Bette Midler hits, including "In the Mood" and "Lullaby of Broadway". Her self-titled follow-up album was released at the end of 1973. Again, the album was co-produced by Manilow. It reached Billboard's Top 10 and eventually sold close to a million copies in the United States alone. Midler returned to recording with the 1976 and 1977 albums, "Songs for the New Depression" and "Broken Blossom." In 1974, she received a Special Tony Award for her contribution to Broadway, with "Clams on the Half Shell Revue" playing at the Minskoff Theater. From 1975–1978, she also provided the voice of Woody the Spoon on
Friends (Bette Midler song) for an audition for a Broadway show called "Mirror Cracked", Linhart sang to Midler a song that he and his songwriting partner Mark "Moogy" Klingman had just written, called "Friends". After hearing the song, Midler asked Linhart if she could sing "Friends" during a show that she was performing in at the Continental Baths in New York. Klingman and Linhart attended the show and were impressed with the performance. Soon after, Midler recorded the song on her debut album "The Divine Miss M", which was a nickname she always wanted to be known as having personified. The song "Friends" can