When The Heartache Is Over was the first single of Tina Turner’s 1999 album Twenty Four Seven. It was produced by Mark Taylor and Brian Rawling, the same team that was responsible for Cher’s 1998 number 1 single Believe. In this post, we take a closer look at Tina’s single, from its origins to its live performances.
Origins
It is well known that Tina Turner and Cher share the same manager, Roger Davies. When Cher had an unexpected number 1 hit with the dance single Believe, also the biggest selling song of 1998, it was only logical that he would try to arrange a similar achievement for Tina.
By 1999, Tina was asked by her record company to record a new album, which would become Twenty Four Seven (her last studio album to date). At this point in her career, Tina was struggling to get radio air-play, especially in the United States; her last top 10 single was I Don’t Wanna Fight back in 1993. When Cher’s turn to dance music was successful beyond all expectations, Roger Davies wanted the same for Tina.
The team responsible for Cher’s new sound was Metro Productions in London, consisting of producers Mark Taylor and Brian Rawling. They did a great job in coming up with a fresh sound for Cher, steering away from her rock power ballads of the eighties and early nineties. Tina was also interested in a new sound, explaining:
“I felt like I wanted something new. I’d like to try to stay as fresh as possible and still have a bit of covers there somehow. And these guys felt right.”
Tina recounts meeting Taylor and Rawling at their London studio in a 1999 promotional interview for her Twenty Four Seven album.
The song
In many ways, the song is a, quite obvious, attempt to duplicate Cher’s Believe, both in terms of lyrics and sound.
Cher’s success might for a large part be contributed to her large gay following, and the song became an anthem in gay clubs. The lyrics of Believe, and When The Heartache Is Over, share a common theme – overcoming heartbreak, and stand in the tradition of that other gay anthem, Gloria Gaynor’s ‘I Will Survive’.
“You’re not welcome anymore” (Gaynor), “I don’t need you anymore” (Cher), “I can live without you” (Tina).
The lyrics to When The Heartache Is Over were written by two British songwriters: Graham Stack (who has written songs for Kylie Minogue, LeAnn Rimes and Take That, among others), and John Reid (frontman of dance group The Nightcrawlers, and songwriter for artists like Rod Stewart, Westlife and Kelly Clarkson).
Once in a lifetime you find
Someone to show you the way
Someone to make your decisions
But I let you lead me astray
Who did you think you were fooling
Said you were missing me blind
But the truth is I knew you were lying
You were using me time after time
When the heartache is over
I know I won’t be missing you
Won’t look over my shoulder
‘Cause I know that I can live without you
Oh live without you
Oh I can live without you
Time to move on with my life now
Leaving the past all behind
I can make my own decisions
It was only a matter of time
Sometimes I look back in anger
Thinking about all the pain
But I know that I’m stronger without you
And that I’ll never need you again
Both Cher and Tina overcame unhappy marriages, and were more successful as solo artists than as duo’s with their husbands. While Tina didn’t realize the parallels of the song’s lyrics to her own life at first, while filming the video, the words began to haunt her. Understanding the meaning of the words, she even had nightmares and asked her manager for reassurance. Later, she focussed on the positive message of the song, and learned to sing it as a victory song.
“It was an up-energy vibe; the concept is just about life!”
Video
With a fresh dance sound, and positive strong lyrics, all that was missing was a video. The video was directed by Paul Boyd, and showed Tina more glamorous than ever. She is dancing on a giant ‘T’, surrounded by dancers, video screens and lights, and looking very elegant. In the clip below, the concept of the video is explained.
In the club
The foundation of the success of Believe was in the nightclubs, where it got a lot of airplay. This was also the strategy for When The Heartache Is Over. The song was remixed by several top DJ’s, including ‘The Metro Boys’ themselves, 7th District Inc., and Hex Hector. Hector is a New York based club DJ, who also achieved fame with his remixes for other Divas, such as Toni Braxton, Aretha Franklin, Madonna, Whitney Houston, Donna Summer and Mary J. Blige.
His remixes where first sent out at the end of 1999, with a double 12″-single of his remix made available in January of 2000, and distributed to all of the trend-setting club DJ’s. At the same time, a 6-track 12″ single was for sale in records stores across the United States at the beginning of 2000, featuring four incarnations of the Hex Hector mix, as well as the UK Metro Mix and 7th District Club Mix. Below, you can listen to the Hex Hector 7″ Vocal Mix, and the Hex Hector Acapella Mix.
