
Country: US
Released: 1989
Genre: Electronic
Style: Synth-pop
Credits: Design – Jeri Heiden
Engineer [Remix Engineer] – Bob Rosa (tracks: A1 to B1)
Photography By – Herb Ritts
Producer, Written-By – Madonna, Stephen Bray (tracks: A1 to B1)
Programmed By – Fred McFarlane (tracks: A1 to B1)
Remix, Producer [Additional Production], Edited By – Shep Pettibone (tracks: A1 to B1)
Typography [Lettering] – Kama Logan
NOTES:
“Express Yourself” from the Sire LP:
“LIKE A PRAYER”
“The Look Of Love” from the soundtrack LP:
“WHO’s THAT GIRL”
Find The 12″ On DISCOGS
EQUIPMENT USED:
Turntable: Pro-Ject Debut III
Cartridge: Ortofon Super
Stylus: Ortofon OM Stylus 30
Platter: Pro-Ject Acryl-It platter
Speed Control: Pro-Ject Speed Box S
Phono Pre-amp: Bellari VP130 Tube Phono Preamp
Tube: Tung-Sol 12AX7ECC803-S Gold Electron Tube
Soundcard: ESI Juli@
Record Cleaning: VPI HW 16.5 Record Cleaning Machine
Artwork Scans: Brother MFC-6490CW Professional Series Scanner
SOFTWARE USED:
Recording/Editing: Adobe Audition 3.0 (Recording)
Down Sampling: iZotope RX Advanced 2
Artwork Editor: Adobe Photoshop CS5
Click Removeal: ClickRepair (DeClick Level 3)
FLAC/MP3 Conversion: dBpoweramp
M3U Playlist: Playlist Creator
RESTORATION NOTES:
All vinyl rips are recorded @ 32bit/float
FLAC (Level Eight)
MP3 (320kbps)
Artwork scanned at 600dpi
Hi DjPaul,
Where is the download link? Congratulations for the quality songs !!!
Thanks
Where is the download link? Congratulations for the quality songs !!!
Thx so much !!!
Compliments on the rip Paul ! I hardly enjoy remixes by Pettibone (or other ones using the same generic digital beats and such), because of the lack of depth quality (i am sploiled by the technics of the now). But i checked this set of mixes for the dub version. And, wow, you seem to get bass from that semi antique vinyl that i only heared in clubs, not on home equipment before.
I’m excited to see this!! It’s my birthday and I knew you would post something great! 🙂
Happy Birthday Doug!!
Thanks Paul! The Stop & Go Dub is one of my all-time faves. So happy to have this.
You’re welcome Kurt I was happy to fill your request. Thanks for the support 🙂
A bit late to the party, but I just had to express myself. LOL!
Here’s the direct quote from Madonna about the song…
“The ultimate things behind the song is that if you don’t express yourself, if you don’t say what you want, then you’re not going to get it. In effect you are chained down by your inability to say what you feel or go after what you want.”
Madonna is certainly not a victim of that!
And I love the Metropolis-inspired video as well. Brilliant!
Thanks for a classic M-post, Paul!
You’re welcome Ric 🙂
No way! But totally hell yeah!! What an amazing treat so Thank You Dj PaulT and to whoever made this request. I definitely don’t need diamond rings or 18K gold, I just need this!
ah thank you MusicsivaSF love hearing from you 🙂
Shep @ his best,must have spinned this for about 10000 times,it was so cool to mix it in.Madonna & Shep, dance music history! Why did they name the single version 7″ remix? As it’s not an edit version of Shep’s remix, but the album version, just compared it to be sure. I even remember being angry in 1989 when I bought the 7″ and 12″ (German releases),where’s the f..kin’ version from the video?????? LOL. For the video they used an edited version of Shep’s mix which is about 5 min. I assume it’s this remix/edit 4.50, on this US CD… Read more »
Hi Bfore the label on the US 7″ does say that it is remixed by Shep Pettibone. You are correct it does seem to be a remix of the album version but it also has elemnts of the “Local Mix” maybe an edit of it but it is different from the album mix.
