earlier this month, tina turner kicked off her latest greatest hits world tour at the age of s-i-x-t-y e-i-g-h-t (years young). and the woman isn’t just standing up on the stage propped up by her walker. no, no, no. she’s singing, dancing, screaming, kicking, shouting, flipping her wig back and forth and up and down and around again and again like she did over forty years ago. unlike many performers who sometimes reach their popular (maybe even creative?) peak as early as their twenties, tina’s still got it like no other ever, ever will.
she started her music career with husband ike, who wrote many of the duo’s (and rock ‘n’ roll’s) first tunes, including 1964’s “i can’t believe what you say,” about the heartbreaking antics of a two-faced lover. it’s a frantic, kinetic number with peppy handclaps, a quick-stepping drum beat and a funky, dirty saxophone breakdown halfway through. of course the best part of the song (as is the case with probably all of ike and tina’s catalog) is the pure grit and soul of tina’s voice. here she’s everything a diva should be (long before the term became so blasé): sexy (and she’s completely covered up too, minus a little shin), sassy, vibrant, stage-commanding and vocally incomparable.
the amount of attitude that’s in those “uh-ah-ah“‘s is bursting off the sass-o-meter. it’s almost as if she’s mouthing off to the man in question behind his back to her friends. she’s saying “uh-uh” to hugging and kissing all up on her when on one’s looking; “uh-uh” to empty promises of a marriage; “uh-uh” to necking on other girls while she’s in the room! tina says, hell no. but lots of hell-to-the-yesses to this energetic, fun and free-spirited performance. only a little blip in the tina turner legacy.