Hex Hector 7″ Vocal Mix
Hex Hector Acapella Mix
Commercial success
Despite all the efforts, a ton of promotional appearances, and closely following ‘the Believe scheme’, When The Heartache Is Over was only a minor commercial success. It failed to enter the Billboard Hot 100 chart, and was a top 10 single in only three European countries (no. 10 in the UK, no. 8 in Spain and no. 3 in Finland). However, all the effort that went into getting the song played in nightclubs did lead to some results. The song peaked at number 3 on the Billboard Dance/Club Play chart: “The week’s most popular songs played in dance clubs, compiled from reports from a national sample of club DJs”. This was the highest chart position that Tina ever held in that specific Billboard chart.
Thus, while a minor club hit, the song failed to go ‘mainstream’ from there. Maybe the target audience was still saturated by (or tired from) Cher’s dance revival. Or maybe the dance sound was too far-fetched for Tina’s own fan base. Whatever the reason, Tina’s last big attempt at chart success and radio air-play failed to meet the expectations, and it might even be seen as the final chapter of Tina’s career as a serious recording artist. Later studio recordings for greatest hits compilations were often uninspired and very safe, thus failing to get noticed both by the critical press and record buyers.
Live
Another challenge of the song was playing it live. It was Tina’s first song that used computers/electronics to such an extent, and it proved to be difficult to translate it to a live concert setting. While Tina usually changes the arrangements of her studio recordings dramatically when playing them live (pushing up the tempo and getting the guitars up front) – it was clear that this ‘faster and louder’ tactic just wouldn’t work for this song. Another problem were the vocals, ranging from very low during the verses to very high and powerful in the choruses. Combined with a dance routine, this proved to be very hard work for Tina. The first live performance of the song, on UK TV-show TFI Friday in October of 1999, was a difficult one. Watch the video below to judge for yourself.
Luckily, Tina and her band did get it right in the end. During the Twenty Four Seven tour in 2000, the song developed into a full-fledged sing-along anthem. It became a highlight of the show, and the song would often get extended with a ‘live without you’-duet with the audience. Like many of Tina’s songs, it only achieved its full potential when played live, where Tina has learned to play with the song, feeding off the crowd’s energy. One of the most energetic and festive performances of the song was surely during the final European concert of that tour in Sopot, Poland on August 15. Concluding the post with a video of that performance, please feel free to share your thoughts on this song with us in the comments section below.
Tina Turner Blog 
MUCH INFORMATION! I really like this! Thank you very much! ♥
LikeLike
I love this whole thing. You cant have a hit with every record. I often wondered why it was so hard for Tina to get recognition and she is such a powerful artist and performer. No matter, she is the best. Thanks guys for putting together such a wonderful blog about my favorite.
LikeLike
But, this is the question: the song was a hit! It did climb to # 3 on the European Airplay Chart, a huge feat. It was the third most-played song in an entire continent for at least two weeks. See my post below.
LikeLike
Hi Mark, thanks for your comment! I (Ben) guess it’s not only difficult for Tina Turner to get airplay in the US but also for a lot of old artists. She never really cared for her recordings, she just wanted to get good performance songs…I am pretty sure she would have get more attention with sometimes better quality material, especially for 24/7 (except for a few songs of course). But we can’t redo the past so let’s enjoy what we’ve got 🙂
Thanks again Mark!
LikeLike
And thanks to you for liking and commenting Monica! 🙂
LikeLike
OMG, i love you guys. This article is just amazing. I was reading it like something new i have never known. Many new facts i really didn´t know and believe or not, today I put all my 24/7 things include singles on the top of my wardrobe like a decoration… And now you made my day reading this article.
OK, and now my comment about the song. WTHIO is hard song to sing, but easy to remember. Because I do not need to sing it, i love this song and I ever loved this song since I discovered Tina. And the video is just great, sexy and fresh.
Once again, thank you guys.
(Jozef)
LikeLike
Hey Jozef, thanks for your nice comment! Guess you can always learn something new (or something you forgot) about Tina, depends for how long you’ve been a fan…;)
Even us, we (re)discover stuff when preparing certain articles…
Thanks for your support Jozef!
