for them, and I did it all. And I must say, they probably saw the most inspired of it. It was really abandon. I did some crap, I did some good stuff, and I learned a lot,” she explained of her emergence from the Continental Baths ( 8 ). “Essentially, they gave me a big push and we had some good times, but they are all there, and I’m constantly moving” ( 11 ). Indeed she was.
The year 1973 saw changes in her act as well. Melissa Manchester left the troupe right after New Year’s, and she was replaced by Charlotte Crossley. Charlotte recalled having seen Bette’s act at Mr. Kelly’s in Chicago: “I checked them out, you know, and they were real cool. They were like very bland white girls, in a way, but kind of great. Bette kept screamin’ at them to get an attitude. I thought they were really slick, but bland. I mean, blander than the Ronettes. It was nice, because they all had dark hair, and they all looked alike, and they were real cute, but they were real quiet. They sounded great, of course—they had all been studio singers, and they sounded great” ( 48 ).
According to Charlotte, Melissa was her favorite Harlette, “I noticed her because she had the most personality.” When Crossley was asked to become her replacement, Melissa got together with her to teach her the singing and the choreography. “We just got right down and started singing songs together. Melissa left me with great feelings and really taught me a lot about the music. I got to know her pretty well. It’s funny, because a lot of people say that she’s a lot like Bette. Vocally, they go to the same voice teacher, and they do have little things in their voices that are similar, I think. But they’re not at all alike. Personality-wise, Melissa is a very cooled-out calm person” ( 48 ).
In Bette’s personal life, her affair with Michael Federal had cooled down, but he remained her bass player. According to Midler at the time,“I’m good when I’m in love. I’m hot on stage, too. I just enjoy it. I try to be in love all the time, I keep my eyes open” ( 8 ).
According to Buzzy Linhart, Bette was still in love with drummer Luther Rix at the time, and she resumed her affair with him. Buzzy explains that around this time, “Bette got so sick of being separated all of the time, ‘cuz she was touring by this time, and I was touring with Luther, that we actually, like a baseball team, traded Luther Rix to Bette Midler, and I got this young genius named Kevin Ellman—twenty-two years old at the time—who became the first drummer in the great band Utopia, that Moogy, my co-author of ‘Friends,’ was also a co-founder of. We traded Luther and Kevin straight-away so that they could finally be in love and on the road together” ( 37 ).
Now that her dreams of stardom were coming true, Bette was becoming more realistic about show business. “I used to want to be Bette Davis in one of those great thirties movies where everyone’s wearing furs and drinking martinis. I used to believe that,” she explained. “I don’t think I’m rabid to be a star. Now that I’ve met a few, I realize it’s all the same, we’re all the same. There’s no difference. I met Bob Dylan, after looking for him for seven years, and I was in shock. I had worshiped him. But he lives, he has flesh, has these shirts, sometimes he plays good, sometimes he plays bad, sometimes he sings good, he writes a good song, he writes a bad song, he’s a human being” ( 4 ).
“I’m all my fantasies!” she was quick to admit. No matter how realistic she attempted to become, she was addicted to performing: “Every time I get up there, it’s ‘magic time.’ I have a little event. It’s getting more and more theatrical, too; when we work on a stage that actually has a proscenium, it’s fabulous, it takes on a whole other dimension, it really is like a little show. What I have is the ability to make people look at me. It just comes on like a light bulb. And it feels
The year 1973 saw changes in her act as well. Melissa Manchester left the troupe right after New Year’s, and she was replaced by Charlotte Crossley. Charlotte recalled having seen Bette’s act at Mr. Kelly’s in Chicago: “I checked them out, you know, and they were real cool. They were like very bland white girls, in a way, but kind of great. Bette kept screamin’ at them to get an attitude. I thought they were really slick, but bland. I mean, blander than the Ronettes. It was nice, because they all had dark hair, and they all looked alike, and they were real cute, but they were real quiet. They sounded great, of course—they had all been studio singers, and they sounded great” ( 48 ).
According to Charlotte, Melissa was her favorite Harlette, “I noticed her because she had the most personality.” When Crossley was asked to become her replacement, Melissa got together with her to teach her the singing and the choreography. “We just got right down and started singing songs together. Melissa left me with great feelings and really taught me a lot about the music. I got to know her pretty well. It’s funny, because a lot of people say that she’s a lot like Bette. Vocally, they go to the same voice teacher, and they do have little things in their voices that are similar, I think. But they’re not at all alike. Personality-wise, Melissa is a very cooled-out calm person” ( 48 ).
In Bette’s personal life, her affair with Michael Federal had cooled down, but he remained her bass player. According to Midler at the time,“I’m good when I’m in love. I’m hot on stage, too. I just enjoy it. I try to be in love all the time, I keep my eyes open” ( 8 ).
According to Buzzy Linhart, Bette was still in love with drummer Luther Rix at the time, and she resumed her affair with him. Buzzy explains that around this time, “Bette got so sick of being separated all of the time, ‘cuz she was touring by this time, and I was touring with Luther, that we actually, like a baseball team, traded Luther Rix to Bette Midler, and I got this young genius named Kevin Ellman—twenty-two years old at the time—who became the first drummer in the great band Utopia, that Moogy, my co-author of ‘Friends,’ was also a co-founder of. We traded Luther and Kevin straight-away so that they could finally be in love and on the road together” ( 37 ).
Now that her dreams of stardom were coming true, Bette was becoming more realistic about show business. “I used to want to be Bette Davis in one of those great thirties movies where everyone’s wearing furs and drinking martinis. I used to believe that,” she explained. “I don’t think I’m rabid to be a star. Now that I’ve met a few, I realize it’s all the same, we’re all the same. There’s no difference. I met Bob Dylan, after looking for him for seven years, and I was in shock. I had worshiped him. But he lives, he has flesh, has these shirts, sometimes he plays good, sometimes he plays bad, sometimes he sings good, he writes a good song, he writes a bad song, he’s a human being” ( 4 ).
“I’m all my fantasies!” she was quick to admit. No matter how realistic she attempted to become, she was addicted to performing: “Every time I get up there, it’s ‘magic time.’ I have a little event. It’s getting more and more theatrical, too; when we work on a stage that actually has a proscenium, it’s fabulous, it takes on a whole other dimension, it really is like a little show. What I have is the ability to make people look at me. It just comes on like a light bulb. And it feels
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