The Green Fuse First Chapbook Contest is open to all poets who have not yet published a chapbook in any form. Send 14-24 pages of poetry. Winners will receive $200, publication, and one year of Green Fuse membership. Finalists will receive a copy of the winning chapbook. All mss. will be considered for future publication. Deadline: December 31st 2011. Publication: April, 2012. Submit via email: greenfusepress@yahoo.com with First Chapbook Contest in the subject box. A $25 reading fee ($15 for GF members) is required. Make check payable to: Green Fuse Poetic Arts. Mail to: GFPAA, 1000 W. Eisenhower #11, Loveland, Colorado 80537. Judge: TBA
The Grandmother Editions First Chapbook Contest is open to all grand writers who have not yet published a book in any form. Send 14-30 pages of poetry, fiction, memoir, creative non-fiction or prose-poetry. Winners will receive $200, publication, and one year of Green Fuse membership. Finalists will receive a copy of the winning chapbook. All mss. will be considered for publication. Deadline: December 31st 2011. Publication: April, 2012. Submit via email: greenfusepress@yahoo.com with Grandmother Contest in the subject box. A $25 reading fee ($15 for GF members) is required. Make checks payable to: Green Fuse Poetic Arts. Mail to: GFPAA, 1000 W. Eisenhower #11, Loveland, Colorado 80537. CU/Boulder Women’s Studies Professor Claudia Van Gerven to judge.
The Griffin Poetry Prize, valued at C$130,000, is awarded annually in two categories – International and Canadian. Each prize is worth C$65,000.
In each category, the prize is for the best collection of poetry in English published during the preceding year. One prize goes to a living Canadian poet or translator, the other to a living poet or translator from any country, which may include Canada.
Translations are assessed for their quality as poetry in English; the focus is on the achievement of the translator.
Should a prize-winning book be a translation from a living poet, the prize is awarded 60% to the translator and 40% to the original poet. If the original poet is dead, but his/her work is within copyright, 40% of the prize is given to the original poet’s estate. Otherwise, the disbursement of that portion of the prize is left to the discretion of the judges.
The Trustees of The Griffin Trust For Excellence In Poetry are:
Margaret Atwood, Poet/Author Carolyn Forché, Poet Scott Griffin, Entrepreneur Robert Hass, Poet Michael Ondaatje, Poet/Author Robin Robertson, Poet/Publisher David Young, Playwright
Trustees may not participate in judging in any way.
No Trustee may participate in the selection of judges if he or she has a financial interest in a publishing house that issues contemporary poetry. *
* In May 2002, Scott Griffin purchased House of Anansi Press, a Canadian literary publisher. To preserve the integrity of the Griffin Poetry Prize, he no longer takes part in the selection of judges. And like other Trustees, he is prohibited from involvement in the judging process. (With these safeguards in place, House of Anansi titles are deemed to be eligible for the Griffin Poetry Prize.)
Qualified judges of stature will be selected annually by the Trustees.
Judges may not be on salary at a publishing house that issues contemporary poetry.
The judges will compile a short list of up to seven outstanding books of poetry, four International and three Canadian.
From the short list, the judges will select the final winners in the International and Canadian categories. Short-listed Canadian books are eligible for both prizes.
The judges have absolute discretion in interpreting the rules, and their decision is final.
Submissions must come from publishers, who may enter an unlimited number of titles.
To be eligible for the International prize, a book of poetry must be a first-edition collection (i.e. not previously published in any country), written in English, or translated into English, by a poet/translator from any part of the world, including Canada.
To be eligible for the Canadian prize, a book of poetry must be a first-edition collection (i.e. not previously published in any country), written in English or translated into English by a Canadian citizen or a permanent resident in Canada.
Books must have been published in English during the calendar year preceding the year of the award.
Winning the Griffin Poetry Prize (or any other prize) in previous years does not render a poet ineligible for the current year’s prize.
Only books of poetry written by authors or translators alive at the date of publication will be considered.
Books must be the work of one poet.
Volumes of Selected and/or Collected poetry, previously published, will only be eligible as translations.
Combinations of Selected and/or Collected poetry, combined with previously unpublished poetry, will only be eligible as translations.
A book of translations by two translators is eligible if they have collaborated throughout. A collection of translations by various hands is not eligible.
A book by a Trustee or current judge is not eligible.
No self-published book is eligible.
The judges’ decision as to a book’s eligibility is binding.
All books must carry an ISBN.
A book is defined as having at least forty-eight pages.
