Private Dancer

A&R man John Carter of Capitol Records is credited with relaunching Turner's career in the 1980s.^[6] In 1983, despite opposition from within Capitol, he signed her and managed her first album for the label, Private Dancer. Recording sessions were overseen by four different production teams, including Rupert Hine, and Martyn Ware of Heaven 17, and took place at several studios in England.^[7] A radical departure from the rhythm and blues sound Turner performed with Ike, the tracks in the album are a mixture of uptempos and ballads, inspired by pop and rock genres; it also features elements of smooth jazz and contemporary R&B.

Carter produced "Private Dancer", which was written by Mark Knopfler and has a guitar solo by Jeff Beck. "Let's Stay Together" was produced by Ware. Terry Britten produced the reggae-tinged "What's Love Got to Do with It". "Help!" was recorded with The Crusaders. Hine produced "Better Be Good to Me", which had been written by Holly Knight, Mike Chapman, and Nicky Chinn.^[8]

In 1997, EMI, the parent label of Capitol Records, released a digitally remastered Centenary Edition of the Private Dancer album on CD. This version includes four additional demo tracks recorded in late 1983 and early 1984 with producer Carter, first released as B-sides to some of the Private Dancer singles; it also includes three extended 12" remixes.

In 2015, the 30th Anniversary edition of this album was released by the Parlophone Records unit of Warner Music Group which now controls this album.^[9] On March 21, 2025, Parlophone released a five-disc and Blu-ray deluxe edition.^[10] The edition was preceded by the release of "Hot for You Baby," a previously undiscovered song from the Private Dancer sessions written by George Young and Harry Vanda.^[11]

More information Review scores, Source ...

Professional ratings

Review scores
Source	Rating
AllMusic	[12]
American Songwriter	[13]
Christgau's Record Guide	A−[14]
Goldmine	[15]
Los Angeles Times	[16]
Mojo	[17]
Q	[18]
Rolling Stone	[8]
The Rolling Stone Album Guide	[19]
The Sydney Morning Herald	[20]

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The album received a positive reception from critics. The Los Angeles Times wrote that Turner's voice "melts vinyl".^[21]

Debby Miller, in a July 1984 Rolling Stone review, felt that the album was a powerful comeback, with Turner's voice "rasping but strong", and a range of songs that were all good in a "modern rock setting" that was "neither detached nor very fussy".^[8] Robert Christgau of The Village Voice felt that she embraced the "middlebrow angst of contemporary professional songwriting". He said that "four different production teams" on the project was a "sign of desperation", despite the resulting "seamless authority" of the album.^[22]

Alex Henderson, in a retrospective AllMusic review, says that the album was slicker than her R&B classics recorded with Ike & Tina, but she was still able to sing with a throaty passion to deliver her finest solo production.^[12] Stephen Holden has written in The New York Times that by using her English producers to soften her raw Southern soul style, discarding the "blaring horns, frenzied percussion and gospel calls and responses", the album became a "landmark" in the "evolution of pop-soul music".^[7]

Michael Lydon, in Robert Dimery's 1001 Albums You Must Hear Before You Die, says that the album's lyrical themes embodied her persona of a "tough, sexy woman schooled in a tough world", and that her vocal delivery overcomes the slick production, with her "indomitable soul" unifying the multiple producers.^[23] In 1989, the album was ranked number 46 on Rolling Stone magazine's list of The 100 Greatest Albums of the '80s. In 2001, VH1 named Private Dancer the 95th greatest album of all time. Slant Magazine listed the album at number 63 on its list of "Best Albums of the 1980s", saying, "Both a personal liberation and sonic redemption, Private Dancer established Turner not only as a genuine diva, but a bona fide force of nature".^[24]

The album was released on May 29, 1984, and became an outstanding global commercial success.^[25][26][27] The album peaked at number three on the Billboard 200 chart for ten consecutive weeks^[28] and remained in the top ten for 39 weeks from August 1984 to May 1985. In the United States it was certified 5× platinum.^[29] In Germany, the album went 5× gold becoming one of the best selling albums in history. It peaked at number two on the UK Albums Chart, where it was certified 3× platinum, remaining on the charts for 150 total weeks. It was certified 7× platinum for the shipment of over 700,000 copies in Canada by the Canadian Recording Industry Association. The album has sold more than 12 million copies worldwide.^[30][31] At the 1985 Grammy Awards, Private Dancer won four of the six awards for which it was nominated.

• Tina Turner – lead vocals (all tracks), background vocals (1, 7, 8)

Tracks 1 & 7 (produced by Rupert Hine)

Tracks 2, 3 & 4 (produced by Terry Britten)

Tracks 5 & 8 (produced by John Carter)

Tracks 6 & 10 (produced by Greg Walsh & Martyn Ware)

Track 9 (produced by Leon "Ndugu" Chancler, Wilton Felder & Joe Sample)

General

• List of best-selling albums in Germany
• List of best-selling albums by women