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Madonna Live: The Virgin Tour

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Live – The Virgin Tour is the first live music video title by American recording artist Madonna. Released through Warner Music Video on November 13, 1985, it contains the concert footage from The Virgin Tour, filmed at Cobo Arena in Detroit, Michigan on May 25, 1985. Director Danny Kleinman, who presided over the shooting of the tour on video, submitted the footage to Warner Bros. Records, who decided to release it as a video album. Madonna wanted to have a proper introduction added before the concert footage and asked director James Foley to shoot one, which portrayed her with her first image makeover, reciting lines related to how she became famous.

After its release, Live – The Virgin Tour received mixed reviews from critics, but went on to become a commercial success, topping the Music Video Sales chart of Billboard and becoming the top selling music video cassette of 1986. The video was certified two-times platinum by the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) for shipment of 100,000 copies and in September 1986, it received a "Video Software Dealers Award" for the Most Popular Music Video. The live performances of "Like a Virgin" and "Dress You Up" were released as music videos on MTV to promote the video album. Both videos were nominated for "Best Choreography" at the 1986 MTV Video Music Awards.

Background

Madonna's first concert tour, The Virgin Tour, promoted her first two studio albums, Madonna and Like a Virgin. After the tour was over, Madonna started recording her third studio album, True Blue.[1] Film director Danny Kleinman, who presided over the shooting of the tour on video, submitted the footage to Warner Bros. Records, who decided to release it as a video album.[1] Titled Live – The Virgin Tour, the video chronicled The Virgin Tour as shot at Cobo Arena in Detroit, Michigan on May 25, 1985.[2][3]

Madonna, who was busy with True Blue and shooting for the comedy film Shanghai Surprise, was contacted by Kleinman to ask about her approval of the shot footage.[3] She felt that the video "needed a proper introduction. I asked [James] Foley darling to shoot me saying something for adding it before the concert starts."[4] Foley, who directed the music video of her song "Live to Tell", shot an introduction which was added at the beginning of the video. It portrayed Madonna in her first image makeover, with platinum blond curls, and conservative wardrobe.[4] Madonna wanted to include a summation of her biography—which was used at the beginning of The Virgin Tour—to be added with the footage. Hence, with the footage, Madonna's voice was heard, declaring,

"When I was young, I had a dream. I went to New York. I had a dream. I wanted to be a big star, I didn't know anybody, I wanted to sing, I wanted to dance, I wanted to do all those things, I wanted to make people happy, I wanted to be famous, I wanted everybody to love me. I worked really hard, and my dream came true."[5]

This was followed by the concert, beginning with "Dress You Up". The performances of "Angel", "Borderline" and "Burning Up" were removed from the tracklist of the video, as Kleinman believed that Madonna's performance was not her best in them.[3] While shooting the tour on May 25, during the performance of "Like a Virgin", a fan suddenly came up on the stage and tried to get hold of Madonna, but was swiftly whisked away by security. Kleinman decided to keep the shot, as he felt that it illustrated the fanaticism which had grown around Madonna, and her popularity.[4] The live performances of "Like a Virgin" and "Dress You Up" were released as music video on MTV to promote the video album.[6] Both videos were nominated for "Best Choreography" at the 1986 MTV Video Music Awards. However, Madonna lost the award to Prince and The Revolution with their video "Raspberry Beret."[7]

Reception

Critical response

The video received mixed reviews from critics. Annie Temple from Philadelphia Daily News said that the release was "not so flattering" and "was a sloppy job".[8] Dennis Hunt from Los Angeles Times said that "the video is sometimes distracting and blurry, wonder what went wrong during recording. The angles are awkward, especially when the audience members are shown touching Madonna's hand. Was it really necessary to show a fan coming unannounced on the stage?"[9] Terry Atkinson from the same paper said, "This follows the typical concert video format of putting you in the best seat in the hall and letting the aura of a superior performer encaptivate your senses."[10] Sylvia Chase from The Wichita Eagle said that "seeing Madonna live in an arena and seeing her up, close and personal in the tour cassette is totally different. The energy, the movements, the provocation—all captures you more."[11] Stephen Holden from The New York Times gave it a positive review, stating "filmed with abrupt, swooping camera movements that accentuate the singer's flouncing, slightly ungainly style of dancing, Madonna Live vividly captures the contradictory elements that have made the performer into a cultural icon in spite of a shrill, limited singing voice. In close-up, Madonna's provocative pouts, wiggles and come-hither glances become a more than half-deliberate burlesque of erotic centerfold photography. Both her post-disco music and defiant strut suggest a child's parody of grown-up posturing."[12]

