On April 9 1995, Madonna’s Bedtime Story single peaked at number five in Australia, where it stayed in that position for three weeks. It fell out of the top ten in the fifth week, and eventually exited the charts after a total run of nine weeks, falling to 44 on its last week in the charts. Sal Cinquemani of Slant Magazine praised the song, claiming that the song had unfulfilled potential and that it “could have been the next Vogue“.
On March 16 1995, Madonna’s The Immaculate Collection was certified 6x platinum (6 million units) in the USA.
Review by Stephen Thomas Erlewine (allmusic.com):
On the surface, the single-disc hits compilation The Immaculate Collection appears to be a definitive retrospective of Madonna’s heyday in the ’80s. After all, it features 17 of Madonna’s greatest hits, from Holiday and Like a Virgin to Like a Prayer and Vogue. However, looks can be deceiving. It’s true that The Immaculate Collection contains the bulk of Madonna’s hits, but there are several big hits that aren’t present, including Angel, Dress You Up, True Blue, Who’s That Girl and Causing a Commotion. The songs that are included are frequently altered. Everything on the collection is remastered in Q-sound, which gives an exaggerated sense of stereo separation that often distorts the original intent of the recordings. Furthermore, several songs are faster than their original versions and some are faded out earlier than either their single or album versions, while others are segued together. In other words, while all the hits are present, they’re simply not in their correct versions. Nevertheless, The Immaculate Collection remains a necessary purchase, because it captures everything Madonna is about and it proves that she was one of the finest singles artists of the ’80s. Until the original single versions are compiled on another album, The Immaculate Collection is the closest thing to a definitive retrospective.
On March 10 1995, Madonna’s luscious Bedtime Story music video was given a cinematic release at three different Odeon Cineplex film theatres:
The one week engagement allowed attendees to enjoy the Mark Romanek directed masterpiece on the big screen for a week before the video was released on MTV.
Madonna later celebrated the premiere of Bedtime Story video by throwing a Pajama Party at Webster Hall in New York, on March 18, 1995.
On February 25 1995, Madonna’s Take A Bow hit #1 in the USA on the Billboard Hot 100 chart. The hit single remained #1 for 7 weeks, and became Madonna’s 11th single to top the charts in the USA.
Billboard called the song a “plush pop ballad” that was “as close to perfect as top 40 fare gets.” Adding that the lead vocal was “both sweet and quietly soulful.”
On February 22 1995, Madonna and Babyface performed Take A Bow at the San Remo Music Festival in Italy. At the end of the performance, Madonna thanked the audience in Italian, and received a standing ovation.
On February 20, 1995, Madonna performed Bedtime Story at the 14th annual Brit Awards at the Alexandra Palace in London, England.
On January 12 1995, Madonna appeared on the cover of Germany’s Stern magazine. The cover image was taken from the upcoming Spring/Summer Versace campaign. Photo by Steven Meisel.
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