SCOTT SIMON, HOST:
Let me tell you, keeping an indie rock band together is hard work. But the trio Betty makes it sound like fun. Betty got its start in Washington, D.C., but they have traveled the world. They have recorded hundreds of songs for their albums, themes to 11 TV shows, and even an off-Broadway musical, "Betty Rules." Their latest album, "Eat," goes back to their '80s sound.
(SOUNDBITE OF SONG, "TOGETHER")
BETTY: (Singing) We are in this together. We are in this together.
SIMON: Boy. It gives me great pleasure to say we're joined now by my old pals, Betty. They are Elizabeth Ziff, Alyson Palmer and Amy Ziff. You two wouldn't be related, would you?
ELIZABETH ZIFF: No (laughter). We're sisters. We're all sisters at this point.
SIMON: Yeah, all three of you at this point. Well, look, it's been too long. Thank you very much for joining us today.
ALYSON PALMER: We missed you so much.
AMY ZIFF: Our pleasure.
E ZIFF: So much has happened since we saw you.
SIMON: I know we've all had children, right?
PALMER: True that.
E ZIFF: That's true.
PALMER: And our latest child, who just came out a week ago.
SIMON: Yes, all right. Well, we're going to talk about that.
(LAUGHTER)
SIMON: Let's hear a bit of "Flow."
(SOUNDBITE OF SONG, "FLOW")
BETTY: (Singing) Flow, flow, flow, flow, flow, flow. Get moving. Get grooving. Get moving in the flow. Flow, flow, flow, flow, flow, flow, flow. Get moving, get grooving, get moving in the flow. Get into the flow.
SIMON: Elizabeth, let's just sort of begin with you. What brought you back to this sound?
E ZIFF: Well, we were looking for a producer. And we went back to Jason Carmer, who we worked with on one or two songs on "Betty Rules," the play. And we know him from way back in the day in D.C. in the '80s. And we wanted to use somebody who could bring the '80s sound that we originated with and bring us into contemporary times, 'cause this album is really sort of based on how the three of us got together, even though we've been together that long, and Jason just seemed to be the great person to do it. And "Flow" was the first song that we did with him. And it turned out so well that we decided to do the whole album with him.
SIMON: Wow.
PALMER: And, Scott, did you know that we have now been together for 38 years?
SIMON: I'm sorry, there's something wrong with our connection. I thought you said 38 years.
(LAUGHTER)
A ZIFF: Wait, but it doesn't feel like a day over 50 years, really. I think there's something wrong with our connection.
SIMON: Oh, my word.
E ZIFF: And we've gone back to our pop roots. So it's very pop, as you can tell by "Flow," which is the first single, that it's a really pop-oriented, really good-time-gal sort of thing. And we wanted to bring, of course, politics and levity to the times that we're in right now. And, you know, if you can't dance, it ain't a revolution.
SIMON: (Laughter) As I believe Frantz Fanon once said, right?
PALMER: There you go.
A ZIFF: Voila.
(SOUNDBITE OF SONG, "FLOW")
BETTY: (Singing) Come out, come out, wherever you are, if you're near, if you're far. Come out, come out wherever you are - be the party.
SIMON: Alyson Palmer - this is your ninth studio album. "Eat," right?
PALMER: Some are long LPs and some are EPs, but this is number 11 for us.
SIMON: Mercy. Well, all right. Why "Eat"?
PALMER: Why "Eat"? Well, my friend. All during while we were recording, while we were writing songs, we were throwing names back and forth. Nobody found one that would work for all of us. I happened to go to the Whitney Museum, and someone had knocked over a pile of postcards, and one of the postcards had the word, eat, on it. And all of a sudden, I called Amy and Elizabeth and I said, This is it. I found it - "Eat." It means everything and nothing at the same time.
A ZIFF: We're very "Eat" oriented. I don't know if you kind of know that about us, Scott.
E ZIFF: Yeah, definitely, the way to Betty is through the stomach.
SIMON: Well, let me ask you about another really standout track, "Big Size Love."
(SOUNDBITE OF SONG, "BIG SIZE LOVE")
BETTY: (Singing) Don't be judgy. Don't be judgy. I'm still chubby. I'm still chubby. I never lost my baby fat. Soft and squishy, soft and squishy, so delishy (ph), so delishy. Close your eyes. Now, picture that. How much more we can in love when there's more of me? How much more we can in love? Are you turning? We'll get turning then. Come and get your big size fun. Big size love has just begun. Are you tired yet?
SIMON: Amy, I'm told you had a hand in this song.
A ZIFF: Yeah. You know, it's just - it's a song about embracing - instead of slow your roll, it's show your rolls. We're embracing all sorts of different body types. And even with those Ozempic out there, if you decide to kind of not go the way of that and just show the world what you got. Well, it's about time that you embrace it.
PALMER: No-zempic (ph). I like that.
A ZIFF: No-zempic (laughter).
PALMER: You know, that's one thing that's really interesting about the generation that's coming...
SIMON: Gosh, I hope they're not an NPR funder, but go ahead. OK.
