Private Dancer

I want to make a million dollars. I want live out by the sea. Have a husband and some children. Yeah I guess I want a family.

When I was a boy of 11 years old I wanted to be a private dancer.

1984 - I thought I remembered her voice as being prettier - she sounds pretty horse or froggy -

45 when the video was made.

R3, no, she always had a raspy voice.

Honky Tonk Woman

Never was a fan of hers. Always thought she and Aretha were the two most overrated female artists of the 20th century. Tina has always seemed bitchy and a self hating. I think she’s said she preferred he company of whites to blacks.

I’m yo nasty dancer...

R7 Tina overrated? She was fantastic. Great charisma, dancing and vocal performance. She blows these little pop tarts today out of the water.

She’s my queen!

As a child, I wanted to BE Tina Turner. She seemed so glamorous, yet wildly energetic.

She’s a goddamn baritone. But those legs!

Tina is Tina. Nobody like her.

Deutsche Marks or Dollars!

American Express will do nicely, thank you!

I Wrote a Letter - 1983

This was the b-side of “Let’s Stay Together.”

Rock N Roll Widow and Steel Claw on Carson in 1982. This was just before her comeback.

I got molested as a kid while this song played on the radio, followed by Careless Whisper.

How romantic r17

R16 Steel Claw was included on her album, if I remember right.

That and her version of Help had been around for a while when Heaven 17 did Let's Stay Together - and then they had the other producers, the ones who did a lot of her later stuff, cobble together some of the other songs.

Tina could still show those basic bitches like Beyonce how it's done. The queen.

Let's not argue about who's better.

(and anyway, it's me!)

She is fantastic.

My favorite song when I was a child

[quote]Deutsche Marks or Dollars!

Probably not going to find too many people who'd accept Deutschmarks these days.

Tell me, do you want to see me do the shimmy again?

I like the part at the end with the mock clapping 👏.

Private dancer is obviously a euphemism for hooker.

And, you better be good to her.

"Do you wanna see me do the shimmy, again?"

I was, and am, impressed that she can move so vigorously while singing at full blast. No one can do that like Tina.

R27, no...really?

Private Dancer was written by Mark Knopfler of Dire Straits.

Ahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh

Oh R11...that was fantastic. I miss 1983 and that whole damn album.

Quintessentially 80’s video, I really miss those days. Life seemed so much simpler then, probably because it was.

What was Mark's inspiration for writing it? Didn't he record a version first before Tina?

R8, I did not expect any Miami Bass in this thread but I appreciate it.

Tina can handle shade thrown by any queen, including r3/r7.

i love you r38.

I love her. Always have, always will

I saw a Tina Turner bio on Axis channel over the weekend. Now I'm enjoying my Tina Turner playlist.

I have sufficient.

Private Dancer sounds like a racehorse from the 50s/60s. I can hear the call --

It's Private Dancer moving up, Private Dancer takes over the lead, Blue Dreams is trying to make up for lost ground, but he cannot compete with the son of Native Dancer. It's Private Dancer by 2 lengths, by 3 lengths, by 4 lengths. And Private Dancer takes it. Private Dancer IS the winner of 93rd running of the Kentucky Derby. The unofficial time is 2:00 2/5 seconds.

Wait! Blue Dreams is trying to contest it. Chick have you heard what is going on?

Yes, it seems that Private Dancer clipped Blue Dreams by swerving in front of him down the stretch. Let's if we can find the moment where it happened.

Chick there it is!- Oh.... I don't believe the stewards will consider this a foul by Private Dancer. All that happened was his tail got in Blue Dreams' face. And the results are now official! Again, Private Dancer the winner of Kentucky Derby.

American Express will do nicely, thank you.

Several decades too late, dear

I was a rather prudish baby gay and Tina's mid-'80s comeback happened when I was about 9 or 10 years old and I would get so embarrassed listening to her songs in the car with my mom or any number of female relatives who loved Tina and would be singing along with her. Suffice to say, I wanted to crawl under a rock whenever my mom would yell out 'Do you wanna see me shimmy again!' I also always thought the lyric was, 'What's love but a second hand abortion...' Still don't know if I know the actual lyric.

