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Madonna: Blonde Ambition Tour (1 Viewer)

Cathy Suzan

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I'm just wondering if anyone knows or has heard the rumor of the original HBO Concert special being released on DVD. It was a great concert, but all we can see is what was in the movie TRUTH OR DARE. A DVD of the concert would be fantastic.
 

Mitch Stevens

Supporting Actor
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Apr 27, 2002
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I agree. I absolutely LOVE the BA Tour. I have a recording from HBO that I watch from time to time, but I have seen it so many times, you can't even see her anymore, due to the wearing down of the VHS tape :frowning: I'd love for this concert to be released to DVD, but last I heard was that Pioneer said that they would *NOT* be releasing it to DVD, because they had already released to to Laserdisc, and people should be happy with what they've got. Don't get your hopes up, for we may never see this, unless we buy the laserdiscs.
 

Phil_L

Second Unit
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Sep 3, 2003
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377
I am dying to get this on DVD. I think it may be in the works, as Madonna's people alluded to this on the official site some time ago. Pioneer probably will release it, despite previously saying it would release it only on LD. This was before the days when DVD exploded. They were initially trying to promote the LD format by making it an LD exclusive. Guess that backfired. I think we will see it on DVD with a couple years, possibly when her Re-Invention tour DVD is released, whenever that will be.
 

Colin Jacobson

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AFAIR, they only referred to it as an LD exclusive when it first came out in 1990 (or 1991 - can't remember). To be sure, they DID use it as a means to promote LD, but not against DVD, which wasn't even a gleam back then - it was to promote it as an alternative to VHS.

Did they reaffirm that status as an LD-only when DVD came into existence in 1997? I don't recall, but they clearly didn't say that when the LD premiered, since it came out WAY before DVD existed...
 

Phil_L

Second Unit
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You're absolutely right Colin, their proclamation that it was LD only was back in 1991 when it came out. They haven't reaffirmed this since the advent of DVD, or the death of LD. So I think the LD-only status is likely to change.
 

Colin Jacobson

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And I don't think that they ever stated the program would be LD-only FOREVER. IIRC, they planned to offer it LD-only for a while and then put out a tape. Never happened, but I don't believe it was intended to remain that status forever...
 

Cathy Suzan

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Nov 20, 2003
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66
Now,I'm not sure, but I think that the LD version of the concert is different from the HBO version. Would any of this have an impact at all on whether it is released on DVD or not?
 

Luis Esp

Supporting Actor
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May 25, 2001
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583
I know there are 2 versions of the BA tour on Ld, one from Japan and the other being the Nice, France HBO special.

I would like to see Alek Keshishians' edit of the concert using the film stock he recorded for the Truth or Dare movie.

I have a feeling that this concert would probably never make it to dvd considering Madonna did not sing live on several of the numbers in the show, but then again Britney doesn't even attempt to sing live in her shows and concerts have made to dvd, but I don't know anyone who's bought a copy.
 

CraigL

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A little bit on the history of this concert...

Pioneer was the official sponsor of the Blonde Ambition World Tour which started in April of 1990 in Japan and ended on August 5th, 1990 in Nice, France. Pioneer agreed to sponsor the tour as long as they had rights to the filmed version of the concert to be released exclusively on Laserdisc. It was a great way to promote the format and get the Madonna crazy fans onto the bandwagon. It was one of 6 laserdiscs that I got on that first Christmas.

The show recorded was the Nice, France show on the last night on August 5th and broadcast on HBO the same night. It was HBO's highest rated program for a very long time. The show on HBO was not technically different from the show that was released on HBO. That is to say...none of the show was edited or songs cut. However, there are some vocals (I am told) that were re-recorded or mixed differently for the final laserdisc version. This isn't really odd considering the same was done for all the other home video versions of her concerts.

