"The Rose" by Bette Midler

Top 10 Alert!

 Gold Record Alert!

Grammy Winner Alert!

Song#:  0095
Date:  03/22/1980
Debut:  86
Peak:  3
Weeks:  25
Genre:  Pop, Soundtrack



Pop Bits:  The second song released from the soundtrack/film of the same name became Midler's biggest chart hit at the time and her first gold single. The song came just in time too. Midler had just released the album "Thighs and Whispers" and it was basically a flop. A chunk of the album was disco-influenced, which wasn't impressing critics or record buyers. The song "Married Men" was the single and it petered out at #40. But "The Rose" film and soundtrack (going double-platinum) quickly put her in superstar status. This song won Midler the 1981 Grammy for Best Pop Vocal Performance, Female.

ReduxReview:  I am famous for my rendition of this song; just not in a good way. Back in the day we played this soundtrack a lot. So we knew all the words and the dialog. One semi-drunken evening this was playing and I decided to reenact the final scene of the movie - right when she finishes up her big song and then slurs to the crowd a story and then passes out. That is when "The Rose" starts playing amid the chaos of the crowd. On the soundtrack, very soon after she passes out, you can hear someone yell "get a doctor, get a doctor!" So I passed out and then jumped up and yelled that line and then sang "The Rose." It was hysterical according to party attendees and I'm reminded about it to this day. But it was a one-show only performance. Thank god video and cell phones were not around then. Okay, so this song - I like it. It was perfect for the film and for Midler. It does get a bit annoying with the piano banging on the quarter notes all the time, but it's a sad lonely-girl-in her bedroom-crying-drinking classic. For your entertainment, here is the pre-track to the song that I...well..."performed." (?)



ReduxRating:  7/10

Trivia:  Triple Shot!  1) Written by cabaret/stage performer Amanda McBroom, "The Rose" was submitted as a potential theme song to the film - and rejected. Producers thought it was a dull dirge and not the rock n' roll they were seeking. The musical supervisor on the film found it and between him and Midler championing the song, producers relented and the song made it to the soundtrack. 2) The single version of the song had an orchestrated accompaniment, but in the film and on the soundtrack it is just a piano/vocal version.  3) Conway Twitty did a version of the song and took it to #1 on the country chart in 1983.

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