Btw, I love Tina now!

R46,

It’s “what’s love but a second-hand EMOTION”.

I was 11 years old in ‘85. I loved Tina Turner tender!

R47 I second that emotion!

[quote]Private dancer is obviously a euphemism for hooker.

Definitely some ho hair going on here.

Soooo many reasons to love this album!!

1984 was a great year for music in general.

A great comeback for a very talented performer. So well-deserved.

And, my all-time favorite song is on it!! Yes, I know, "purists" will rip it for being a "discofied" version of the Al Green classic, but I love the updated sound.

I love Private Dancer. I was 11 years old and bought the cassette at Walmart.

"my mom would yell out 'Do you wanna see me shimmy again!' "

This never happened

I loved this song when I was a kid. Of course I was too young to know it was about an old, fucked-out whore.

I saw her Vegas concert shown on PBS in early 1984. Shortly before Private Dancer was released. Then as summer went on “What’s Love Got To Do With It” was being played more and more on radio and the video on TV. I remember when it was #1 in August or September 1984.

I liked the original Private Dancer US album cover. Where she’s got her legs spread.

Original cover....

Love it.

Whatever you say, R53...

This album came out in my first year of my Navy enlistment. Soundtrack of my life. They played it to death in the brothels and discos in Sunil Bay, Philippines...all the while I would be dancing with bar girls, thinking about peen....

Subic Bay, not Sunil...

What would a second-hand abortion be like?! Done in the alley?

I love how misheard lyrics haunt us with weird-ass ideas that we try to digest and make sense of for decades! lol

Haha! R62, it's funny too because I didn't really know what an abortion was at the time (I was 9 or 10), but had, obviously heard the word, and knew it was something related to sex and 'bad'. Just to add to that, as five year old I thought that the Bee-Gees were singing 'Bald-headed Woman' instead of 'More than a Woman'.

Well the men come in these places....

Overrated and snotty, is my impression of Tina. Never bought any of her albums and never will, just not interested.

thank you for your input r65.

Snotty? Weird way to describe Tina

i never got that impression from Tina Turner. I guess some people just do not like her. I accept that.

I've always thought she comes across as dignified and gracious in her interviews, a real lady. Never heard any bad stories about her either, no meltdowns or 'don't you know who I am' interactions with the public.

Now I want to hear the Dire Straits version

R65, I am devastated by your post.

Tina Turner meets the Tuna Turner

How can you call Tina snotty? I beat the snot right outta her!

Saw her in concert several times -- including right before or right after she turned 70. She was incredible -- puts today's "singers" to shame.

I think her performance in the video is timeless. The other dancers? Not so much. Shiny spandex for everyone.

It's pretty incredible that "Private Dancer" was the fifth (!) single released from the album and that it reached number 7 on Billboard in the US. Talk about a career comeback.

Trivia! (Because I'm procrastinating at work): The week that PD hit #7 on Billboard was the same week that We Are the World debuted on the chart at #21.

I love her song from Private Dancer called "I Might Have Been Queen"!! I wonder why? lol

Trivia time: Which other diva passed on What’s Love...?

ON-J?

R73 I think some people didn't like Tina because they thought she was airing dirty laundry regarding her situation with Ike. Back then, you weren't supposed to talk about that stuff. It made the men look bad.

R53, of course it happened. Mom driving down the road with little sonny, radio turned up and she's singing along. Then it gets to the line and mom just lets loose.

[quote]Trivia time: Which other diva passed on What’s Love...?

Donna Summer? She certainly had a hard time picking material in the ‘80s. Wasn’t this around the time she released that hideous Cats Without Claws album?

She’s 79 years old.

Many year ago I staying in a youth hostel while traveling in NZ. in the 80s. I met a guy and his friend who kept joking about how he had shagged Tina. He was at a bar and she came up to him and said "Well put together...".