LikeLike
What an amazing post! But I would like to do some observations: yes, the single did not live up to the expectations in the U.S. market and it was not a massive-seller in european countries (through it did make the Top 10 in three countries, including the U.K., and we should remember the United Kingdom is second most important market in the World for music). When The Heartache Is Over climbed to # 16 in the Eurochart, a very respectable position. It means that the single was the 16th best-selling single of a particular week. And, I should mention, the single did climb to # 3 in the Airplay Eurochart, that compiles the songs that get most airplay through the European countries, an amazing feat for Tina. It means that When The Heartache Is Over was the third most played song in European countries for an entire week in november 1999. So, maybe the single did not crack the Eurochart Top 10 (as Goldeneye and Cose Dela Vita/Can’t Stop Thinking Of You did), but it was a massive hit in European radio stations. The song did not get airplay in U.S., but I do think the song was a extremely successful single – it did better than most of other Tina’s singles through the 90’s.
European Radio Top 50.(Statistical Data Included)
Music & Media; 11/27/1999
week 48/99
[C] Communications Inc.
TW LW WOC Artist/Title
(1) 4 7 JENNIFER LOPEZ/WAITING FOR
TONIGHT
2 1 12 Eurythmics/I Saved The World
Today
3 3 9 Tina Turner/When The Heartache
Is Over
4 2 14 Christina Aguilera/Genie In A Bottle
5 5 10 Mariah Carey/Heartbreaker
You see, Tina had the third most-played song in an entire continent for at least two consecutive weeks. This should be considered a huge feat and a big success. Maybe she was the oldest superstar to achieve this feat. We can’t forget that. I really think Tina should have included WTHIO in her last tour.
LikeLike
And, I have to add one more fact: despite the massive airplay (#3) in Europe, yes, the single did not sold that well (#16), but audiences bought the album “Twenty Four Seven”. As the song in the airplay chart, the album also climbed to # 3 in the Eurochart’s albums list. It did remain in the Top 10 for some weeks, so the lead single was the right choice because the album sold really well in the continent. I’m trying to prove by the facts that the song was a great hit for Tina, even if it did not match the high expectations.
I think these facts should be included on the article above.
this last no. of ARTIST
week week wks TITLE
original label
(1) NE NE Cher
The Greatest Hits – WEA
2 1 2 Mariah Carey
Rainbow – Columbia
(3) NE NE Queen
Greatest Hits III – Parlophone
(4) 3 2 Tina Turner
Twenty Four Seven – Parlophone
(5) 5 31 Shania Twain
Come On Over – Mercury
LikeLike
Hi Guys:
Happy New Year!
Great/Wonderful post.
Given the sorry state of popular music over the past decade, I don’t really put much stock in chart positons any more. That being said “Heartache” did make it on the US Adult Contemporary and Pop Song. As well, being from Canada I’d also like to point out that it was a top 20 song here as well as the #1 video on our version of VH1, Muchmore Music. I also heard it quite frequently in the gay bars at the time and still here it a lot on the radio. Just the other day I caught myself doing the “live without you” dance in the grocery store!
LikeLike
Hi Donald, best wishes to you also, thanks! Thanks god for gay bar, the only places left on earth with good musics…and what would we be without our Tina dance routine from time to time…guess we all have them at some point 😉
Thanks for your comment Donald!
LikeLike
You are absolutely right with this post, very good research! I especially like this: “Tina’s last big attempt at chart success and radio air-play failed to meet the expectations, and it might even be seen as the final chapter of Tina’s career as a serious recording artist. Later studio recordings for greatest hits compilations were often uninspired and very safe, thus failing to get noticed both by the critical press and record buyers.”
That brings it exactly to the point: Tina focused very much on performing and not on recording classic, timeless music & albums. That is really a pity as her only real classic albums to date are “River Deep” 1966 and “Private Dancer” 1984, so “When the heartache is over” was an too obvious attempt to get in the charts … I would have liked more “Whatever you need” as a kick-off single of “Twenty Four Seven” … that would have been a fresh sound, a fresh new single from a legendary superstar.
But I still have hope that she will do another classic studio album with modern r&b,soul,rock or classics in a new sound (I always loved her covers in the 80’s of soul classcis like “A change is gonna come”, “Take me to the river” or “Havin a party” – that was great, the classics in a new sound).
Again: good job, guys!
LikeLike
Hi Stephan, thanks for your comment, all credits going to Sjef for the writing of this article!
