On March 29 1988, Madonna Live: The Virgin Tour home video was certified multi-platinum for sales of over 100,000 units in the U.S.
Tag Archives: Madonna Live: The Virgin Tour
Today in Madonna History: January 18, 1986
On January 18 1986, Madonna Live: The Virgin Tour hit #1 on Billboard’s Top Music Videos chart in the US. It went on to become the country’s top-selling music video of 1986.
Today in Madonna History: December 27, 1986
On December 27 1986, Billboard’s year-end issue hit newsstands with Madonna appearing on the following 1986 chart rankings:
- Top Pop Artist: #2
- Top Pop Album: “True Blue” #37
- Top Pop Album: “Like A Virgin” #52
- Top Pop Album Artist: #6
- Top Pop Album Artist – Female: #3
- Top Pop Singles Artist: #3
- Top Pop Singles Artist – Female: #2
- Top Pop Single: “Papa Don’t Preach” #29
- Top Pop Single: “Live To Tell” #35
- Top Pop Single: “True Blue” #76
- Top Pop Compact Disc: “True Blue” #25
- Top Adult Contemporary Artist: #9
- Top Adult Contemporary Single: “Live To Tell” #12
- Top Dance Club Play Single: “Papa Don’t Preach” #43
- Top Dance Sales Artist: #3
- Top Dance Sales 12-Inch Single: “Papa Don’t Preach” #29
- Top Dance Sales 12-Inch Single: “Live To Tell” #37
- Top Music Video: “Madonna Live: The Virgin Tour” #1
Today in Madonna History: November 11, 1985
On November 11 1985, Madonna Live: The Virgin Tour was released on home video in the U.K. and France. The concert was filmed on May 25th, 1985 at Cobo Arena in Madonna’s home town of Detroit, Michigan. The concert film was directed by Daniel Kleinman and the music was produced by Madonna & Patrick Leonard.
At the beginning of the video Madonna declares:
“I went to New York. I had a dream. I wanted to be a big star, I didn’t know anybody, I wanted to dance, I wanted to sing, 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 wanted to be a star. I worked really hard, and my dream came true.”
The live performances of Like A Virgin and Dress You Up were released as music videos on MTV to promote the live video release. Both videos were nominated for Best Choreography at the 1986 MTV Video Music Awards.
Though it was also released on laserdisc in some countries, to date it has sadly not been officially reissued on DVD.
Today in Madonna History: May 25, 1985
On May 25 1985, Madonna performed The Virgin Tour at Cobo Arena in Detroit, Michigan. The show was filmed by Daniel Kleinman, and released by Warner Music Video and Sire Records on November 13 1985.
Here is the dialog from Madonna’s famous Virgin Tour introduction (filmed by James Foley for the video release, it was not present during the concerts):
“I went to New York. I had a dream. I wanted to be a big star, I didn’t know anybody, I wanted to dance, I wanted to sing, 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 wanted to be a star. I worked really hard, and my dream came true.”
Madonna Live: The Virgin Tour was an enormous success. The home video release was the top selling music video cassette of 1986 in the USA, and the video was certified double platinum by the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) for shipment of 100,000 copies.
Today in Madonna History: November 11, 1985
On November 11 1985, Madonna Live: The Virgin Tour was released on home video in France and the U.K. The was was filmed on May 25th, 1985 at Cobo Arena in Madonna’s home town of Detroit, Michigan. The concert film was directed by Daniel Kleinman while the music was produced by Madonna & Patrick Leonard, making this their first commercially released collaboration.
At the beginning of the video Madonna declares:
“I went to New York. I had a dream. I wanted to be a big star, I didn’t know anybody, I wanted to dance, I wanted to sing, 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 wanted to be a star. I worked really hard, and my dream came true.”
An alternate cut of the live performance of Dress You Up was issued as the music video for the single several months before the release of the film, while the live performance of Like A Virgin from the film was serviced to MTV in conjunction with the home video release. Both videos were nominated for Best Choreography at the 1986 MTV Video Music Awards.
For unknown reasons, the release excluded the setlist’s performances of Angel, Borderline and Burning Up. At the time of its release, home videos were often priced according to their running time, and it was not unusual for concert films of that era to be edited down to a more marketable length – in this case, one hour. This would have allowed a price point that was more accessible to her age demographic and offers a possible explanation for the exclusion of these performances.
Though the concert film was also released on laserdisc in some countries, to date it has sadly not been officially reissued for DVD or digital download.
Today in Madonna History: January 6, 1990
On January 6 1990, Billboard magazine looked back at the top-selling music videocassettes of the 1980’s. All three of Madonna’s qualifying releases charted, with both her self-titled four-video EP and Madonna Live: The Virgin Tour topping the list for the years 1985 and 1986 respectively.
It should be noted that Ciao Italia, which ranked #7 on the 1989 tally, was at a disadvantage for this type of chart due to its mid-year release. Had it been released in early 1988, or even late 1987, it certainly would have fared better.