A book which is entered for the Griffin Poetry Prize will not qualify for the award unless the publisher agrees:
To prepare and encourage its nominated poet(s) to participate in all reasonable publicity associated with the Griffin Poetry Prize;
To sticker copies of the winning book with the Griffin Poetry Prize seals (to be provided by the Griffin Poetry Prize);
To secure the prior written approval of The Griffin Trust For Excellence In Poetry with respect to art work, when including facsimiles of the Griffin Poetry Prize seal on all reprints of the winning book(s); and
Poets and publishers agree to permit The Griffin Trust For Excellence In Poetry to include selections from short-listed works in a Griffin Poetry Prize Anthology. A one-time permission fee of C$200 will be paid to each originating publisher of the short-listed books. Proceeds will be donated to a literary cause.
Publishers may submit any number of titles, each published (or scheduled for publication) before the annual deadline of December 31st, for delivery by no later than January 10th.
Submissions postmarked after December 31 of each year will not be eligible.
The Griffin Poetry Prize may at any time call in a book which has not been submitted. In that event, the publisher will be required to forward an entry form along with four copies of the book to the Griffin Poetry Prize, and to comply with all other rules and regulations.
The Griffin Poetry Prize will acknowledge receipt of submissions.
No books will be returned to publishers.
Four copies of each book must be submitted to:
Mrs. Ruth Smith Manager The Griffin Trust For Excellence In Poetry 363 Parkridge Crescent Oakville, Ontario L6M 1A8, Canada Canada
Each submission must include an Entry Form along with any available press material, including a current biography and photograph of the author and/or translator. (Preferred photograph formats are 8.5×11 black and white print or high resolution [300 dpi or greater] TIFF or JPEG file.)
A short list of finalists will be announced in March or April of each year. National and international publicity, promoting the short-listed poets and the Griffin Poetry Prize, will begin at that announcement and continue until after the winners are declared.
It is expected that shortlisted poets will participate in reading their poetry at a public event and will attend the awards ceremony.
$10,000 will be awarded to each shortlisted poet, conditional upon the shortlisted poet attending and participating in the annual Readings event.
In the event that a shortlisted book is a translation, the $10,000 will be equally shared between the translator(s) and the living poet, conditional upon (c) above.
The readings and the awards evening of the Griffin Poetry Prize will take place in Canada over two days in May or June of each year.
The Griffin Poetry Prize will bear the cost of travel and overnight accommodation for authors who live outside Toronto, Canada.
The judges will select the short list and the winners in private deliberations. Publishers will receive no advance notice of the short-listed nominees or the winners.
Ripening lips, ripening labia, ripening cock, ripening pupils, ripening state of being. Ripe and augmented and brimming. Your energy goes to your pumping heart, then to every external nerve, then to theirs, on fire.
You bask, roll, play in it. You sigh, moan, laugh.
It’s not about being “good in bed.”
It’s about being happy.
One should never worry if they’re doing it “correctly.” Sex is not factual. I don’t want your cookie-cutter sex, I don’t want your meticulously crafted, calculated, fool-proof fuck. I don’t want a show. I want you. Let your instincts, urges and whims define that. It’s enough.
What do most girls like? Forget about it. Statistics are meaningless when there’s only one. Hello, here’s me. Here’s you.
Don’t worry about taking it too slow. We got time. We got infinite rhythms, combinations, possibilities. Explore each fuck. Take our time. We can do a different one later.
Don’t worry about making me come. I’m here. Right where I want to be.
I am overwhelmed by wanting; you don’t have to convince me. I want you because I like you. So don’t put on a front. Don’t taint this.
I’m frustrated—it’s just authenticity I want.
It’s originality.
It’s passion.
It’s joy.
Don’t say that something I like is ugly. Don’t compare yourself to the rest. You will live and die with and within your experiences like everyone else. If someone thinks you are amazing, they are not wrong. Their universe is as real as any other; it is forged through perception.
I don’t care if you accidentally slammed my head into the wall, if you slipped out, if my arm cracked, if the delightful pressure of your wet lips on my anything made a silly sound. There is no right way and no wrong way.
“Good in bed,” what.
You’re good in my bed. I’m pleased you’re there. I feel it suits you.
Shove your technique. Let your memory swallow it. Fuck me like you’d fuck me, fuck me like you feel.
