Producer Patrick Leonard likes to recount the story that Madonna wrote the lyrics to “Live To Tell” on a legal pad while sitting on the floor of his living room. The demo vocal, recorded on an 8-track player also in Leonard’s house, is the version used on the hit from 1986’s “True Blue” album.
It’s easy to forget that along with the leonine dance moves, savvy selling of sex and chameleonic maneuvers to remain relevant, Madonna was an expert songwriter possessed by innate scrappiness.
She’s among an elite few to have a hit in…
