Beaches (soundtrack)

Did You Know?

• The original script merely indicated that "traditional music" was to be played at certain times.
• Shaiman and Midler worked together to determine what songs Midler could sing for the film.

Songs

The first single from the album, released in December 1988 to promote the film, was Midler's cover of The Drifters' "Under the Boardwalk." This song appears in the movie's opening scene and as the opening track on the album, alluding to the title and the location where the main characters first meet. The single peaked outside the Billboard Hot 100 but reached the Top 30 of the ARIA singles chart in Australia. "Wind Beneath My Wings" was released as the second single in February 1989 after the film's box office success. The song had been recorded by several other artists in the early 1980s, including Sheena Easton, Roger Whittaker, Gary Morris, Perry Como, Gladys Knight & the Pips, and Lou Rawls. Midler's version became a number-one hit on the US singles chart, reached number 2 on the Adult Contemporary chart, number 3 in the UK, and number 1 in Australia, and was a top 10 hit in many other countries. It was awarded a platinum disc by the RIAA for US sales exceeding one million copies and won Grammys for Record of the Year and Song of the Year at the 1990 Grammy Awards. The recording in the film differs from the one on the soundtrack, and the movie includes an orchestral version over the end credits. The rest of the soundtrack follows C.C. Bloom's career arc, including Cole Porter's "I've Still Got My Health," the burlesque number "Otto Titsling" (co-written by Midler and previously on her 1985 album Mud Will Be Flung Tonight), the experimental theater piece "Oh Industry," the duet "I Know You by Heart" with David Pack (originally recorded by Dolly Parton and Smokey Robinson), and Randy Newman's "I Think It's Going to Rain Today."