26 November 1939 – 24 May 2023
The producer and Heaven 17 musician recalls the humble star who gave him tea and biscuits, and who could record a hit track in one take
A few weeks before I met Tina Turner in 1982, I saw her playing in London. I was a big fan. Even though I was known for making electronic music, I loved all kinds and River Deep, Mountain High was my favourite song. But back then, she didn’t have a recording contract. The only way she could earn money independently was by doing what they used to call the chicken-in-a-basket circuit in America, touring her old hits. It was staggering really. She could earn good money doing that, but didn’t want to for the rest of her life.
How I got involved was like an alignment of the stars. I’d been putting together an album of old songs reframed in new contexts and James Brown had just backed out at the last minute – or, rather, his lawyers had. So there I was in the Virgin Records office bemoaning my fate, wondering who on earth was going to sing the Temptations’ Ball of Confusion, and the head of A&R, who knew Tina’s new manager, Roger Davies, overheard me. The next minute, [Heaven 17’s] Glenn Gregory and I were flying out to LA to meet her, literally in her front room. The idea that these two naive lads from Sheffield, just busking, were going to meet this experienced, brilliant demigod was insane.
