The Virgin Tour VHS
In December 1985, a freshly bleached blonde Madonna sat down with "my good friend, Molly" to have a chat. She had just hosted Saturday Night Live, was the cover girl for Andy Warhol's Interview Magazine, wrote and recorded Live to Tell for then husband Sean Penn's soon to be released At Close Range film and was getting ready to play Gloria Tatlock in Shanghai Surprise.
The video for The Virgin Tour had also just been released on video cassette. I edited this bit of the interview where Molly Meldrum and Madonna focus on the tour and the process of putting it together.
That confidence and selfassurance is electrifying!!!
ReplyDeletelove it, it's such an amazing show and it's very musical in the sense that it's totally live, both the band and the vocals, and I don't know, the focus is 100% on Madonna and the music. I love her shows now but the bigger they are it can be overwhelming, sometimes less is more and the virgin tour is just incredibly perfect.
ReplyDeleteAnd her voice sounds so good! Did she get good reviews? I was surprised when I saw it, she sounded really good.
And what would you describe her hair before? it was bleached also right?
I just saw the Holiday performance on the Virgin Tour and how she broke down in tears saying she had never been elected homecoming queen but now she felt like, and I found the source where Lady Who? copied her constant, forced, hypocritical and FAKE crying at her shows, my god how I LOATHE that pathetic bitch, I want to SEE HER DESTROYED.
ReplyDeleteDoes anybody know the real reason Borderline, Burning Up and Angel weren't included in the video? I heard it was because she wasn't happy with the vocals but (considering some of the stuff she put out later) I find this surprising.
ReplyDeleteGreat interview. The outfit was a hot mess but you can see where she's going with the whole True Blue look.
It's not a hot mess!!! It's Neo-Marilyn Monroe!! it's glorious!! And I love how she used red lipstick for DECADES, women are such cowards, they can't handle red lipstick and are afraid of it but Madonna loves it.
ReplyDeleteHas anyone ever see the bootleg from Dallas where you can see the entire show in its entirity from start to finish? If you did, you can see Angel is somewhat of a low energy moment, because Madonna was a llowed to lie on the steps for most of the song and then run around the stage once and then its done. I'm sure it didn't translate well to video.
ReplyDeleteSame with Borderline, she jumps off that riser onto the stage and lays there for a minute singing, then gets up walks to the front and ends the song...low moment for video editing.
Burning Up has always puzzled me, but I feel like they wanted a G rating on the VHS tape and that song really pused the limits, she is constan;tly crawling through the guitarists legs and her head/face ends up in the crotch area...
BTW I love all three songs (especially Angel) but from a directors perspective it probably dragged the concert out on video...
How about the original opening when they show the glamor shots of her as her voice repeats "Don't be afraid, it's gonna be alright"...for the videotape it was replaced by that silly b&w intro that has nothing to do with the tour...
That looked like my copy of The Virgin Tour on VHS. I totally wore out my copy and the edges of that box were totally frayed. Love it! I gave it away a few years ago. Wish I kept it now :) Oh well.
ReplyDeleteThat looked like my copy of The Virgin Tour on VHS. I totally wore out my copy and the edges of that box were totally frayed. Love it! I gave it away a few years ago. Wish I kept it now :) Oh well.
ReplyDeletewatched this every weekend for about ohhhhh, 3 years or until "ciao" came out! LOVED!
ReplyDeleteOne of my favorite M tours!
ReplyDeleteI remember the VHA having such incredible sound! I'd play it through my surround sound system and it sounded better then current DVD's at the time (1999)!!
The reason they left off, 'Borderline', 'Angel' and, 'Burning Up' was because they wanted the VHS to be 60 minutes. That's the only reason.
LUV The Virgin Tour
ReplyDeleteCheck out my 25th Anniversary Video tribute.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xKgrHicSsS8&feature=plcp&context=C3b11a5aUDOEgsToPDskI588X6Epsr2g4k-Bgnpzb2
Got it for Christmas 85 and still have it! Of course I bought the bootleg and Dallas version dvd's as well. I truly wish WB would rerealease it with the lost songs and extras!
ReplyDeleteJ.D. Sweet little tribute!
ReplyDeleteI'd give my all to invent a time machine and go back to 85th and see the Virgin Tour. Fabulous!!!
ReplyDeleteSeriously...where WERE you guys when I was growing up :-) I thought I was the ONLY boy doing this in the '80s :-)
ReplyDeleteThis VHS was everything and of course 4 video VHS.
ReplyDeletePlayed continuous with my sister and I.
I hope they re-release this in proper form and maybe the missing tracks?
Loved the interview edit too!
Virgin Tour Forever!