Commercial performance

The release debuted at 14 on Billboard's Top Music Videocassettes chart, on December 7, 1985 and reached a peak of 11, the next week.[13] The video started a slow climb on the chart, and on the issue dated January 18, 1986, it reached the top of the chart, replacing Prince & The Revolution: Live by The Revolution.[14] On May 24, 1986, the video again climbed back in the top ten of the chart, at position two. It was present on the chart for a total of 65 weeks.[15] Live – The Virgin Tour was the top selling music videocassette for 1986.[16] The video was certified two times platinum by the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) for shipment of 100,000 copies and received a "Video Software Dealers Award" for the Most Popular Music Video, in September 1986.[17][18]

Track listing

No.TitleWriter(s)Length
1."Dress You Up"Andrea LaRusso, Peggy Stanziale8:04
2."Holiday"Curtis Hudson, Lisa Stevens5:19
3."Into the Groove"Madonna, Steve Bray4:08
4."Everybody"Madonna4:56
5."Gambler"Madonna5:10
6."Lucky Star"Madonna6:45
7."Crazy for You"John Bettis, Jon Lind5:02
8."Over and Over"Madonna, S. Bray4:51
9.""Like a Virgin" (contains an excerpt from "Billie Jean")Tom Kelly, Billy Steinberg4:51
10."Material Girl"Peter Brown, Roberta Rans4:51

Formats

It was released on VHS and later on Laserdisc, to this date no DVD release has been announced. It was also released as part of a three VHS box set The Madonna Collection in 2000.[19]

Credits and personnel

Notes

  1. ^ a b Rooksby 2004, p. 13
  2. ^ Live – The Virgin Tour (Media notes). Warner Music Vision. 1985. {{cite AV media notes}}: |format= requires |url= (help); Unknown parameter |artist= ignored (|others= suggested) (help)
  3. ^ a b c Inglis 2006, p. 132
  4. ^ a b c Pratt 1992, p. 333
  5. ^ Guilbert 2002, p. 153
  6. ^ "Madonna: Dress You Up music video". MTV. MTV Networks. Retrieved 2010-07-25. {{cite web}}: Italic or bold markup not allowed in: |work= (help)
  7. ^ "1986 MTV Video Music Awards". MTV. MTV Networks. Retrieved 2010-07-25. {{cite web}}: Italic or bold markup not allowed in: |work= (help)
  8. ^ Temple, Annie (1990-06-15). "Videos Are So Different". Philadelphia Daily News. Retrieved 2010-07-02.
  9. ^ Hunt, Dennis (1985-10-11). "Will 'Scrooge' Spielberg Steal Christmas?". Los Angeles Times. Retrieved 2010-07-02.
  10. ^ Atkinson, Terry (1985-12-10). "Home Tech: Turn-Ons and Turn-Offs". Los Angeles Times. Retrieved 2010-07-02.
  11. ^ Chase, Sylvia (1985-12-12). "Reporter Chase 2nd to Leave". The Wichita Eagle. Retrieved 2010-07-02.
  12. ^ Holden, Stephen (1985-12-08). "Home Video: New Cassettes: From Screen Farce to Holiday Songs". The New York Times. Retrieved 2010-07-23.
  13. ^ "Top Music Videocassettes". Billboard. 97 (87). Nielsen Business Media, Inc. 1985-12-14. ISSN 0006-2510. Retrieved 2010-07-02.
  14. ^ "Top Music Videocassettes". Billboard. 98 (3). Nielsen Business Media, Inc. 1986-01-18. ISSN 0006-2510. Retrieved 2010-07-23.
  15. ^ "Top Music Videocassettes". Billboard. 98 (34). Nielsen Business Media, Inc. 1986-05-24. ISSN 0006-2510. Retrieved 2010-07-23.
  16. ^ "Yearly Review: Top Music Video Hits". Billboard. 98 (35). Nielsen Business Media, Inc. 1986-08-30. ISSN 0006-2510. Retrieved 2010-07-23.
  17. ^ "VSDA: Viva Las Vegas". Billboard. 98 (38). Nielsen Business Media, Inc. 1986-09-20. ISSN 0006-2510. Retrieved 2010-07-23.
  18. ^ "Searchable Database – RIAA – Madonna". Recording Industry Association of America. 1986-09-03. Retrieved 2010-08-06.
  19. ^ Rooksby 2004, p. 90

References

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