Rocktrospectiva: The Successfull And Biggest "Some People Live's" Turns 35

Released on 4 September 1990 "Some People's Lives" was the 7th., studio album by US singer Bette Midler, the album contains one of her biggest hits, "From a Distance," which won songwriter Julie Gold a Grammy Award for Song of the Year in 1991. Some People's Lives became the biggest commercial success of Midler's musical career, peaking at number 6 in the US and number 5 in the UK. The album spawned four singles "From A Distance", "Night And Day", "The Gift Of Love" & "Moonlight Dancing". 

After a series of successful Hollywood movies made throughout the 1980s, Midler returned to the music scene with a proper studio album in 1990, her first since 1983's rock and new wave-influenced No Frills. Some People's Lives, however, had more in common with the preceding soundtrack Beaches in that it featured both interpretations of jazz standards like "Miss Otis Regrets", "Spring Can Really Hang You Up the Most" and "He Was Too Good to Me" as well as more chart-oriented pop and adult contemporary material with contrasting synth-driven arrangements courtesy of producer Arif Mardin, his son Joe and Robbie Buchanan. 

The up-tempo track "Moonlight Dancing" was written by noted hitmaker Diane Warren and "The Gift of Love" by Tom Kelly and Billy Steinberg and Susanna Hoffs. Steinberg and Kelly were the songwriting team behind Madonna's "Like a Virgin", Cyndi Lauper's "True Colors" and The Bangles' "Eternal Flame".

"Moonlight Dancing", "Night and Day" and "The Gift of Love" were all issued as singles, but the biggest hit that the album produced was Midler's interpretation of Julie Gold's anthem of universal brotherhood "From a Distance" featuring The Radio Choir of New Hope Church. The single reached number 2 on the Billboard Hot 100 chart, number 1 on the Adult Contemporary chart and number 6 in the UK and was later certified platinum in the US, making it Midler's second million-seller within the space of two years following "Wind Beneath My Wings" from the Beaches soundtrack. 

The album has been regarded as one of the singer's strongest collections, a smooth collection of standards, with Midler at her best – playful, yearning, brassy, regretful – and that is mostly because producer Arif Mardin surrounds his star with respectful production that matches her talent while accenting her strengths. Some People's Lives became the biggest commercial success of Midler's musical career. It reached its highest peak in the United Kingdom, where it entered the top five and reached gold status in July 1991. In the United States, it peaked at number 6 on the US Billboard 200, becoming her highest-charting album since Bette Midler (1973).  Elsewhere, the album entered the top ten in Australia, Canada, and New Zealand, while reaching number 15 on the German Albums Chart and number 27 on the Austrian Albums Chart.

 

Some People Live's Track List: 

 

1. One More Round

2. Some People Live's

3. Miss Otis Regrets

4. Spring Can Really Hang You Up The Most

5. Night And Day

6. The Girl Is On To You

7. From A Distance

8. Moonlight Dancing

9. He Was Too Goo To Me/Since You Stayed Here

10. All Of A Sudden

11. The Gift Of Love