On May 6 1995, Madonna’s Bedtime Story single dropped to #52 on the Billboard Hot 100 and completed her incredible run of 32 consecutive Top 40 hits in the USA.
Tag Archives: Bedtime Story
Today in Madonna History: March 25, 1995
On March 25 1995, Madonna’s Bedtime Story music video was featured in an article in Billboard magazine.
The article focused on Warner’s decision of previewing the video in movie theaters, which was a new marketing strategy that had not been attempted previously.
Today In Madonna History: March 18, 1995
On March 18 1995, Madonna hosted a pajama party for 1,500 fans at Webster Hall, in New York, to celebrate the premiere of the Bedtime Story music video broadcast live on MTV. During the party, Madonna also read a bedtime story of Miss Spider’s Tea Party by David Kirk.
Today in Madonna History: February 13, 1995
On February 13 1995, Bedtime Story was released in Europe by Maverick Records as the third single from the album Bedtime Stories. In North America, the single was delayed until April due to the sleeper success of Take A Bow, which continued its slow-but-steady climb to the top of the Hot 100.
Bedtime Story was written by Björk, Marius De Vries & Nellee Hooper and was produced by Hooper & Madonna. Björk’s original demo, titled Let’s Get Unconscious, was reworked by Hooper & DeVries and renamed Bedtime Story for its submission to Madonna. Björk later revisited elements of the song’s lyrics in Sweet Intuition–a b-side from her 1995 single, Army Of Me.
In a 2001 interview for NYLON magazine, writer James Servin asked Björk whether it was true that she had written the lyrics to Bedtime Story for Madonna because she liked the idea of her expressing a viewpoint that was paradoxical to her controlled public image:
“I think at the time, yes. But that’s like six years ago, when everything about [Madonna] seemed very controlled. I think she’s a very intuitive person, and definitely her survival instincts are incredible. They’re like, outrageous. At the time, the words I thought she should say were, ‘I’m not using words anymore, let’s get unconscious honey. Fuck logic. Just be intuitive. Be more free. Go with the flow.’ Right now, she seems pretty much to be going with the flow.”
This prompts me to ask Björk if she thinks she might have put those mellowing-out thoughts into Madonna’s head. “Well, I wouldn’t credit myself for that,” she says. “Not at all. That’s a question for you to ask her.”
I sent a fax to Madonna via her publicist Liz Rosenberg, with the question: “Did singing the lyrics Björk wrote for Bedtime Story lead you in the direction of going more with the flow?” A day or two later, I receive this e-mail from Liz Rosenberg: “I wish I could get an answer from Madonna for you. She’s deep into rehearsals for her tour, and I can’t get any info from her for a while. I can tell you that Madonna certainly thinks Björk is inspiring and a brilliant artist. Madonna is a huge fan of her music. I’ve never thought Madonna was a ‘go with the flow’ person before or after recording Bedtime Story. She goes with a flow – but it’s a flow of her own creation, if you know what I mean.”
Today in Madonna History: December 23, 1995
On December 23 1995, Madonna won two Billboard Music Awards: Top Hot 100 Singles Artist – Female and Top Hot Dance Club Play Artist.
Madonna had the following singles chart during 1995: Secret, Take A Bow, Bedtime Story, Human Nature and You’ll See.
Today in Madonna History: December 2, 2000
On December 2 2000, Madonna’s Don’t Tell Me single was reviewed by Chuck Taylor in Billboard magazine.
Don’t Tell Me was Madonna’s final single to be released on cassette in the U.S., while Warner Bros. U.K. would issue Madonna’s next two singles in the format, with the last being 2002’s Die Another Day.
In Canada – the first market to consistently issue Madonna’s singles in the format (the cassette maxi-single of Angel was the first in 1985) – her final cassette single was 1995’s Bedtime Story and her last cassette maxi-single was 1994’s I’ll Remember.
Today in Madonna History: November 27, 1999
On November 27 1999, Madonna: The Video Collection 1993-99 hit #3 on the Billboard Top Music Videos chart.
Heather Phares from Allmusic gave the release five out of five stars and said:
“Madonna’s Video Collection: 1993-1999 adds to her status as one of the best represented artists on DVD. Though it doesn’t offer much in the way of DVD-specific features, the artistry of directors like Mark Romanek, Stephane Sednaoui, David Fincher, Jean-Baptiste Mondino, as well as Madonna herself, is on full display with videos like ‘Take a Bow’, ‘Bedtime Story’, ‘Human Nature’, ‘Frozen’, and ‘Ray of Light’. All in all, it’s a worthwhile collection of memorable videos from one of pop’s trendsetters.”
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