Breakfast Club

Over the span of more than ten years as a unit, Breakfast Club issued only a solitary album, yet they secured a lasting footnote in music history by including two former partners of Madonna—drummer Stephen Bray and frontman Dan Gilroy—along with the Material Girl herself during her obscure period before stardom. The New York outfit took shape in the late 1970s with Dan Gilroy and his guitarist brother Ed at its center. Its 1979 roster added bassist Angie Schmit and placed Madonna behind the drum kit, though she exited after an apparent attempt to claim lead vocals. Madonna subsequently launched her own group Emmy with longtime Michigan acquaintance Bray on drums and Gary Burke, who was simultaneously working with the Gilroys, handling bass. Her decision to pursue a solo path in the early 1980s, backed by songs co-written with Bray, brought Emmy to a close. Following that breakup, Bray reunited with the Gilroys and Burke to complete Breakfast Club, and the quartet secured a contract with Ze Records. Despite Madonna’s growing fame promising possible reflected success, the band failed to release any recordings at that stage and later moved to MCA. Their self-titled debut album arrived in early 1987 after the Top 40 placement of “Right on Track.” Dan Gilroy and Bray composed most of its nine tracks, while Bray supplied production on several of the engaging pop and R&B cuts. The magic he had previously demonstrated co-writing and producing hits for Madonna, however, did not fully reappear. Follow-up singles “Never Be the Same” and a Gamble-Huff cover titled “Expressway to Your Heart” registered only modest chart entries, a planned second album remained unreleased, and Breakfast Club disbanded shortly thereafter.