Quad LP/Tape Poll Midler, Bette: The Divine Miss M[CD-4/Q8/QR]

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Rate "The Divine Miss M"

  • 6

    Votes: 0 0.0%
  • 5: So-so

    Votes: 0 0.0%
  • 4

    Votes: 0 0.0%
  • 3

    Votes: 0 0.0%
  • 2

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  • 1: Bad Mix, Bad Sound, Bad Content

    Votes: 0 0.0%

  • Total voters
    14

EMB

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Nice album, with a sultry "Do You Want To(Wanna) Dance?" and many others....


Side 1:

1. Do You Want To Dance?
2. Chapel Of Love
3. Superstar
4. Daytime Hustler
5. Am I Blue

Side 2:

1. Friends
2. Hello In There
3. Leader Of The Pack
4. Delta Dawn
5. Boogie Woogie Bugle Boy
6. Friends
 

Attachments

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Upon listening to it again, though, what the heck did they do with the vocals on "Boogie Woogie Bugle Boy?" They're there at first, then are buried, and then kind of reappear at the end.

This should have been caught long before pressing the vinyl.

Doug
 
To understand the sound of Bette's version of "Boogie Woogie Bugle Boy," here's its history:

Version 1: mono 'retro' version from the otherwise stereo THE DIVINE MISS M.

Version 2: quadraphonic remix based on this version, but with different vocals and instrumentation in places and, obviously, a wider mix that actually diffuses the effect everyone was trying to get, which apparently was perfected with:

Version 3: the stereo (and mono DJ) single version, which is a different recording for the most part, and the keeper. It's the one that marries a more modern sound quality and mix with the retro feel of which Version 1 must have been an earlier attempt, and Version 2 a messy attempt at quad.

Versions 1 & 2 have a 'soft vocal' in many places, but the quad mix accents a few portions that are clearer, probably because the vocals were added later and not 'treated' or Eq'd the way most of the vocals on this version are, leaving the instruments in the quad mix to almost overwhelm those vocals (which doesn't happen with the single mix, which, unfortunately, the quad album didn't reference instead).

Otherwise, the quad Lp sticks to the basic template and style of the stereo version, opening it up nicely without many anomalies, that song excepted.

ED :)
 
Thanks for the detailed history Ed!

I have the original single from the early seventies and the stereo version of the album too so I will have to relisten to those too.

Doug
 
Not sure why, but my wife has no love for any of Bette's versions of "Boogie Woogie Bugle Boy," although she loves the Andrews Sisters version (who wouldn't?).

Back in early '73, I was surprised by how much I dug the sound and arrangement (by Barry Manilow, before he became a star) of the Midler single. Nothing great, but very well done, and for its time, retro but only a little modern and (most important), faithful to the original in spirit and style.

ED :)
 
A very strong quad mix, great sonics, and infectious material. What's not to like if you like good pop, great vocals, and a hot discreet quad mix!
 
I don’t think Dutton makes much if any effort or has intent to license from Warner.

But this album does have a big hit on it so it’s not as big a risk as those “hitless” albums we sometimes hope to get.
 
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I've always thought this was Bettes Best;)
The 'Andrews Sisters walking around the room' quad effect was bizarre and kinda wrong but entertaining anyway ….
a very emotional delivery on some of these vocals on the lp proper which is very dark in places.
 
This is one of those sorta-forgotten albums that would make an excellent D-V release if they could ever get that WB connection approved.

I still can't understand how this wonderful quad mix was left off of the recent deluxe set of this album by Rhino (or whomever). Having a special limited version with 2 CDs and a BluRay with the quad would have been killer. That was a (another) marketing mistake.
 
This is one of those sorta-forgotten albums that would make an excellent D-V release if they could ever get that WB connection approved.

I still can't understand how this wonderful quad mix was left off of the recent deluxe set of this album by Rhino (or whomever). Having a special limited version with 2 CDs and a BluRay with the quad would have been killer. That was a (another) marketing mistake.

Especially considering the Divine Ms M's recent TONY AWARD for Hello Dolly on Broadway ..........This is a fantastic album......PERIOD!
 
Ouuuch, I knew I had an itch somewhere.

I have a conversion of this one from the Quad Reel-Reel and it sounds very (annoyingly) wet in many spots; maybe I need to try a different one or someone here with the actual Quad Reel could verify if that is, or is not the case?
https://www.discogs.com/Bette-Midler-The-Divine-Miss-M/release/5208562

some tracks on some of the WEA Quads are rather alarmingly reverb laden, especially when compared to all those bone dry CBS mixes.

Tom Dowd, who engineered the Bette Midler Quad mix (and the Donny Hathaway Quad, similarly reverby and yummy!) was among the guys working at WEA who seemed keen on using reverberation in their Quad mixes, possibly in part because reverb was something the CD-4 system was much better at handling than SQ?
 
Tom Dowd, who engineered the Bette Midler Quad mix (and the Donny Hathaway Quad, similarly reverby and yummy!) was among the guys working at WEA who seemed keen on using reverberation in their Quad mixes, possibly in part because reverb was something the CD-4 system was much better at handling than SQ?

Excellent point. It's been a while since I last spun them, but I recall Tom Dowd's Clapton quad mixes (461 Ocean Boulevard and There's One In Every Crowd) being similarly reverb-y.

The U.S. quad mix of Deep Purple's Machine Head (mixed for CD-4 release) also has a much wetter sound than the uber-dry U.K. quad mix, which was presumably designed for SQ release.
 
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