Bette Midler – My Favorite Waste Of Time
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Owen Paul – My Favorite Waste Of Time
One of Bette Midler’s songs is “Favorite Waste of Time”, which was released in 1983 as a single from her album No Frills. The song was written by Marshall Crenshaw, who recorded it as a B-side for his hit “Someday, Someway” in 1982
According to Crenshaw, the song is a tongue-in-cheek love song inspired by his wife Ione. He said, “I guess I was partly thinking about when I used to go over to Ione’s house—this was when we were still in our teens—and we’d wait for her parents to go to bed so we could be alone. While we would do that, we were just sitting around watching TV, killing time. I really liked doing that with her, just sort of doing nothing.”
Midler’s version of the song is more upbeat and pop-oriented than Crenshaw’s original, which has a rock and new wave sound. Midler’s rendition also features a saxophone solo and background vocals by Ula Hedwig and Diva Gray. The song peaked at number 78 on the Billboard Hot 100 chart and number 5 on the Adult Contemporary chart in the US. It also reached number 6 on the Australian Singles Chart
- In the music video, Midler plays a bored housewife who fantasizes about various men while doing household chores. She also dances with a mop and sings into a vacuum cleaner. (I should have said this was rumored at the time. As far as I know, it was never made.)
- The song has been covered by other artists, such as Owen Paul, who had a hit with it in the UK in 1986, reaching number 3 on the Singles Chart. His version is more synth-pop and dance-oriented than Midler’s.
- The song is considered by some fans and critics to be one of Midler’s best pop songs and a showcase of her vocal range and charisma. It is also seen as a fun and catchy tune that celebrates the joy of being in love.
What music video? I don’t remember a music video with Bette playing a bored housewife…
I wrote it out wrong. For about 15 years I managed record stores. We dealt with record companies and would meet people at conventions. Somewhere in there I heard things that were planned…some came true, most didn’t. Supposedly that was the idea for Favorite. The album didn’t do well, so I don’t think there was investmemt for a proper video until Jagger came along for Beast.