A ZIFF: No, let them be because that's okay, too.
PALMER: Choices, choices - it's all about choices.
A ZIFF: I think that it's fantastic that it's out there, you know? Yeah.
PALMER: Absolutely. And one thing that I was talking about was the fact that this generation after us is so much more open about body differences than our generation was, and it's really exciting.
E ZIFF: We taught them.
SIMON: I think when history is written, you'll have your role there.
PALMER: A footnote?
A ZIFF: Well, great.
E ZIFF: I love it.
A ZIFF: Oh, good. I hope they erect a statue to us in the square.
(SOUNDBITE OF SONG, "BIG SIZE LOVE")
BETTY: (Singing) Come and get your big size love. I'll tell you when you're done.
E ZIFF: We have kept humble, Scott, after all these years.
SIMON: I've always admired that. Despite your genius, you've been able to keep yourself humble.
A ZIFF: I mean, and the genius is there.
E ZIFF: Well, because nobody ever knows about us, so that's easy.
PALMER: Oh, no, the best show we ever did, ever, was the one that, Scott, you came to in Chicago. Nobody knew that they had changed the date, and there was one person in the audience and it was you, Scott.
A ZIFF: No, there were three.
PALMER: And I love you forever for that, Scott.
A ZIFF: There were three, and also it was a complete...
SIMON: I remember that.
A ZIFF: ...Complete snow storm.
SIMON: I had a great time. Yeah.
PALMER: It was so fun.
E ZIFF: Yeah, we did. We had a good time. I think we might have imbibed a little afterward.
SIMON: I remember that, too.
(LAUGHTER)
PALMER: And we didn't imbibe very hard.
Look, it's a great time. That's the life
PALMER: That was - way back when.
SIMON: I mean, 38 years together, which is like 30 years more than the Beatles or something like that.
A ZIFF: Wow.
SIMON: What is it - 11 albums or productions, tours, projects?
A ZIFF: Yes.
E ZIFF: Marriages, babies.
SIMON: Marriages - you guys did the theme song to "The L Word"?
E ZIFF: That's correct.
A ZIFF: Yes, we did.
SIMON: It was a great song.
E ZIFF: Thanks.
A ZIFF: At one point, I think we had, like, 11 theme songs on TV...
PALMER: Correct. Correct.
A ZIFF: ...At the same time. Did you know that, Scott?
SIMON: No.
A ZIFF: I know all your favorites.
E ZIFF: We've had the opportunity to be arts envoys for the State Department. And so we've been able to go all over the world and spread the Betty gospel, which has been wonderful.
PALMER: And it's an ongoing adventure, and we really never know what's going to be happening next.
A ZIFF: Just when we think, oh, my God, I cannot do this anymore with these two, something fabulous comes your way.
E ZIFF: That's Amy talking, by the way.
A ZIFF: It is. But I mean, because sometimes you just get mired in some of, you know, the personal and the professional. And then you look at each other and you realize that our friendship kind of sees us through everything.
E ZIFF: I don't know if it's true, but it's beautiful.
(LAUGHTER)
SIMON: Let me ask you about one more song. And I predict it's going to bring - well, you know how difficult it is to put tears in my eyes. Let's listen to your beautiful version of "What The World Needs Now."
(SOUNDBITE OF SONG, "WHAT THE WORLD NEEDS NOW IS LOVE")
BETTY: (Singing) What the world needs now, what the world needs now, what the world needs now, what the world needs now is love, sweet love. It's the only thing. What the world needs now is love, sweet love. No, not just for some, but for everyone.
SIMON: Oh, my gosh, that's beautiful. Why did you decide to include this?
PALMER: And thank you, Burt Bacharach.
E ZIFF: And Hal David. We love that song. And we'd been doing it for - this is Elizabeth - for a couple of years live. It's the only a cappella song on the album, and it's the only cover song. And we brought it down to Jason, Jason Carmer. And he said, why don't you slow it down? Slow it way down, 'cause we were like, da-da-da-dee-dee. What the world needs now...
A ZIFF: We're razzmatazz, that's who we are.
E ZIFF: And so we did slow it down, and it felt - it really felt right. It felt more meaningful. It felt like we were getting the real meaning out of it and especially right now in the times of the world to have that song on the album, I think is really important.
SIMON: Yeah. So good to be back with you, Alyson Palmer, Amy, and Elizabeth Ziff. I hope you'll come back.
PALMER: Scott...
E ZIFF: Scott, we love you so much.
PALMER: Love you.
A ZIFF: Thanks for having us on, Scott.
(SOUNDBITE OF SONG, "WHAT THE WORLD NEEDS NOW IS LOVE")
BETTY: (Singing) Love, sweet love. What the world needs now is love, sweet love. What the world needs now is love, sweet love. What the world needs now is love, sweet love. What the world -what the world needs now... Transcript provided by NPR, Copyright NPR.
NPR transcripts are created on a rush deadline by an NPR contractor. This text may not be in its final form and may be updated or revised in the future. Accuracy and availability may vary. The authoritative record of NPR’s programming is the audio record.
