March 1991, my birthday, nine years... My mother and I went to a record store and I remember well... I wanted a record as a birthday present, but had nothing in my mind. Then my mother asked to the shop owner: What's the best-selling record? The answer? The Immaculate Collection! Since then I'm dedicated to Madonna... My first big concert was The Girlie Show in Sao Paulo, I was only 11! Oh! Madonna!
25 years ago (November 9, 1990) Madonna released her first greatest hits compilation, the fantastic THE IMMACULATE COLLECTION (the title is a reference to M´s religious name and the Immaculate Conception). 15 hits plus 2 new songs, Rescue Me and Justify My Love.
Madonna dedicated the album to “The Pope, my divine inspirationâ€. This led to many believing it was dedicated to Pope John Paul II, but it was actually dedicated to her brother, Christopher Ciccone, who had spent the year on tour with Madonna (“The Pope†is one of his nicknames).
The album is a huge success and keeps the world record of the best-selling compilation album by a solo artist. Let´s celebrate!
Celebrating 25 years of #TheImmaculateCollection
http://myfizzypop.blogspot.com/2015/11/madonna-immaculate-collection-25th.html
When you are an enduring and everlasting star such as Madonna, then it is always a 25th anniversary of something. Singles, albums, tours, films, videos, TV performances, and so on. It's rare, however, that much attention gets paid to greatest hits collections - often, these are a collection of already known songs with a couple of newbies added on. There was something so much more to Madonna's own and first greatest hits, The Immaculate Collection. Not only does it (arguably) have the best title of a greatest hits album ever (allegedly changed from Ultra Madonna to avoid confusion with the dance artist Ultra), but there was a certain Madonna-like audacity to it in having all the chosen tracks remixed by Shep Pettibone. It featured 15 of Madonna's biggest hits (but not all of them) as well as 2 new songs that, as time would evidence, hinted nicely at the next stage of her career. It topped the charts for an unprecedented nine weeks in the UK and spawned four singles here (more on that later) - the near-perfect bookend to stage one of her soaring career...
I say near-perfect because the project wasn't without it's controversy. Let's face it, it wouldn't be a Madonna album if it didn't spark heated conversation. Some folks weren't keen on the remixed nature of the songs, bemoaning the fact that these weren't the single versions that made the charts. Others pointed out that several successful singles were missing from the project (Dress You Up, Angel, Gambler and True Blue to name a few). For me, I liked the ballsy move of the remixes - it gave the fans something new whilst also being a really clever way to encourage and promote sales of a back catalogue for those that really wanted to hear songs in their original format. The tracklisting? Well, I've always been a stickler for a comprehensive and chronological greatest hits (bravo to the first Kylie and Erasure collections) but I get why - depending on where you lived in the world Madonna had released at least 25+ singles. Sure, it could have been a double album but it's a snapshot of Madonna's career - and possibly remains the greatest selection of songs of her mortal life. Plus, lucky Britain got to have some additional and nicely matching CD singles to pad out the collection so it was all rather forgiveable in the end...
THE SINGLES:
[*]
Justify My Love ~ single number one from the Immaculate Collection was part single, part musical poetry and part seductive love letter to love itself. I remember being absolutely besotten with the mid-tempo groove that was like a gentle caress to the skin while Madonna breathily spoke almost every single word of the song (rather than singing). The track positively oozes sex and was accompanied by a NSFW video that would have had One Million Moms (actually about 2000) clutching their faux-pearls in righteous indignation. I remember there being a "video single" of JML released (which included that phenomenal MTV Award version of Vogue) and my mum buying it for me, shoving it into my hand and whispering "don't tell your dad"! What a woman And, of course, the single was a massive smash (2 in UK, chart topper in the US)...
[*]Crazy For You ~ In the late 80s and early 90s, it wasn't uncommon for songs to be re-released in the UK. Movie songs would chart all over again if the film was shown on TV, for example, and Madonna being the draw that she was means it shouldn't come as a surprise that the record company wanted to maximise it's returns as well as garner more publicity for the behemoth that was now The Immaculate Collection. Crazy For You was re-released in Feb 1991 (Valentine's Day) with the Shep Pettibone single remix of Keep It Together on the b-side (never a single in the UK). The single artwork looked like an outtake from Justify My Love video which a) didn't really fit with the song and b) didn't have the cohesive visual imagery that went into the next single (in terms of it being an extension of the album - it certainly matched the JML and Rescue Me covers). Regardless, you can't keep a good song down and this IC-version went all the way to number two (it's original peak position from 1985)...
[*]The Holiday Collection ~ The song Holiday had already reached the top ten twice (6 in 1984, 2 in 1985) but Warner Bros were clearly convinced it could do it again. By packaging it as The Holiday Collection with artworkthat fitted nicely alongside The Immaculate Collection, they proved themselves right. It rose all the way to number three in the summer of 1991 - partly because, like Crazy For You, it was a song that people loved and wanted to hear all over again; and partly because it gave collectors additional tracks like True Blue, Who's That Girl and Causing A Commotion to add to their own immaculate collection. None of these were remixed in the album style but it was a nice tip of the hat.
[*]Rescue Me ~ the other new track was a blistering house meets pop meets dance extravaganza that still sounds radiant to this day. Ace gospel and soul influences abound and it's no wonder this was another top three hit in the UK (although due to the radio play/sales nature of the US charts, it peaked a number nine over there). A worthy legacy to end the Immaculate Collection period - and if you play Vogue, Justify My Love, this, Erotica and Deeper & Deeper back to back you have a sizzling collection of Shep-Madonna songs that still sound great to this day.
CVMAD got a reaction from madgefan in Happy 25th Anniversary, The Immaculate Collection!
CVMAD reacted to groovyguy in Rebel Heart on WW Charts [Current WW Total: Approx - 1.2 millions]