Favorite 100 Albums of the 80s: (#62) Tina Turner – Private Dancer

Year Released: 1984

Notable Songs: “What’s Love Got To Do With It”, “Private Dancer”, “Better Be Good To Me”, “Let’s Stay Together”, “I Can Handle The Rain”,

Album MVP: “What’s Love Got To Do With It”

Why I Loved It: For better or worse there’s a handful of songs that truly capsulate the 80’s, and few more so than “What’s Love Got To Do With It.” Who can deny the power of that single?

Many consider 1984 the best year of pop music ever. This single finished ’84 ranked second–not much more needs to be said.

Long before this album dropped and Turner resurrected her career, she long had the voice of a rock icon. For me the biggest difference with “Private Dancer” was she also showed the type of vocals that could fluently handle tunes more on the voluptuous side. Whether you thought you were a Turner fan or not whenever her many hits from this album came on the air, you can’t help but focus your interest towards what you were hearing because she was such a commanding force. “I Can’t Stand The Rain” and “Let’s Stay Together” are two insanely underrated jams in the middle of the album.

Commercial Success: Turner’s fifth studio solo album turned out to be one the most successful of the mid-80’s. It climbed to number-three on the Billboard Top 200 and finished on the year-end Billboard Top 200 charts not only in 1984 (39^th) and 1985 (5^th). On a worldwide level the album sold over 20 million copies, including five in the United States. “What’s Love Got To Do With It” was by a mile the album’s biggest single, rising to the top of the Billboard Hot 100 and stayed there for three consecutive weeks (the lone number-one song of her career). It finished ’84 second on the year-end Billboard Hot 100 and absolutely dominated at the Grammys, winning among others both Song and Record of the Year. “Better Be Good To Me” hit five on the Billboard Hot 100 and finished ’85 ranked 59^th on the year-end charts. “Private Dancer” (the single) peaked at number-seven on the Billboard Hot 100. “I Can’t Stand The Rain” got up to No. 18 on the Billboard Hot 100 while “Let’s Stay Together” maxed at No. 26 and “Show Some Respect” stalled out at No. 37, giving Turner six Top 40 hits from this historic album.

Fun Facts: Courtesy of The Telegraph UK: “Turner was born Anna Mae Bullock, and brought up in the tiny Southern town of Nutbush, Tennessee, which she celebrated in her self-penned 1973 funk anthem, Nutbush City Limits.

With 1984’s What’s Love Got to Do With It?, Tina became the oldest female artist to have US number one hit. However, she reputedly found much of the accompanying Private Dancer album too wishy-washy: she’d wanted to cut a hard-rock record in the style of AC/DC.”