Face '83: Tina Turner

If you're just joining us, this is a rather long-haul project which is pitting the judgement of The Face magazine against the judgement of history. It's all about trying to establish if the Face was able to spot style in 1983 or not. Or something.

We left off with the score at four-all.

Let's leave unembedded Kiss FM Mastermixes Vol. II - because if you're a style guide, no matter how good a compilation album is, it's like opening a pop-up restaurant to host somebody else's tasting menu. 4-5.

Which brings us to Let's Stay Together. Tina Turner.



Back in 1983, Tina Turner was quite something. She'd skilfully executed a come-back in the face of quite some serious "squawking granny" hostility (people who think the gentle-joshing the Stones get is real agism should dig out some of the cuttings) and two enormous flop albums; and there was this - a perfect rereading of an Al Green song.

Sure, it was about to go to shit. A couple of years down the line, and the empty bombast of Simply The Best would see her extract maximum rewards from a lazily-adopted tune beloved of every shitarse furniture store and struggling sports team, while burning through goodwill as every repetition chipped away at the hard-won respect.

In 1983, though? This looked like an example of how to rebuild sales and status.

The Face 5; History 5.

[Part of The Face's best recordings of 1983]