I remember watching Bette Midler’s debut on The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson in 1972. He seemed pretty excited about her, and I understood why after I heard her sing. Up to that point, she had been singing at the Continental Baths in New York City, with Barry Manilow as her accompanist, so this was her first shot at “the big time.” And she made the most of it. Today she has thirteen studio albums and 39 singles behind her, and an extensive résumé of film and TV appearances, including her TV series Bette, which never really took off but which had some hilarious moments.
Bette’s first single was 1972’s “Do You Wanna Dance?” A downtempo cover of Bobby Freeman’s 1958 hit, Bette reached #1 on the Canadian Adult Contemporary chart and #18 on their Top 100, while reaching #8 on the US AC chart and #17 on the Hot 100.
Bette was Johnny Carson’s final guest on The Tonight Show in 1992, and sang “One More For My Baby” as her last song on that show. Here’s that performance.
Bette Midler, your Two for Tuesday, September 6, 2016.
I love Bette. She is who she is, I LOVED her in the Rose and only someone with very special talent could have made that look believable. I’ve seen snippets of her Vegas act, and she can be pretty…uh, suggestive. That’s one of the things I like about her.
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And if I remember correctly, she’s tamed that aspect of her show down over the years. There are things you can get away with in a gay bath house that you can’t get away with in Vegas, if you can imagine that…
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I can’t call myself a Bette Midler fan though I’ll have to admit that she is quite a talent, but I do miss Johnny Carson.
Arlee Bird
Tossing It Out
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Really. There’s no reason to stay up that late anymore. The choices on network TV for the “after the 11:00 news” slot are execrable.
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I have written in the past about Bette Midler and her beginnings, too. John she is a fascinating and entertaining woman. She gave a lot of herself over the years to perform for the USO troops, also. I have a column on my right side of my full edition of my blog, there would be her name among them! 🙂
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She can be a little too over-the-top for me, but that voice is pure gold, and she’s a generous person, as you say.
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I love listening to her. That was the perfect last act for Johnny, and I think she was the best choice.
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They were very fond of each other, and she really appreciated the boost he gave her career. We might never had heard of her had it not been for Johnny.
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In my opinion Bette Midler’s rendition of Do You Want To Dance is the best! She is so very talented. Good choice for this week!
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Thanks! I think I saw her first Tonight Show appearance. An interesting performer, and you’re right about “Do You Wanna Dance?”
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What a voice and entertainer. Just love her.
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