![]() ![]() Of course, Tina's new music reflected her history as well. ("It was when Ike was having sex with the girl in the room next door, and he deliberately kept my door open.") Even discussion of the producers and writers of her new material was seen in the context of her history-didn't she want to write and produce her own material? Despite the fact that she was at the tail end of a years-long publicity push for two new albums, she was still having to answer questions (from reporters for the Sam Goody in-store magazine, no less) about her lowest point with Ike. Paging through that 1986 issue of Rock Express today, I'm struck by how-as strong as Tina's music was in the 80s-she was constantly seen through the lens of her turbulent history. By my early teens, though, I'd largely left Tina behind for the heady brew of Bob Dylan and other artists Rolling Stone told me to keep up with. I wasn't just learning Tina's story, though: I was learning about the unsavory underside of rock music-and about the complicated realities of adult relationships. ![]() I only really appreciated Tina's life story when, at a library sale, I bought a well-used copy of the Kurt-Loder-assisted autobiography I, Tina and took it home to read with horrified fascination. I was vaguely aware that the singer of "Private Dancer" and "What's Love Got To Do With It" had a storied past, but when you're ten years old, everyone on the radio has a storied past-or at least, a past that's longer than yours. In the mid-80s, Turner was one of the world's biggest pop stars-full stop, no qualifications. In retrospect, the most interesting thing about my fandom is exactly how totally (well, relatively) normal it was for a little nerdy white boy in Duluth, Minnesota to be totally into Tina Turner. I dug the percolating rhythm of "What's Love Got to Do with It," the anthemic "We Don't Need Another Hero," and the slow burn of "Private Dancer." I think I understood what a "private dancer" was-Mark Knopfler's lyrics aren't too ambiguous-and I knew it was an appropriate song for my Sy Snootles action figure to gyrate to. Though as a tween I had little context for the adult themes of Tina's lyrics, I loved it when she came on the radio. "No," I cried, "I like her music! You don't like Pet Clark just because of her hot legs.do you?!" Indignantly, Dad defended "Downtown" as a classic pop song, while everyone else in the family ate their tater tot hot dish and waited patiently for us to finish. My dad assumed that my newfound Tina fandom represented the beginning of puberty, and at the dinner table one night he kidded that I only liked Tina because of her hot legs. Later, I added the Mad Max Beyond Thunderdome soundtrack, with both the vocal and instrumental versions of "We Don't Need Another Hero (Thunderdome)." In addition to the Back to the Future soundtrack, I chose Private Dancer and Break Every Rule. ![]() When my mom joined Columbia House and let each of us kids choose a few tapes to fill out the introductory package, I was able to pick my first-ever brand-new cassette tapes that weren't kids' music-and boy, they sure weren't. I don't know exactly how the R&B veteran from Nutbush, Tennessee became a special favorite of mine, but I somehow latched onto Tina. ![]()
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |
AuthorWrite something about yourself. No need to be fancy, just an overview. ArchivesCategories |