It was 30 years ago this month that the Toronto Police threatened to stop Madonna from performing three Toronto shows on her epic 1990 “Blond Ambition” tour. Her crime? Lewd and obscene behaviour. What does that mean, exactly? Read on! Plus we’re going to tell you about a host of other performers who have attracted police attention.
- THE CANADIAN PRESS/AP PHOTO/GILL ALLEN
Madonna
The curls! The cone bra! The controversy! In 1990, Madonna was likely the most discussed woman in the world. The ‘sexy Catholic’ motif of her 1989 video for “Like a Prayer” caused such a flurry of finger-wagging that Pepsi dropped her as a spokeswoman. But it wasn’t just the video images of burning crosses, stigmata, and romantic love with a priest: When she sang “Like A Virgin” every night on her “Blond Ambition” tour, she was going to simulate solo sex on stage. Was she going to do it graphically? Yep. The Pope noped the whole idea and he tried to have her Italian show banned. Here in Canada, the Toronto Police threatened to have Madonna arrested on the grounds of lewd and obscene behavior but her three sold-out Toronto shows went ahead as planned, 30 years ago, on May 27-29, 1990.
The tour, which was filmed for the documentary “Truth Or Dare”, supported Madonna’s fourth studio album, ‘Like a Prayer’, and the “Dick Tracy” soundtrack ‘I’m Breathless’. She co-starred in the oft-forgotten comic book movie as lounge singer Breathless “I’m wearing black underwear” Mahoney. It seems police detective Dick Tracy is a little more lenient than the Toronto Cops.
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