Bedtime Stories 25th Anniversary (Album Facts)

[me1981 1,358]

4 hours ago, poserdemadonna said:

I remember seeing this on Madonna Tribe many moons ago and I kept the information. If true or not, I'm not sure.

The timeline of events would suggest this was not the case

Dec 94 - Madonna writes a long ass letter to Alan Parker asking to be considered for the role of Evita

Jan/Feb 95 - Talks were most likely in place, Liz Smith even stated Madonna might not tour and that was the reason for the Euro promo tour

Mar 95 - Madonna is announced as Evita. She tells Kurt Loder at the MTV Pajama Party that she probably won't tour now she has to focus on Evita. I think this may have been the point when her management tried to convince her to do a smaller scale tour.

May 95 - Films the Human Nature video and states during the Making Of, that she won't be touring, instead focusing on Evita. 

So it seems unlikely the tour opener with Human Nature in the squares was ever a thing. By the time they put the video together she had already decided to not tour. 

Another interesting fact - Apparently Jean-Baptiste didn't want to deal with heavy choreography for the Human Nature video, so he put everyone in the squares. So he didn't need to worry about complicated set ups. Makes me wonder if there were other concepts for the video before he came on board.

[MarXus 92]

I've been revisiting this album this past week, and I'm just in awe in how beautiful this album is.  Definitely, this is the album I think is her most underrated!

[musicinferno 3,675]

On 11/2/2019 at 11:08 AM, MarXus said:

I've been revisiting this album this past week, and I'm just in awe in how beautiful this album is.  Definitely, this is the album I think is her most underrated!

It really is. It's one of her best album and one of my fav eras. Everything about Bedtime Stories was flawless.

 

I'm glad she did Evita but man I would have loved to have seen a tour.

[Guest Ashley]

Bedtime Stories and Something to Remember, particularly her cover of I Want You are my usual late night to dawn listening M songs. 

 

 

[Justice 326]

On 10/29/2019 at 4:31 PM, MarXus said:

This is incorrect.  She only spoke about touring, early on, but as early as December 1994, she was already focused on getting the Evita role.  No tour was in production yet. 

On many sites and forums it has been mentioned that Madonna would have started the show with Human Nature while coming out of a box. It was just an idea, nothing was in production.

I don't know if that is true and who the source was.

[MarXus 92]

3 hours ago, Justice said:

On many sites and forums it has been mentioned that Madonna would have started the show with Human Nature while coming out of a box. It was just an idea, nothing was in production.

I don't know if that is true and who the source was.

Nothing was in production.  It's simply ideas based on the video, cultivated by fans.  Nothing more.  Even before the Human Nature song and video was released (spring/Summer of '95), she was already preparing for the role of Evita.  Otherwise, this would have been the time she would have prepared for a tour and most likely started her tour in the summer.  However, she was immersed with voice lessons, etc.  Prior to principal filming in early 1996, she had already been preparing the role all that spring and summer of '95,  and by the fall of '95, she was recording her vocals for the Evita soundtrack which took about four months, which leads right up to start of filming.  My point being, there was no time for her to prepare for a tour.  Early on, she was hoping to tour, but by the time Bedtime Stories was released and on it's second single, in late '94, she was in Evita mode. 

[Justice 326]

On 11/7/2019 at 12:51 AM, MarXus said:

Nothing was in production.  It's simply ideas based on the video, cultivated by fans.  Nothing more.  Even before the Human Nature song and video was released (spring/Summer of '95), she was already preparing for the role of Evita.  Otherwise, this would have been the time she would have prepared for a tour and most likely started her tour in the summer.  However, she was immersed with voice lessons, etc.  Prior to principal filming in early 1996, she had already been preparing the role all that spring and summer of '95,  and by the fall of '95, she was recording her vocals for the Evita soundtrack which took about four months, which leads right up to start of filming.  My point being, there was no time for her to prepare for a tour.  Early on, she was hoping to tour, but by the time Bedtime Stories was released and on it's second single, in late '94, she was in Evita mode. 