Anyway, they apparently went back to her motel and after they did it he got up to leave and she began to cry, telling him she didn't want him to leave as she was lonely and hated sleeping alone. He was young and freaked out by this, but being a nice guy he stayed until the morning and left when her people arrived.

Fuck the posters calling her overrated and snotty. Seriously, fuck right off.

I've met Tina when I worked in a hotel. She introduced herself politely to every employee she came across and shook our hands. She was gracious and radiated warmth. She never forgot that a hotel employee saved her life.

I will defend her at all costs. She is the nicest woman imaginable. Will never forget her, there will never be a more humble and talented person as Tina Turner.

R65, go back to listening to your Cardi B trash.

[quote]It's pretty incredible that "Private Dancer" was the fifth (!) single released from the album and that it reached number 7 on Billboard in the US. Talk about a career comeback.

Tina Turner arguably had the greatest comeback of any performer in history. She was in her mid-40s, had been off the radar for a number of years, and then all of a sudden she was HUGE. More famous than she ever was before. It was quite a thing to see.

Does Tina do anal?

God yes

R77 how exactly is this relevant? Because Tina took part in USA for Africa?

And the drag queen parody.

[quote] Tina Turner arguably had the greatest comeback of any performer in history. She was in her mid-40s, had been off the radar for a number of years, and then all of a sudden she was HUGE. More famous than she ever was before. It was quite a thing to see.

And she is black and, at that time in the 80s, radio playlists were very segregated. MTV had to be forced to play Michael Jackson's videos just a year or so before Tina's "Private Dancer." It is extraordinary that she soared into the stratosphere at that time in history. Commercial success and universal acclaim.

For sure, Tina's comeback is the biggest and greatest. She triumphed over everything - ageism, racism, sexism. It was really exciting to see her come back.

I’m your private homo i’ll do anything u. Want me to do!

I was kind of disappointed that she didn’t discuss any of her albums in her recent autobiography, but I get that she wanted to focus on other things. It does seem, however, that she has never really cared about recording much, preferring live performances. A lot of artists are like that.

R86 good to know, thanks.

You don’t think of them as human...

I like her cover of Let's Stay Together better than Al Green's original. That was the song that put Tina back on the map. Record company executives signed her to an album deal after that song became a hit in Europe.

In the 80s her hair looked like something the 3 little pigs built.

Only Tina could pull off her 80s ‘do...everyone else who wore it in the same style looked ridiculous.

Including Angela Bassett at the end of WLGTDWI.

As seen here.

"We Don't Need Another Hero" is one of the best movie themes of all time, and can you believe it wasn't nominated for an Oscar for Best Song?

"Say You, Say Me" from fucking Lionel Ritchie won that year.

R86 Tell is some more of your hotel stories

I hope we get more expanded editions of Tina's albums r95. We got a 30th anniversary edition of Private Dancer, but I would love reissues of Break Every Rule and Foreign Affair.

R7: if Tina and Aretha are overrated, then who do you think is the greatest. This should be good........

I also loved "I Might Have Been Queen." That was a perfect and very poignant song for Tina to sing at that stage in her life.

The whole Private Dancer album is phenomenal. What a comeback she had!

R106, I always wondered if her record company and manager set out to make the biggest comeback or did they figure they have nothing to lose. So they let her experimental musically because at the time they would never let a black female singer experiment with rock tracks like she did.

r107 Tina's initial contract with Capitol Records did not include an album, because her two most recent solo albums with a different record company had done poorly. All they wanted from her was one or two singles to "test the waters," so to speak. Her cover of "Let's Stay Together" became a much bigger hit than Capitol had expected it to be. It hit the UK top 10, reached 26 on the Billboard Hot 100 and got a lot of play in clubs. Capitol immediately green-lighted an album based on the strength of that single, and of course the rest is history.

[quote] [R7]: if Tina and Aretha are overrated, then who do you think is the greatest. This should be good........

Indeed. Get ready to drag a bitch that cites Adele, Ariana or Beyonce...

Shall we drag this in the meantime?

