Yep, it’s that time of the year again when the tills ring to the beat of Yuletide music and record companies cash in on soppy sentiment and silly Festive Season spending.

Suddenly the music stores are wall to wall with 'Best of So-and-So','So-and-So’s Golden Hits' and 'Old Christmas Favourites by So-and So'.

Many of these re-hashes are little more than fairly transparent attempts to revive the flagging careers of also-rans or to dredge up renewed interest in songs and singers once popular but now almost forgotten.

The best of Bette sort of falls between these two categories unless you are a frothy-mouthed Bette Midler fan of course.

There are 19 numbers in this collection, including oldies such as 'In the Mood', 'The Glory of Love', 'Do You Want to Dance' and 'Boogie Woogie Bugle Boy' — most of them a tad cringe-worthy, I’m afraid.

I have always associated Milder with one of my all-time favourites, 'The Rose', which she does better than most.

It’s probably the salvation of this album, along with 'When a Man Loves a Woman', although I suspect that even with these two easy-listeners on board, 'Jackpot! The Best Bette' will be relegated to the back of the CD rack and forgotten in just a few weeks after Christmas.