 

I know. I said maybe it was just an idea. 

[somethingscomingover 428]

On 11/2/2019 at 11:08 AM, MarXus said:

I've been revisiting this album this past week, and I'm just in awe in how beautiful this album is.  Definitely, this is the album I think is her most underrated!

Yes! It should be talked about more. I love the very RnB/90's feel of it. I think that a lot more people would like it if they actually heard about it and took the time to listen. It's amazing!

[DiscoThomas 1,171]

I love this album.  Amongst her best IMO.

[Guest Nobody Knows Me]

On 10/29/2019 at 8:51 PM, MarXus said:

It's not true.  She mentioned she was going to tour, but it never materialized. The album came out in October.  By December, Take A Bow was released and that's when she sent the video and her letter to Alan Parker to play Evita.  Soon after she was hired for the role.  Initially she was planning to tour in Spring or Fall of 1995.  Her publicist suggested a smaller tour, but Madonna and her manager scrapped all plans to tour.

I’d read that plans were underway for a tour and stadiums had been booked at Wembley Stadium in London. I’ve also seen a rumoured setlist for a 1995 tour which did have Human Nature as the opening number, and I also read that a dancer for the tour stated that Human Nature was the opening. It was also said that the 1995 BRIT Awards performance was a sneak peek into the tour, which could be true since she said she was 99% sure the tour was happening that night. But I guess we’ll never get a proper answer to all these rumours. It could’ve been a brilliant tour. 

[Ahmad Samadi 5]

This is an old fan rumor. There’s no evidence to back it up.
If anything, the original pressing cover is the real cover. It’s one that was used in ALL advertising promo 

....also the 2018 repress was her face the original right side up. If it was incorrect, I’m sure they would’ve repressed the proper version. Maybe they just thought it was fin to have two “differing” covers.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[Guest Nobody Knows Me]

I once read a long time ago somewhere that Madonna wanted Bedtime Story as the lead single from the album. Does anybody know whether or not this is true?

[Starchild 3,075]

Mark Romanek had a meeting with Madonna at a hotel in the early '90s, at which she was living while her home was being renovated. He noticed that the only piece of decor that Madonna had brought with her to the hotel was a surrealist painting to hang on her wall. He commented that it could be great to direct a video based on that painting one day... Flash forward to 1994 and Mark Romanek had the privilege of listening to the Bedtime Stories album before its commercial release, after which he told Madonna that he'd love to direct the video for Bedtime Story if it was to be released as a single, given this concept that he had in mind.

Originally, the label wanted to finish the album promotion with Forbidden Love, however Madonna persuaded them to opt for Bedtime Story instead, not only because she had a spectacular video in the works for it, but to show her growth as an artist. Of course, Human Nature eventually became the official last single.

[into the erotico 972]

On 10/29/2019 at 2:47 PM, drivebitch said:

I believe "Forbidden Love" was supposed to promote "Something to Remember" which is why the song is on the compilation.

Madonna changed her hair last minute for the "Secret" music video. The director shot scenes with the first hairstyle and that footage was used in the remix video.  I believe the director told her to tone down the hair.

This image was supposed to be the album cover:

The Shep Pettibone sessions have still not leaked with the exception of "Love Won't Wait". "Secret" was originally "Something's Coming Over Me" and supposedly sounds like a Donna Summer song and she's singing about sex and moans. She sings "I see your love coming down." Shep got a writing credit on "Secret" after the pressing of the album. "Inside of Me" was "I Will Always Have You" and was another Shep song. Other Shep demos known to exist: "Bring It", "Tongue Tied", and Goodtime". There's also another Dallas Austin demo, "Right On Time". 

More about "I Will Always Have You"...

