Shake Your Head (Let's Go To Bed) Madonna recorded lead vocal with Don and David for the Was (Not Was) album Born to Laugh at Tornadoes produced in Detroit in 1982-83. The released vocal were by Ozzy Osbourne with backing vocals by Kathy Kosins and Carol Hall. Madonna and John "Jellybean" Benitez are both in the album credits. During a May 2006 Kathy Kosins phone interview with Bruce Baron it was revealed that Ozzy recorded his vocal first. Kathy and Carol added vocals in Detroit. Kathy's vocals were intended to be replaced by Madonna by producer Don Was. Madonna's label Sire Records did not agree to the release and Kathy's vocals were restored for the ZE Records release as a backing track. Kathy then became a longtime Was (not Was) contributor. Madonna originally became involved via her friendship with Stephen Bray and his group The Breakfast Club who were also signed with ZE Records (later acquired by MCA). Madonna requested her original vocal not to be used in an early 1990s remix released as a single in Europe to support a Was (Not Was) Greatest Hits album. Kim Basinger did the new vocals. The '90s remix version with Madonna's vocals leaked onto the internet in April 2008.
1982 Shake your head (VS Was)
You can't stare into the sun You can't pretend to have fun Shake your head
You can't read a robot's mind Can't expect vultures to be kind Shake your head
Can't tune a radio to heaven You can't live seven lives Shake your head
You can't win money at the horses You can't fight the armed forces Shake your head
Shake your head Shake your head Shake your head Let's go to bed
You can't sing underwater You can't have the boss' daughter Shake your head
You can't make missiles out of mud You can't purify bad blood Shake your head
You can't sue Buddha for libel You can't rewrite the Bible Shake your head
You can't hit homers like Babe Ruth Can't put your finger on the truth Shake your head
Shake your head Shake your head Shake your head Let's go to bed
You can't feed the hungry Can't talk Shakespeare to a monkey Shake your head
You can't bunk to square ball You can't fight City Hall Shake your head
You can't argue with death Can't break a burly sailor's neck Shake your head
You can't drink lava from plastic glasses You can't influence the masses Shake your head
You can't become invisible Can't bullshit the Devil Shake your head
You can't ban the bomb And there's no way to stay calm Shake your head
Shake your head Shake your head Shake your head Let's go to bed
Shake your head Shake your head Shake your head Let's go to bed
Shake your head (Let's go to bed) Shake your head (Let's go to bed)
Shake your head (Let's go to bed) Let's go to bed Let's go to bed
In 1982, Osbourne guested as lead vocalist on the Was (Not Was) pop dance track "Shake Your Head (Let's Go to Bed)" with Madonna performing backing vocals. Osbourne's cut was remixed and re-released in the early 1990s for a Was (Not Was) greatest hits album in Europe, and it cracked the UK pop chart. Madonna asked that her vocal not be restored for the hits package, so new vocals by Kim Basinger were added to complement Osbourne's lead.