The Girlie Show Reunion - Niki, Donna Carlton & Co - MLVC Podcast 25th September

[GregVsMatt 3,812]

Was so good!! I love Niki so much

 

 

[Honey Little 4,475]

Hopefully this means we are getting a re-mastered 4k Girlie Show concert video for streaming services. 

[GregVsMatt 3,812]

53 minutes ago, Honey Little said:

Hopefully this means we are getting a re-mastered 4k Girlie Show concert video for streaming services. 

Ha ha how did you get that from a podcast?

[Honey Little 4,475]

50 minutes ago, GregVsMatt said:

Ha ha how did you get that from a podcast?

It’s the 30th anniversary. It’s only normal that Warner/Madonna should release it. Also with a vinyl recording of some of the live performances, remastered.

[GregVsMatt 3,812]

16 minutes ago, Honey Little said:

It’s the 30th anniversary. It’s only normal that Warner/Madonna should release it. Also with a vinyl recording of some of the live performances, remastered.

Ah ok so not to do with the podcast 

[Honey Little 4,475]

3 minutes ago, GregVsMatt said:

Ah ok so not to do with the podcast 

Right. I should have clarified that. 

[Blue Jean 16,061]

4 hours ago, GregVsMatt said:

Was so good!! I love Niki so much

She's fabulous. Except everyone else barely got a word in  

My fave part was when she was talking about why her and Donna didn't have shaved heads. "Oh there was a conversation." I bet! 

[Blue Jean 16,061]

The thing that also amazed me was how they all couldn't remember details of the show. Nikki kept talking about Holiday being the closing number. I can imagine every fan in that chat including Stefan low key wanted to correct her 

[Blue Jean 16,061]

ALSO

How funny that Christopher Ciccone messaged one of them at the end

[deathproof 10,837]

19 minutes ago, Blue Jean said:

She's fabulous. Except everyone else barely got a word in  

My fave part was when she was talking about why her and Donna didn't have shaved heads. "Oh there was a conversation." I bet! 

Loved the bit about the electric shaver magically breaking right before it was Niki & Donna's turn to get shaved!

[deathproof 10,837]

Also, this was the first I ever heard about the plane story.

[GregVsMatt 3,812]

22 minutes ago, Blue Jean said:

She's fabulous. Except everyone else barely got a word in  

My fave part was when she was talking about why her and Donna didn't have shaved heads. "Oh there was a conversation." I bet! 

Yes same conversation happened for DWT ha ha 

[GregVsMatt 3,812]

2 minutes ago, deathproof said:

Also, this was the first I ever heard about the plane story.

It was mentioned on the podcast last year or 2021 -  go check out all their previous GS cast interviews 

[Blue Jean 16,061]

6 minutes ago, deathproof said:

Loved the bit about the electric shaver magically breaking right before it was Niki & Donna's turn to get shaved!

Imagine Niki going up against Madonna . You just know if Madonna was in that chat she'd have had some things to say.

[Blue Jean 16,061]

I also love those stories about how detail orientated Madonna is. She will pick a note or step being off in rehearsal while she's also performing in it. She really is something else and its amazing she rarely gets credit for her brilliance. Even her own fans try to downplay her talent sometimes.

[GregVsMatt 3,812]

My friend Kamran is a high end collector since 1985 and owns these handwritten notes to give some insight into the show 

 

[deathproof 10,837]

7 minutes ago, Blue Jean said:

I also love those stories about how detail orientated Madonna is. She will pick a note or step being off in rehearsal while she's also performing in it. She really is something else and its amazing she rarely gets credit for her brilliance. Even her own fans try to downplay her talent sometimes.

I found it very interesting to hear their reaction to the Brit awards fall. Completely not what I was expecting. I've always been under the impression that had the Brit dancers reacted like the Girlie dancers, it would have pushed M over the edge.

I always assumed it's an act of professionalism to stay on script while performing, even when things go awry.

[Alibaba 1,544]

It was Niki who got the text from Chris Ciccone. I’m guessing he was invited to the Zoom, but probably avoids speaking publicly on Madonna-related matters nowadays. It was also stated in the Q & A section that Madonna was aware that today’s reunion was taking place. 

Niki is a star regardless of what jokes I might have made at her expense! She’s always been the “is this a jazz publication?” type…gave the slight impression she was better than everyone else in the past, and was the only one to really shade M publicly. It’s unsurprising to me that she made a point of telling us all that she was communicating with Christopher! I loved it! 😂 Today, however, she was very generous about the entire experience of the Girlie Show, even if I did notice her lack of responsiveness when others were praising Madonna’s talent and value as a teacher to everyone. 
 

The part I was most intrigued by was the averted plan crash above the Andes going from Puerto Rico to Brazil! I wanted more details, especially after they said Madonna got mad at the pilot for not explaining to everyone what had happened, and then fired him.  Of course she wasn’t cowering in fear and was instead ready to cut a bitch!  I loved that Carlton shared that The Girlie Show was the adult incarnation of Blond Ambition. Sounds like he, Niki and Donna were glad it didn’t come with the drama of the previous tour, but I was disappointed that my question about whether or not footage was shot for a potential documentary went unanswered. 

