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How famous or well-known in the mainstream was Tina pre-"Private Dancer"?

posted 2 years ago by TMC-4 (20178)
4 replies | jump to latest

Some of the articles that I've gleaned seems to suggest that she wasn't an out and out pop "superstar" until 1984:
https://www.smoothradio.com/artists/tina-turner/comeback-private-dancer-1984-album/

https://www.billboard.com/music/music-news/tina-turner-billboard-interview-1984-on-cusp-of-her-comeback-1235339731/

https://www.rollingstone.com/music/music-features/tina-turner-tribute-comeback-private-dancer-1234741639/

[–] OnanTheBarbarian (12125) 2 years ago

She's like many other artists who watered down their style and became top 40. "Private Dancer" was a schmaltzy dirge compared to her earlier work.

This is the real great Tina Tine Turner from 1973.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=I07249JX8w4

[–] mtxmind (3296) 2 years ago

To each his/her own, but while I wasn't really the biggest fan of her 80's material, I wouldn't go so far as to call it "schmaltzy watered down dirge". Sure it was bit more commercial, but it still had the force of nature that was Tina. It wouldn't have been as big as it was in the hands of a less capable artist.

[–] OnanTheBarbarian (12125) 2 years ago

I'm just saying look at the energy of "Nut Bush City Limits" in 1973, or even "River Deep, Mountain High" in 1966.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uj0wPrN_Y_4

I just find her 80's music to be maudlin.

And then there were the Ikettes!!!

[–] Daf (155) 2 years ago

Ike & Tina Turner were pretty well known in the 60s to early 70s. Only a few of their songs hit it big, but they released a LOT of material and were constantly performing on TV and on the road. At their peak they were probably a rough equivalent to pre-TV show Sonny & Cher.

Tina's being broke in the mid-70s is supposedly down to her forsaking a lot of her & Ike's fortune in their divorce in exchange for the rights to her stage name.

It's no joke, Tina Turner really is pop music's GOAT comeback story.