Shep Pettibone is a record producer, remixer, songwriter and club DJ, one of the most prolific of the 1980s. His early work was for the disco label Salsoul Records.
His contribution to 1980s club music is too extensive to list completely. He was instrumental in bringing the early underground sound of house music into the pop mainstream by way of a hybrid sound (much to the dismay of some purists).
He was one of the first to create multiple versions or alternate productions/interpretations of the very same song to be released all on the same single. This is called a remix. Today this is standard practice to market a song and artist to a multitude of different radio formats and international markets which have different style preferences.
His most famous work was by far his remixes for and writing, and production collaborations with Madonna. Most notable was the number one song "Vogue" and the "Erotica" album. Their association appeared to end soon after working on several songs together in 1994 for Madonna's "Bedtime Stories" album that did not work out. Madonna finished two of these songs with different collaborators. See Unreleased Madonna Songs. A third tune from this session called "Love Won't Wait" was later given to Gary Barlow to record and it reached ..1 in the UK in 1997 with co-writing credit given to both Shep and Madonna.
Today, Pettibone owns the Paradise Nightclub and The Empress Hotel in Asbury Park, New Jersey and has invested his fortune into real estate.
