Leader of the pack (Bette Midler) (LP 4911 - 4917)

Bette Midler  The Divine Miss M (Vinyl, Atlantic Records, 1972) ****  

Bette Midler  Bette Midler (Vinyl, Atlantic Records, 1973) ****

Bette Midler  Divine Madness  (Vinyl, Atlantic Records, 1980) ****

Office Dog  Doggerland (Vinyl, Flying Nun Records, 2024) ****

Osibisa  Woyaya (Vinyl, MCA Records, 1971) ****

Osibisa  Heads (Vinyl, MCA Records, 1972) ***

Osibisa  Osibirock (Vinyl, Warner Bros. Records, 1974) ***

Genre: Pop, Alt rock, NZ music, African pop/rock

Places I remember: Brian Smith Collection, The Little Red Bookshop, JB Hi Fi, Vinyl Room, Vinyl Vault Plus

Fab, and all the other pimply hyperboles: Optimistic voices/ Lullaby of Broadway (BM)

Gear costume: In the Mood (BM), Boogie Woogie Bugle Boy (The DMM), Survival (Woyaya)

They loom large in his legend (The Album Collection playlists): Part 1; Part 2; Part 3; Part 4; Part 5; Part 6; Part 7; Part 8

Active compensatory factors: Bette Midler is a force of nature. She can belt out a tune, be seductive, be coy, be hilarious, can act... she can do it all. These three albums show the range of her abilities in the studio and live (Divine Madness).

The Divine Miss M was her debut album. It kicks off with her remarkable version of Do You Want To Dance (clearly, it's not dancing that she has on her mind). I particularly like the pastiche side of Miss M - when she's doing things like Boogie Woogie Bugle Boy and Leader of the Pack.

In many ways this was an excellent debut album as she showed her many facets and versatility. She followed it with the self-titled Bette Midler in 1973, which is actually the one I prefer overall - especially side 2. 

It feels more confident, better produced with its eclectic mix of blues, R&B, and '40s boogie-woogie. Bette shows she can handle everything thrown at her.

Divine Madness is a live album from 1980. Basically, it's a film soundtrack with the comedy routines removed to concentrate on the music - which is great! All the hits and high spots are represented except for The Rose.

Doggerland is an EP by NZ band Office Dog. You'll no doubt remember me raving over their debut album Spiel, well Doggerland is what came next. 

The EP has seven tracks, so it's good value for money. They have embraced more shoegaze style distortion on a couple of tracks on side one. Side Two kicks off with the lovely And Everything and that vibe keeps going for side 2.

Woyaya was Osibisa's second album (I've already written about their debut album here). I'd described their sound as a unique mix of jazz, prog, pop, and Womad style otherness, and that description applies even more so on Woyaya. The funk and jazz experimentation is dialed up more of this album and it sounds great! Toni Visconti was the producer and he knows what he's doing.

Heads was their third album, released in 1972. There is something magical about the early seventies. So many great bands and albums emerged in that period post sixties. Osibisa probably sailed under the radar during those years, but revisiting them now is ultra rewarding.

Heads has Osibisa continuing their afro-jazz-funk vibe. The band play with a smile and that's infectious. Although there are more vocals on Heads than their first two albums, there are no heavy political agendas at play - just a band of African brothers enjoying playing music together. On balance I prefer the more instrumental first two albums, and especially Woyaya. 

Osibirock (terrible name for an album) indicated some changes were afoot. The record company had changed, and only three band members remained from Heads, but four had been replaced.

The vocals continue to become a feature on this album which changes the vibe of Osibisa. I much prefer it when they return to jazz-funk-fusion like on the lead off song on side 2 - African Jive. When the chants/vocals come in it feels more like the Santana approach, which I like a lot!

Where do they all belong? Back to the jazz collection for the next post.