Maybe you have heard about the releasometer, the latest invention of the old-world brick-and-mortar music industry where record companies actually sold records and not playlists. And in that outdated world, you used to be bombarded with various releases of albums incl. different covers (that is the house in which the record used to live because it could not survive on a hard drive alone), B-sides (that used to be tracks from the other side of the record´s children, the LP singles and maxi singles which again were the bigger brothers of the LP single…), and maybe unreleased tracks (ah, finally something our young readers know!). Well, back to the core of our subject: with that releasometer, you can measure how famous an album was because there was the following rule of thumb: “The more releases the more famous”.
And guess what, “Private Dancer” is preeeeetty famous because it scored very well on the releasometer. Read here, how well it scored, and we can only hope that it will score even better in the future.
1984 – The First Wave
In the 1980s, we had all kinds of formats for storing audio and playing music over and over again. No wonder then, that during the first wave of releases, you would find LPs, CDs, and cassettes. It is a bit sad that the world saw two different releases of the “Private Dancer” album because it is now difficult to say which is the official release that everybody can relate to. The US album cover differed from the European one, and only Europe got introduced to the one and only black cat on a Tina Turner album. Not that she had other animals on her covers so far… And not only that, even the track order was different, while far away in Australia, they included “Rock´n´Roll Widow” as the last track on side 2 of the LP – which featured the US album cover. So, everybody had their own “Private Dancer” album.
1985 – The Picture LPs
Vinyl LPs used to be black and simple – normally. But sometimes, you could buy colored vinyl like red or white. We had to skip that fashion, but we still had our chance to buy a so-called picture LP in a sleeve which merely consisted of the nothingness of a big hole so that you could see Tina´s photo on one side while the second side contained the track listing plus more promo and live photos from the on-going “Private Dancer Tour”.
1995 – The xrcd Edition
During the 1990s, JVC (Victor Company of Japan, Ltd) patented a new and optimized mastering and manufacturing process for CDs and called it “eXtended Resolution Compact Disc (XRCD)”. First, the analog source material was converted to digital material using a JVC’s patented K2 20-bit or 24-bit analog-to-digital converter. Second, it is then encoded on a magneto-optical disk so that further sound enhancement and cleansing could be applied. In a third and final step, the resulting CDs were finally stamped directly from a glass master which was produced from the corrected and optimized version.
This all sounds very promising, and I can assure you, some people got really crazy about the improved sound. But somehow, I was never among the few who actually could tell the difference between the diverse systems and quality levels. I only observed how my pocket money was absorbed by them. The xrcd CD turned out to be as expensive as 3-4 regular albums.
1997 – The EMI Centenary Edition
Electric and Musical Industries Ltd was formed in March 1931 and developed into one of the biggest and most successful record companies of the 20th century until it was dismantled and sold in various parts to Sony/ATV Music Publishing and Universal Music Group in 2012.
In 1997, EMI released several famous albums in a so-called EMI Centenary Edition, and Tina Turner´s “Private Dancer” album was among those CDs. It contained nearly all the B-sides (except for the live tracks and – not quite understandable – “Keep Your Hands Off My Baby”) plus some of the extended / 12 Inch versions which you can also find on the Australian “Private Dance Mixes” CD from 1985. The CD was accompanied by a very nice booklet containing promo photos from 1984.
2009 – “The Mail On Sunday” Edition
The Mail on Sunday was first published in 1982 and is a British conservative newspaper, published in a tabloid format and has a sister paper called the Daily Mail which was launched in 1896. As a supplement, the Sunday edition sometimes distributes CDs in paper-sleeve. Tina Turner was featured twice, with the first time being the Private Dancer album (2008, Oct 18th) and the second time with a best-of compilation (2010, Oct 3rd). You can still read the articles online:
- Free CD of Tina Turner’s Private Dancer in today’s Mail on Sunday
- Tina Turner’s greatest hits… chosen by you
20XX – The DeLuxe Version
Unfortunately, we had to skip another format which was invented in 1990s and caused some hoopla back then: music recorded on golden CDs called Gold Compact Discs. Like with the xrcd, the ideas around that technology were nearly the same: to improve the sound quality, and also to prevent CD rot/laser cancer. “Private Dancer” was never released as a Gold CD even though it would have been a perfect pick for that technology as typically the best-selling album of artists like ABBA, Bryan Adams, Bob Dylan, Elton John or Michael Jackson were released in that format.
And today, we are still waiting for the advent of another format which enjoys great popularity among music lovers: the deluxe version of successful albums, typically released on the occasion of an anniversary. The 30th anniversary of the “Private Dancer” album would be a perfect moment for such a release. I imagine something like EMI´s Centenary Edition – meaning the regular album plus the 12 Inch versions and B-sides – plus either another CD with even more rare tracks or a DVD with all the video clips. In case anyone from the record label reads this: that includes the video of “Help”, of course, and it also includes “Keep Your Hands Off My Baby” which was not released in 1997 because the CD was already full…sigh… And while you´re at it: why not release a 3-disc box incl. all 12 Inch versions, all the B-sides and all the video clips or the Grammy Awards appearance? And the video clips maybe in HD? BluRay? Digitally transformed into BluRay 3D? What do you think? Online petition necessary?
