MadonnaTribe meets George DuBose
For this month’s exclusive interview Madonna Tribe meets another great artist who got to meet Madonna in her “rising years”.
George DuBose is the photographer who documented Madonna’s first gig ever at Uncle Sam’s Blues, a club in Long Island, at the time when Camille Barbone was her manager. In his first chat with a Madonna news site, he shares with M-Tribe readers some interesting stories about the young and rough artist that would have soon conquered the world.
Mr DuBose, who like Maripol had the chance to experience that unique New York’s downtown scene of the Eighties when you could have the chance to have Andy Warhol as a friend, will also be discussing with us those amazing times.
We are also happy we can show you, with the author’s permission, George DuBose’s exclusive images of Madonna from that first gig.
A preview of the interview follows, to read it in full please click on images below.
MadonnaTribe: In the early 80’s you were contacted by Camille Barbone of Empire Management to shoot some photos of one of her new artists: Madonna. At the time Madonna had a group called The Breakfast Club, but Camille told you to take photographs only of her.
Did that sound strange to you?
George DuBose: It sounded really strange. Only later when Madonna went solo did I understand what Camille had in mind. The Breakfast Club was not Madonna’s band, rather she was the vocalist.
MadonnaTribe: How did Camille want to use those images?
George DuBose: I think she only needed the shots for publicity, but after she threw me out of the dressing room for talking to Madonna in a professional way, Camille never contacted me again and never paid for or used those photos.
MadonnaTribe:Was that Madonna’s first gig ever?
George DuBose: As far as I know. I continued to document Madonna’s subsequent performance (now with dance tracks and dancers, no band) at Danceteria, The Roxy and a club in Boston, where I recommended Madonna to the Boston promoters.
MadonnaTribe: That night Madonna was performing at Uncle Sam’s Blues, a club in Roslyn, Long Island. What do you remember of her on stage performance? Was she already a consumate performer or was she somehow shy?
George DuBose: Madonna made several costume changes and some of the outfits were a little risqué, she seemed a little nervous during the first set and when I went back to her dressing room, introduced myself and gave her some encouraging words, Camille heard a bit of the conversation and got pissed at me for speaking to Madonna regarding her performance.
MadonnaTribe: How was the performance in terms of production, costumes and type of music?
George DuBose: All I remember was that she made a unique presentation. She was something new and exciting. She was and is a passionate artist, this came across during this debut.
MadonnaTribe: Going back to your brief meeting with Madonna in her dressing room, legend tells that, in a move to be supportive, you left her a note with suggestions and feedback regarding her performance, but apparently Camille didn’t like that effort.
What were you exacly suggesting to Madonna on that piece of paper?
George DuBose: Where did you hear this bit about the note? I don’t remember, but often when I am working with “new” artists, I try to give them constructive criticism about their recordings or live performances. It is quite possible that I made notes about what I wanted to discuss with Madonna. I recall telling her that she was presenting a sexy image, but seemed nervous about whether it was working. I assured her that it was… working.
