Billboard
Bette Midler Re-Issuing Remastered ‘The Divine Miss M,’ Mentoring on ‘The Voice’
9/9/2016 by Billboard Staff
Bette Midler fans are getting a second chance to find out where it all began on Oct. 21 when Rhino Records will unleash a two-CD remaster of the singer’s iconic 1972 debut album, The Divine Miss M. The special edition includes the remastered album, a bonus disc of singles, outtakes, demos and new liner notes written by Midler.
A digital version will also be available, as well as a 1-LP vinyl format with the remastered original album (co-produced by Barry Manilow) and original album artwork. “I began being called The Divine Miss M around 1969, when I made my first appearance at the Continental Baths, a gay bath house located in the basement of the Ansonia Hotel, at Broadway and 74th Street in New York,” Midler writes in the liner notes of her nickname. “My best friend, Bill Hennessy, a hairdresser I met on Fiddler on the Roof, called me that for years. It was my first night at the Baths, and before I went on, the owner, Steven Ostrow, stuck his head into the dressing room and asked how I wanted to be introduced. I said, ”˜Just tell them I’m divine!’ And that’s how it started.”
In addition to the top 40 hits “Do You Want to Dance” and “Friends” and the top 10 hit “Boogie Woogie Bugle Boy,” the second disc has nine additional tracks including the single mixes for “Friends” and “Chapel of Love” and a version of “Do You Want to Dance” mixed by album co-producer Joel Dorn. There are also five unreleased songs: an alternate take of Superstar (co-written by Leon Russell and Bonnie Bramlett), demos of “Saturday Night” and “Mr. Freedom and I” and the original 1972 versions of “Old Cape Cod” and “Marahuana.” Midler won the Grammy Award for Best New Artist following the 1972 release of the album.
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In other good news, Midler has been tapped to serve as a mentor on the upcoming 11th season of NBC’s The Voice.
The Divine Miss M: Deluxe Edition track list:
Disc One:
1. “Do You Want To Dance”
2. “Chapel Of Love”
3. “Superstar”
4. “Hello In There”
5. “Am I Blue”
6. “Friends”
7. “Daytime Hustler”
8. “Leader Of The Pack”
9. “Delta Dawn”
10. “Boogie Woogie Bugle Boy”
11.“Friends”
Disc Two:
1. “Chapel Of Love” ”“ Single Mix
2. “Boogie Woogie Bugle Boy” ”“ Single Version
3. “Do You Want To Dance” ”“ Single Mix
4. “Friends” ”“ Single Mix
5. “Old Cape Cod” ”“ Earliest Recording & Mix
6. “Marahuana” ”“ Earliest Recording & Mix
7. “Superstar” ”“ Alternate Recording *
8. “Saturday Night” ”“ Demo *
9. “Mr. Freedom And I” ”“ Demo *
( *Previously Unreleased)