"I Will Always Have You" – The unreleased original version of what became the released song "Inside Of Me" recorded with Shep Pettibone and then abandoned. US copyright registration# PAu-1-889-251. This ballad sounds more like the familiar style of "Crazy for You" or "You'll See" than what later became the soft, lullaby-like released version. The released song's theme is all about Madonna cherishing the memory of a loved one, but in this demo she also wants to be the object of the song to also be remembered. The words "inside of me" are hardly used but many of the same lyrics are switched around. The melody is significantly different from the released version

PENYWISE hair style! 

[into the erotico 972]

2 hours ago, vasili said:

Mark Romanek had a meeting with Madonna at a hotel in the early '90s, at which she was living while her home was being renovated. He noticed that the only piece of decor that Madonna had brought with her to the hotel was a surrealist painting to hang on her wall. He commented that it could be great to direct a video based on that painting one day... Flash forward to 1994 and Mark Romanek had the privilege of listening to the Bedtime Stories album before its commercial release, after which he told Madonna that he'd love to direct the video for Bedtime Story if it was to be released as a single, given this concept that he had in mind.

Originally, the label wanted to finish the album promotion with Forbidden Love, however Madonna persuaded them to opt for Bedtime Story instead, not only because she had a spectacular video in the works for it, but to show her growth as an artist. Of course, Human Nature eventually became the official last single.

cheers to Orlando Pita!

[Starchild 3,075]

Re the Secret video, as taken from this Facebook post:

"Orlando Pita
18 January ·

#fbf #flashbackfriday This was the first video I did with @madonna thankfully the first of many??

Repost from @webo1958 using @RepostRegramApp -

Friday September 9th until Sunday September 11th 1994
Lenox Avenue Harlem NYC
Director @melodiemcdaniel
Stylist @brigittepavich
Hair @orlandopita
Make Up @lauramercier TBC
Vintage coat - stylists assistants
Shoes @versace

The “Secret” video was filmed between Sept 9-11th 1994 at the Lenox Lounge and on location on Lenox Avenue in Harlem. The director Melodie McDaniel and her team scouted out low-rent, speak-easy locations and they did street-casting, assembling off-beat characters, from club queens to card tricksters and edgy Harlem teenagers.

Before meeting with Madonna, McDaniel first listened to the song and found it inspiring. When asked by the singer about her references for the video, McDaniel presented her with pictures from her favorite 1970s photographer, Bill Burke, who took pictures of people considered as freaks or inbred. Another reference was the photography book, East 100 Street by Bruce Davidson, which showed pictures of people in Spanish Harlem. Madonna let the director live in her New York apartment to continue research and asked her to go through her book collections, including those by Helmut Newton and Richard Avedon. Madonna also started working with a stylist from McDaniel's team called Brigitte Echols, for the fashion and wardrobes in the video. Echols had gone to a low-rent mall called Crenshaw Swap Meet and bought a $180 gold necklace with the name "Madonna" in it, inside a jewelry box. Madonna liked it and together they decided on the wardrobe, including skirts and tops, vintage clothes from costume houses, La Perla bra, and two designs from Marc Jacobs. Echols described Madonna's approach to style as "collaborative".
#madonna #secret #harlem #newyork #1994 @madonna @melodiemcdaniel @brigittepavich

[Confessions Lightside 2,121]

On 11/15/2019 at 12:09 PM, Starchild said:

Mark Romanek had a meeting with Madonna at a hotel in the early '90s, at which she was living while her home was being renovated. He noticed that the only piece of decor that Madonna had brought with her to the hotel was a surrealist painting to hang on her wall. He commented that it could be great to direct a video based on that painting one day... Flash forward to 1994 and Mark Romanek had the privilege of listening to the Bedtime Stories album before its commercial release, after which he told Madonna that he'd love to direct the video for Bedtime Story if it was to be released as a single, given this concept that he had in mind.

Originally, the label wanted to finish the album promotion with Forbidden Love, however Madonna persuaded them to opt for Bedtime Story instead, not only because she had a spectacular video in the works for it, but to show her growth as an artist. Of course, Human Nature eventually became the official last single.

Does someone know the name of the surrealist painting?