Song:Wind Beneath My Wings
Album:Jackpot: The Best Bette
Bette Midler first had success as a mix of cabaret and 40s nostalgia. Then she had success in movies. But her recording career stalled in the 80s until she topped the charts in 1989 with Wind Beneath my Wings from the film Beaches. It's her only number one hit. She was born Dec. 1, 1945 in Honolulu, HI. She moved to New York City in 1965. She had small roles in Broadway musicals. But she really made her name singing in the Continental Baths accompanied by Barry Manilow on piano. He produced her 1972 album The Divine Miss M. That album was certified Platinum and her cover of The Andrews Sisters classic Boogie Woogie Bugle Boy was a top ten hit. And 40s nostalgia is what she was known for in her early days. Then she got into acting and she had success starring in the 1979 film The Rose earning an Oscar nomination. Then things went south. Bette recorded a disco album which flopped. And then she was in the 1981 flop film Jinxed!. There was conflict on the set between director Don Siegel and Bette's co-star Ken Wahl. She returned to music with the 1983 album No Frills. Some may recall her cover of Beasts Of Burden. But there were no hit singles and the album didn't sell. She returned to movies and a production deal with Disney. She had several hit comedies. And then she starred in the 1988 film Beaches with Barbara Hershey. It was directed by Garry Marshall. Producer Arif Mardin thought the soundtrack for Beaches would be a good way to get Bette back to the top of the charts. So the soundtrack was really a Bette Midler solo album. The first single was a cover of The Drifters Under The Boardwalk which played over the opening credits of the film. But listeners wanted to hear Bette's recording of Wind Beneath My Wings after Bette performed it on the Oscars broadcast. The song was not eligible for an Oscar because it wasn't an original song. But it topped the charts anyway. The song was written by Jeff Silbar and Larry Henley. Henley was in the 60s group The Easybeats and he has written mostly country hits. Wind Beneath My Wings was a top five country hit for Gary Morris in 1983. So obviously the song wasn't supposed to be a number one hit but it was. Bette's success continued with the 1990 top five hit From A Distance from her album Some People's Lives. She hasn't had any hits since then but she still records and appears in movies and on TV. Most recently she was in the Broadway revival of Hello, Dolly. This budget comp has all of her hits. Here's the video for Wind Beneath My Wings by Bette Midler.
No comments:
Post a Comment