We’re getting closer to the show, we’re building sets, and Madonna had no idea what she wanted to do. I’d call her and say, “Look, we’ve really got to know.” She called me the next day and says, “I’ve got it. I want to sing ‘Like a Virgin’ to a Bengal tiger.”

“What?” She goes, “A Bengal tiger.” And I go, “You mean like a baby one?” “No, no, full-grown.” “You want a full-grown Bengal tiger?” “A white one.” I go, “You want a white, full-grown Bengal tiger onstage at Radio City Music Hall? If it gets loose and kills Walter Yetnikoff, I’ve got a fucking problem. Come up with something else.” And she came up with the cake idea—she burst out of a wedding cake. So we had a seventeen-foot cake built.

It’s rehearsal the day before the show, and it’s time for her to do her number. She comes out in a wedding dress with nothing underneath it, and up the ladder she goes. I’m standing below and looking up. She figures out what’s going on, looks down, and says, “How do I look from down there?” And I said, “Pretty good to me!”

Les Garland - Co-Founder MTV

I Want My MTV: The Uncensored Story of the Music Video Revolution.