I’m staring’ at the view from the height of my past pain; Ironic, I’m trying come in first if it’s the last thing They trying throw me off, but I won’t let ‘em pass me They kill me with the hating, but I ain’t in the casket I gotta stay on top, gotta fucking overcome shit I had to learn to beat it like I just got a drum kit Now my motto ‘keep faith, stay strong Be prosperous Stay positive and fuck anyone that say opposite' ‘Cause everybody don’t wanna see you win In the end, your biggest enemies may be your friend Keep losing my balance; That’s the prize of a winner So, I’m trying find god in the eyes of a sinner ‘Cause me, I’m like the victim through the eyes of a killer; Gun’s aimed at her worth and the pride that’s within her I’m the uprise in the lives of the demise and devastation The little piece of heaven left in satan, forreal[Hook: Angel Haze]So what if it hurts? The struggle is first To live is to die, we all suffer the curse And love is the cure until we’re suffering worse Pleasure is pain; the suffering’s first[Vers 2: Angel Haze]Pushed ‘em out of my life, my friends say that I changed But, how the fuck you make a difference and still stay the same? They don’t carry the weight; they can’t handle the pressure So they can see me evolve, but they can’t capture my essence My life is insane, and I don’t get enough credit But the picture ain’t realistic like a Photoshop edit How could you even be mad that I would wanna enhance that? Just to have the option, like I hit the ‘advanced’ tab So, fuck ‘em all; They’d rather see me fail I hit the mainstream and my ship gon’ sail And niggas gon’ hate, and some gon’ applaud me But I remain a problem that nobody’s resolving I got this ache in my soul and it’s distant now ‘cause I’m hotter than the flames on a Piston now I keep losing my balance, that’s what trips me out I keep my emotions inside ‘til I’m flipping out But I won’t trip I stand tall Just keep my head And hold on I said, I won’t trip I stand tall Just keep my head And hold on[Hook: Angel Haze]So what if it hurts? The struggle is first To live is to die, we all suffer the curse And love is the cure until we’re suffering worse Pleasure is pain; the suffering’s first[Vers 3: Angel Haze]Sometimes I feel like I’m bound to be a sell-out So I spit fire to try to let this hell out To try to let myself out This cage I trapped myself in But I won’t let myself in I feel like if I lose sight of me, I won’t let myself win And I won’t let myself end, I be damned if I do I enjoy being myself; I be damned if I’m you See, I give ‘em what they need and that’s that real shit And I do it with my heart so they can feel this That’s why the words in my songs reach broken bones Make ‘em strong, show ‘em they got more to focus on And music is the only thing I put my hope in Use words to capture my mute emotions I’m like an umbrella top, how I’m hit with the rain But I walk when it hurts like a ligament’s sprain And my thoughts like a frame to the picture I paint; I get high off the green like the top of terrain They can’t extinguish the flame from my mouth when I speak I got beauty and peace, like a tropical beach And I got me some dreams that I won’t stop ‘til I reach And Dr. King’s speech in the mouth of a freak[Hook: Angel Haze]So what if it hurts? The struggle is first To live is to die, we all suffer the curse And love is the cure until we’re suffering worse Pleasure is pain; the suffering’s first
<div><div style="clear:both; height:3px;"></div><p style="display:block; font-size:12px; font-family:Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; margin:0; padding: 3px 4px; color:#02a0c7; width:472px;">Angel Haze "Bars For Days"<span> by </span>Po Politickin<span> on </span> Mixcloud</p><div style="clear:both; height:3px;"></div></div>
ANGEL HAZE
Rudimental ft. Angel Haze – Hell Could Freeze
During her recent visit to London, the world’s hottest female rapper on the come up right now, Angel Haze, got the chance to get in the studio with Hackney quartet Rudimental in what promised to be one of the more interesting musical combinations of the year.
Here is the result and it does not disappoint, with the pair having found what I’d say would be the perfect sound for Haze’s forthcoming mainstream breakthrough, as it would sound great on the radio whilst maintaining her originality and would appeal to a very diverse range of tastes and niches that would give her that push needed to become a star both sides of the Atlantic. Check it out below and let me know your thoughts!
Rudimental make music that is impossible to dislike and when Angel Haze isn’t just saying b*tch and ni**a every 10 seconds (or in a whole song in this case), she is actually very good!
Coined in 1990, by Aishah Shahidah Simmons, AfroLez®femcentric defines the culturally conscious role of women who identify as Afrocentric, Lesbian/Queer, AND Feminist.
November 27, 2012
“To TRANScend gender means that my gender is not tied to my genitals. It means that sex is not tied to my birth-assigned sex. it means that my ‘doing gender’ TRANScends a binary. it means that if at 7am, i am giving you boy, that’s 7am but if at 7pm, i’m giving you girl, that’s 7pm. And at 7pm, I should not be bound by what was happening at 7am. It means that every minute of everyday, i am evolving and changing and revolving and ebbing and flowing. It means that I own my identity and I don’t have to ‘pick a lane’. It means that I let my dates open doors for me and pull out chairs for me. It means that I am keenly aware of my masculine privilege and work tirelessly at not abusing it. It means that YOU don’t get to genderize me based on YOUR ideas of what gender is. it means that men have vaginas and girls have penises. It means that you are just going to have to get over it. it means that I CHOOSE my gender based on MY comfort level. it means that i am all that gender is and all that it is not.” ——Zerandrian S. Morris a/k/a ‘The Ignant Intellectual’
This video examines the experience of growing up in a bi-racial family in Moscow. The piece begins with words from bi-racial friends, followed by interviews with my family members. In the conclusion I speak about my own experiences. My main interest is to hear my parents' experience, as I wanted to discover if they understood how it felt to grow up as a bi- racial child in Moscow. This video explores how different members of my family perceive racism, and how or if it has affected them. With this video piece I want the viewer to experience what bi-racial people experience everyday in a mainly white society.
