I’ll make this short and sweet for now … a placeholder for all my Madonna stories, autographs, connections, and concert tales to come.  

MADONNA IN-PERSON

Right now, I want to share one of my favorite pieces.  The signed cover of Vanity Fair that I got signed by Madonna (along with 2 other oversized photos – you’ll see later) when she was appearing in “Speed the Plow” on Broadway in 1988.  I brought the gold pen, the oversized pix, the large post-paid return envelopes and waited before the matinee when Madonna got out of her car.  Unfortunately, her stalker (aka Queerdonna) was there, so she did NOT come over, but she DID see what I had and said something to her assistant.  I called her assistant (Caresse) over and she knew right away.  She took what I had and promised she would have Madonna sign and mail them back to me.  When I received that large envelope at my office in Burlingame, I was over the moon!!!  I still am.  THREE beautifully signed and inscribed photos from Madonna may mean a lot to collectors in general, but when you’re a gay man of a certain age, they are treasures that you will keep until you die.   Here I am excitedly talking briefly about that day in 1988:

I’ve also shown an example from a collection I bought that is an outright Madonna forgery.  Sure, a lot of times, celebrities don’t authentically sign in the sweet (lighter) spot, but a forger will SO OFTEN go into the darker areas on purpose because there’s less visibility to authenticate.  Fake, fake, fake.

NIKKI HARRIS & DONNA DELORY IN-PERSON

In 1990, we were glued to MTV waiting for the world premiere of Madonna’s “Vogue” video.  It surpassed all expectations and is still a classic in all its B&W glamour!  

Nikki Harris and Donna DeLory were key players during those years, along with Jose & Luis, featured in the “Vogue” video, “Blonde Ambition” tour and “Truth or Dare”.  I’ve met both ladies separately (and together) and I’ll talk further about those encounters later.  But here you will see the “Vogue” 10x8 that I had them sign during Nikki’s April 2025 appearance at The Catalina Jazz club.  I had a feeling that Donna would be there too, so I brought the photo “just in case”.  Some guys have all the luck!  

The” Vogue” video was classic, but we also waited for the live performance of “Vogue” on the MTV VMA’s in September of 1990 with bated breath.  Nobody expected Marie Antoinette and her court!  But that was and (still is) ON POINT!  Here’s Madonna, Nikki and Donna during “The Girlie Show” tour:

CELEBRITY AUTOGRAPHS FROM MADONNA’s “VOGUE” LYRICS

The name-check callouts in “Vogue” were something we all remembered and had ingrained in our brains almost immediately after the song was released.  Check out my bragging rights for the autographs of those she mentioned.

“Greta Garbo” – autograph, yes 

“And Monroe” – autograph, I wish

“Dietrich” – autograph, yes

“And DiMaggio” – autograph, yes (family friend!)

“Marlon Brando” – autograph, yes

“Jimmy Dean. On the cover of a magazine.” – autograph? No. You got $10-20K?

“Grace Kelly” – autograph, yes (Grace de Monaco)

“Harlow, Jean. Picture of a beauty queen” – autograph no, but Mama signed most

“Gene Kelly” – autograph, yes

“Fred Astaire” – autograph, yes

“Ginger Rogers, dance on air” – (and backwards, in heels) – autograph, yes

“They had style, they had grace”

“Rita Hayworth gave good face” – autograph, no

“Lauren” – autograph, yes

“Lana” – autograph, yes

“Katharine, too” – autograph, yes (met in person!)

“Bette Davis, we love you” – autograph, YES, many!

Joan Crawford would have been pissed.  But then again, she hated her name, when it was selected by fans in a movie magazine contest to pick a new name for starlet Lucille Fay LeSueur (her full real name).  Joan’s comment being it sounds like “Crawfish”.  Plus, it’s hard to fit Crawford in a rhyme for “Vogue” lyrics.  I’m sure Madonna loves her though.  The queens love the queen that loves the queens.