text
stringlengths 0
3.86k
|
|---|
= = = Chart performance = = =
|
" True Blue " was released in the United States in October 1986 . It debuted on the Billboard Hot 100 at number 40 , six weeks later it reached its peak of number three , remaining at the position for three consecutive weeks , and spent a total of 16 weeks on the chart . The song performed equally well on the other Billboard charts , peaking at number five on Adult Contemporary , and number six on the Hot Dance Club Songs chart . In October 1998 , the single was certified gold by the Recording Industry Association of America ( RIAA ) for shipment of 500 @,@ 000 copies . In Canada , the song debuted at number 84 the RPM singles chart on September 27 , 1986 , reached the top for one week in November 1986 , and stayed on the chart for 23 weeks . It ended at the 37th position of the year @-@ end chart .
|
In the United Kingdom , " True Blue " was released on September 29 , 1986 . It debuted at number three on the UK Singles Chart , before climbing to number one the next week , becoming Madonna 's third number @-@ one single there . It was certified gold by the British Phonographic Industry ( BPI ) in October 1986 . According to the Official Charts Company , the song has sold 545 @,@ 000 copies there . The song peaked at number one for two weeks in October 1986 in Ireland , making it her fourth number @-@ one single on the Irish Singles Chart . Both in Australia and New Zealand , the song reached the top five , and was certified platinum in the former region by the Australian Recording Industry Association ( ARIA ) for sales of 70 @,@ 000 copies of the single . In Europe " True Blue " also topped the Eurochart Hot 100 for one week in October 1986 . It peaked in the top five in Belgium , Italy , and the Netherlands , and in the top ten in Austria , France , Germany , and Switzerland .
|
= = Music videos = =
|
= = = Official version = = =
|
" True Blue " had two music videos to accompany it . Shot in early September 1986 in New York , Madonna 's own video for the song was directed by James Foley , who worked with Madonna in her videos for " Live to Tell " and " Papa Don 't Preach " , produced by Robert Colesberry and David Massar with photography by Michael Ballhaus . The Foley version features Madonna with three dancers and a 1950s car in an all @-@ blue diner . Madonna changes her hairstyle from short @-@ cropped in " Papa Don 't Preach " to a bushy platinum blonde hairdo and sings the song in choreographed moves backed by her dancers . It displays a flashing back to fifties rock 'n'roll youth culture .
|
The blue background changes to a sunny one as she sings " The sun is bursting right out of the sky " to go @-@ along with the lyrical meaning of the song . Two of Madonna 's close friends , Erika Belle and Debi Mazar appear in the video . The video was released at a time when she was going through a failed marriage with then husband actor Sean Penn . During this period , Madonna focused on more traditional fashion and attitudes and tried to appear more respectful of traditional gender roles . After shedding her trampy sex @-@ kitten and boy @-@ toy image with the " Live to Tell " music video , Madonna again adopted a new look for this video . Madonna attended aerobics classes at Hollywood health centre The Sports Connection , which was responsible for her toned down look in the video .
|
= = = " Make My Video " contest = = =
|
Sire Records decided to opt for a promotional device in the United States that would involve MTV viewers to make their own videos for " True Blue " . In the fall of 1986 , MTV asked its viewers to submit their own videos . The contest was known as " Madonna 's ' Make My Video ' Contest " . The winner was awarded a trip to MTV 's New York studio where Madonna presented a $ 25 @,@ 000 check live on MTV . Thousands of viewers submitted their recorded tapes which were mainly made using home @-@ made video equipment and featured themselves or relatives as the actors . MTV publicist Peter Danielson said that many of the submissions featured teenagers imitating Madonna . All the entries were shown in a continuous run on MTV as promised . The same song was played over and over for the whole day , but each time with a different video made by the finalists . Author Lisa A. Lewis said that this event emphasized the effect Madonna had on different kind of audiences due to the popularity and response to the contest . MTV selected ten finalists based mainly on a standard of popularity rather than slickness of production or concept creativity .
|
The concepts used in the videos were wide ranging and included a number of different ideas to interpret the lyrical meaning of the song . The final three entries selected , portrayed a fifties @-@ style production referring to the thematic content of the song . The song 's narration about " True Love " formed the basis of the rest of the semi @-@ finalist videos but was used in very different ways . The videos were choreographed featuring heterosexual romance , though no particular male or female protagonist was singled out . Some even adopted a kind of literal montage technique rather than structuring the video around a narrative line .
