Gay icon Own Kind of Music" and "Different") and free love. Her music was later featured in the acclaimed gay film "Beautiful Thing" (1996), adapted from the play of the same name. Singer and actress Bette Midler became recognized as a gay icon in the 1970s. After performing on Broadway, Midler began performing at the Continental Baths, a gay bathhouse in the city, where she became close to her piano accompanist Barry Manilow, who produced her first major album "The Divine Miss M" (1973). "Despite the way things turned out [with the AIDS crisis], I'm still proud of those days [singing at
No Frills (Bette Midler album) No Frills (Bette Midler album) No Frills is the sixth studio album by American singer Bette Midler, released on Atlantic Records in 1983. "No Frills" was Midler's first studio album in four years, following the movies "The Rose", "Divine Madness!" and the ill-fated "Jinxed!". The rock and new wave influenced album was produced by Chuck Plotkin, best known for his work with Bob Dylan and Bruce Springsteen, and included three single releases; the ballad "All I Need to Know", a cover of Marshall Crenshaw's "My Favourite Waste of Time" and Midler's take on the Rolling Stones classic "Beast of Burden".