Richard Amsel a nationwide artists’ talent search; the artist was 22 at the time. Amsel quickly found popularity within New York's art scene, and his illustrations caught the attention of Barry Manilow, then a young singer/songwriter named who was working with Bette Midler, a newly emerging entertainer in cabaret clubs and piano bars. Manilow introduced the two, and it was quickly decided that Amsel should do the cover of her first Atlantic Records album. The cover, for "The Divine Miss M" proved to be one of the most ubiquitous of the year. More album covers and posters soon followed, as did a
The Best of Bette (1981 album) The Best of Bette (1981 album) The Best of Bette is a compilation album by American singer Bette Midler, released on the K-tel label in Australia and New Zealand in 1981. The album was the second compilation to use the title "The Best of Bette", the previous version with different cover art and an entirely different track list having been released on the Atlantic Records label in both the UK, Continental Europe, Scandinavia, Australia and New Zealand in 1978. The K-tel compilation is highly notable in Midler's discography for a number of reasons, the first of them being that it