Madonna Singin’ in the Ring & “Causing a Commotion”

Check out this “fight to the finish.” Filmed in Yokohama, Japan on Madonna’s “Blond Ambition Tour” (1990), the pop star and her two backing vocalists, Donna De Lory and Niki Haris, duke it out during “Causing a Commotion.” It’s the third song in the set list and one of the best in the show, for it captures some of the elements that make this such an iconic tour:

Style with sociological substance: Jean-Paul Gaultier’s versatile designs have Madonna going from corset to athletic (hoodie) wear, specifically a colorful jacket that smartly stretches to accommodate the famous cone bra. And then the gloves go on. Gaultier and Madonna play with traditional gender roles and iconography: doll-like ponytail; a pants-suit with lingerie (as outerwear); exaggerated (bullet) bra; unhinged garters; her character almost an engineered construct of masculine prowess and Metropolis-inspired (robo) femininity, with Madonna stating, “Let’s show these people how ladies can act.”

“The moves, baby”: Choreographed punches and uppercuts, and by the end Madonna is full of “below the belt” bragging rights, after the intentionally tongue-in-cheek “grudge match” of cartoon (“Three Stooges”) proportion.

Band: The bass intro with percussion congas; Jonathan Moffett on drums (2:10 captures his impressive speed to keep the beat). With Madonna on the main card, it’s important to remember that there’s actually a solid live band (3:09).

This is just one of the many performances that confirms the Blond Ambition Tour is still a clear winner… T.K.O.

More Disco than Dominatrix: Madonna: “Erotica” (Confessions Tour)

In support of the 2006 Stuart Price-produced masterpiece, “Confessions On A Dance Floor,” Madonna launched The Confessions Tour, and subsequently released a DVD of the Wembley Arena concert, along with a CD sampling of live tracks from that London show. The remix of 1992’s “Erotica” occurred after the roller-disco extravaganza that was “Music Inferno.” Madonna had just peeled off the Travolta-inspired white leisure suit to reveal a white-and-purple full-body leotard. The only thing left to the imagination was in trying to figure out the lead-in to the next song. Just as the ears began to recognize the disembodied, heavily automated voice repeat, “All over me,” the next all-too-familiar lyrics solved the mystery: “Erotic/Erotic/Put your hands all over my body.”

This welcome revamp of “Erotica” was actually a return to lyrics featured in the original demo entitled, “You Thrill Me.” This Confessions arrangement, with its ticking synth-keyboard line, a smoother disco-funk bass line and a skipping drum beat, was more innocuous than the final album version of “Erotica,” with its ominous bass line, clanking dungeon sounds, and creepy piano notes.

The dominatrix-driven final album version also relied on the seductive, spoken-word approach, recited by Madonna’s alter-ego mistress, Dita (“Give it up/Do as I say…”), while Confessions had Madonna and the backing vocalists, Donna DeLory and Nicki Richards providing a more melodic, soulful delivery. Also worth noting is the flipping of the direct, “I’d like to put you in a trance” to a more submissive, “You put me in a trance,” as if the relationship featured in the song was now being told from a different point of view, focusing instead on “… all the pain that love can bring.”