''No Frills'' is the sixth studio album by American singer

Bette Midler Bette Midler ( ;''Inside the Actors Studio'', 2004 born December 1, 1945) is an American actress, comedian, singer, and author. Throughout her five-decade career Midler has received List of awards and nominations received by Bette Midler, numero ...

, released on

Atlantic Records Atlantic Recording Corporation (simply known as Atlantic Records) is an American record label founded in October 1947 by Ahmet Ertegun and Herb Abramson. Over the course of its first two decades, starting from the release of its first recor ...

in 1983. ''No Frills'' was Midler's first studio album in four years, following the films '' The Rose'', '' Divine Madness!'' and '' Jinxed!''. The rock and new wave-influenced album was produced by Chuck Plotkin, best known for his work with

Bob Dylan Bob Dylan (legally Robert Dylan; born Robert Allen Zimmerman, May 24, 1941) is an American singer-songwriter. Described as one of the greatest songwriters of all time, Dylan has been a major figure in popular culture over his nearly 70-year ...

and

Bruce Springsteen Bruce Frederick Joseph Springsteen (born September 23, 1949) is an American Rock music, rock singer, songwriter, and guitarist. Nicknamed "the Boss", Springsteen has released 21 studio albums spanning six decades; most of his albums feature th ...

, and included three single releases; the

ballad A ballad is a form of verse, often a narrative set to music. Ballads were particularly characteristic of the popular poetry and song of Great Britain and Ireland from the Late Middle Ages until the 19th century. They were widely used across Eur ...

" All I Need to Know", a cover of

Marshall Crenshaw Marshall Howard Crenshaw (born November 11, 1953) is an American musician, singer, songwriter, and guitarist best known for hit songs such as " Someday, Someway", a US top 40 hit in 1982, " Cynical Girl", and " Whenever You're on My Mind". He is ...

's "You're My Favorite Waste of Time" and Midler's take on

the Rolling Stones The Rolling Stones are an English Rock music, rock band formed in London in 1962. Active for over six decades, they are one of the most popular, influential, and enduring bands of the Album era, rock era. In the early 1960s, the band pione ...

song "Beast of Burden".

Release

While ''No Frills'' became Midler's second lowest-charting album in the US, peaking at #60 on ''Billboard'' (her 1979 disco album '' Thighs and Whispers'' charted at #65), it became her best-selling studio album to date in both continental Europe and Scandinavia; in West Germany it reached #15, in the Netherlands #10, in Norway #2 and in Sweden ''No Frills'' hit No. 1, outselling the ''

Rose A rose is either a woody perennial plant, perennial flowering plant of the genus ''Rosa'' (), in the family Rosaceae (), or the flower it bears. There are over three hundred Rose species, species and Garden roses, tens of thousands of cultivar ...

'' soundtrack. " Beast of Burden" was a top 10 single in many parts of Europe. The promo video for the song, made during the early

MTV MTV (an initialism of Music Television) is an American cable television television channel, channel and the flagship property of the MTV Entertainment Group sub-division of the Paramount Media Networks division of Paramount Global. Launched on ...

era, featured

Mick Jagger Sir Michael Philip Jagger (born 26 July 1943) is an English musician. He is known as the lead singer and one of the founder members of The Rolling Stones. Jagger has co-written most of the band's songs with lead guitarist Keith Richards; Jagge ...

in a cameo role playing Midler's boyfriend. The soundtrack to the video including the spoken dialogue (with Midler famously telling Jagger "Just stay long enough to hear me sing your song; I sing it better than anybody"; Jagger then replies: "Well almost anybody....") was released on the B-side of the 12" single in Europe. In September 1984, the video was nominated for three

MTV Video Music Awards The MTV Video Music Awards (commonly abbreviated as the VMAs) is an award show presented by the cable channel MTV to honor the best in the music video medium. Originally conceived as an alternative to the Grammy Awards (in the video category ...

for Best Female Video, Best Choreography, and Best Stage Performance Video. Midler originally intended to include a cover of

's " Pink Cadillac" on the album instead of "Beast of Burden", but was blocked from releasing it by Springsteen himself, who said it wasn't a "girl's song". She hastily recorded the

Rolling Stones The Rolling Stones are an English Rock music, rock band formed in London in 1962. Active for over six decades, they are one of the most popular, influential, and enduring bands of the Album era, rock era. In the early 1960s, the band pione ...

cover to fill its place. However, she performed "Pink Cadillac" on her 1983 tour to promote the album. When Midler's greatest hits compilation '' Experience the Divine'' was released in 1993, only one song from ''No Frills'' was included, "Only in Miami", an album track never released as a single in either the US or Europe. A second edition of the compilation with a revised track list, released in 1996, added both "Beast of Burden" and "Favorite Waste of Time". ''No Frills'' was released on CD for the first time in 1983. A remastered version of the album was released by

Warner Music Warner Music Group Corp., commonly abbreviated as WMG, is an American multinational entertainment and record label conglomerate headquartered in New York City. It is one of the " big three" recording companies and the third-largest in the gl ...

in 1995.