|
The winning entry was by Angel Gracia and Cliff Guest and it showed the female protagonist ( played by the director 's sister Anabel Garcia ) being supported and guided by her girlfriends who introduce her with the male protagonist . The girl even goes to the boy 's door to gift him flowers , thereby reversing the usual gender @-@ directed pattern of gift @-@ giving . The male protagonist is portrayed as a " perfect boy " ( played by William Fitzgibbon ) having the sensibilities like attentiveness , cuteness , playfulness like a friend ( after the lyrics " You 're my best friend " ) and not sexual overtones . The video in @-@ turn contrasts him with a self @-@ centered boy who puts on sunglasses , throws his leather jacket over his shoulder and walks away from the girl . Other videos portrayed a girl pining for her sailor , U.S.-Soviet relations and an arguing couple with the girl in a scene inspired by the music video of Tina Turner 's 1984 single " What 's Love Got to Do with It " .
|
= = Live performances = =
|
Madonna first performed the song on her 1987 " Who 's That Girl World Tour " . She came up on the stage wearing a blue dress to sing the song after finishing a performance of " Lucky Star " . In a similar setting to the original music video of the song , Madonna is backed up by her singers who play her girlfriends . At the end of the song Madonna is asked to dance again by the dancer playing her man in the performance . Her dance in the performance ( and also some other performances in the tour ) was choreographed by Jeffrey Hornaday from Flashdance . Two different performances of the song on the tour were included on two live video releases : Who 's That Girl : Live in Japan , filmed in Tokyo , Japan , on June 22 , 1987 , and Ciao Italia : Live from Italy , filmed in Turin , Italy , on September 4 , 1987 .
|
Madonna did not perform the song again until 2015 , as part of her Rebel Heart Tour . She performed an acoustic , ukulele @-@ driven version of the song sitting on top of a tire stack while asking the crowd to sing along with her . Writing for the Daily News , Jim Farber felt that during the performance " [ Madonna ] emphasized a rare sincerity " while Jordan Zivitz from the Montreal Gazette opined that " it was both endearingly quaint and , supersized by an unprompted singalong from more than 16 @,@ 000 voices , a goosebumps moment that felt more grandiose in its way than the showpieces surrounding it " . Newsday 's Glenn Gamboa gave a similar feedback , saying that the " lovely acoustic version of " True Blue " was a rare bow to romance , the sweetest of Madonna sentiments " .
|
= = Formats and track listing = =
|
= = Credits and personnel = =
|
Madonna – lyrics , producer , vocals
|
Steve Bray – drums , keyboards , lyrics , producer
|
Bruce Gaitsch – rhythm guitar
|
Fred Zarr – additional keyboards
|
Steve Peck – engineer
|
Shep Pettibone – remixing
|
Herb Ritts – photography
|
Jeri McManus – design / artwork
|
Credits adapted from the album 's liner notes .
|
= = Charts = =
|
= = Certifications = =
|
= Invisible rail =
|
The invisible rail , Wallace 's rail , or drummer rail ( Habroptila wallacii ) is a large flightless rail that is endemic to the island of Halmahera in North Maluku , Indonesia , where it inhabits impenetrable sago swamps adjacent to forests . Its plumage is predominantly dark slate @-@ grey , and the bare skin around its eyes , the long , thick bill , and the legs are all bright red . Its call is a low drumming sound which is accompanied by wing @-@ beating . The difficulty of seeing this shy bird in its dense habitat means that information on its behaviour is limited .
|
Recorded dietary items include sago shoots and insects , and it also swallows small stones to help break up its food . It is apparently monogamous , but little else is known of its courtship behaviour . The only known nest was a shallow bowl in the top of a rotting tree stump that was lined with wood chips and dry leaves . The two young chicks were entirely covered in black down typical of precocial newly hatched rails . The estimated population of 3 @,@ 500 – 15 @,@ 000 birds and the restricted range mean that the invisible rail is classified as vulnerable by the International Union for Conservation of Nature ( IUCN ) . Habitat loss has occurred through the harvesting of sago and conversion of the wetlands to rice cultivation , and the rail is eaten by local people . The described nest was in an area frequented by local villagers , so the rail may be more adaptable to habitat changes than had been thought .
|
= = Taxonomy = =
|
The rails are a large and very widespread family , with nearly 150 species . They are small to medium @-@ sized , terrestrial or wetland birds , and their short bodies are often flattened laterally to help them move through dense vegetation . Island species readily become flightless ; of 53 extant or recently extinct taxa restricted to islands , 32 have lost the ability to fly .
|
The invisible rail , first classified by English zoologist George Robert Gray in 1860 , is the only member of the monotypic genus Habroptila . The genus name Habroptila derives from the Greek habros , " delicate , pretty , splendid " and ptilon , " feather , wing " ; wallacii commemorates British zoologist Alfred Russel Wallace . Local names include " soisa " , " tibiales " and " rèie " .
