“Chapel of Love” – Bette Midler (1972) * Written by Jeff Berry, Ellie Greenwich, and Phil Spector * 45: “Friends” / “Chapel of Love” * LP: The Divine Miss M. * Produced by Barry Manilow, Geoffrey Haslam, and Ahmet Ertegun * Label: Atlantic
Bette Midler’s Divine Miss M introduced her as a cabaret attraction tailor-made for early seventies audiences who nursed sixties rock hangovers and craved nostalgia. Her updated takes on the Andrews Sisters’ “Boogie Woogie Bugle Boy,” Bobby Freeman’s “Do You Wanna Dance,” and the Dixie Cups’ “Chapel of Love” (as a double A-side with “Friends”) all made the Top 40, and none of those leaned too far toward campiness to detract from the originals’ joyful spirit. (Camp factors are certainly crucial to their appeal, though. When Midler sings about “going to the chapel,” you imagine the gaudy Vegas quickie variety.) The album version of “Chapel of Love,” with its sashaying, Laura Nyro-style piano, outshines the 45’s alternate arrangement, which has too many flutes and things. Both versions include the closing tag borrowed from Don and Juan’s “What’s Your Name,” but only on the album track can you hear Midler declaring it a “pits ending.”