Saturday 9: Boogie Woogie Bugle Boy

Saturday 9: Boogie Woogie Bugle Boy (1973)

Unfamiliar with this song? Hear it here.

1) Bette Midler sings that the bugle boy wakes up Company B every morning by playing reveille. What awakened you this morning (phone, alarm clock, sunrise, etc.)? Or did you wake up on your own?  I woke up on my own. I haven't had to use the alarm since last March.

2) This single was produced by Bette's arranger/piano player, who went on to have a successful singing career of his own. Do you have a favorite Barry Manilow song?  I Write the Songs or Copacabana

3) Bette was named after Bette Davis. Her sisters, Susan and Judy, were named for Susan Hayward and Judy Garland. So now we know who Mother Midler's favorite actresses were. Who are yours?  Sandra Bullock, Reese Witherspoon, and Meryl Streep

4) Bette has been married since 1984 to artist Martin von Haselberg. She was 39 years old, already a star, and had never married before. Yet within six weeks of meeting him, she was so sure Martin was "the one" that they tied the knot. Have you found that love takes time, or, like Bette, have you fallen in love quickly?  It happened quickly with my husband. We were engaged within a month of our first date and married within 6 months...and here we are 36 years later.

5) When their daughter Sophie was growing up, it was Martin who taught her to cook. What was the last thing you prepared in your kitchen? Did you use the microwave, stovetop, convection oven, blender, coffee maker ...?  I warmed up some leftovers in the microwave for lunch.

 

6) Bette says that listening and compromise have been the key to their happy marriage but adds, "Compromise is hardest of all." On what have you compromised recently?  What to watch on television.

7) Bette and Martin have a farmhouse in upstate New York. She enjoys feeding the chickens (whom she has jokingly named The Kardashians) and puttering in her garden. Do you have a green thumb?  Yes. I think I inherited it from my grandmother. She had over 100 plants in the house and then there were her flower gardens. My dad may have had something to do with it, too. He had a huge garden every year and working in it was mandatory.

8) In 1973, the year this song was popular, actor Neil Patrick-Harris was born. He's best known as Barney on How I Met Your Mother, which ran from 2005-2014. Were you a fan?  Yes, we always watched it. I don't really like to watch it in reruns, though.

9) Random question -- How often do you put crackers in your soup: Always, often, seldom or never?  It depends on the kind of soup. In chicken noodle...always. Others...sometimes. I always put them in chili, too, but does chili count as soup?

Thanks to Sam for the music and questions.

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