Bette Midler love thread

[tazber]

Posted: 10/7/08 at 6:33am

I can not deny my infatuation.

I love this haunting version of Waits' classic tune gives me the chills.

Share the love!

Broken Bicycles

Updated On: 10/7/08 at 06:33 AM

[tazber]

Posted: 10/7/08 at 6:37am

Also from the "Art Or Bust" concert.

Does anyone know if this tour is available on DVD?
Everyone's Gone To The Moon

[tazber]

Posted: 10/7/08 at 6:43am

Ok, one more.

This one is just amazing. I see this was recorded for HBO in 1984, but never released commercially.

God bless youtube!

Here Comes The Flood/Stay With Me part I

Updated On: 10/7/08 at 06:43 AM

[tazber]

Posted: 10/7/08 at 6:52am

Listen to her from about 5:45 in talk about the blues.
Perfect!
Here Comes The Flood/Stay With Me part II

[LePetiteFromage]

Posted: 10/7/08 at 6:56am

Updated On: 1/12/09 at 06:56 AM

[StageManager2]

Posted: 10/7/08 at 6:57am

On Amazon, it's available on VHS format:

Updated On: 10/7/08 at 06:57 AM

[StageManager2]

Posted: 10/7/08 at 7:03am

There's also an extended version, which, for whatever reason, cost less than the aforementioned:

[madbrian]

Posted: 10/7/08 at 8:50am

I saw her in concert the year that First Wives Club was doing so well in theaters, and she sang Everything's Coming Up Grosses, which included the line "Eveything's coming up grosees for me so fukc you!"

[artscallion]

Posted: 10/7/08 at 8:55am

I saw the Art or Bust tour on New Years eve at the Universal Amphitheater in Los Angeles (this would have been mid-80s.) At midnight a piano rolled out with Father Time at the bench. He took off his beard/wig to reveal himself as Barry Manilow, surprising Bette (or at least they played it as a surprise.)

This was supposedly the first time the two of them were together, ending their decades long feud that began when she was discovered and left him at the Continental Baths. I forget what they sang (Ya Gotta Have Friends, maybe?) but they tore down the house.

[tazber]

Posted: 10/7/08 at 9:01am

HAHA Brian!

I didn't realize Barry and Bette's fued lasted so long.

[artscallion]

Posted: 10/7/08 at 9:11am

oops, typo. That's decade long, not decades long

[PalJoey]

Posted: 10/7/08 at 10:43am

I first saw her in 1972 at the NYU Student Center--I still have the framed poster! Then I saw her at the Bottom Line, the Bitter End and a strip mall in New Jersey!

I was only 16, so I couldn't (yet...) go to the baths to see her, but these three clips are from her performances at the Continental Baths. (You can see Barry Manilow at the piano.) They show what she was like the--raw, thrilling brilliance.


Fat Stuff

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Z2HwloXqo_U


Easier Said Than Done

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ydCudZmj2NA


Marihuana

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PzwhgNyihOo

[blueroses]

Posted: 10/7/08 at 10:44am

I think you've shared the "Easier Said Than Done" clip before, PJ. It's terrific! I would have loved to have seen Bette in her prime. She's a treasure.

[Borstalboy]

Posted: 10/7/08 at 10:46am

Ah, the early days of MTV. Here's Bette--sexy as hell in a low, post-JINXED career ebb--doing a fine cover of "Beast of Burden" with Mick joining in in the funny video.
Beast of Burden

[PalJoey]

Posted: 10/7/08 at 10:55am

This is from a Carson show in 1973, about when she was starting to play larger venues like Carnegie Hall and Central Park.

Imagine being a 16-year-old in love with nostalgia--I had already seen Follies 6 times and No No Nannette twice and was an expert on topics like Judy Garland and MGM--and hearing for the first time Bette's manic take on the Andrews Sisters' "Boogie Woogie Bugle Boy."

You've seen this a million times, but imagine seeing it for the first:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eV91lFBA8As

[Q]

Posted: 10/7/08 at 11:04am

"that began when she was discovered and left him at the Continental Baths"

I think Barry was with her as she transitioned away from the baths, and that it was him who caught a break and struck out on his own after that.

I saw the "Art or Bust" tour - it was something different from her, at the time. Still perfectly wonderful, just different.

She remains the best entertainer I've ever seen live.

[mauriposa]

Posted: 10/7/08 at 11:42am

Thanks for this thread, Taz. It remains one of my life's goals to see Bette live. When I was a kid, I obsessively watched "Beaches" and "For the Boys" just so I could watch her sing.

[DAME]

Posted: 10/7/08 at 11:49am

mauriposa,
Her new show in Vegas is wonderful. especially for anyone who has never seen her live.. It is kind of a blend of concerts past. I hope you get a chance to hop to Vegas.

[mauriposa]

Posted: 10/7/08 at 11:52am

Thanks, Dame. I've heard that. And I've been trying. I even entered that BWW contest awhile back and wrote an entry about how I'm a poor, poor graduate student, but nothing ever came of it. Come to think of it, I don't think they announced a winner at all.

[DAME]

Posted: 10/7/08 at 11:54am

Yes.. that contest kind of disappeared. Hmm.. maybe you can reward yourself when Grad school is over? And just so you know.. the cheap tickets in the rear are fabulous. You don't have to go the expensive route.

[Reginald Tresilian]

Posted: 10/7/08 at 11:56am

Talking of Bette and Tom Waits, we were showing this clip of Bette singing his "Martha" to a couple of gay fledglings on Saturday:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VQfoZfv2Jcs

It's a sort of video montage set to a vocal, but still very evocative.

I remember the first time I saw her was on SNL singing this song. And I lost my mind.