And you’re probably right concerning her only classic albums being “River Deep” & “Private Dancer” but in terms of classic songs, there’s much more. Her last hits in Europe are “Goldeneye” (but she also had minor hits here with “Missing You”, “Silent Wings”, “Whatever You Want”…depends on the country) and “Cose Della Vita” with Ramazzotti. I mean those 2 are still getting air-play and will last. Maybe Twenty Four Seven would have sold better with a different 1st single choice or a different track list! Do you know that she recorded a new version of “I heard it through the grapevine” but eventually didn’t include it, if i recall well it was even on some advert, it must have been a last minute change. Let’s hope they kept it for later…”Tina sings Soul” with new recordings of soul hits 😉 (who said we were not allowed to dream)
Thanks for sharing your thoughts with us Stephan!
LikeLike
Great post guys! However, I applaud Tina Turner for taking a chance on material that felt right for her. I know that it was a little personal for her (i.e. the lyrics) and the music was synthesized, which has been a criticism of American audiences in the past; especially during the Wildest Dreams tour. Nevertheless, Tina has always been able to take songs that felt right and made them work to promote a very successful album. Success of a song should not always be valued by how many singles were sold. I think the success of this song is that it was a memorable song that fans seem to thoroughly enjoy via CD and in concert. We continue to chat, blog, party, and groove often while Queen of Rock and Roll utilizes her stage presence to engage audiences beyond record sales. She sold out concerts, which makes up for any losses on a single. I appreciate the discussion and memory of this beloved song. Tina Rocks! Thanks again Ben and Sjef. You guys rock too!!!
LikeLike
Hi Nath,
Of course we also applaud Tina for anything she is willing to do and if and of course when Tina is enjoying what she is singing, we are even more enjoying her. And in terms of sales, Twenty Four Seven wasn’t did pretty well. Of course we are not talking about PD sales…
Anyway, “When the Heartache” will still be on our set list at our Tina party, really had a blast on this one during last party!
And of course, You rock Nathan!! Thanks for your comment and your support 🙂
LikeLike
My guess is for an artist like Tina, it is (was) more important to get airplay rather than good single sales to promote an upcoming album. And as already mentioned, WTHIO did really well on the European radio charts. I think the 2000 tourbook states that the song was #1 in Europe for awhile in October when it debuted, but I´m not sure. Definitely not the best song on 24/7 though! I might have used Absolutely Nothing´s Changed as the first single, with some strong remixes for the radio.
The best live performance of this song was on Jay Leno in Feb 2000, brilliant vocals!
LikeLike
I really like this song. I love the photo of Tina on the front cover of the 24/7 album (typical Tina!). I still play this album, although it is not my favourite Tina album. The 24/7 tour was the first time I saw Tina and I remember all the promo well! It was an exciting time for me!
LikeLike
Agreed, it is a good song, but it didn’t quite fit in with the rest of the album, which was mostly ballads and more mainstream pop/R&B. To be honest, not an album I listen to a lot, but the tour was great!
LikeLike
This is by far the best live version of this song (from the ‘One Last Time Live dvd):
LikeLike
But we all have that one on DVD! We thought we’d share the more ‘rare’ version from Sopot!
LikeLike
And the “Celebrate” proformes 🙂
And in Denmark it was a great airplay hit, also in the radiostations for the young 🙂
LikeLike
Not a big fan of the Celebrate version, it didn’t quite have the ‘punch’ to it (like the TFI Friday performance).
LikeLike
Great work on this article! The video was filmed at the airport, who knew! And her lashes in that video and she calls it a wrap at the end!! Haha thanks boys!!
LikeLike
You’re very welcome Mark! Glad you enjoyed it!
LikeLike
The way I see it is we can sit around till the cows come home debating what the right moves should have been when it comes to song choice and Music style. I loved the album 24/7. My favorite Tina style is Rock but i liked 24/7 , it sold 3 million copies according to the below list taken form Here, pretty fantastic considering that by 1999 world wide music sales were down in general. It is very few artists selling more than 5 million copies by then. so i would not consider a failure.
http://www.pophistorydig.com/?tag=tina-turner-cd-sales
Point is she had a bloody fantastic solo career and has the respect of the industry. So who’s to say what’s right? Well done Tina!!
