David Bowie’s musical comeback is certainly one of the most exciting highlights of the current year. With a new album released two weeks ago, currently topping the charts, it is time to pay tribute to one of the most important figures in pop history – and a great admirer of Tina!
Tina Turner is ever the professional, but even she has her bad days, when everything seems to go wrong. Opening night of her 1985 Private Dancer tour in Helsinki, Finland was one of these days. When Tina enters the stage, she is surrounded by smoke, making it impossible for her to sing. She simply shouts out “TOO MUCH SMOKE!”, and gives her stage technician a piece of her mind, before continuing the song as if nothing has happened. Later during the show, she confesses to the audience that she is tired of performing Proud Mary – her self-acclaimed favorite song. Continue reading for more details on this show!
Today, the one and only Bruce Springsteen turns 63! In honor of Bruce’s birthday, we take a closer look at the cover that Tina did of his hit record Dancing In The Dark. Bruce and Tina both released their biggest selling albums in 1984: Born In The USA and Private Dancer. Both undertook massive world tours in 1984/1985 to promote their records, they were the biggest music stars of that moment. In 1985, they were both part of the We Are The World single, for the USA for Africa charity project. It was around that time that Tina asked Bruce to write a song for her. Bruce had already written a couple of hit songs for other female artists (Patti Smith’s ‘Because The Night’ and ‘Fire’ for the Pointer Sisters), so it was no coincidence that Tina had set her eyes on The Boss. Unfortunately, for one reason or another, a true Bruce and Tina collaboration never came into being. Instead, Tina covered Dancing In The Dark during her 1985 Private Dancer tour, as well as in the beginning of the 1987 Break Every Rule tour. To celebrate Springsteen’s birthday, watch Tina belting out this classic during her 1985 concert in Tokyo, and listen to an audience recording of the song from Paris 1987. Happy birthday Bruce!
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On August 7 and 8, 1985, Tina Turner gave two concerts at the Jones Beach Marine Theater in Wantagh, New York. These shows were a part of her Private Dancer world tour. Below you will find three songs from the first concert: One Of The Living, Steel Claw and (very rare on the tour) Chris Montez’s Let’s Dance (written by Jim Lee). This is an audience recording, so the quality is not optimal. Continue reading
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Listen to this nice interview of Tina Turner talking about her colleagues such as Mick Jagger, Madonna, Prince; her influences and her projects for the year 1986! The interview was conducted by Peter Panton for Speak Up magazine. Click continue reading for the audio and a full transcription of the interview.
27 years ago today, Tina Turner performed at the Zénith in Paris as part of her 1985 Private Dancer world tour. Below, you will find the songs I Can’t Stand The Rain and Help, taken from an audience recording of this show. Also, you will find a review of the concert that appeared in an Austrian newspaper (in German), and the set list of the concert. Thanks to Hans for providing the newspaper article!
Late 1984, early 1985, in the middle of Australian summer, Tina Turner was filming the movie Mad Max Beyond Thunderdome, alongside Mel Gibson. She performed the role of Aunty Entity. It was Tina’s childhood dream to become a movie star: aged 45 she realized that dream. The movie was recorded in the scorching heat of the Australian desert: people passed out on the set. However, Tina enjoyed every single second of it: she has often referred to this experience as one of the most enjoyable of her career. Continue reading for some on set photos of Aunty Entity in full attire!
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Tonight, the annual Grammy Awards ceremony takes place in Los Angeles, California. A special night for Tina, because her number one hit single What’s Love Got To Do With It is inducted in the Grammy Hall of Fame. This song won Tina two Grammy Awards, and was also awarded with the Song of the Year award for its writers: Terry Britten and Graham Lyle. On February 26, 1985, Tina performed the song live at the Grammy Awards at the Shrine Auditorium in Los Angeles. Besides Record of the Year and Best pop vocal performance, Tina also won the Best rock vocal performance Grammy for her song Better Be Good To Me. This was truly an emotional evening for Tina, and it marked her definite return to the top of the music industry, at the age of 45. Continue reading for the video of Tina performing What’s Love Got To Do With It and receiving her awards. Also included are some photos from this special night. We congratulate Tina on getting her song into the Grammy Hall of Fame!
Below are scans taken from Austrian movie magazine Neuer Filmkurier in September 1985 on the movie Mad Max Beyond Thunderdome, in which Tina Turner starred as Aunty Entity, together with Mel Gibson. The magazine offers background information on the movie, unfortunately (for some of us), it is written in German. A big thank you to Hans for providing the magazine for us to scan!
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In this post, you will find a radio interview with Tina Turner, conducted by Lisa Robinson. The interview is from 1985, right during Tina’s breakthrough as a solo artist. Tina talks in depth about her recent success.
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