Bette Midler to 1969, she played the role of Tzeitel in "Fiddler on the Roof" on Broadway. After "Fiddler", she joined the original cast of "Salvation" in 1969. She began singing in the Continental Baths, a gay bathhouse in the Ansonia Hotel, in the summer of 1970. During this time, she became close to her piano accompanist, Barry Manilow, who produced her first album in 1972, "The Divine Miss M." It was during her time at the Continental Baths that she built up a core following. In the late 1990s, during the release of her album "Bathhouse Betty", Midler commented on her
The Shangri-Las his album "Citizen Cain'd". He's heard to say “When I say I’m dead you best believe I’m dead, D-E-A-D” during the outro. In an outtake of "Careless" from their album "Sorry Ma, Forgot to Take Out the Trash", The Replacements opened with the line "When I say I'm in debt, you best believe I'm in debt, D-E-T!" In 1972, "Leader of the Pack" was performed by Bette Midler on her debut album "The Divine Miss M". The opening from "Leader of the Pack"—"Is she really going out with him?"—was recycled both as the opening lines of 1976's "New Rose" by