Bette Midler - Be My Baby

Pre-order It's The Girls here (UK)

Well saints be praised - Bette Midler is back and *ahem* bette-r than ever with thrice the appeal of before as she puts together her own girl group. Featuring Swept Up Hair Bette, Sassy Hair Extensions Bette and Choppy Do-Waggy Finger Bette, she's taking on the girl group classics that have lasted through the ages and giving them her own spin & infusion of her wickedly addictive personality. It's possibly the best project Bette could've come back with if it wasn't going to be a full musical based on the life and times of Otto Titsling! Entitled It's The Girls, it's her first album of new recordings since her ever so charming and delightful foray into the music of Peggy Lee and Rosemary Clooney. Featuring fifteen tracks (including an interpretation of One Fine Day by The Chiffons - a girl group I utterly adore - and a duet with Darlene Love, last together on the Home Alone 2 soundtrack albeit with separate tracks), it promises to be one of the most giddily thrillifying albums of the year - especially as it's been overseen by the genius Marc Shaiman and Scott M. Riesett. The first peak into the album came yesterday (Weds 15th October 2014) via Vanity Fair with The Ronettes Be My Baby. It's a loving tribute to the sound of the sixties with lead singer Bette giving it full on Spector wall of sound realness, while the backing bettettes voices are so intricately & exquisitely layered that you instantly transported back to the days where radio hits were no more than 3 minutes long and no one gave a hoot about Beyonce releasing an album without prior notice (warning). The arrangement for the tune is also pure bliss - and it's a score that Bette's vocals excel in. Those elegiac and elegant strings during the middle 8 add beautifully to the wistful, melancholic narrative of the lyrics demonstrating that it genuinely more than a cover, it's a labour of love. Genuinely stunning out the gate - I'm so eager for the full album to get here. I hear it's a mix of traditional arrangements and insightful, innovative remakes. Sounds just up Bette's street :D