Bette Midler - The Best Bette

A mix of show-stoppers and shrug-inducing filler

Perhaps mindful that the publicat- large perception of Midler is of a Vegas and Broadway belter with a sideline in supper club comedy, the compilers of this best of seem hell-bent on showcasing the singer’s versatility. While it’s obvious that she has many strings to her bow, several arrows land on stony ground.

Midler’s plainly in her comfort zone on the big ballads, be it movie-spawned weepies such as Wind Beneath My Wings, or string-swept standards the likes of Spring Can Really Hang You Up The Most (her finest ever recording), but she comes unstuck on the downhome country of This Ole House or the laughable Joan Jett karaoke cover of The Rolling Stones’ Beast Of Burden. The Andrews Sisters pastiches of Boogie Woogie Bugle Boy and In The Mood still irritate, while the faux Janis Joplin wail of When A Man Loves A Woman is a misfire of epic proportions.

These 19 tracks cover a career of 30-plus years, but try too hard to tick every conceivable box. There are far more interesting oddities in her back catalogue (a brilliant late 90s cover of Ben Folds’ Boxing, for instance), and this particular variety pack doesn’t serve her as well as it might.

Rhino | tbc

Reviewed by Terry Staunton
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