The Japanese show is edited as portions of her banter with the audience was edited out. I believe this originally aired on Japanese TV and that might be why it was edited. No idea why it was edited out of the laserdisc and they didn't just use the master but whatever. For people interested, the sound and picture on this is light years better than the HBO show but it is also VERY early on in the tour and things changed between the two.

There was also another show broadcast on TV and that was the Barcelona, Spain show which is also known as the "big hair" show. It was ridiculously hot that night and her hair is HUGE. She had gotten rid of the ponytail at that point in the tour and her hair completely frizzed out. This has never officially been released on home video but many bootlegs exist.

All of the live footage for Truth or Dare was shot in the same night in France, I believe. Also one of the last shows. I'm not sure of the specifics but obviously it was shot with several cameras and would be a fantastic addition to the collection if Alek ever decided to release it. I don't know if he edited the show together as a whole or just particular songs but I think he did a great job. FYI, I'd say most of the vocals are completely re-recorded by Madonna in the studio because at this point in the tour, her voice was completely shot.

As far as a release on DVD, her management hinted that it might be coming a year or two ago...but that's it. It was just a hint. Nothing has happened since then.

And FYI...as far as her not singing live, this isn't entirely true. She completely lip-synced only one song: Now I'm Following You. She actually told the audience that she was going to do so. However, on Express Yourself and Vogue she did use backing tracks which she would sing over to make herself sound a bit better during the heavy dance numbers. I have too many bootlegs from soundboards that prove this. So no, she doesn't rely on it like Britney does.

She has been treated horribly on DVD thus far.

The Immaculate Collection and Video Collection 93-00 are both not only incomplete but the former has edited versions of the original videos with very poor quality.

The Virgin tour also remains unreleased along with various versions of other concerts.

And fyi...the Girlie Show has a HORRIBLE 5.1 mix that has way too much audience noise mixed in.

And I think that does it...did i cover everything?
 

Luis Esp

Supporting Actor
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May 25, 2001
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The Barcelona, Spain concert was shown on MuchMusic here in Canada and her hair was BIG. Even just watching you can feel the sweat coming off her and the audience.

A remastered version of the Girlie Show would be great because of the lousy mix.

She also used backing vocals on "Where's the Party" and even on my bootleg soundboard copies, you can hear when she's just relying on the background vocals. Even the Girlie show tour experienced the same thing.

What she should do is pull a Barbara. Re-record all the vocals for the show and sweeten the sound.

Considering the lawsuit that she's going through with Warner, I doubt if we'll being seeing the BA tour on dvd soon. Who knows if the upcoming tour will make it to dvd?

Has anyone heard of what became of the "Madonna 20 year Retrospective dvd/cd box"? Last I heard it was to be released last Dec., but never materialized.
 

CraigL

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The retrospective never happened, thank god. Such a bad idea. Plus a "highlights" dvd? I don't need edited performances. But they decided to go with an album of remixes. ;) Dunno how much better that was.

As far as the Barcelona show, it WAS shown on Muchmusic. But it had to debut somewhere else because I have an uncut, profanity-laden bootleg of the entire show. So I dunno where it originally ran...but there it is.

That's right...i forgot about Where's The Party. Good call. But she's still singing over them. It depends on how much they mixed it. I dunno which you're referring to but there are 5 or 6 different soundboard versions of this show that I have.

Good thing I put these onto DVD-R. ;)
 

Luis Esp

Supporting Actor
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I still fire up the ld from Nice a few times, but I have to crank up the sound just to get it sound half decent.

I picked up a bootleg of the Nice concert from Italy and even the audio is better on the cd than it is on the Ld.

I also have a promo disc from the Film Company AGFA and it had Express Yourself taken from the same concert. Funny thing is it doesn't state that it's a live track.
 

CraigL

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Well...if the audio is better on that bootleg, then it was most likely taken from the HBO version of the concert. Do you know the name of that particular boot? I honestly only saw it the first time it was broadcast and since i was 12 at the time, I really don't remember. :) But that would be the only way to get "better" sound I guess. Usually it's worse on the original broadcast though. The original Girlie Show broadcast was absolutely horrible, sound-wise.
 

