Listening to the latest Erotica episode of Inside the Groove podcast (fantastic as ever) and I had no idea Patrick Leonard was so openly critical of Shep Pettibone and his remixes around 90/91. Seems quite unprofessional but he continued working with M so obviously she didn’t seem to mind.
I found that so interesting too! I had no idea Pat had been so vocal. He probably regrets it now, because as you say it was a bit unprofessional. I suspect the outbursts were for a number of reasons. Firstly, I doubt any of her collaborators love it when she moves on from them, especially when they had been enjoying such success. And yet, deep down they must all know that that's how she operates and it was a big part of what helped her sustain such a long career.
Secondly, I think he genuinely meant it when he said that was Shep is "overrated". Pat is the consummate musician and songwriter, and he clearly felt that M was making a mistake by actually writing songs with someone who was up to that point, mostly a remixer. I still maintain that M's work with Shep isn't as strong as her previous work from a
purely songwriting and melodic point of view. They're *very* good songs of course, but not quite as magical in terms of the actual melodies. But I don't think Pat could appreciate what Shep brought to the table, because Pat never seemed to appreciate any sort of dance music. Shep's production and dance nous was immense and so vital to the music she wanted to make. It was ultimately a brilliant move to work with him. Imagine if she'd asked Pat Leonard to co-write and co-produce an album largely centred around sex and dance/house/hip-hop music. That would've been...uh...
interesting. I reckon Pat was just in the midst of a "She dumped me" tantrum, but they clearly got over it.
By the way, I was screaming at the guitar in the
Bad Girl demo! I'd never heard that version before!
