Friday, March 29, 2024 | Ramadan 18, 1445 H
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EDITOR IN CHIEF- ABDULLAH BIN SALIM AL SHUEILI

Tina Turner... you are wrong!

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Tina Turner was born Anna Mae Bullock, in Brownsville Tennessee, she is simply five foot nothing of ‘viva voce,’ of “life, given voice.” Born into a violent, loveless marriage, from which her mother fled, and her father remarried soon after, leaving the 11-year-old in the care of her grandmother, you needn’t know. Nor that she was ironically, the subservient half of her own failed nuptials, married to abusive cocaine addict and musician, Ike Turner, for 16 years, only ended in 1977 when the wheel came full circle, and she fled from her husband and was hidden by friends until her divorce was finalised the following year. You don’t need to know... you can hear it in her music.


The frenetic “River Deep, Mountain High,” the pulsating “Proud Mary,” the driving “Nutbush City Limits,” defined Turner as an icon and poster girl for Phil Spector’s ‘wall of sound’ musical phenomenon, in the so called ‘glory days’ of sex, drugs, and rock’n’roll. But little did the world know of the diminutive star’s volatile relationship with her husband, which was to severely affect her ability to work in the industry after their separation. Ike Turner didn’t let go easily and tied his ex-wife in contractual knots for nearly a decade afterwards. Again ironically, but with clear purpose, she kept his name to remind her of his enmity, and how she needed to be strong and independent to emerge from his shadow.


Tina Turner emerged from the wilderness during the mid-eighties with the Al Green standard “Let’s Stay Together,” showcasing a bluesy edge, “Private Dancer” offering vocal subtlety, poignancy, and vulnerability, “What’s Love Got to Do with It?” demonstrated her personal and professional strength and resilience. Her acting in ‘Mad Max: Beyond Thunderdome,’ alongside Mel Gibson garnered praise, and the theme song “We Don’t Need Another Hero,” became a smash hit, and “Simply the Best,” has become iconic, ensuring Turner’s place among the pantheon of true musical legends.


Widely acknowledged today as the “Queen of Rock’n’Roll,” the diminutive Turner was described in the New York Times in 2020, as having an inimitable “swagger, sensuality, gravelly vocals and unstoppable energy.” I can tell you, having seen Turner live during the mid-nineties, up-close and impersonal, she is dynamic, her voice is almost guttural, almost visceral, yet at the same time resilient, with an edge of vulnerability. Her duet, with Aussie rocker Jimmy Barnes, of “Simply the Best,” showcases all that she has been and is. You don’t need to know Turner’s story... its all there in her voice, and trust me, she certainly has got the best legs in the business!


So, Tina Turner? This week? How? What? I’ve got to thinking, and we do need another hero! All of us, all over the world... as we are seeking to emerge from these ‘anni horribiles,’ these dreadful years of the pandemic. We don’t need a windmill tilting Don Quixote, an Arthurian knight in shining armour, or Tony Stark’s ‘Iron Man,’ Clark Kent’s ‘Superman,’ or Bruce Wayne’s ‘Batman.’ Heck, we don’t need our cinematic icons Clint Eastwood, Arnold Schwarzenegger, Jean-Claude van Damme, Tom Cruise, Daniel Craig, Scarlet Johannsen, or Angelina Jolie.


Truly, all we are doing now, all of us, everywhere, in every sense of individuality, family, community, society, nationality, and globally, is hanging on... by the skin of our teeth, and nobody is listening to us. Are we frustrated? Yes! Is there an answer? Yes! Come out from behind the safety of your incredible affluence, your eminent domains, and your perceived superiority. As Will Ferrell said, “We all pull our pants on one leg after the other!” Yet, the world over... leaders, politicians, civil servants, and bureaucrats, are doing what they think, mitigating their circumstances, to assuage their own needs, that really aren’t, and that is wrong!


We do need the hero Tina Turner does not need... someone who will listen to us, hear us, and maybe, just maybe for long enough, to walk in our shoes, and to seek to understand us.


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