Track listing

Side A #"Is It Love" (

Nick Gilder Nicholas George Gilder (born 21 December 1951) is a British-Canadian musician who first came to prominence as the frontman for the glam rock band Sweeney Todd. He later had a successful solo career as a singer/songwriter. Biography Born in L ...

, James McCulloch) - 4:43 #" Favorite Waste of Time" (

) - 2:43 #" All I Need to Know" (

Barry Mann Barry Mann (born Barry Imberman; February 9, 1939) is an American songwriter and musician, and was part of a successful songwriting partnership with his wife, Cynthia Weil. He has written or co-written 53 hits in the UK and 98 in the US. Early ...

Cynthia Weil Cynthia Weil (October 18, 1940 – June 1, 2023) was an American songwriter who wrote many songs together with her husband Barry Mann. Weil and Mann were inducted into the Songwriters Hall of Fame in 1987, and in 2011, they jointly received the ...

Tom Snow Thomas Righter Snow (born 1947 in Princeton, New Jersey) is an American songwriter. Biography Snow has written songs for Gayle McCormick "( Even a Fool Would Let Go" with Kerry Chater – a song covered by a number of artists including Kenn ...

) - 4:08 #" Only in Miami" ( Max Gronenthal) - 4:35 #"Heart Over Head" (Andy Goldmark,

Robin Batteau Robin Batteau (born January 12, 1948) is an American composer, singer-songwriter, and music producer. Life and career Batteau is the son of Blanca Batteau and Dr. Dwight Wayne Batteau, and brother of singer/songwriter David Batteau. He atten ...

, Brock Walsh) - 2:52 Side B #"Let Me Drive" (Greg Prestopino,

Matthew Wilder Matthew Wilder ( Weiner; January 24, 1953) is an American musician, singer, songwriter and record producer. He is best known for his 1983 hit single " Break My Stride", which hit No. 2 on the '' Cashbox'' chart and No. 5 on the ''Billboard'' Ho ...

) - 4:02 #"My Eye on You" (

Moon Martin John David "Moon" Martin (October 31, 1945 – May 11, 2020) was an American singer-songwriter and guitarist. Early years Born in Altus, Oklahoma, United States, he was originally a rockabilly artist as a member of the Oklahoma-based band The ...

, Bill House) - 4:03 #" Beast of Burden" (

Keith Richards Keith Richards (born 18 December 1943) is an English musician, songwriter, singer and record producer who is an original member, guitarist, secondary vocalist, and co-principal songwriter of the Rolling Stones. His songwriting partnership wi ...

) - 3:48 #"Soda and a Souvenir" (

Jessica Harper Jessica Randolph Harper (born October 3, 1949) is an American actress and singer. Harper began her feature film career with a starring role in Brian De Palma's '' Phantom of the Paradise'' (1974), and subsequently featured in films including '' ...

) - 3:23 #"Come Back Jimmy Dean" (Bette Midler, Jerry Blatt, Brock Walsh) - 3:51

Personnel

* Bette Midler – lead vocals, backing vocals *

Robert Irving III Robert Irving III (born October 27, 1953) is an American pianist, composer, arranger and music educator. A native of Chicago, Irving was one of a group of young Chicago musicians that, in the late '70s and early '80s, formed the nucleus of Mile ...

– synthesizers (1, 2), acoustic piano (5) *

Bobby Lyle Robert Lyle (born March 11, 1944) is an American jazz pianist/organist and educator. Early life Lyle was born in Memphis, Tennessee, on March 11, 1944, to parents Robert and Elise Lyle. He grew up in a musical household after the family moved fr ...

– synthesizers (1, 6, 9), acoustic piano (3, 4), keyboards (7),

Fender Rhodes The Rhodes piano (also known as the Fender Rhodes piano) is an electric piano invented by Harold Rhodes, which became popular in the 1970s. Like a conventional piano, the Rhodes generates sound with keys and hammers, but instead of strings, t ...

(9) * Bobby Martin – synthesizers (1, 3, 9),

organ Organ and organs may refer to: Biology * Organ (biology), a group of tissues organized to serve a common function * Organ system, a collection of organs that function together to carry out specific functions within the body. Musical instruments ...

(6, 9), keyboards (7) *

Mark Goldenberg Mark Goldenberg (born October 2, 1952) is an American guitarist and songwriter, noted for his session work and composition of successful songs for Linda Ronstadt, the Pointer Sisters, and others. Biography Early career Raised in Chicago, Illi ...

– synth solo (1, 3), guitars (1, 3, 8), guitar solo (2, 3), synthesizers (3, 5, 10), electric guitar (5) * Chas Sanford – synthesizers (5), electric guitar (5) *

Buzz Feiten Howard "Buzz" Feiten II (born November 4, 1948) is an American singer-songwriter, guitarist, session musician, and luthier. He is a lead and rhythm guitarist and patented a tuning system for guitars and similar instruments. Feiten also manufactu ...