Every bit of Tina's comeback was earned through old fashioned hard work. If Tina had to play some dive bar, she was gonna perform there. And she would perform like she was performing at a stadium. She always gave 110%.

That's why r86's post resonates, because she showed humility and put in the work. Her autobiography is really good. She mentions passing by a store and seeing a dress she wanted but couldn't afford it. She knew she would own it one day and she did. Tina believed in herself but she also had patience and put in lots of work.

[quote] [R106], I always wondered if her record company and manager set out to make the biggest comeback or did they figure they have nothing to lose. So they let her experimental musically because at the time they would never let a black female singer experiment with rock tracks like she did.

"Private Dancer" was cobbled together quickly and cheaply. There was almost no preparation or focus behind it. EMI didn't expect a multi-platinum hit, it would have been over the moon with a gold record. Most of the songs were covers of previously released material. Tina Turner set the whole thing ablaze with her unique talent and artistry -- of a kind that we will likely never see again.

PD wasn’t mostly coves it contained some covers.

[quote] PD wasn’t mostly coves it contained some covers.

7 of the 10 tracks were covers of songs previously recorded by other artists. I think that qualifies as "mostly."

Let's Stay Together

I Can't Stand The Rain

Help

Better Be Good To Me

Private Dancer

Steel Claw

1984

Private Dancer was a cover?

Dire Straits recorded an instrumental version but vocals were ditched due to it being a song sung by a female.

Holly Knight of Spider went on to write a lot of songs for Tina including “Simply The Best” and “One of The Living”

R104, there are some great B-sides from the Break Every Rule singles that I’d love to see released on an expanded edition, although it’s not my favorite album of hers. I always loved Foreign Affair. Too bad it didn’t do better in the US (I believe it outsold Private Dancer in Europe).

Are the b-sides on YouTube, r118? Break Every Rule is my favorite of her albums.

R119, yes. She did a cover of Sam Cooke’s “Havin’ a Party” that was the B-side of “Two People.”

Also:

“Don’t Turn Around,” (later a hit for Ace of Base) the B-side of “Typical Male”

A cover of Al Green’s “Take Me to the River,” the B-side of “What You Get Is What You See” in the US

Don’t Turn Around

Take Me to the River

Some guys got cocks you can’t help suckin’

[quote] Trivia time: Which other diva passed on What’s Love...?

As some upthread guessed, yes, it was Donna Summer who passed on “What’s Love...”

I would love the Break Every Rule expanded edition to include all the B-sides as mentioned, as well as all the mixes, some of which I don't think have been officially released on CD or digital like Two People and the title track.

I'd also love the Break Every Rule special to be included on DVD and/or Blu-ray. The songs with Robert Cray are absolutely outstanding as well as her version of Addicted to Love.

I know Tina aimed for pop and rock later in her career but she never really left the blues (as evident on Foreign Affair).

Donna Summer passed on several songs in the early 80s that went on to become big hits for other artists.

I tired quickly of addicted to love.

Donna Summer was never offered “Physical”. Don’t even try it.

Nobody said anything of the sort, r129.

[quote]I know Tina aimed for pop and rock later in her career but she never really left the blues (as evident on Foreign Affair).

Ike gave her shitty songs and never really let her sing, like she did on River Deep Mountain High. There’s a compilation album from the Ike & Tina years called Bold Soul Sister: The Blue Thumb Recordings, that is mostly blues standards and it’s fantastic; she really sinks her teeth into them. She needed good material like that and she rarely got it while she was with Ike.

She really shines on the Tina Live in Europe album doing soul covers like In the Midnight Hour (and sings a couple with Robert Cray). That was the caliber of material she needed back in the ‘60s.

Nutbush City Limits is one of my fave songs. She wrote it in the early 70s.

Love Tina, she was such an icon growing in the eighties in the UK. It's amaxing to think she was born the same year as my late mother.

She’ll be 80 in November

Grace Slick will also be 80, in October. The other classic rockers aren't too far behind.

