TAKE TWO: MELISSA MANCHESTER

Melissa Manchester has achieved great success as a pop vocalist with several hits songs over the years but it is her tremendous gift as a songwriter that will be her enduring legacy.

She was born and raised in the Bronx with music in her blood as her father was a bassoonist for the NY Metropolitan Opera. Manchester began singing as a child and learned how to play the piano while attending the Manhattan School of Music. By fifteen, she was singing on commercial jingles. Manchester began performing in clubs around the city which lead to a chance encounter with Barry Manilow, who was Bette Midler's producer and musical director at the time. She would be asked to become one of the original members of The Harlettes, Midler's bawdy back-up singers in 1971. Manchester stayed for a year before moving on to pursue a solo recording career.

Manchester was signed to Arista Records and released her debut, "Home To Myself" in 1973. But it would be her third album, "Melissa" when the singer had her breakthrough with the single, "Midnight Blue" (which she co-wrote with her long-time collaborator, Carole Bayer Sager) with this ballad reaching number six on the US pop chart in 1975. It would be a few more years before Manchester reached the charts in a major way again with her version of Peter Allen and Carole Bayer Sager's ballad, "Don't Cry Out Loud" from her album of the same name in 1978. This single reached number ten on the charts and would earn Manchester her first Grammy nomination for Best Pop Female Vocal Performance.

By 1980, Manchester was unhappy with the label and sued to get out of her recording contract. But Arista and the singer would come to terms and she teamed with producer, Arif Mardin for her tenth album, "Hey Ricky" in 1982. With a radical makeover of her image and sound, Manchester had a smash hit with the synth-pop song, "You Should Hear How She Talks About You". This dance track would become the highest charting of her career (reaching number five) and would win Manchester a Grammy for Best Pop Female Vocal Performance that year.

Manchester would write and perform many songs for film soundtracks throughout her career which includes "Ice Castles" (1979), "Out of Africa" (1986), "The Great Mouse Detective" (1986) and "For Colored Girls" (2007). She would co-write with Kenny Loggins the song, "Whenever I Call You Friend". This would be big hit for him and Stevie Nicks in 1978 and Manchester would record her own version the following year. Another song written by Manchester and Bayer Sager in 1976, "Come In From The Rain" went on to become a popular ballad which has been covered by countless artists over the years.

The now sixty-nine year old Manchester continues to perform and record with her last album in 2017, "The Fellas", a collection that pays musical tribute to some iconic male vocalists. She also released a single, "A Better Rainbow" in 2018. Listen to two of my favorite songs from Melissa Manchester:

RANDOM SIGHTS + SOUNDS

John Prine, the Grammy Award-winning, Americana singer/songwriter sadly lost his battle against COVID-19 and passed away from complications on April 7th at the age of seventy-three. He was certainly a brave fighter, having previously battled against throat and lung cancer while also having heart issues. Prine received the Recording Academy's Lifetime Achievement Award at this year's Grammys after years of writing wonderful songs filled with humor and thoughtful insights on the human condition. I have to admit I had never heard any of Prine's recordings but I am familiar with his songs. Two of my favorites are Bonnie Raitt's 1974 cover of his "Angel From Montgomery", a song about a married, middle-aged woman looking for an "angel" to help her escape from a life of desolation. The other is "Hello In There", a heartbreaking tune about aging that Bette Midler recorded for her debut album back in 1972.





Here are a few unexpected pairings that provide some wild musical duets I found as I traveled down a YouTube rabbit hole that I would like to share:









And finally here is Finneas, the recent winner of the Grammy Award for Producer of The Year (for his work on his sister, Billie Eilish's album) who is showing off his skills as a performer. The single, "Let's Fall In Love For The Night", from his debut EP, "Blood Harmony" which was released last year, now has a music video that was recently released. This fun and whimsical clip perfectly enhances the song, giving off a vibe that makes it feel like it would fit right in place with the movie, "La La Land":

BETTE MIDLER: DIVINE INTERVENTION

If you want to be thoroughly entertained, then I highly recommend catching Bette Midler live in concert. I have seen her many times over the years with the last was during her Las Vegas residency back in 2008. Her current show is called "Divine Intervention" and it's to promote her most recent album, "It's The Girls" which features her favorites songs from girl-groups. I caught the L.A. show at the Staples Center on May 28 and the Divine one emerged from behind a large scrim with her face in place of God's on the famous Michelangelo fresco. Midler, sounding good and looking better, was a whirlwind as she zipped across the stage virtually non-stop throughout the show.