Tina Turner
Selected Albums
Album/Date
# Sold
Private Dancer
1984 20 million
Break Every Rule
1986 12 million
Tina Live in Europe
1988 6 million
Foreign Affair
1989 9 million
Simply the Best
1991 10 million
What’s Love Got…
1993 13 million
Wildest Dreams
1996 6 million
Twenty Four Seven
1999 3 million
All The Best
2004 5.5 million
LikeLike
Great article about the Twenty Four Seven album and the release of When The Heartache Is Over (Billboard, november 6, 1999)!
http://books.google.com.br/books?id=eggEAAAAMBAJ&pg=PA14&dq=tina+turner+when+the+heartache+is+over+sales&hl=pt-BR&sa=X&ei=H6boULbrCIfA9QTw7YCQAQ&ved=0CEwQ6AEwBjgU#v=onepage&q=tina%20turner%20when%20the%20heartache%20is%20over%20sales&f=false
LikeLike
Thanks for the article! But don’t really agree with the views expressed by the record company that 24/7 was a stronger album than Wildest Dreams… not by far!
LikeLike
WHEN THE HEARTACHE IS OVER AWESOME I SAW HER TWICE ON HER LAST CONCERT LOVE HER MY IDOL MY ICON THE BEST
LikeLike
That’s great!
LikeLike
Ciao Tina Turner ti scrivo questo messaggio per dirti che io ascolto sempre tutti i tuoi cd scritti con il cuore e con l amore che metti ogni giorno della giornata e con la passione che metti a scriverli e a cantare come tu sai fare da tatto tempo ciao mia unica SIMPLY THE BEST .
LikeLike
Sorry – we don’t speak Italian. But we hope it’s positive! 😉
LikeLike
I remember when this was released and I felt so disappointed. It was a complete copy of the Cher song and by the time it got released this did not sound “new” and “fresh” at all. I remember the song entered the Belgian charts quite high, (highest entry of the particular week), but did not rise on the charts and disappeared very quickly. The album went the same way, it did not remain in the charts for long and it was her weakest selling album in Europe since “Rough”. It only sold a little over 1 million copies, which would be considered good for many artists, but not for Tina Turner.
I think the commercial flop of 24/7 is the reason why she hasn’t done any studio albums after that. I think it was a big mistake of trying to turn Tina Turner into something she’s not. How I wish she had worked more with Tony Joe White instead ….
LikeLike
I agree with your Tony Joe White comment! But I wasn’t really dissapointed with WTHIO – more with the rest of the album, it was so ‘safe’ and ‘mainstream’. It would be interesting if she would’ve done a really heavy dance album!
Sometimes Roger lacks a bit of creativity – if something works for one of his artists, he will copy the idea for all of them (Eros duet, Mackie outfits, band members, just to name a few things). A little bit more risk would be appreciated!
LikeLike
Agree on the Roger Davies comment! he seems only interested in the commercial side, not the artistic side. Well, I guess that’s the job of a manager 🙂
LikeLike
Amazing article about TT’s work. Great job guys and Thank You!!!
LikeLike
Thanks for the article and the research.
I remember hearing that this song was Tina/Roger’s attempt to get a hit like Cher had with Believe and I was less than enthused. Tina, for me at least, has never been a dance music person. I didn’t care for the song or the video. I love Tina on stage when she’s interacting with others and her dancing around in a Dynasty-era catsuit on a soundstage wasn’t my idea of a great video in constrast to say, Whatever You Want which for me had all of the stuff to be a hit but alas, wasn’t. As has also been said, older artists are not a priority as far as labels pushing them. There was the story of one of Tina’s labels not wanting to put the money up for a video of “Open Arms” to help with that promotion. Also, Tina has said that while she’d like another big hit, she doesn’t like the promotional part of it.
I like a few of the songs on 24/7, but for the most part it followed the pattern of pretty much all of her albums, pop with a bit of rock, r&b thrown in and agree with lasse that Roger Davies has always had his eye on the commercial and not artistic-side due to what could get played/make money though the same could be said of Tina. Back in the day, Tina wanted to do a rock album but Roger was against it and it never happened. Tina also supposedly was offered Macy Gray’s “I Try” and Roger nixed it. Rob Thomas of matchbox 20 has said he wrote a song for Tina and it was declined (though I don’t know if it was Roger or the record co. or Tina herself who has said she doesn’t want songs that are submitted as “Tina songs”). Anyway, I too would prefer an album with an actual direction instead of trying to appeal to the masses but that’s probably never going to happen (that album with Carlos Santana who’s said she’s one of the handful of people he’d like to work with). But I’m grateful for all of TT’s work and she’s more than earned her retirement.
