Showing posts with label Tina Turner. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Tina Turner. Show all posts

2.13.2008

Big Wheel Keeps on Turning...

Since when did Tina Turner become the Queen of Soul? I love her, but there is only one Queen, one Diva...the rest are Princesses and or Divettes...c’mon now....

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Seven years after the fact, the government is going to try terrorists for taking down the world trade centers. Six have been indicted and will be subject to secret trials, just as they were tortured secretly. They will also be subject to the death penalty if convicted. My main problem among many with this scenario is that I don’t recall hearing Osama Bin Laden’s name among those charged and I don’t think any of those charged are Saudi Arabians who had ties with Iraq. I’m having a problem with the alleged facts in this case, as well as with the timing of this situation. The politics of fear...will it change the outcome of the election in November, or has it run its course?

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The History Channel says the anthrax scare was an inside job...as in originated with native grown terrorists...not middle eastern terrorists.....so native....they were probably government workers...working undercover....Are we surprised....no...Wish I could live another 100 years so that I could find out who really blew up the trade center towers....

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The more I listen to John McCain, the more I’m sure the guy is entering the first, or maybe even the second stages of dementia. Does he really think folks are going to put him in the White House so that he can keep us in Iraq for the next 100 years, if necessary?

He is having trouble putting away his GOP opponent Mike Huckabee. How does he think he is going to handle the cultural juggernaut that the Democrats are planning to throw at him in the general election.

I feel it’s going to be Obama, but even Hillary would be a force to reckon with for the old guy from Arizona. MSM hasn’t figured this out yet...They still think it’s a matter of experience.

His speeches are painful to listen to and especially to watch. I give him all of his due respect. He is an American hero. But the days of electing a hero to lead the country just because he can fly a plane and drop bombs on indigent people, are over. I didn’t like Ike and I don’t care for McCain.

McCain has no vision, no creativity and certainly no flexibility to handle a job as daunting as president.

His selection of vice president will speak volumes...will it be Joe Lieberman, the used to be democrat, or will it be Reverend Mike, the man who wants to marry religion to government, thereby creating a western union that would rival any dreamed up by the jihadist suicide bombers of the middle east.

The talk show propelled Huckabee still thinks he is the answer. He needs to turn off the TV and radio, open his window and listen to the whispers of the street. Drumbeat don’t lie....

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Speaking of drumbeat....I would hope that the democratic super delegates are paying attention to the people.....a back room deal that hands the nomination to the wrong candidate is going to tear the party apart.

The Democrats are great at snatching defeat from the hands of victory....they’ve already screwed up their mandate in congress that was given them in 2006. Nancy Pelosi and Harry Reid suck at leadership on Capitol Hill. All they’ve done is cave in to Dubya, on just about everything. I’m really, really tired of professional politicians doing what they think is “right” for me. We need term limits and a ban on lobbyists in Washington.

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Who gives a damn about millionaire ball players who choose to take steroids and growth hormone? And why is anyone surprised that John Rocker has admitted to steroid use? He was obviously in roid rage when he shot his mouth off, way back when he was pitching. Give Clemens the cell next to Marion Jones and move on to Barry Bonds..

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And where will you be on June 21, 2008? Ron Paul supporters want you in Washington for a march on the White House. I would guess that all two or three Paul supporters will be there. I wonder if he is going to announce it in his newsletter?

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12.18.2007

Ike Turner, R.I.P.

Ike Turner died last week from so far, unexplained circumstances. The first thought that popped into my mind was drug overdose, or some illness related to a life of drug over indulgence. Like most people. I don’t really know. Like most people, I only knew Ike through his ex wife’s book and movie and his music.

His music came first for me. When I was a kid listening to radio, I discovered Ike and Tina Turner. Their music was alive. It was electric. It made you want to get up and move, and I did whenever I heard it. And this was before the Proud Mary cover.

Tina’s voice was unmistakably in the front. But Ike was the foundation. That bass line, his deep voice laying down the tempo, keeping everyone on pace, while she soared on high. You felt rather than heard Ike and that was the way it should have been. It was a visceral feeling that evoked movement deep within the listener. Ike worked his rhythmic magic from the inside out.

Historically, he was a legend in the music industry. Ike is credited with recording the very first rock and roll record, before Bill Hailey’s ROCK AROUND THE CLOCK, or anything Elvis did. But being a black man he didn’t get the money or credit due him as a founder of a music genre.

He even discovered Tina. Built his game around her. Gave her, her name. She gives him all credit for that. Yet to most people, he is still only her husband, the man in the background. It’s a shame that all most folks will remember him for is his abuse of Tina.

I’m not justifying what he did to her. If even half of what was said in her book and movie is true then he was an ugly human being. No one should abuse another person, especially their spouse, for any reason.

But it is sad, because he was a talented and very creative person who was a man of his time, but at the same time, ahead of his time musically. He visualized where rhythm and blues could go, by surfing on the back of an electric guitar. His musical distortions ultimately gave birth to Jimi Hendrix, Ernie Isley, Slash, Eric Clapton, George Harrison, Pete Townsend, and Sheryl Crow, to name just a few.

As recently as last year, he won a grammy and was nominated again this year. He is already in the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame.

But that is not what people will remember. They will remember that scene in the movie when Tina fought back and they both ended up bloodied. I cheered when she finally fought back. I hollered when she kicked him with her high heels. He was finally getting what he deserved. People will remember that Tina exited that limo a new person while Ike left it a surprised and beaten bully. She has gone on to superstardom, he to a drug fueled oblivion, if the stories are true.

He never recovered from that moment. Judging from his subsequent statements afterward, he never, even understood what happened to him. He thought of himself as the victim and on so many levels he was. A musical genius, and a member of the rock and roll hall of fame who despite the accolades from his peers, spent the last half of his life as a footnote in his ex wife’s bio.