http://www.discogs.com/Madonna-Express-Yourself/release/1188356
The 1990 mix also titled “Shep’s Spressin Himself” appeard on the b-side of “Justify My Love” the 7″ also contains an edit of that mix 4:02.
http://www.discogs.com/Madonna-Justify-My-Love/release/1188365
Well, the difference between the 7″ remix & the album version is so slight that I didn’t notice it @ 1st while I was running both versions simultaneously in
Auditions multitrack.I did some more googlin,and no, there was never a
commercial release of the video mix,only on promo(see link above). How stupid is that?LOL. Of course later they released a 4 min edited version of Sheps remix on
the Immaculate Collection.
and some more Shep mixes on this unofficial release
http://www.discogs.com/Madonna-Express-Yourself/release/2410257
and finally I compared Sheps video mix to the version on the Celebration – best of compilation from 2009 and it’s basically the same mix,same beginning of the song,same ending,only the video mix is a minute longer,so after about
2.30 the vocal arrangements differ.It took them only 20 years for this release
and they are still a minute short! :):):)
The shep dub 1 and 2 are just an edit of the stop & go dub mix.
You can create them yourself 🙂
Seems that the Shep Pettibone video mix is only released on
Madonna – Celebration – The Video Collection
http://www.discogs.com/Madonna-Celebration-The-Video-Collection/release/3464150
and no, I don’t really need to have this, just was pointing out the fact
how stupid record companies often are. In 1989 you couldn’t go to a record store and buy a world wide smash hit as seen on (M)TV!
Major league stupidity 🙁
That’s enough spamming from me on this subject.
Thanks!!
You’re welcome Mike 🙂
Woooow, pault, super muchas gracias
Super De Nada Carlos 🙂
Thanks, Paul! This is on my list of top-ten-singles-ever. I even have my own remix edit using elements of Non-Stop and Stop & Go. And I really REALLY loved this cover image with brunette Madonna.
You’re welcome Christian it’s in my top-ten as well 🙂
Thanks Paul!
All the mixes exists on CD-singles except for the dub mix – and I love the dub mix since that I bought that 12″ back in the 80s.
thanks for a good rip of the dub mix 🙂
Ziv: To my knowledge, the Stop & Go Dubs exist on the Japanese EP “Remixed Prayers.” You might be able to find that CD if you are a completist.
Thanks Paul.
After writing my message I discovered that I already had the dub mix on CD-Single 🙂
But I love your rip better then the CD sound.
Ziv
One of my favourites from Madonna! Brings back memories of The Boathouse in Austin!
Many memories for metoo The Wreck Room Oklahoma City and The Max Tulsa.
SUPER!!! Thank YOU Paul!!!
You’re welcome Guss 🙂
OMG! This is one of my all-time favorite 12″ Records. Gosh how i miss the early 90’s House sound.
Thank you Paul for helping Make my Monday not feel like such a drag!
You’re welcome Ray Fisher glad it got better for you 🙂
I like this, even though it’s far from her best, but this was a popular time for her, she couldn’t really do anything wrong!
Thanks Paul
You’re welcome Ex15 🙂
Still one of my all-time favorite Madonna songs.
Mine too Chuck 🙂
A classic Madonna track. Pettibone produced a lot of different mixes of this song. Very strange that these were never released as a promo nor commercially.
Yeah they should have swapped “The Look Of Love” for the ‘Remix Edit”.
What a massive hit that comes loud and clear from your workshop. Thank you DjPaulT undisputed master of 12 inches!!!
Thank you Sasomom you are very kind 🙂
MP3 says ‘Page not found’. FLAC 16bit is fine.
Should working now just had a ttypo. Thanks for letting me know Neil 🙂