Madge Of Honour

A selection of Madonna classics today, focusing (mostly) on TV appearances from 1984/85. Entirely accidental, but this also serves as belated best wishes for her 66th birthday on 16th August. She may still be celebrating as this goes out...

 

First up is Madonna's first appearance on French TV, performing Holiday. It's worth mentioning that the show, H.I.P. H.O.P., was not only the first in France but also the first regular nationwide weekly show in the world to be dedicated to hip hop. Host Sidney Duteil also has a place in history as the first black presenter on French TV. There's a playful entry and introduction to the song, and Sidney does not hold back in getting into the groove when Madonna and her dancers get going. Great stuff.

 

If you're in the UK, you're probably familiar with Madonna's bewigged appearance on Top Of The Pops in January 1985, energetically miming to Like A Virgin, as it seems to be on constant rotation. Here's the same song, same routine and same wig, in late 1984 on US music show Solid Gold. The VHS quality is a bit fuzzy, but Madonna's performance sure isn't.

 

I couldn't find any TV performances of Material Girl, so instead I've gone for a clip from The Virgin Tour in 1985 and presumably from the commercially available VHS that would have added to the coffers back in the day. Already, the production values and stage set up is huge. 

From there to the relatively more gritty setting of The Hacienda in Manchester for a performance of Burning Up for legendary Channel 4 show The Tube. The YouTube title states 1983, the year the single was released, though other sources state that this routine was Madonna's first UK TV appearance, filmed on 27th January 1984. I'll go with the latter.

Ear Say was another Channel 4 music show that ran for just one series and seven episodes between March and September 1984. Here's co-presenter Gary Crowley introducing a pre-filmed Madonna interview/promo. It's a refreshing watch, not least because even a year later it's difficult to imagine Her Madgeness allowing herself to be filmed in rainy New York, whilst her hair becomes increasingly lank. Ah, the days when sheer confidence and energy won out over image and appearance...

Wrapping up with an appearance on Japanese TV, though not so much for the performance of Like A Virgin as the frankly weird interview that follows. Sandwiched between the presenter and translator, Madonna's smile becomes increasingly fixed as she continually flips from left to right, possibly WTF questions she's being asked. Case in point: "what size are you?". The camera operator (one must assume a man) also seems to be obsessed with Madonna's cleavage crucifixes, as the viewer is subjected to continual close ups throughout this frankly awkward exchange. 

 

 

This may have been the first example of Madonna firing one or all of her media team following a TV appearance.