[Alibaba 1,544]

58 minutes ago, deathproof said:

I found it very interesting to hear their reaction to the Brit awards fall. Completely not what I was expecting. I've always been under the impression that had the Brit dancers reacted like the Girlie dancers, it would have pushed M over the edge.

I always assumed it's an act of professionalism to stay on script while performing, even when things go awry.

I imagine it was very different to work for Madonna in 2015 vs 1993. Madonna was probably far more accessible back then, and they said she did everything with them, and that they functioned as a group. I noticed Niki made a point of saying that what was great about the Girlie Show, aside from the killer band and all the talent, was that Madonna was still open to listening to others. I read that as a thinly veiled explanation for why they no longer worked together beyond Drowned World. Niki wanted to be heard, and Madonna probably put her in her place. Maybe that’s too speculative, but it rang true when I heard her use of words.  
 

I also loved that they were so emphatic that modern concerts lack the live element that was so prevalent on all of M’s tours through GS. It’s true…when I listen to the band on BA and GS they are fucking tight! She really had the best of the best. 

[Blue Jean 16,061]

40 minutes ago, Alibaba said:

It was Niki who got the text from Chris Ciccone. I’m guessing he was invited to the Zoom, but probably avoids speaking publicly on Madonna-related matters nowadays.

Or he wanted money

[Blue Jean 16,061]

51 minutes ago, Alibaba said:

It was Niki who got the text from Chris Ciccone. I’m guessing he was invited to the Zoom, but probably avoids speaking publicly on Madonna-related matters nowadays. It was also stated in the Q & A section that Madonna was aware that today’s reunion was taking place. 

Niki is a star regardless of what jokes I might have made at her expense! She’s always been the “is this a jazz publication?” type…gave the slight impression she was better than everyone else in the past, and was the only one to really shade M publicly. It’s unsurprising to me that she made a point of telling us all that she was communicating with Christopher! I loved it! 😂 Today, however, she was very generous about the entire experience of the Girlie Show, even if I did notice her lack of responsiveness when others were praising Madonna’s talent and value as a teacher to everyone. 

I really love Nikki but yes. I felt that too. Nikki clearly has a big personality, like Madonna, so it’s not hard to imagine they probably clashed. The fact she was receiving a text from Christopher is interesting to say the least.

I also have to ask did I hear correctly that Mariah Carey was complimenting The Girlie Show band to Nikki or did I hear the name wrong?

[Blue Jean 16,061]

Also how great was it to hear them all say what we’ve been saying for years. That The Girlie Show band/arrangements were the fucking best. I wish she’d bring them back.

[Blue Jean 16,061]

49 minutes ago, Alibaba said:

I imagine it was very different to work for Madonna in 2015 vs 1993. Madonna was probably far more accessible back then, and they said she did everything with them, and that they functioned as a group. I noticed Niki made a point of saying that what was great about the Girlie Show, aside from the killer band and all the talent, was that Madonna was still open to listening to others. I read that as a thinly veiled explanation for why they no longer worked together beyond Drowned World. Niki wanted to be heard, and Madonna probably put her in her place. Maybe that’s too speculative, but it rang true when I heard her use of words.  
 

I’m pretty sure if Madonna had kept hiring Nikki and Donna they’d have kept working for her. Things changed when they all had children I think , working on tour became more difficult to commit to.

[Mden 2,252]

The last time they had Niki on MLVC she went on and on about (I don’t remember). She was tiresome.

[Alibaba 1,544]

2 hours ago, Blue Jean said:

I really love Nikki but yes. I felt that too. Nikki clearly has a big personality, like Madonna, so it’s not hard to imagine they probably clashed. The fact she was receiving a text from Christopher is interesting to say the least.

I also have to ask did I hear correctly that Mariah Carey was complimenting The Girlie Show band to Nikki or did I hear the name wrong?

I can see how you got that impression from what she was saying about Mariah, but no, I think she was simply saying that Mariah hired (was it Mikey or Victor?) for her band and discovered through him that she could have the band play all types of musical styles and influences, like Spanish etc. At least that’s how I understood it. I think as Tommy Mottola has “known” Madonna for a long time, I don’t doubt he would have had Mariah dip in Madonna’s professional pool in those years before they divorced. 
 

I think Donna decided to no longer tour with M because of family after Confessions, but I had understood that Niki was not asked back for Reinvention. Siedah Garrett has implied she had a hard time working with Donna Delory, which always seemed weird to me. I guess we will never know the truth unless they spill the beans. All I know is Niki Harris leaves a trail of shade whenever the topic is Madonna, but let’s face it…she still gets a lot of mileage out of that legacy, whether she likes M or not, and so gratitude should be a given. Did you hear how quickly she emphasized that she wasn’t shaving her head for the tour because she was singing with Snap! at the time? No Niki. You were on tour with Madonna for six months, and you got PAID. Exterminate was not the reason. 😂