– guitars (1, 3, 4, 6, 7, 9) * Philip Kennard – acoustic guitar (2), backing vocals (2) * Brock Walsh – acoustic guitar (2), backing vocals (5), acoustic piano (10) *

Waddy Wachtel Robert "Waddy" Wachtel (born May 24, 1947) is an American musician, composer and record producer, most notable for his guitar work. Wachtel has worked as session musician for other artists such as Linda Ronstadt, Beth Hart, Stevie Nicks, Miranda ...

– electric guitar (2) *

Danny Kortchmar Daniel Kortchmar (born April 6, 1946), also known as Danny Kootch, is an American guitarist, session musician, producer and songwriter. His work with singer-songwriters such as Linda Ronstadt, James Taylor, David Crosby, Carole King, David Cassi ...

– guitars (8) * Robert "Pops" Popswell – bass (1, 3, 4, 9) * Dave Demare – bass (2) * Mark Leonard – bass (5) * Vernon Porter – bass (6, 7) *

Tim Drummond Timothy Lee Drummond (20 April 1940 – 10 January 2015) was an American musician from Canton, Illinois. Drummond's primary instrument was bass guitar and he toured and recorded with many notable artists, including Conway Twitty, Bob Dylan, James ...

– bass (8) * Ricky Lawson – drums (1, 3, 4, 6, 7, 9) * David Logeman – drums (2), percussion (2) *

Jim Keltner James Lee Keltner (born April 27, 1942) is an American drummer and percussionist known primarily for his session work. He was characterized by Bob Dylan biographer Howard Sounes as "the leading session drummer in America". Howard Sounes. ''Do ...

– drums (5, 8) *

Malando Gassama Malando Gassama (born Malang Omar Gassam; 7 February 1946 – 25 January 1999) was a Gambian percussionist who spent most of his music career in Sweden. He recorded and performed with many notable Swedish and international artists such as AB ...

– percussion (4) *

Bobbye Hall Bobbye Jean Hall is an American percussionist who has recorded with a variety of rock, soul, blues and jazz artists, and has appeared on 20 songs that reached the top ten in the Billboard Hot 100, ''Billboard'' Hot 100. Early career, work for ...

–

conga The conga, also known as tumbadora, is a tall, narrow, single-headed drum from Cuba. Congas are staved like barrels and classified into three types: quinto (lead drum, highest), tres dos or tres golpes (middle), and tumba or salidor (lowest ...

s (5) * Mark Hatch – horns (4) * Marc "Caz" Macino – horns (4, 6), horn arrangements (4) * Laura Allan – backing vocals (2, 3, 4) * Lisa Garber – backing vocals (2, 3, 4) * Janis Cercone – backing vocals (3) * Joe Turano – backing vocals (6) * Greg Prestopino – backing vocals (6) *

– backing vocals (6) * Jude Johnstone – backing vocals (7) * The Staggering Harlettes (Ula Hedwig,

Katey Sagal Catherine Louise Sagal (born January 19, 1954) is an American actress and singer. She is known for playing Peggy Bundy on '' Married... with Children'' (1987–1997), Leela on '' Futurama'' (1999–2003, 2008–2013, 2023–present), Cate He ...

and

Linda Hart Linda Hart (born July 5, 1950) is an American singer, musician, and actress, mainly appearing in musical theatre. Life and career Hart was born in Dallas, Texas, United States. As a child, Hart sang in her church choir; at age seven, she joine ...

) – backing vocals (9)

Production

* Chuck Plotkin – producer * Brock Walsh – associate producer * Danny Goldberg – executive producer * Toby Scott – recording, mixing (9) * Don Smith – additional recording, mixing (1–8, 10) * Greg Anderson – assistant engineer * Steve Brix – assistant engineer * Dave Demore – assistant engineer * Dave Pearce – assistant engineer * Julian Stoll – assistant engineer * Debbie Gold – production supervisor * Bonnie Bruckheimer – production associate *

John Kosh John Kosh, known simply as Kosh, is an English art director, album cover designer, graphic artist, and documentary producer/director. He was born in London, England and rose to prominence in the mid-1960s while designing for the Royal Ballet a ...

– art direction, design * Ron Larson – art direction, design * Andre Miripolsky – cover art *

Greg Gorman Greg Gorman is an American photographer. Education Gorman attended the University of Kansas with a major in Photojournalism and completed his studies at the University of Southern California, graduating with a Master of Fine Arts degree in Cine ...

– photography Studios * Recorded at Clover Recorders and

The Sound Factory The Sound Factory (also known as Sunset Sound Factory) is a recording studio in Los Angeles, California. The Sound Factory was built in the 1960s on Selma Avenue in Hollywood. At the time, it served as the home of Moonglow Records and the Moon ...

(Hollywood, California); Rumbo Recorders (Los Angeles, California). * Mixed at Clover Studios and Rumbo Recorders.

Charts

References

{{Authority control 1983 albums Bette Midler albums Albums produced by Chuck Plotkin Atlantic Records albums Albums produced by Toby Scott