Tina Turner -- Private Dancer (single)

 

It's been over a year since legendary singer Tina Turner left this mortal coil. I paid tribute to her at the time with a ROY article on her 1984 pop hit "What's Love Got to Do with It". It was also a track on Turner's multi-Platinum album "Private Dancer" when it was released in May of that year.

As much as I have liked "What's Love Got to Do with It", however, I have to admit that I've had an even bigger attraction to the title track "Private Dancer". I remember standing ready with the tape recorder on the radio to tape the long version of the song from any of the easy-listening stations because I'd become so enamored with it. The reason is the same reason that I've loved Sade's "Is It a Crime?" and Anita Baker's "Sweet Love", both from 1986..."Private Dancer" straddles that fine line between Quiet Storm and sophisticated pop...two districts within the city of urban contemporary that I've appreciated for decades. In fact, the long version was sought out by me specifically because of that additional bluesy nocturnal saxophone along with the piano.

Thinking all these years that "Private Dancer" had been created by someone in the soul genre, I was gobsmacked on realizing that it was Mark Knopfler from Dire Straits who had come up with the song. Just knowing about Knopfler and Dire Straits, my image of them was always T-shirts, headbands and rock n' roll...not tuxedos, exclusive nightclubs and crisp linen which is what I think whenever I listen to "Private Dancer". According to Wikipedia's article on the song, Knopfler had meant it for the band's 1982 album "Love Over Gold" but ditched it when he found it to be unsuitable to be sung by a male singer. With those lyrics...uh, well, yeah, and thank you, Ms. Turner for picking up the baton on that one.

On Canada's RPM chart, "Private Dancer" managed to rank in at No. 11 while in the United States, it broke the Top 10 by reaching No. 7. The single was released in October 1984 so what were the Top 3 on Oricon in that month?

1. Kyoko Koizumi -- Yamato Nadeshiko Shichi Henge （ヤマトナデシコ七変化）

2. Checkers -- Hoshikuzu no Stage （星屑のステージ）

3. Masahiko Kondo -- Eien ni Himitsu sa（永遠に秘密さ）