GAY PEOPLE'S CHRONICLE

JANUARY 22, 1999

Evenings Out

The Divine One returns

Bette Midler takes us back to her roots at the Continental Baths

by Doreen Cudnik

I'll admit it-I was a big fan of Bette Midler way before anyone else in my suburban Ohio junior high school had ever even heard of her. When other ninth graders were jamming to Journey, Meat Loaf and Bruce Springsteenor "The Boss" as he was referred to by those in the really cool crowd-I was humming along to Midler's remakes of '40s classics like "In the Mood," and "Boogie Woogie Bugle Boy," which later became a staple of her live show.

Since I was a budding dyke at the time, perhaps I was drawn to her because, as a Jewish girl growing up in Honolulu, Hawaii, surely she understood what it was like to be on the outside looking in. Later-January 29, 1998 to be exact this was confirmed when, flipping through my "Women Who Work Too Much" day calendar, I came across a quote from the Divine Miss M.:

“I didn't always belong as a kid, and that bothered me,” she says. "If only I'd known that one day my differences would be an asset, then my early life would have been much easier."

Maybe I liked her because I'd heard the stories about her performing for gay men wrapped in towels at New York City's Continental Baths-the kind of place that kids like me growing up in Cleveland weren't even supposed to know about.

Whatever the reason, Midler had me hooked from the first album. I was proud to be a fan, and sure I was right when I'd say, "Someday, everybody will know who Bette Midler is!"

It feels good to have been right, as you'd have to have lived under a rock for the last 20 years not to know who Bette Midler is. A multi-faceted performer, she has released numerous albums, packed houses for her live concerts and become a legitimate movie star, thanks in part to a multipicture deal with Disney studios in the early 80s that put her on the big screen in back-to-back hits like Ruthless People and Outrageous Fortune.

But it has always been her music that brought her the most fame, and her latest release Bathhouse Betty is an unmistakable return to those musical roots-a fork in the road that Midler herself recognized.

"When you're young and fuzzy-minded, you're never really sure what it is that people like,” Midler said. “But as

years go by, it becomes more and more clear. My specialty is to make people laugh, really, really hard and then turn around and

"If only I'd known that one day my differences would be make them cry. That's what I do."

an asset, then my early life would have been much

easier."

The title of the album pays tribute to her first fan base, the guys at the baths, and was the result of a real event.

"One night I was alone in my beach house and I heard someone outside the door shouting, 'Bathhouse Betty! Bathhouse Betty! Come out!' It was some drunken fan and, of course, I was frightened, but at the same time it was so funny. I thought to myself: Well, Bette, I guess you haven't come so far after all..." The dozen tracks on Bathhouse Betty includes something for every type of Midler fanfrom those who love her for her contemporary ballads like "Wind Beneath My Wings" to those who prefer the campy, high-energy Midler of her live shows.

The album opens with "Song of Bernadette," a ballad about St. Bernadette, that Midler says she liked because of "the religiousness [and] spiritual aspect" of the song.

"I'm fearless as far as doing songs about belief and faith on my records," she says. "When I did "From a Distance" I was told, “You can't do that. They'll never play it on the radio because it has the word God in it." And I told them I didn't care. If people like it, they like it. If they don't, they don't. They loved it, and I hope they'll love [Song of Bernadette]." The next track, “I'm Beautiful,” is a disco anthem of self-acceptance that Midler says came to her through her hairdresser, Robert Ramos, who "lives for really wonderful music.” Sure to be a hit in gay dance clubs, the song says there's no such thing as being too (insert one: fat, white, black, gay, tall, short, loud) and encourages people to “Unleash your ferocity upon an unsuspecting world. Rise up and repeat after me: I'm beautiful! Everyone should sing this one to themselves every morning in the bathroom mirror!”

Two jazzy offerings, "I Sold My Heart to the Junkman," and "Laughing Matters" prove that Midler, now in her 50s, still has that silky smooth voice that makes you wish you could drop in on her set at an intimate piano bar. Her remake of the Big Maybelle classic "One Monkey Don't Stop No Show," recorded with the Royal Crown Revue, brings back memories of Midler's Joplin-esque vocal performance in The Rose.

"My One True Friend" was written for the recent Meryl Streep movie One True Thing. In the film, Streep's character, a woman dying of cancer, is a big Midler fan and plays her music constantly.

Midler even takes a shot at hip-hop, with "Big Socks," written by urban music legend Chuckii Booker. Booker met Midler at a North Hollywood recording studio where he was working with "Mr. Whitney Houston" Bobby Brown, and he told her he was writing a song for her to record.

"When it came time, I called him up and said, “You better give me something and it better be funny," Midler remembers. "I didn't know what to expect and it ended up being a lot of people's favorite cut on the album.

Rounding out the album are "Lullaby in Blue," a melancholy song from a mother to the child she gave up for adoption, “Ukulele Lady,” Midler's campy tribute to her Honolulu roots; the big-band "I'm Hip," "Boxing," written by Ben Folds, and the gospel-infused "That's How Love Moves."

The new release, Midler says, refocused her attention on what has always been her first love.

"Music is the truest expression of myself," Midler asserts. "Working in film, you're basically at the mercy of someone else's vision. With a record, I'm the final arbiter—I like having that kind of control. Of course, when I'm singing I'm also acting. Every song should be a scene-it should take you someplace and leave you with a feeling."

Pack a bag for this latest trip with Midler-you may want to stay a while.