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Whatever Works

Sandra Bernhard’s a powerful magnet — you’re either drawn to this sharp-tongued provocateur or you’re repulsed by her. As folks who’ve loved the entertainer since her early days, we’ve never understood the polarizing reactions.

She’s known primarily as a comedian from her one-woman shows, especially Without You I’m Nothing and I’m Still Here…Damn It, but Bernhard’s love of music is hard to overlook. Without You I’m Nothing’s “Me and Mrs. Jones” is a highlight of her career, alternately ironic and touchingly sincere. She’s no pop star, but she’s still trying…damn it, as evidenced by Whatever It Takes (out August 25). Produced and co-written by Ted Mason of Modern English (yes, “I Melt with You”), this is Bernhard’s “world music” record. Only her world embraces Studio 54 (the disco stomper “Can You See”) and Chrissie Hynde (who guests on opener “All Around”) as well as Africa (the Soweto-sweet “The Sun Comes Out”) and Bangladesh (the sitar-riffic “A New World”).

Bernhard’s nothing if not tenacious — witness her scathing performance in Scorcese’s The King of Comedy — and it’s heartening to watch a 54-year-old woman return to one of her first loves with something to prove. She’s ready to change those negative polarities, and she’s willing to do, well, you get the picture.


Whatever It Takes will be available August 25 from Mi5 Records.