I'm glad Tina is enjoying her retirement though. She probably could have kept performing and would have been playing stadiums no problem because one thing she always did was establish herself as a top live performer. She wouldn't even need to record new material.

But it's great she is enjoying her life. She's worked hard.

She’s not enjoying life now! She’s struggling to stay alive with multiple serious health issues.

My grandmother's sister's son was friends with Tina. He did some kind of business stuff in Europe and met her through a performance she did for a big car company. He and his wife were close with her. She looked after their kids sometimes who supposedly called her 'auntie'. I was told that she's the complete opposite of what you see on stage; she's actually very quiet and shy in real life. Not sure if they're still friends with her, my grandmother's sister passed away and she lost contact with them. A shame. I would have loved to hear more about her.

Foreign Affair was HUGE in Europe. I lived there at the time and Tina was all over MTV, topping the charts. I remember "Steamy Windows" and "Foreign Affair" videos being in frequent rotation, even the re-release of "Nutbush City Limits" from around that time with the accompanying video made it to that weekly MTV Europe Top 20 countdown. Ever since 1983-1984 until mid nineties, she was one of the biggest American pop stars in Europe. For some reason, I don't remember much from the "Break Every Rule" era except for a couple of singles.

“Paradise Is Here” from Break Every Rule is my favorite Tina track of all time.

I love Paradise is Here r140. Cher covered it 10 years after Tina recorded it. But Tina's is better.

I love Typical Make, What You Get Is What You See, and Two People!

Typical Male

I Don't Want To Fight is one of my favorites.

'Break Every Rule' had some great songs. It wasn't really a hit here it the U.S. They released the weakest songs -- except for "Two People" -- as singles. "Girls", "I'll Be Thunder", "Afterglow" and "Paradise Is Here" are the highlights.

MTV was "forced" to play Michael Jackson because Michael Jackson made RnB music and MTV played rock music. It's like forcing a country music station to play Jay Z.

Tina Turner's Private Dancer record is rock music. MTV would not have had an issue playing the hits from that record except for maybe "Let's Stay Together" which is an RnB song.

It's unfair to say that MTV was "racist" because they weren't.

R146 is full of it. Jackson was pop/rock as much as R&B

It’s amazing how many people think they can re-write music history inside their own minds. It’s rampant here on the DL!

Michael Jackson was pop.

It's easy to forget that Typical Male was a number 2 hit in 1986. You don't hear it much anymore, although you will still hear some of the Private Dancer singles on the radio, especially What's Love.

It's kind of surprising that The Best only reached number 15. Respectable, of course, but it was a song I heard everywhere. I always assumed it charted higher. And it became a signature song for Tina (poor Bonnie Tyler recorded it the year before but her version is nowhere near as good as Tina's).

Foreign Affair is a great album. Can't believe it's 30 years old. The production by the late, great Dan Hartman (RIP) is excellent and still sounds fresh today. Love the bluesy title track, and "Undercover Agent for the Blues" is smouldering! (Tina seemed to like that song since she performed it on tours after Foreign Affair). Love the adult contemporary songs "Look Me in the Heart" and "I Don't Wanna Lose You". And "Be Tender With Me Baby" is fabulous.

Need to go spin it again...

Yes, "Foreign Affair" was surprisingly strong. I think I really liked every single song she put out during that era. It was classic Tina but with great production which doesn't really sound particularly dated even today, 30 years later.

I’m sure I am probably in the minority, but “Foreign Affairs” was my least favorite of her albums. I really love “I Don’t Want To Lose You”, “Look Me In The Heart” and “The Best” but not so much the rest of the album which was too blue-sy for my taste. I prefer her pop tunes.

Fair enough, r152. I guess I like the bluesy sound of Foreign Affair. It's a nice mix of pop and R&B.

I can only say this at Datalounge; each morning -- to hype myself for the day ahead -- as I descend the stairs to go to the kitchen I imagine I am Tina performing "Steamy Windows" at the beginning of her concert.

"I was thinking 'bout parking the other night!"

me too r154.