Gay bathhouse (陣屋)" were built in the 1970s. Singer Bette Midler is well known for getting her start at the famous Continental Baths in New York City in the early 1970s, where she earned the nickname Bathhouse Betty. It was there, accompanied by pianist Barry Manilow (who, like the bathhouse patrons, sometimes wore only a white towel), that she created her stage persona "the Divine Miss M." On getting her start in bathhouses, Midler has remarked: Despite the way things turned out [with the AIDS crisis], I'm still proud of those days [when I got my start singing at the gay bathhouses].
Jackpot! The Best Bette Jackpot! The Best Bette Jackpot! The Best Bette (known as The Best Bette in Europe) is a compilation album of recordings by American singer Bette Midler released on September 23, 2008. The album release was originally set to coincide with Midler's current Las Vegas show, "Bette Midler: The Showgirl Must Go On" which debuted on February 20, 2008 at the Colosseum at Caesars Palace, but was postponed to April, then August 26, and later to the actual September release. After some thirty-five years in showbusiness and having recorded some twenty albums for Atlantic Records/Warner Music and three for Columbia Records/Sony