|
This rail is related to the New Guinea flightless rail , Megacrex inepta , and the chestnut rail , Eulabeornis castaneoventris , all three Australasian genera probably being derived from Amaurornis ancestors . Storrs Olson argued that the genus Megacrex was so similar to Habroptila that Megacrex should be considered a junior synonym of Habroptila , resulting in two species in the genus . This was further lumped in Sidney Dillon Ripley 's 1977 monograph of the Rallidae ; he included Habroptila within the large genus Rallus . This suggestion was , however , not accepted by Gerlof Fokko Mees , who pointed out distinct differences in the shape and structure of the bill . A molecular phylogenetic analysis based on mitochondrial DNA sequence similarity found that Habroptila is part of evolutionary radiation within the broad genus Gallirallus that took place around 400 @,@ 000 years ago in the region .
|
= = Description = =
|
The invisible rail is a large , 33 to 40 cm ( 13 – 16 in ) long , flightless bird . The adult has a mainly dark slate @-@ grey body , dark brown plumage on the lower back , rump and wings , and a black uppertail . Its underparts are slightly paler slate @-@ grey than the back , and the bare skin around the eye , the long , thick bill and the strong legs are bright red . It has a small spine at the bend of the wings . The sexes are identical in appearance ; the plumage of fledged immature birds has not been described .
|
The invisible rail is superficially similar to the purple swamphen , Porphyrio porphyrio , which has recently been found in Halmahera , but that species is larger , with a short , thick red bill and a red forehead shield ; it also has purple underparts and a white undertail . The invisible rail is different from the Calayan rail , Gallirallus calayanensis , in that it is larger and lacks the barred plumage of that species ; there is no overlap between the ranges of the two species .
|
The call is a low drumming , accompanied by a tuk , tuk , tuk made with the wings . The nature of the vocalisation led to a local legend that the sound is made by the bird beating on a hollow tree or branch with its feet . Gerd Heinrich noted the local name " soisa " , meaning drum , and described the call as being a subdued drumming purre – purre – purre – purre – purre which sometimes ends in a loud shrill scream . The bird also produced a dull hum similar to the voice of the banded pig ( Sus scrofa vittatus ) and reminiscent of the call of the snoring rail ( Aramidopsis plateni ) . Calling is most frequent in the early morning or late evening , and a human tapping a sago stem with a machete may elicit a response from the bird . A quieter version of the call is given at the nest . Other sounds attributed to this rail , such as loud screams , may be incorrect , since they are like those produced by the pale @-@ vented bush @-@ hen ( Amaurornis moluccana ) .
|
= = Distribution and habitat = =
|
The invisible rail inhabits the dense , spiky sago swamps of Halmahera , particularly where forest adjoins the boggy areas . Claims that the rail occurs in alang @-@ alang grass are thought to have arisen from confusion with the pale @-@ vented bush @-@ hen . German ornithologist Gerd Heinrich , who prepared for his Halmahera trip by rolling in stinging nettles , wrote of the sago swamp habitat in the 1930s :
|
I am solidly confident no European has ever seen this rail alive , for that requires such a degree of toughening and such demands on oneself as I cannot so easily attribute to others . Habroptila is shielded by the awful thorns of the sago swamps ... In this thorn wilderness , I walked barefoot and half @-@ naked for weeks .
|
Sightings of the rail from 1950 to 2003 were from a restricted area of West Halmahera Regency , at the base of the western peninsula of the island , but it was recorded prior to 1950 as far as the southern point of Halmahera . More recent records showed that it is still present in a significantly larger area , including the northeast of the island , and locals claim that it also occurs in the swamps near Kao , in the northwest .
|
= = Behaviour = =
|
The difficult habitat and retiring nature of the invisible rail mean that information on its lifestyle is sparse , and there are few confirmed sightings . Recorded food items include sago shoots and insects . It also feeds at cut sago plants , although it is unclear whether it is eating the decaying plant or searching for other edible items . It swallows small stones , as do all rails , to help break up its food in the gizzard .
|
The invisible rail is thought to be monogamous , but little else is known of its courtship behaviour prior to nesting . A report of 4 – 5 striped chicks was long thought to be incorrect , since such a plumage is not normal for rails . In this family , chicks are typically precocial , downy and black , with any ornamentation confined to the head , bare flesh , or specially modified plume feathers .
|
The issue was resolved in November 2010 when a nest was found in the top of a rotting tree stump , 1 m ( 39 in ) above ground level and 46 m ( 151 ft ) in from the edge of a dry swamp forest in Aketajawe @-@ Lolobata National Park . The nest depression was 15 cm ( 5 @.@ 9 in ) in depth , with a lower layer of small wood chips at its base and a lining of dead leaves . The egg shells were brownish @-@ white with dark brown and black markings of different sizes . The two very young chicks were entirely covered in black down , contrasting with a white pollux ( the equivalent of the thumbnail on a human hand ) and pink index nail . The bill was black with a white tip , and the legs were black @-@ streaked brown . The eyes had grey irises and blue pupils . Rail chicks leave the nest soon after hatching , so the chicks were assumed to be only a day or two old .
