In April 1985, Madonna began her first concert tour. ‘The Virgin Tour’, with the Beastie Boys as her opening act, was initially planned for an international audience, but ultimately it was restricted to the United States and Canada. After an official announcement on March 15, 1985, Madonna and her team began production plans. She wanted it to be a reflection of her own self and she collaborated with designer Maripol for the costumes. She progressed from playing CBGBs and the Mudd Club to playing large sporting arenas at this juncture in her career. The tour saw the peak of the Madonna wannabe phenomenon, with lots of female attendees dressing like her.
While still on the tour, Penthouse and Playboy magazines published nude photos of her, taken in New York in 1978. The publication of the photos caused a media uproar, but Madonna remained unapologetic and defiant, telling the crowd at the 1985 Live Aid concert that she wouldn’t “take shit off today, as the media might hold it against me ten years from now”.
A month or so before Live Aid, Madonna played three nights at Universal City in L.A., of which the final night - 28th April ’85 - was recorded for FM broadcast around California, and synced across America and many other parts of the world. This CD release contains the entire performance she gave that night, a fine example of Madonna live at the point in her career when she was on the brink of world domination.
1 Dress You Up 5:19
2 Holiday 6:17
3 Into The Groove 5:17
4 Everybody 6:35
5 Angel/Gambler 9:02
6 Borderline 2:34
7 Lucky Star 5:17
8 Crazy For You 4:21
9 Over And Over 4:20
10 Burning Up 4:51
11 Like A Virgin/Billie Jean 6:49
12 Material Girl 5:40