(Cover) - EN Showbiz - Madonna was the Pied Piper of her neighbourhood even before she was famous, as all the kids loved her.

The musical icon appears on the cover of the latest edition of Out magazine, with the picture taken from one of her earliest photoshoots. It is a previously unseen photograph taken by Richard Corman in 1982. Its used as part of the publications Ladies We Love series, which saw Britney Spears get the first cover last week.

The photographer talks about his experience of working with the young Madonna in an accompanying essay, and explains that from the moment they met he knew she had something special.

There was no pretence to it She said, You know, we should go up to the roof because I go up there with all the kids from the building. She was like the Pied Piper of the neighbourhood - they loved her. They followed her, they danced with her, they sang with her. It was something they did on a daily basis, and it was remarkable, he explained. We just walked up and they gathered around. She put the boom box on - it was her music, though I dont remember which song - and they just started dancing and singing. She was so alive and unpretentious. She was fierce, determined. Nothing was going to stop her.

Richard loves looking back on the shoot because its so different from the way he, and Madonna, work now. He was just starting out too, so didnt have anyone to help him take the pictures. It was just him and Madonna, which he finds hard to believe now.

They met because Richards mother was a well-known casting director, and the photographer is open about that being the main reason Madonna was willing to work with him.

I would shoot her a couple more times [but] by then Madonna was becoming hot and big, and - in the nicest way - she would go to whoever would help her and move her ahead. I was that person to begin with because of the connection to my mother. But as soon as she had that rocket to fame she was off to the next stage. (C) Cover Media