Beast of Burden... Bette Midler style

I have never been a particular fan of Bette Midler's brand of music.  I love her as an actress and a comedienne, but her singing doesn't do it for me.  I kind of rank her singing with Celine Dion's and Barbra Streisand's... very talented, but kind of annoying.  The other day, my friend Joann reminded me of a long ago forgotten memory.  Bette Midler once covered The Rolling Stones' hit, "Beast of Burden", which is one of my favorite songs by them.

I watched the video, which I had seen ages ago, but long ago forgotten about.  This song was released in 1983.  Look how young they both are!  I was young then, too.

I had forgotten how funny this video is.  Bette does alright with this song and Mick is funny getting a pie thrown in his face.

You never see this kind of silly shit anymore.  I guess this just proves that Mick Jagger has a sense of humor and fun.  I'm not sure he should give up music for an acting gig, though.

Still, I much prefer the original!

 

This song doesn't age.  Neither does Mick Jagger.

Barbra Streisand...

I must confess that I have never been a big fan of Barbra Streisand as a singer.  I know people think she's amazing.  I'd rather see her act than listen to her sing, even as I concede that she has a beautiful voice.  Her voice is powerful, distinctive, and perfect.  On certain songs, I love it.  On others, not so much.  I didn't like how she sand "Cry Me A River", for instance.  But she does a beautiful song called "Songbird" that I've always loved.

Very 70s... but I love it anyway.

I also like "The Way He Makes Me Feel" from Yentl, a movie I have yet to see.

It's very 80s, yet still sounds great 30 plus years later.

I could do without her duet with Celine Dion, who also has a beautiful voice, but is super annoying to me.  They can both really sing... but they are both big diva types.

But it's nice to see them working so well together...

I always liked "Woman In Love"...

Here she's singing "Guilty" with Barry Gibb...  I could pass on this.

To be honest, I kind of feel the same way about Better Midler.  I love watching her act.  I think she's funny.  Her singing leaves me a little cold, though.  I think I really started to dislike her when she sang "From A Distance".... or maybe it was the whole Beaches soundtrack.  I loved the movie, but could probably go my whole life without hearing "Wind Beneath My Wings" again.

The Rose...

For some reason, I have always hated the song "The Rose".

I remember when it was popular.  It came from a movie soundtrack of a film called The Rose.  I was too young to see it when it first came out.  33 years later, I still haven't seen it.  But wow, I have heard that song... over and over again.  I remember even having to sing it in an elementary school music class.  The teacher had written the lyrics on a clear plastic sheet and posted them on an overhead projector.  I wonder if anyone still uses overhead projectors...

I have never liked Bette Midler as a singer, though I think she's a great actress and comedienne.  I think I would prefer to listen to her version of "The Rose" than Conway Twitty's, though.

Since it's April, I guess it's appropriate to think of songs about roses...  I think I prefer this one the most...