Time seemed to weigh on the mind of the sixty-nine year old singer (and made several hilarious jokes regarding her age throughout the evening) for she's indicated that this may likely be her last spin on the road. Midler found the greatest success in her musical career by covering old favorites from other singers and making them all her own. Clearly feeling nostalgic, she decided to dig out some she hadn't done live in years. Those tunes ranged from a cover of the Rolling Stones, "Beast of Burden", "Optimistic Voices" from "The Wizard of Oz" and "I Put a Spell On You" which was done in full witch costume from her 1993 film, "Hocus Pocus".

Midler did lively takes of music from the new record including The Andrew Sisters' chestnut, "Bei Mir Bist Du Schön", The Exciters, "Tell Him" and the surprising choice of TLC's "Waterfalls" which I found much more moving performed live.

Although her long-time mermaid character, Dolores Delago is now actually resting comfortably with the fishes in a funny bit, Midler did bring back Sophie Tucker where she hit the audience with a series of her infamously bawdy gags.

Midler waited until the final leg of the show to sing her crowd favorites such as "From a Distance", "Stay With Me" and "The Rose" which she instructed the audience to wait for her command to sing along while the light from cellphones in the air added a warm glow to the arena as she performed this number. She saved "Boogie Woogie Bugle Boy", a cover of another Andrew Sisters song that launched Midler's recording career over forty years ago, for her encore.

As I was departing from this sensational show, a wave of sadness suddenly came over me. I realized that as the Divine Miss M seemed to be winding down her illustrious career, there doesn't appear to be any young performer out there with an innovative spirit, respect for tradition or genuine fabulosity to fill her well-traveled shoes. Bette Midler is clearly a unique talent and all-around entertainer and since most of today's generation displays little interest in the music of the past, it feels unlikely that a successor is on the horizon. Hopefully, I'm wrong but in the meantime, we still have our Bette.

IT'S THE GIRLS

Bette Midler is back with new music and for her twenty-fifth studio album, "It's The Girls", she pays tribute to girl groups. After popular albums featuring the music of Rosemary Clooney and Peggy Lee, Midler has taken on the songs of some of her favorite all-female performers. Some of these range from classic tunes made famous by The Ronettes ("Be My Baby"), The Chiffons ("One Fine Day"), The Supremes ("You Can't Hurry Love"), Martha & The Vandellas ("Come And Get These Memories") and most surprisingly, TLC with her version of their hit, "Waterfalls". While none of these recordings will make you forget the originals, Midler injects each of these songs with her signature style and sass.

Bette Midler plans on touring next year to support the album and I've already got my tickets for her L.A. stop. Here's a clip that previews some of the songs off the album:

MY TUNE OF THE DAY

Bette Midler is best known today as a comedic actress and Vegas entertainer but when she first started her career, she was simply a dynamic singer. She got her start in New York, performing at a gay bathhouse (with a young Barry Manilow accompanying her on the piano), which is where I'm sure she developed her sense of style and humor.

This created interest in this brash performer and she released her debut album, "The Divine Miss M" in 1972 with Mr. Manilow as a co-producer and the musical arranger. The record featured many of the songs that she performed in her act and other classic material. Midler had top forty hits with, "Do You Want To Dance", "Friends" and "Boogie Woogie Bugle Boy (LP Version)" which made it to number eight on the charts. The album sold over a million copies and won her the Grammy Award for Best New Artist.

One of my favorite songs is her take of "Superstar (LP Version)" (co-written by Leon Russell) with the best known version by The Carpenters in 1971. The song was originally written about a groupie longing for the return of a rock& roll superstar to her bed but it's been watered down since then.

I think Karen Carpenter's version is great but Miss M. made it like a completely different song as she slowed it down, with her vocals full of yearning and pain, making the song understated and brilliant.

Have a listen:



Here she is performing "Boogie Woogie Bugle Boy" live on one of her early televsion specials: