Maps of Music
Mud Will Be Flung Tonight! (1985)
Where the lyrics of Mud Will Be Flung Tonight! take you, and where it was really made.
Midler's comedy album got a warm critical hearing but barely sold: it peaked at number 183 on the US charts, her worst result in her career.
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Recorded at The Improvisation (1985)
Live show The Music Grinder (Hollywood) — The album was recorded at Budd Friedman's Improvisation in Los Angeles on April 30 and May 1, 1985. The pin marks the city centre, not the exact building. Google Maps · Apple Maps
How to get there: See the map for directions.
Album story
Overview
- Mud Will Be Flung Tonight!: third live album and first comedy album by Bette Midler
- Released in December 1985 by Atlantic Records
- Live recording of one of Midler's stand-up comedy shows performed in 1985
- Primarily a spoken word album, but Midler is accompanied onstage by her long-time musical collaborator Marc Shaiman on piano
- Midler throws mud at well-known figures, among them Madonna, Meryl Streep, Bruce Springsteen and Olivia Newton-John
- Includes the original version of the song Otto Titsling
- Track listing: Taking Aim, Fit Or Fat 'Fat As I Am', Marriage, Movies, Madonna and Mick, Vickie Eydie / I'm Singing Broadway, Coping, The Unfettered Boob, Otto Titsling, Why Bother?, Soph
Background
- Bette Midler is an American singer and actress
- Album released on CD for the first time in 1989
- Never reissued on CD, unlike the rest of Midler's discography up to that point
- Currently out of print
Recording
- Recorded at Budd Friedman's Improvisation, Los Angeles, California, April 30 to May 1, 1985
- Recorded by Guy Charboneau and Cliff Bonnell, Le Mobile
- Mixed and edited by John Alberts at Regent Sound Studio
- Additional material by Jerry Blatt, Frank Mula, Lenny Ripps, Marc Shaiman, Charlene Seeger and Bruce Vilanch
Sources: en.wikipedia.org · it.wikipedia.org
Tracklist
| 1 | Taking Aim | 5:10 |
| 2 | Fit or Fat “Fat as I Am” | 3:10 |
| 3 | Marriage, Movies, Madonna and Mick | 6:39 |
| 4 | Vickie Eydie “I’m Singing Broadway” | 4:43 |
| 5 | Coping | 1:41 |
| 6 | The Unfettered Boob | 2:57 |
| 7 | “Otto Titsling” | 4:21 |
| 8 | Why Bother? | 6:44 |
| 9 | Soph | 4:35 |
Sources: musicbrainz.org
Artist
Career
- Born December 1, 1945 in Honolulu, Hawaii; American actress, comedian, singer, and author.
- Moved to New York City in 1965 and began in off-off-Broadway plays, then appeared in Fiddler on the Roof and Salvation on Broadway in the late 1960s.
- Rose to prominence in 1970 singing at the Continental Baths, a gay bathhouse in New York, where she built a core following.
- Debut album The Divine Miss M (1972) earned the 1973 Grammy for Best New Artist.
- Starred in the film The Rose (1979), earning an Academy Award nomination and a Golden Globe.
- Won Record of the Year for "Wind Beneath My Wings" from the film Beaches (1988).
- Has over 30 million records sold worldwide, with 14 solo studio albums since 1970.
- Received a Tony Award for Hello, Dolly! (2017 Broadway revival) and a Kennedy Center Honor in 2021.
Activism
- Founded the New York Restoration Project in 1995 to revitalize neglected parks in disadvantaged New York neighborhoods.
Sources: en.wikipedia.org
Reception
At release
- Robert Christgau called the album quite funny, not devoid of a certain style of the performer
- Keith Tuber of Orange Coast magazine gave a negative assessment, saying Midler's main problem lies in the humor itself rather than the presentation of the material
- Tuber added that the public is used to Midler shocking it, but few people in the modern world are shocked by jokes below the belt
Reappraisal
- Charlotte Dillon of AllMusic retrospectively gave the album four stars out of five
- Dillon said the album is worth buying because there is enough material on it to laugh, and singled out The Unfettered Boob, Taking Aim, Fit or Fat and Marriage, Movies, Madonna and Mick
Records
- Reached only number 183 on the US charts, the worst chart result of Midler's career
- Not a sales success despite positive critical reception
- Midler was awarded the American Comedy Awards in the category Funniest Record of the Year
Sources: en.wikipedia.org
Trivia
- The original version of Otto Titsling appears here; three years later it was re-recorded in the studio and prominently featured in the movie Beaches
- Otto Titsling is credited to Midler, Jerry Blatt and Charlene Seeger
- Marc Shaiman played piano onstage beside Midler throughout the set
- Unlike Midler's earlier albums, this one has never been reissued on CD
Sources: en.wikipedia.org
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