LanieParker

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Apr 15, 2004
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This is one of her concerts, besides Girlie Show, that I would love to own on dvd. I saw her in 2002 for DWT and I was not impressed. I missed the old Madonna and was hoping to see a show like she use to do.

Blonde Ambition was a great tour and it was probably her best.
 

CraigL

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I wouldn't say that Drowned World was a disappointment by any means. It still had the spectacle and Broadway style of all her other shows and in many respects, is probably one of the most (if not THE most) theatrical of all her tours. I guess the problem most had with it is that she did more "new" stuff as opposed to the older hits. Coming from an artistic point of view, I can understand her need to do this. She's in her 40's and singing Like A Virgin again is just ridiculous. I also seem to be in the minority in thinking that her post 80's stuff is even better than her 80's hits. Give me Ray of Light and Erotica anyday over Like A Virgin and True Blue.

Let's put it this way: if American Life had been a hit, you would NOT be seeing the hits on this tour. The only reason she's doing it is to recoup the losses from that album and do a HUGE tour. I'm sure she could have done a smaller one in support of AL and all the diehard fans would go (myself included). But to do a huge tour and make a crapload of money, we get the hits. I bet you a very large amount of money she's not too happy about it either.
 

Luis Esp

Supporting Actor
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May 25, 2001
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Well I know selections of AL are to be included on this new tour and the older hits are being reworked for a fresher sound.

I've seen the original video for AL and I feel she missed out on a really good video.
It's a shame the album didn't do as well, there really are some good strong songs on it.

I agree with Craig L., give me Ray of light any day, although I do still enjoy the 80's selection, minus "Crazy For You", from time to time.
 

CraigL

Screenwriter
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There will be AL songs on this tour but I doubt it will be that many. Personally...there are a few songs that I really like a lot from the new album...but overall I wasn't really impressed. I wasn't that impressed with Music either and I think I have to say that I might like more songs on AL than Music. She needs to kick Mirwais to the curb.
And I agree about the AL original video. I have it on DVD and it was really a good video. The substitute was horrible. I think the public got Bush crazy about her being anti-american and immediately hated the album. Its not bad at all. it's just not up to her standards. And I actually like the title track although Nobody Knows Me is my favorite on the album.

Anyway...getting back on track...BA would be fantastic. And if it doesn't come out, then I guess I'll just have to do a dual layer transfer when the burners finally come out. That way I'll have a PCM track and great picture as opposed to the single layer Dolby Digital and Very good picture that I have right now. Hopefully something good will come out this year but it's highly doubtful.
 

Phil_L

Second Unit
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Sep 3, 2003
Messages
377
I would LOVE to see all the footage Alek shot in France for Truth or Dare. I belive he filmed 2 shows like that. Her voice WAS totally shot by that point in the tour, though her rehearsals from earlier in the tour in LA sounded pretty poor too. Her voice has definitely improved in the intervening years. I thought she sounded great at the DWT shows I saw. It is a crime that BA is not in print anymore, on any format. It was a landmark show, not just for Madonna, but for all of popular music.

I can't wait for the Reinvention Tour. Even if she did all new material again, I'd be happy, I just love seeing her perform. But, if she does Like a Prayer, I'll faint :D

Craig, your post on the history of the tour was very thorough, even for a die-hard fan like me. Thanks for posting it.
 

CraigL

Screenwriter
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Phil...

I'm originally from CT. What part? :) Where are you seeing her on the Re-Invention tour? I'm going once in NYC and once in PA.

Btw...she's definitely doing Like A Prayer...which is my all time favorite Madonna song :)

You're welcome about the information. I'm a bit obsessed with this tour. If you've never heard her "fuck" speech from London on this tour, you are definitely missing out.
 

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