Mister D: I don’t know how long this will stay up because it’s taken down in the U.S. I went in with high expectations of The Rose with Bette Midler and usually with high expectations comes disappointment, but that just never entered my mind. But nothing could have prepared me for the jubilation I felt afterward. It was like if you were stupid enough not to have recognized what was coming straight at you that was the talent that so embodied this 5’1″ dynamo, you just didn’t have the call. I was 14 when I felt it on a bluesy ballad called “Am I Blue” the night Carson first introduced her and for the first time in my life I said she’s going to be a big superstar. I didn’t even listen to that time of music and I stood up in front of the TV not sure of what I even saw and heard. But to get the full effect I did believe you had to experience her in the moment. And her singing, performances, concerts movies, all seemed to have moments of greatness or some type of out of body experience. Sometimes I felt she was literally willing herself to go beyond. And it was very apparent in the years she came on the scene to 1984. That was her most creative time and set the foundation for a long, illustrious career with high points in every decade
When I watch this now I try to relive the experience of seeing it in my parents car at the Drive In the summer before 2nd Grade and being blown away…it was the first time I had ever experienced Bette Midler and I was never the same! I’d soooo love to go back and experience that night again…the memory gives me chills!
I would love to go back and revisit anything I saw once. With Bette for sure