Mattress
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Posts posted by Mattress
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Here's my digital-friendly version, bluejean.
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You can never be too blond... or too ambitious...
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Wherever you want it, baby.
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BITCH! (er, LA Times reviews the show in 1990)
"TV REVIEW : Seeing Madonna on the Tube Is Like Sitting in the Last Row
August 7, 1990 by Robert Hilburn - Times Pop Music Critic.
The real question Sunday night, when HBO presented Madonna l-i-v-e (though tape-delayed) from the French Riviera, wasn't whether she could come across any better in a television concert than the numerous other powerful pop-rock attractions, including the Rolling Stones, whose impact has been sabotaged over the years by the small screen.
The challenge facing the Material Girl: Could she top her electric recent appearance on "The Arsenio Hall Show"? She virtually had the audience gasping as she unleashed one sexy, provocative comment after another, outpointing the show's host like Mike Tyson on all those HBO fights before Buster Douglas.
Madonna came closest to that freewheeling tone Sunday when she moved away from the tight format of her "Blond Ambition" world tour for some straight talk.
She took advantage of the controversy over comedian Roseanne Barr's recent national-anthem antics before a San Diego Padres baseball game to answer criticism that her own show had been too sexy--notably a masturbation sequence.
This was just one of several reasons that this R-rated concert couldn't have made it on network TV. While eyebrow-raising to some viewers, Madonna's show is no racier than Prince's and, most certainly, tame by 2 Live Crew standards (see review of the 2 Live Crew video, F1).
"Speaking of grabbing crotches, Roseanne Barr, baby, thumbs up . . . ," she said, adding a message she directed to viewers in America: "Get a . . . sense of humor, OK? Lighten up. Spend your time worrying about more important things like . . . whether Ivana Trump is going to take Donald for everything he has . . . or better yet, how many girls Warren Beatty has slept with. That's an important subject."
The only other time Madonna seemed to open up was at the end of the concert, when she hugged or shook hands with seemingly every cast and crew member as they celebrated the end of one of the most ambitious and appealing pop tours in years.
Otherwise, however, the two-hour affair was static in comparison with the live event.
Because "Blond Ambition" (with its emphasis on such themes as social liberation, sex/salvation and Hollywood glamour) more closely resembles a Broadway revue than a traditional pop concert, it seemed ideal for television.
When the action was tightly focused and when the music was at its brightest, things worked well. But Madonna's show is designed to take advantage of the full stage. It seemed at times you were looking at it through a keyhole--no worse than sitting in the back row of an arena, but minus the compensating audience energy. While a live telecast added drama to the evening, Madonna would have been better served by simply taping one of the earlier stops on the tour. That way the HBO program could have benefited from editing and better shot selection.
From Arsenio Hall to "Dick Tracy" to the live show, this has been a remarkable year for Madonna. But the HBO special probably won't finish any higher than fourth in her scrapbook."
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Sorry. The Chicken McNugget sig is hilarious given the thread.
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Like An Angel Passing Through My Room...
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Watching the original broadcast from an old VHS right now.
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So, this happened 25 years ago T O N I G H T !
The last night of the tour live from Nice, France.
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Yeah I don't even know where the colorization thing originally came from. I kinda wanna say that Kurt Loder mentioned it during one of the Madonna Days MTV did in the past. But Romanek made no mention of it in his director's label DVD. So I just thought it was made up.
It's in Matthew Rettenmund's Encyclopedia Madonnica. "Shot on black and white stock and hand-colored..."
Like someone was going to painstakingly draw on the red veins in her eyes.
Hope it's fixed in the new edition.
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OMG Mattress, I absolutely adore your signature!! Best yet!
Thanks, Bill! -
LEST WE FORGET:
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Truth Or Dare promo shots:
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YES.
That moment at the end when she opens her mouth and floods the audience with red light was brilliant in person.
(I don't think the alternate blood/ink version would have had the same impact:
)Speaking of "red light" (ahem)... anyone ever note the slight similarities between "Paradise" and the old Siouxsie And The Banshees' b-side "Something Blue"?
I wonder if Mirwais was a fan. Love both songs.
Seems like yesterday we were walloped with the WTF-ness of these photos before knowing she was filming this:
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I want Like a Prayer video sooooo bad. omg
There's always these:
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These are fantastic! The beginning of Part 4 is adorable.
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WeboGirl flashback:
It was the summer of '85, I was 14 years old. My friends and I made our routine weekend visit to mall. This time we were on our way to get the Into The Groove single. To our surprise, the lady in the locally owned record store said it was only available on the Angel 12 inch. We thought, 'how weird'. So the three of us bought our own copy of the Angel 12". Beautiful cover.
What a great summer that was.
Love this.
One of her most beautiful sleeves EVER. -
Yes!!! It's all up on Spotify as well and I love all the alt edits of Head Over Heels. I'm fearing a Edsel Records-style botch job for Madonna "remasters" in the future because of this misplacement.
Actually, generally speaking, Edsel gets things right. It was the final few licensed-out Belinda Carlisle reissues (outside of their Virgin UK contract with her, note) that were rushed and turned out a mess, but overall I love Edsel's reissues.
I just wish Warner Bros. could get their shit and facts together. Get me in there tearing through files and paperwork contacting the right motherfuckers. We will have some expanded Madonna reissues to enjoy!
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These are absolutely gorgeous, daniel.
THAT GLARE! -
Drunk or not (which I myself may or may not currently be...) I'm totally getting what Pablo94 was saying. In relation to this era, "Ghosttown" is the under-appreciated "Bad Girl". A beautiful hit waiting in the wings that never gets to take off due to a preexisting media bias against Madonna.
Plus, it only makes sense after certain topic starters here proclaimed "Living For Love" the new "Deeper And Deeper" last winter..
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I wanna see B-roll from ALL of her videos! Including American Life the flags version.
lets just start with everybody along to living for love.
Preach, my sisters.
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Yeah, Scrapple's a tease in the best sense of the word.
Does anyone have a good quality scan of the Japan CD Singles Collection cover?
in ARCHIVE - Madonna
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Sure! jpeg is a little janky looking compared to the above, but it should work fine for what you need.