THE GREATEST RECORD EVER MADE! Tina Turner, "The Acid Queen"

Drawn from a previous larger post, this is not part of my book The Greatest Record Ever Made! (Volume 1).

An infinite number of tracks can each be THE greatest record ever made, as long as they take turns. Today, this is THE GREATEST RECORD EVER MADE!

TINA TURNER: The Acid Queen

Written by Pete Townshend

Produced by Denny Diante and Spencer Proffer

Single from the album Acid Queen, United Artists, 1975

This may seem an unlikely candidate to be anyone's first Tina Turner track, but I am as God made me. It's not that I didn't know who Turner was in 1975; I'd seen her on TV, more than once, and definitely at least once with Cher. I remember the song "Nutbush City Limits," and I may have seen/heard Ike and Tina Turner's cover of Creedence Clearwater Revival's "Proud Mary" in that time frame, but I would not be willing to testify to that in a court of law.

As little as I knew, I still knew enough to respect Turner's talent. Man, she was amazing, the shakin' and shimmyin' embodiment of rock 'n' roll. Nonetheless, I had no motivation to own any of her music until she covered the Who.

The truth be told, I really wasn't much into the Who then, either. AM radio had taught me a couple of their songs from Tommy, "Pinball Wizard" and "See Me, Feel Me." I was (at best) indifferent to the latter, but I did like "Pinball Wizard." Later on, when Elton John covered "Pinball Wizard" for the '75 film version of Tommy, I liked his version more than I liked the original.

Looking in my Billboard reference books, I was astounded to learn that "Pinball Wizard" was not a huge Top 40 hit for ol' Elton. It was never even released as a single, but it was all over Syracuse Top 40 radio when I was 15, and I wanted it. The Tommy soundtrack album was the only way to get it.

I was intrigued by the idea of the Tommy movie. For one thing, as a red-blooded fifteen-year-old boy, I thought actress Ann-Margret was gorgeous, and time spent staring at her image on-screen would be time well-spent. And I must have seen film clips of both Elton's "Pinball Wizard" and Tina's "The Acid Queen" on TV somewhere, maybe on The Midnight Special, because I vividly recall those sights and sounds. 

I never did get around to seeing the movie. My sister Denise bought the soundtrack for me, and it was my first true exposure to the Who's Tommy storyline. I would become a fan of the Who within the next two to four years. In 1975, I played Elton John's flamboyant "Pinball Wizard" and Tina Turner's sassy, sexy "The Acid Queen" over and over. Over time, I returned to the Who's original "Pinball Wizard," and deemed that the definitive take. 

Tina Turner still owns "The Acid Queen."

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I compiled a various-artists tribute album called Make Something Happen! A Tribute To The Flashcubes, and it's pretty damned good; you can read about it here and order it here. My new book The Greatest Record Ever Made! (Volume 1) is now available, and you can order an autographed copy here. You can still get my previous book Gabba Gabba Hey! A Conversation With The Ramones from publisher Rare Bird Books, OR an autographed copy here. If you like the books, please consider leaving a rating and/or review at the usual online resources.

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