LikeLike
Yes i haven’t been impressed with Roger’s decisions especially in the 90s!
off course managers focus on the money but you have to consider the art as well and most importantly the type of artist you are working with. Did he get as much money as he expected with the last album? It’s a fat NO because he’s using the wrong strategy. i do love the single very much although it’s too obvious that it was a CHER copy, that was very unfortunate. As for the album being a flop, that’s far from the truth, it did sell well over 4 million if i remember correctly. That’s a big achievement for an artist over 60, a woman for that matter! I also disagree that Tina’s classic albums would only include River Deep and Private Dancer. I think Foreign Affair, Working Together and Break Every Rule fit neatly in the same category……….
LikeLike
Where did you read 24/7 sold 4 million copies??? It sold only one million in Europe, half a million in the US and probably not much in the rest of the world. Like I said it’s not bad for some artists, but believe me, they expected it to sell much more.
LikeLike
the sales could have been exaggerated, i came across the figure from some internet site, so let’s stick with 1,5 million which is not bad at all. Yes they expected her to achieve way more and my answer to that is: they were too ambitious. They must just ask Diana Ross, Dionne Warwick and many of Tina’s generation female singers how hard it is to even sell 1 million copies
LikeLike
Edmund, you are absolutely right with your comment on Roger Davies. I would have loved cool Tina albums in the 90’s and 2000’s. She has so much potential, but it is not used as much as it could be. She has more classic recordings than “River deep” and “Private Dancer”, but if you look up a lot of album lists and critcis in music history only these two albums appear. There could have been many many more … but Roger Davies has the commercial side well on. I think the change started with “The best” … although I love the song by Tina … from that stage on she was very very mainstream and her coolness from the Private Dancer and Break Every Rule era was gone… Later I loved her Ladylike style from Wildest Dreams to Twenty Four Seven … But to tell the truth: Roger Davies is not treating Tinas career now in current way… there is no good offical website, neither a facebook side, no good official discography on the web, no good re-releases like deluxe editions of albums, no blu-ray and dvd releases and so on … it is a pity, as I love Tina and her music so much.
Why did she never do an unplugged album, that would have been cool in the 90’s!!
Like it to share my thoughts with Tina fans …
LikeLike
I disagree with you on some points. I think Foreign Affair was the most special album of her career. Who would have thought she would record a song like “undercover Agent for the blues”. I think Foreign Affair was THE album where Tina Turner got involved the most. Edmund, I also disagree with you on comparing Tina Turner in Europe with Diana Ross. You should compare her with Madonna in terms of popularity. Age is not a big factor in Europe like it is in Asia or America. The main problem has been that the material was just not special. It was all mainstream “middle of the road” material. We can of course not put it all to Roger Davies. Tina Turner herself was probably not that much interested and involved in the production of the albums and was probably more thinking about the live shows….
LikeLike
Hello guys,
yesterday I ordered LP When The Heartache Is Over (Scarce 1999 Superchumbo Mix US promo-only). I heard that this remix was rejected by Tina. I couldn´t find it on youtube and I am very impatient. Do you know anything about that remix? Thank you.
(Jozef)
LikeLike
When the heartache is over has a nice vibe to it! I like the progression of the song, and the refrain is easy to stick to it and nice to sing along.
I like to see Tina dancing in the video also. I think it was fun for all of them: Tina, Roger, songwritters, production… and us, the fans.
More of those!
LikeLike
This song is my all time favourite. I really like dance music and loved the sound of the metro team. What makes it really special is Tinas Voice. She makes it her very own and I loved the lyrics. Once she has been to “Wetten dass” with that song, there was a black girl in the audience crying at the end of the song.
And that is why a song is good. It really touches you. There is a life experienced woman singing “I can live without you” over a great guitar pattern and it makes you shiver..
And this is what Tina said in the article above “MAGIC”
LikeLike
I think that, at least, WTHIO was a great business move. The album sold well (it peaked at # 3 in the Eurochart, remaining in the Top 10 for several weeks) and the tour was the top-tour of the following year. And, as I said many times before, the single was a top-airplay hit in Europe. It did better than most Tina’s 90’s singles: “Love Thing”, “Way of The World”, “Why Must We Wait Until Tonight”, “Whatever You Want”, “On Silent Wings”, “Missing You”, “In Your Wildest Dreams” and “Something Beautiful Remains”. I think Roger is a great manager and he kept Tina as a Top-touring and a relevant music artist for many decades now. Tina wanted to retire a long time ago and Roger always found a way to bring her back. It’s not easy to make it in this business. In the end of the day, Tina had a spectacular career and will always be one of the biggest female superstars ever. Many artists who sold millions of records couldn’t even sell out arena dates (Janet Jackson, Mariah Carey, etc.) in recent tours (several dates had to be cancelled and they were having # 1 albums and singles). Tina never had that problem. Maybe she wasn’t selling millions and millions anymore in the late 90’s, but she was still a top-artist and a top-touring act. This is hard to achieve and only a great management team can secure that.
