Posted March 27Mar 27 30 years ago, Madonna was enjoying a seven week stint at the top of the US charts with 'Take a Bow'. The song was produced with Babyface who had enjoyed success with a number of smooth R&B hits; together, they created an orchestra, poetic song of requited love. The radio-friendly sound was praised highly by critics and allowed the single to be a huge success in the US, becoming her 11th #1 and 9th with a writing credit, breaking Carole King's 30 year record for most number ones as a female songwriter. It was also a #1 in Canada and reached the top 10 in Finland, Italy, New Zealand and Switzerland, however only reached #16 in the UK, becoming the first out of 35 singles to miss the Top 10.30 years on, share your thoughts and memories of 'Take a Bow'.
March 27Mar 27 Like but don't love.It's so bizarre how differently it performed in UK vs US.I think something in the middle would be more accurate. It's not so good to deserve so many weeks at #1 in the US, but it's also not so bad as to miss the top 10 in the UK.
March 27Mar 27 Yeah, it's baffling how it missed the top 10 in the UK but performed so strongly in the US. I'm guessing some factors to explain it could be being swallowed up in the Christmas rush in 1994, but maybe airplay helping it out a lot in the US?Lovely song anyway ❤️
March 27Mar 27 Author 8 minutes ago, Jessie Where said:Yeah, it's baffling how it missed the top 10 in the UK but performed so strongly in the US. I'm guessing some factors to explain it could be being swallowed up in the Christmas rush in 1994, but maybe airplay helping it out a lot in the US?Lovely song anyway ❤️It's one explanation but Madonna had achieved hits in December many times before, I guess her chart fortunes were less in 1994 than they were in the 80s but 'Take a Bow' feels like the sort of song that should go Top 10 with ease.Don't know the weekly sales for 'Take a Bow' but this was the threshold for the Top 10 (sales estimates from Gezza, I think these are pre-downgrade):#17 (#10: 27,000)#16 (#10: 38,000)#18 (#10: 57,000)#21 (#10: 22,000)'Take a Bow' sold 81k in those four weeks. That might work out at ~15k, ~25k, ~35k, ~10k.Not a good time for female ballads with Kylie's 'Put Yourself in My Place' also missing out on the Top 10. To add insult to injury, Zig & Zag and Power Rangers were Top 10.
March 27Mar 27 Take a Bow is not her strongest ballad by a long shot. I don't really like it that much. But it didn't deserve it's misfortune in the UK. I seem to remember it's cd track listings weren't amazing??Certainly her "star" had been dislodged a fair bit by then anyway
March 27Mar 27 Author 6 minutes ago, ChrisJK said:Take a Bow is not her strongest ballad by a long shot. I don't really like it that much. But it didn't deserve it's misfortune in the UK. I seem to remember it's cd track listings weren't amazing??Certainly her "star" had been dislodged a fair bit by then anywayYes that's right, just the edit, album version and instrumental on the CD. Shame as there was the InDaSoul mix and Silky Soul mix on physical editions in other territories. Meanwhile, 'Bedtime Story' had two CDs from what I can see, which helped it debut Top 5!
March 27Mar 27 There was 0 promo for TAB , what did it do in the radio charts? Even so it is a mystery how this missed the top 10 yet spent 7 weeks number 1 in the USA! It will be forever discussed!
March 27Mar 27 Author 5 hours ago, vibe said:There was 0 promo for TAB , what did it do in the radio charts?Even so it is a mystery how this missed the top 10 yet spent 7 weeks number 1 in the USA!It will be forever discussed!UK airplay chart run for 'Take a Bow':NE: 85 (first entry: 05/11/94) 1wRE: 29-12-12-*13*-6-6-4-8-8-21-29-45-74-83 (second entry: 26/11/94) 14wRE: 53-84-97-50 (third entry: 18/03/95) 4wTotal: 19w*The week it debuted at #17 on the official chartMaybe not to the extent of being a seven week #1, but I'm not surprised 'Take a Bow' did well in the US. Madonna had already scored big radio hits with 'I'll Remember' and 'Secret', which in turn brought strong chart runs, so a Babyface-produced song was always going to be bigger. She also performed it with Babyface at the AMAs, shortly before the song climbed to #1.
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