Search - Best of Musikladen (New Packaging) on DVD

The Stuff Legends Are Made Of.

F. Gentile | Lake Worth, Florida, United States | 02/06/2005

(5 out of 5 stars)

"Okay J-Lo, Jessica Simpson, and your equally vapid little sister. Miss Ciccone. And Brittney, oh yes, Miss Spears...one would have to go all the way to the nearest strip club to find talents such as yours. You would never have caught the subject of this dvd, whose music will live on years after your thin whining is long forgotten, wearing an "I Am The American Dream" t-shirt and making a fool out of herself. We see you all practically daily, no matter how much we try to avoid it, posing, bumping, and cooing, and shamelessly showing off your ridiculous bling-bling and your totally misguided self-importance. Listen up all of you. If you want to see what TRUE talent is, watch this dvd. I am old enough to remember the beginnings of the phenomenon of Tina Turner. Watching Ed Sullivan on our little fourteen inch deluxe color t.v., somewhere between Totie Fields and The Flying Wallendas, Miss Tina plowed into our living rooms like a tidal wave. Straddling the stage like the Collosus Of Rhodes, the Cherokee planes of her fabulous face as impressive as Mount Rushmore, grasping the microphone, and letting out the first notes of that incredible voice, we knew we were in the presence of something very, very special. My parents had the usual prejudices, and their musical tastes ran somewhere between Frank Sinatra and Doris Day. But, when Miss Tina hit the stage, they and everyone else bowed down in pure awe and reverence to the force of her talent. She injected each and every note with something that is totally missing from the aforementioned performers and most others...real feeling. And, those moves! How did she do that!? We don't know what you had in those shoes, Darlin', but, nobody has moved like you, before or since. Backed by the fabulous Ikettes, ebony beauties thrice, happily complementing and revelling in their role as the funky ladies in waiting to The Goddess. Perfectly synchronized, incredibly sexy but never vulgar, and all absolutely beaming in the ecstatic joy of simply performing. With zero production values, four synthetic wigs, 40.00 bucks worth of shiny fabric made into the most micro of mini dresses, and no silicone, the four of you created more real excitement in five minutes than Madonna or Miss Spears could in their entire souless extravaganzas of lights, bombs, dancers, and gas masks. Little Tina, from the most underpriviledged of beginnings, having nothing but herself, meeting up with Mr. Ike, as she left the cotton picking Delta behind and hit the road. A thousand nights, a thousand dives, and her talent grew, honed on nothing but experience and a growing realization that maybe she was special. The money to be made then was relatively little, compared to the astronomical and undeserved incomes of almost all of todays so-called "talents." Yet, Tina always exuded a palpable inner dignity. EVERYONE liked Tina. And Mr. Ike. For all the well known and probably deserved criticism he's gotten for his mistreatment of our Tina, in this dvd collection, his musical talent is so very apparent. Tina has expressed distaste for that time and for almost all of the song choices Mr. Ike is accused of forcing on her, but, the two of them were magic on stage. In songs such as "Get It On", seen here in this collection, I don't think I'm mistaken in interpreting pure joy on Ike's face when looking at that phenomenal lady next to him, his wife, who also happened to be one of the greatest talents of all time, yes...he knew it. Tina wanted to sing rock, a very brave and unheard of aspiration for African Americans at that time. Well, she did it better than just about anyone, as expressed by Janis Joplin herself, when posed the question by Dick Cavett on his talk show "Who do you consider the greatest?". "Tina Turner...she's the greatest chick...ever" was her response. Mick Jagger has also admitted to stealing his stage moves and persona from Tina, and, it's a bad and souless imitation, in my opinion. The performances seen here in this dvd are from the German music show "MusikLaden." The lack of production values, and the relatively primitive effects are more than compensated for by the music itself, which is all the more incredible as it was performed "live." This was a time period that Ike and Tina spent as the opening act of bands that weren't fit to wipe her stilettos. All I can say is that if I had to follow the Ike And Tina Turner Review, I would have been very, very nervous, no matter what performer. Today, Tina is seen not only as a survivor, who made the comeback of all comebacks in the 1980's, selling out the most monstrous of stadiums, but is almost seen as America's good will ambassador, though she has chosen a reclusive life in recent years. And her music has mellowed somewhat, fitting of a lady of her status, experience, and fortitude, though I feel she'll always be up for a rousing rendition of "Proud Mary." There are other performers I really love, but, if I had to choose the "Most Exciting Performer Of All Time", I would choose Tina, she has no competition. I consider her in the league of Judy Garland, Sammy Davis Jr., Frank Sinatra, Ella, and a relative handfull more...they were giants of entertainment. Those days are sadly over, as it is no longer about the talent. I will always love anything Tina Turner creates. But, for me, it's the music of the mostly 1970's time period of this dvd that best represents the excitement and phenomenon that was and is Tina Turner. May she live forever."