LikeLike
T-Rox, I agree with your whole response to this. I miss Tina performances, no one gives a show like she does. Thanks for your input and opinion. Mark, U.S.A.
LikeLike
Thank you so much Mark. It means a lot. I do think WTHIO was a great hit and a wise business, artistic and commercial move. It did very well in Europe and it was well-received by critics in U.S. The TFS album is not my favorite album by Tina, but I do love WTHIO. It’s a heartfelt fusion of electro-pop, dance and even rock. It’s molded after Believe, of course, but it’s taylor-made for Tina. One of her best singles, in my opinion. The only problem with Roger’s managment is “Open Arms” (a, non-sense single choice in 2005), and “I’m Ready” (the song is totally uninspired, but at least, it was not a single).
LikeLike
For sure but I love I’m Ready, it’s very fresh. Take care
LikeLike
I’m Ready was promoted as a Single in Belgium and was several weeks in the charts. “I’m ready” is one of my all time favorite Turner tracks. Much, much better than WTHIO in my opinion. But that’s just a matter of personal taste of course…
Roger Davies is known as a manager who can organise huge tours for his artists. I guess there’s more money to be made by these tours compared to record sales. I would prefer new material anyday over another greatest hits tour….
LikeLike
Hi Lasse!
I didn’t know I’m Ready was released and charted in Belgium. Good to know! I like “It Would Be a Crime” a lot more, but both songs are kinda weak for me. But, I know many fans love “I’m Ready”, so, as you said, it’s a matter of personal taste… : )
Yeah, touring is much more profitable than recording. It already was in the past, and with the record sales decline of the last decade, it became even more. But touring can keep an artist a high-profile artist. Pink, for example, is managed by Roger Davies and, as you said, he knows how to organize top tours. As a great touring act, Pink is able to score big hits, ’cause she is always promoting her work so hard. And she’s still young, so U.S. radio is much more open to her material than it was with Tina’s in the 90’s. Even Madonna, after 2003, could not get decent airplay in U.S., with two exceptions (“4 Minutes” – with Justin Timberlake and “Hung Up” – through it was more a big-seller than an airplay smash).
Lasse, I will always be grateful for the help you gave me three years ago! Thank you a million times, take care, T-Rox.
LikeLike
It was my pleasure to help you 🙂
“I’m ready” was an amazing 11 weeks in the Belgian top 30 and peaked at nr. 21. It was her 29th top 30 single in Belgium and she has been a total of 221 weeks in the Belgian top 30 single charts ( BRT top 30) during her career.
I believe Belgium was also the only country where the compilation TINA! went Gold.
LikeLike
🙂 Thank you so much Lasse, I remember it was like a dream come true when it happened and I still (and will always) cherish and appreciate what you have done. I still love and watch those amazing videos today. And I will always will because they are my favorite ones.
By the way, the song did pretty well in Belgium. With the right promotion/ material, Tina could have been a hit maker in the 00’s, but she decided to retire. One thing that I can’t let go is the fact that Tina’s version of “Game of Love” with Santana wasn’t released in 2002. This would have been a Top 10 smash worldwide. Some say, it was the record label. Others say (Clive Davies), it was Tina that refused to do a video for the song. It’s really a pity, ’cause it was an amazing song and it would have been THE hit of the 00’s for Tina. Probably Tina thought that if the song was a big hit, she would have to tour again (as it happened with Goldeneye and the subsequent Wildest Dreams Tour) and didn’t make the effort.
LikeLike
Nossa para sempre
LikeLike
I simply LOVE this song! Despite not being a huge success, it’s still for me one of the greatest recordings by Tina ever, including the video – a perfect mix and work of art edition. The words, the Tina history, the meaning… It’s a very, very dear song for me.
LikeLike
This songs its like All Or Nothing and not Believe.
LikeLike