Barneys, he met Madonna. Nowels commended the singer on her songwriting skills, being later invited to Los Angeles for writing sessions. According to Lucy O'Brien, author of Madonna: Like an Icon, "[Nowels] was struck by [Madonna's] lyric writing", admitting that, "It was deep, poetic and intelligent. When she's on and at her best she's on a par with Joni Mitchell or Paul Simon". He also stated that the singer's songwriting prowess was benefited from her "voracious reading". Three songs from their sessions were selected for the final track list, "The Power of Good-Bye", "Little Star" and "To Have and Not to Hold". After issuing "Drowned World/Substitute for Love" as the album's third single worldwide, "The Power of Good-Bye" was chosen to be released as the album's fourth single, since "radio programmers and diehard fans [had] long been clamoring [for it]." In the United States, the song was the album's third single, serviced to contemporary hit radio on September 1, 1998, and released to retail on September 22, 1998, in a two-track format. On October 27, 1998, the single was issued in Canada. In the United Kingdom, "The Power of Good-Bye" was distributed as a double A-side with "Little Star" on November 23, 1998. In the rest of Europe, the latter was included on the single releases as a B-side. In the European maxi-singles, several experimental remixes of the track by Luke Slater and an additional remix by Dallas Austin, who previously worked with Madonna on her Bedtime Stories (1994) album, were included. As noted by AllMusic Jose F. Promis, the "Luke Slater's Super Luper Mix" "turns the ballad into a thumping deep house anthem, making it sound like a completely different song." Meanwhile, "Fabien's Good God Mix" is described as "an electronic, tripped-out, drum'n'bass-heavy mix which keeps the integrity of the original song", Promis noted. Recording and composition After the songwriting sessions ended with Nowels, Madonna started collaborating with Orbit and Leonard for recording the tracks. However, since Leonard could not delve much studio time, Madonna worked solely with Orbit. Around June 1997, the singer entered the Larrabee North Studio, Universal City, California to record the album, accompanied by Orbit, an engineer and a tape operator. According to Orbit, "Most of the tracks pre-existed, so Madonna would work on vocals and lyrics at home, or driving around in her car." The producer was initially uncomfortable with the singer around the