Tina Turner Blog 
YES I HAD THE ORIGINAL CASSETTE VERSION WHICH GOT STOLEN AT PARTY REPLACE WITH CD NOW SIT ON TOP OF CD RACK WITH LATEST LOVE SONGS
LikeLike
Tststs – that is not very nice, is it? We can only hope that the nasty thief turned into a Tina fan later… 😉
LikeLike
Well good written article..As for me old vinlys are precious from around 70/80/90 years …especially pictrue disc… Still collect them as much i can. And if its about some many different release same album its kind of marketing for me but any real good fan will buy it no mather what even is one thing different from other one…a song or version song , foto. I stoped colecting cds well not quite but i prefer vinyls go some collection already but not had time to sort it out n make foto of evey lps.
Greetings
LikeLike
Just imagine when everything like this is nearly over for good. We will be the last ones to have LPs in their living room. Our younger friends of the future will be amazed….I hope!
LikeLike
Its sad but is true…i remember when i bought my first record lp whaen i was a little kid it was Tina live in europe i took bus to next town cos in mine was sold out…i think it was summer time when i dicover it. And that time had old fashioned record player with radio n record was on top ….Now i have Pioneer …And in last 3 years i managed collect bout 40-50 records from Tina and ike and tina.
LikeLike
Reblogged this on #Rhythm Real High New Rock Sensation and commented:
@ Real Raw Records we incorporate use of Traditional and Modern Methods of Konnecting with public We realize there awesome advantages of using the internet but we don’t leave out the traditional methods that are reliable and still affective!
LikeLike
I still have the original cassette. I played it so often that the print on it has worn off. You can hardly see the track listing.
LikeLike
I want the original American cover without the cat.
LikeLike
Did that us cover ever appear on cd?
LikeLike
Yes it Yes, it did. At one point, both were available in NA. The cat cover has the European track sequences, as well as Help. That’s the one I ended up buying. I wish I had bought the other one as well now.
LikeLike
that first pic reminds me of beyonce.
LikeLike
I’ve said it many times before, and on this site, but it’s just as true the first time:
Private Dancer — 30th Anniversary Collector’s Edition Box Set
1. Private Dancer (1984) in cardboard Mini-LP SHM-CD format (Super High Material, basically it’s a Hi-Fi/HD CD that sounds IMMEASURABLY BETTER than regular CD format, yet can be played in a standard stereo, CD player, car stereo and retain the superior audio sound!), incl. all 10 original tracks, plus ALL the B-sides.
2. The Tina Turner 1985 Private Dancer concert DVD (originally aired on HBO in U.S.) along w/ the videos from the album.
I hope EMI/Universal Music are printing these babies as we speak, cause they’ve only got a few months before the anniversary.
LikeLike
Why Private Dancer on DVD? It was originally recorded on 35mm film. So we want 1080p Blu Ray. The best concert ever, and only available in poor quality copies…. Only one bit is available in excellent quality and that is in the movie what’s love got to do with it.
LikeLike
You’re absolutely right about if being filmed on 35mm film (really, the only way all good concerts should be captured)…apparently this and Genesis’ 1986 Invisible Touch tour were the first two HD concert films of the 1980s…I think LIve Aid 1985 might have been, as well.
Release it as both a DVD and a Blu Ray Dsic, depending upon which machine each has. I guess we’ve already missed the anniversary date by 2 months…best we can hope for now is a Winter Holiday special release.
LikeLike
There are many HD concert films made (35mm). There is Queen in Montreal, U2 – Rattle & Hum, Prince – Sign ‘O’ times. Genesis was recorded on analogue HD-video and used as a showcase. Private dancer was recorded on 35mm film. There is even an Elvis HD concert film, most have been shot in the 70’s on 35mm. Don’t forget Woodstock.
LikeLike
Hello, i think that i saw you visited my site so i came to
“return the favor”.I am trying to find things to improve my web site!I suppose its ok to use some of your ideas!!
LikeLike
Just desire to say your article is as astounding. The clarity to your submit is simply spectacular and i can think you’re an expert on this subject.
Fine with your permission allow me to take hold of your RSS feed to
stay updated with imminent post. Thank you 1,000,000 and please continue the enjoyable work.
LikeLike
Heya just wanted to give you a quick heads up and let you know a few of the pictures aren’t loading correctly.
I’m not sure why but I think its a linking issue.
I’ve tried it in two different browsers and both show
the same outcome.
LikeLike
The teams at SARV Web Solutions abide by stringent quality standards and tailor it’s processes to offerr state-of-the art services to it’s
customers. Downloading, emailing RSS feeds; joininbg podcasting annd the list goes on. 0 is a term often used for the continuing
transformation of thee World Wide Web from a collection of websites to a
computing platform which serves web applications to end users.
LikeLike
Hmm is anyone else encountering problems with the images on this blog loading?
I’m trying to determine if its a problem on my end or
if it’s the blog. Any feedback would be greatly appreciated.
LikeLike
Simply desire to say your article is as astonishing. The clarity in your post
is just excellent and i could assume you’re an expert on this subject.
Well with your permission let me to grab your RSS feed to keep
updated with forthcoming post. Thanks a million and please carry on the gratifying
work.
LikeLike
I am truly thankful to the owner of this website who has shared this
great paragraph at at this time.
LikeLike
Highly descriptive blog, I enjoyed that bit. Will there be
a pawrt 2?
LikeLike