Those of you are familiar with Loverboy Magazine will already know that we feature an IKON in each issue. Issue 1 we featured Bea Arthur. Issue 2 we talked about Janis Joplin. Issue 3 we’re going to discuss….not so fast. Bette Midler was in the running but we thought we’d focus on someone less celebrated instead. Anyway we want to wish her a Happy Birthday.
We first got into Bette back in 1986 when we watched Down & Out in Beverly Hills. We’re sure we weren’t really allowed but somehow it made its way on to our VHS player.

We grew up loving Bette, but it wasn’t until we came out that we discovered she began her career singing for the homos in the hothouses, yes, Bathhouse Bette sang in the saunas….with Barry Manilow on keys no less. Watch the whole thing here. She is a deserving queer icon who served the community. And here are our five favourite Bette tracks….

5. Miss Otis Regrets
We’re not sure this would really be one of our favourite songs, well not Top 5 anyway, but with her it’s ALL about the performance and this one’s a knockout.

4. Shiver Me Timbers
This could have got this high on its schtick at the beginning alone. But it’s a beautiful song too.

3. My Knight In Black Leather
Not sure about Bette’s lip syncing skills. We only discovered this tune recently. It’s nearly as camp as YMCA. But obviously she gets away with it.

2. Friends
And here we see Bette in her beginnings, in The Continental Bathhouses. We wish we could see the men too. Apparently the joint was armed with a panic button in case the police came to raid them and there was lice shampoo in the showers.

1. Do You Wanna Dance?
We actually made a mixtape for a girl we liked at school when we asked her to the school dance. This was the first song on it and we envisioned us dancing forever, falling love, raising a family and leading a happy straight life. Hmmm….not sure about that.