Today in rock history: on this date in 1984, veteran rock and R&B singer Tina Turner scored her very first no. 1 solo hit single in the U.S. with her blockbuster smash, “What’s Love Got To Do With It.” After a long and tumultuous relationship with husband and bandmate Ike Turner, Tina broke out on her own despite having to overcome countless boundaries before getting her solo career on track. Many labels weren’t interested in what they thought was a forgotten and unmarketable artist, but Capitol Records took a chance on Turner’s attempt at jumpstarting her career and the gamble paid off. The single was a smash hit all over the world and fared well on U.S. dance and R&B charts aside from topping the pop chart. The success of the single catapulted Tina’s comeback album from that same year, Private Dancer, to amazing heights and assisted in helping the album sell in excess of five million copies in the United States alone.
Today in rock history: on this date in 1977, British punk rock group Generation X released its debut single, "Your Generation." Along with contemporaries like the Sex Pistols, The Clash and The Damned, Generation X led the U.K. punk rock explosion and connected with the disaffected youth with its messages of angst and rebellion. Generation X featured lead singer Billy Idol who’d embark on his own wildly successful solo career within five years after this single was released. The song was intended as a stern middle finger pointed directly at The Who’s anthem “My Generation” in an attempt to discredit and mock the sentiment they’d expressed in the 1960’s.
Today in rock history: on this date in 1979, INXS performed its very first concert under the new moniker they’d chosen, which was partially inspired by British rock band XTC. Previously called The Farriss Brothers (after the three brothers who formed the band), the new name signaled a new beginning for the band which performed for the first time at the Oceanview Hotel in Toukley (on the coast of New South Wales, Australia). Within a year, the band’s first album would be released in its homeland and within another three years, the band would become global MTV stars and internationally known for exciting live shows and the string of fantastic, million selling albums it would release.
Today in rock history: on this date in 1984, David Bowie released his sixteenth studio album, Tonight. Expectations were high following the multi-platinum success of Bowie’s megahit 1983 album Let’s Dance and, although not reaching the heights of its predecessor, Tonight fared well thanks to the heavy airplay the album’s most successful single, “Blue Jean” would receive on MTV. The title track was a throwback to a tune Bowie had co-written with his friend and collaborator Iggy Pop in the late 70’s (which originally appeared on Pop’s 1977 Lust For Life album) and was recorded as a duet with Tina Turner who was in the midst of her own hot streak with her solo career taking off (see above).
The album also featured two other Pop-penned tunes as well as a cover of the Beach Boys classic, “God Only Knows” but the album’s best and most enduring song was the opening cut, the seven-minute epic “Loving The Alien.” Critical response for the album was lukewarm in that many rock critics felt like Bowie was, for the first time in his career, not breaking any new ground with this release. The album still managed to crack the top 10 on sales charts in just about every country that tracks record sales around the world and topped sales of one million copies sold in the United States alone.
This article appears in Aug 31 – Sep 7, 2017.