|
= = Status = =
|
Bird species with a restricted range are especially vulnerable to human activities , and eight of the 26 bird species occurring only in the Northern Maluku Endemic Bird Area are threatened , including the invisible rail . Almost a quarter of all rail species have conservation concerns , and flightless island species are particularly at risk , at least 15 species having become extinct since 1600 . The estimated population of the invisible rail is 3 @,@ 500 – 15 @,@ 000 birds , and its restricted range and small population mean that the species is classified as vulnerable by the International Union for Conservation of Nature ( IUCN ) , although this rail is so poorly known that it may be more common than the estimates suggest .
|
Habitat loss has occurred through commercial harvesting of the sago , or conversion to rice cultivation and fishponds . The rail is a prized food for local people who catch it with traps made from strings of bark and hunt it with dogs . The only described nest was in an area well @-@ used by local villagers , and the rail may be more adaptable to habitat changes than had been thought . There were also several sightings in northeast Halmahera in 2008 and 2011 , extending the area in which this bird has been seen in recent years .
|
= Project Chanology =
|
Project Chanology ( also called Operation Chanology ) was a protest movement against the practices of the Church of Scientology by members of Anonymous , a leaderless Internet @-@ based group that defines itself as ubiquitous . The project was started in response to the Church of Scientology 's attempts to remove material from a highly publicized interview with Scientologist Tom Cruise from the Internet in January 2008 .
|
The project was publicly launched in the form of a video posted to YouTube , " Message to Scientology " , on January 21 , 2008 . The video states that Anonymous views Scientology 's actions as Internet censorship , and asserts the group 's intent to " expel the church from the Internet " . This was followed by distributed denial @-@ of @-@ service attacks ( DDoS ) , and soon after , black faxes , prank calls , and other measures intended to disrupt the Church of Scientology 's operations . In February 2008 , the focus of the protest shifted to legal methods , including nonviolent protests and an attempt to get the Internal Revenue Service to investigate the Church of Scientology 's tax exempt status in the United States .
|
Reactions from the Church of Scientology regarding the protesters ' actions have varied . Initially , one spokesperson stated that members of the group " have got some wrong information " about Scientology . Another referred to the group as a group of " computer geeks " . Later , the Church of Scientology started referring to Anonymous as " cyberterrorists " perpetrating " religious hate crimes " against the church .
|
Detractors of Scientology have also criticized the actions of Project Chanology , asserting that they merely provide the Church of Scientology with the opportunity to " play the religious persecution card " . Other critics such as Mark Bunker and Tory Christman initially questioned the legality of Project Chanology 's methods , but have since spoken out in support of the project as it shifted towards nonviolent protests and other legal methods .
|
= = Background = =
|
The Church of Scientology has a history of conflict with groups on the Internet . In 1995 , attorneys for the Church of Scientology attempted to get the newsgroup alt.religion.scientology ( a.r.s. ) removed from Usenet . This attempt backfired and generated a significant amount of press for a.r.s. The conflict with a.r.s led the hacker group Cult of the Dead Cow to declare war on the Church of Scientology . The Church of Scientology mounted a 10 @-@ year legal campaign against Dutch writer Karin Spaink and several Internet service providers after Spaink and others posted documents alleged to be secret teachings of the organization . The Church of Scientology 's efforts ended in a legal defeat in a Dutch court in 2005 . This series of events is often referred to as " Scientology versus the Internet " .
|
= = = Tom Cruise video = = =
|
On January 14 , 2008 , a video produced by the Church of Scientology featuring an interview with Tom Cruise was posted on YouTube . In the video , music from Cruise 's Mission : Impossible films plays in the background , and Cruise makes various statements , including saying that Scientologists are the only people who can help after a car accident , and that Scientologists are the authority on getting addicts off drugs . According to The Times , Cruise can be seen in the video " extolling the virtues of Scientology " . The Daily Telegraph ( Australia ) characterized Cruise as " manic @-@ looking " during the interview , " gush [ ing ] about his love for Scientology " .
|
The Church of Scientology asserted that the video material that had been leaked to YouTube and other websites was " pirated and edited " and taken from a three @-@ hour video produced for members of Scientology . YouTube removed the Cruise video from their site under threat of litigation . The web site Gawker.com did not take down their copy of the Tom Cruise video , and other sites have posted the entire video . Lawyers for the Church of Scientology sent a letter to Gawker.com requesting the removal of the video , but Nick Denton of Gawker.com stated : " It 's newsworthy and we will not be removing it . "
|
= = = Formation = = =
|
Subsets and Splits
No community queries yet
The top public SQL queries from the community will appear here once available.