Wikipedia

Divine Madness (Bette Midler album)

Divine Madness is an album by American singer Bette Midler and the Harlettes, released in 1980. It is a live recording taken from Midler's Divine Madness concert film, released the same year. The album, however, does not contain any of Midler's comedy routines and features only her musical performances from the show and it in fact only provides half of the songs that appear in the film. The original live recordings were also to a large extent edited and re-recorded in the studio for the soundtrack album.

Divine Madness
Live album by
Bette Midler
ReleasedNovember 7, 1980
RecordedFebruary 13–15, 1980[1]
GenreVocal
Length43:35
LabelAtlantic
ProducerDennis Kirk
Bette Midler chronology
The Rose
(1979) 		Divine Madness
(1980) 		The Best of Bette
(1981)
Singles from Divine Madness
Professional ratings
Review scores
SourceRating
Allmusic [1]
Robert ChristgauC+ [2]
The Rolling Stone Album Guide[2]

Among the tracks included are "Big Noise From Winnetka", from Midler's disco album Thighs and Whispers, repertoire standards like "Shiver Me Timbers", "Chapel of Love", "Leader of The Pack" and "Boogie Woogie Bugle Boy" along with two tracks from her movie The Rose, "Stay With Me" and "Fire Down Below" (not originally included on the soundtrack) released earlier in 1980 and the Divine Madness album closes with renditions of rock classics like Bruce Springsteen's "E Street Shuffle", The Rolling Stones' "You Can't Always Get What You Want" and Bob Dylan's "I Shall Be Released".

The final film excluded "My Mother's Eyes," despite it being released as a single, and "Shiver Me Timbers" was not featured in the home video release (VHS or DVD). Footage of these songs have not been restored.

The soundtrack does not include "Do You Want to Dance?," "Ready to Begin Again," "My Way," "To the South Seas/Hawaiian War Chant," "Ebb Tide," "The Rose," or any monologues.

The Divine Madness album like the movie itself was a moderate commercial success, peaking at #34 on Billboard's album chart.

The album was released on CD for the first time in 1989. A remastered version of the album was released by Atlantic Records/Warner Music in 1995.

Track listing

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Side A

  1. "Big Noise From Winnetka" (Gil Rodin, Bob Crosby, Bob Haggart, Ray Bauduc) - 3:52
  2. "Paradise" (Harry Nilsson, Gil Garfield, Perry Botkin Jr.) - 4:09
  3. "Shiver Me Timbers" (Tom Waits) - 3:56
  4. "Fire Down Below" (Bob Seger) - 3:05
  5. "Stay With Me" (Jerry Ragovoy, George Weiss) - 6:24

Side B

  1. "My Mother's Eyes" (Tom Jans) - 2:29
  2. "Chapel of Love" / "Boogie Woogie Bugle Boy" (Jeff Barry, Ellie Greenwich, Phil Spector) / (Don Raye, Hughie Prince) - 4:02
  3. "E Street Shuffle" / "Summer (The First Time)" / "Leader of the Pack" (Bruce Springsteen) / (Bobby Goldsboro) / (George Morton, Jeff Barry, Ellie Greenwich) - 9:42
  4. "You Can't Always Get What You Want" / "I Shall Be Released" (Mick Jagger, Keith Richards) / (Bob Dylan) - 5:56

Personnel

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Production

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Charts

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Chart (1980) Peak
position
Australian Albums (Kent Music Report)[3] 20
New Zealand Albums (RMNZ)[4] 12
US Billboard 200[5] 34

References

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  1. ^ "Bette Midler Concerts to Be Filmed for Upcoming Movie". The Los Angeles Times. Los Angeles, California. February 2, 1980. p. 52.
  2. ^ Coleman, Marc; Brackett, Nathan (2004). "Bette Midler". In Brackett, Nathan; Christian, Hoard (eds.). The New Rolling Stone Album Guide (4th ed.). New York: Simon & Schuster. p. 540. ISBN 0-7432-0169-8.
  3. ^ Kent, David (1993). Australian Chart Book 1970-1992. St Ives, N.S.W.: Australian Chart Book. ISBN 0-646-11917-6.
  4. ^ "Charts.nz – Soundtrack / Bette Midler – Divine Madness". Hung Medien. Retrieved 1 January 2019.
  5. ^ "Bette Midler Chart History (Billboard 200)". Billboard. Retrieved 1 January 2019.
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