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Some People's Lives (1990)

Where the lyrics of Some People's Lives take you, and where it was really made.

Midler's most commercially successful studio album mixes jazz standards with synth-driven pop, and its biggest hit is one song, 'From a Distance'.

Key places

Recorded in Hollywood (1990)

Recording site The Music Grinder (Hollywood) — Ocean Way Recording in Hollywood is listed among the studios where the album was recorded. The point uses the city-center location, not the building. Google Maps · Apple Maps

How to get there: See the map for directions.

Recorded and mixed in Los Angeles (1990)

Recording site Motown Recording Studios — Studio 55 in Los Angeles is credited for both recording and mixing the album. The point uses the city-center location, not the building. Google Maps · Apple Maps

How to get there: See the map for directions.

Recorded and mixed in New York City (1990)

Recording site Electric Lady Studios — Electric Lady Studios in New York City is listed as a recording studio and also as a mixing studio for the album. Google Maps · Apple Maps

How to get there: See the map for directions.

Album story

Overview

• Some People's Lives: seventh album by American singer Bette Midler
• Released 4 September 1990 by Atlantic Records in the United States
• Contains 'From a Distance', written by Julie Gold, which won Song of the Year at the 1991 Grammy Awards
• Midler's most commercially successful studio album

Background

• Followed a series of successful Hollywood films of the 1980s, including Down and Out in Beverly Hills, Ruthless People, Outrageous Fortune, Oliver and Company and Big Business
• First proper studio album since 1983's No Frills
• Closer in spirit to the preceding soundtrack Beaches
• Mixes jazz standards such as 'Miss Otis Regrets' with chart-oriented pop and adult contemporary songs
• Synth-driven arrangements by producer Arif Mardin, his son Joe, and Robbie Buchanan
• 'Moonlight Dancing' written by Diane Warren; 'The Gift of Love' written by Tom Kelly, Billy Steinberg and Susanna Hoffs

Recording

• Recorded at Ocean Way Recording in Hollywood, at Studio 55 and Studio Ultimo in Los Angeles, and at Electric Lady Studios, Battery Studios, BMG Studios and Greene St. Recording in New York City
• Mixed at Studio 55 and Electric Lady Studios
• Mastered at The Mastering Lab in Hollywood
• Credited recording and mixing engineer: Jack Joseph Puig

Sources: en.wikipedia.org · www.discogs.com

Tracklist

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

• AllMusic editor Bryan Buss called the album one of the singer's strongest collections
• Buss called it a smooth collection of standards, apart from the poor production on 'From a Distance'
• He credited producer Arif Mardin with respectful production that matches Midler's talent and accents her strengths
• Los Angeles Times critic Dennis Hunt criticized the album for an overload of whiny, dirge-like ballads
• Hunt noted that nothing here is as openly sentimental as 'Wind Beneath My Wings', but many songs carry similar sappy overtones

Records

• Peaked at number 6 on the US Billboard 200, her highest-charting album since Bette Midler (1973)
• Entered the UK top five and reached gold status in July 1991
• Certified double platinum by the RIAA in March 1991 for sales of over two million copies in the US
• Entered the top ten in Australia, Canada and New Zealand
• Reached number 15 on the German Albums Chart and number 27 on the Austrian Albums Chart
• Ranked 36th best-selling album of 1991 in Australia
• Ranked 16th on Billboard's 1991 year-end chart

Sources: en.wikipedia.org

Trivia

• 'From a Distance' reached number 2 on the Billboard Hot 100, number 1 on the Adult Contemporary chart and number 6 in the UK
• 'Moonlight Dancing' was first recorded by The Pointer Sisters, and its extended dance remix sampled the 1973 recording 'Do You Want to Dance?'
• Midler recorded an alternate version of 'From a Distance' with partly rewritten lyrics for her 2006 album Cool Yule
• The song made her second million-seller in two years, after 'Wind Beneath My Wings' from the Beaches soundtrack
• Tom Kelly and Billy Steinberg, co-writers of 'The Gift of Love', were also the songwriting team behind Madonna's 'Like a Virgin'

Sources: en.wikipedia.org

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