President Barack Hussein Obama is the target of more than 30 potential death threats — every day.
During the 2012 presidential campaign there was an increase in the number of death threats, which further challenged an already over-stretched and under-resourced Secret Service according to author Ronald Kessler. His new book is titled In the President’s Secret Service: Behind the Scenes with Agents in the Line of Fire and the Presidents They Protect. After conducting exclusive interviews with more than one hundred current and former Secret Service agents, Kessler reveals their secrets for the first time.
But most death threats are kept quiet because the Secret Service fears that revealing details of them would only amp up the number of copycats. Each threat has to be thoroughly investigated, although most turn up to be not credible.
Nowhere outside Washington is the Obama security bubble more apparent than in Chicago. When the president or first family return home, and especially when they visit their South Side home, there are longer road closures, more uniform presence and extended perimeters.
Some reports this week cite unnamed Secret Service officials as saying that there have been more than 40,000 individual threats against President Obama investigated by the Secret Service since he was elected in 2008.
“We have half the number of agents we need, but requests for more agents have fallen on deaf ears at headquarters,” a Secret Service agent told Kessler. “Headquarters’ mentality has always been, ‘You can complete the mission with what you have. You’re a U.S.S.S. agent’.”
The Secret Service says that many of those who make such threats are mentally ill, and it is the goal of the Secret Service to find them help. It can be “sobering,” they said, when agents show up at their door.
According to the Secret Service, the president is the most threatened person in the U.S., regardless of political party.
The President is not made aware of all threats against him, however, because as the Secret Service says, “the sheer number would be overwhelming and, frankly, distracting.”
Music raised me. R&B showed me how to set the mood. Hip-Hop told me what to say. And funk showed me how to let loose. Surrounded by sounds my entire life, my earliest memories do not include rock music. I remember hearing the cries of B.B. King and Ray Charles pouring out of my grandfather’s Cadillac, but rock…? The music that defined 60s and 70s counterculture had no bearing on my early development, at least not directly.
It was in high school that I found myself on vacation, sitting in a bookstore. Because naturally that’s what one does on vacation. As I walked through the labyrinth like décor of the now-defunct Borders, I came across the music section. Inquisitively, I looked for something new. At the time, I was still listening to Common’s Electric Circus religiously, but had recently coupled it with N.E.R.D.’s Fly or Die. It was a different time in my divergent musical trajectory. As it were, I walked in total control of my auditory surroundings, the new wave hip-hop blasting through my headphones drowning out the symphony of bustling feet and rustling pages.
“Jimi Was a Rock Star,” said Erykah.
Without skipping a beat, I replied, “I’ll be the judge of that.”
For me, rock was something foreign. I could dig a Dave Matthews concert and Radiohead has always held a special place in my heart, but rock never really felt like it was mine. Even with my affinity for pastel colored sweaters and lightly tapered chinos, I still identified with those things considered “black.” Rock was what the white kids listened to, not me. But, at the behest of Erykah, I gave Jimi a “chance,” much to the chagrin of my two closest friends at that age, arrogance and ignorance. I am thankful for that moment. Even in my superficial indulgence of Jimi’s greatest hits, I was moved. Instantly, the notion of “black music” had been redefined, perhaps even a deconstructed. The music of Jimi Hendrix connected the dots. Somewhere between my grandfather’s blues and my ensemble of contemporary sounds was an untapped history of electric noise.
When I first listened to “If 6 Was 9,” I heard “Breakout.” I heard “Electric Wire Hustle Flower.” It was rebellious in that way only teen angst can comprehend. Enraged by consumerism, racism, sexism, and every other quasi-political –ism we begin to learn of in those formative years, I felt it. To me, the stakes were, in fact, quite high and Jimi got that. It didn’t matter if the sound was “black,” “white,” rock or rap, the message was so painfully clear.
Jimi was a rock star, but also a great teacher. Through him, I learned to engage those things that I believed weren’t for me, that didn’t fit into my supposed demographic. I learned to not place barriers upon myself because of who I am or what I look like. That’s not rock & roll and it’s most certainly not “black.” Those words have no limits. Word to Percy.
Jimi should have turned 70 today, but the world took him well before his time. Premature death is something common in music and so we eulogize him by appreciating what he gave us in such a short period of time. Reflecting on his genius today, I say thanks. I’m a better person because of it.
No one wanted Tina Turner in 1982...at least the heads of record labels. Six years after leaving Ike Turner with only 36 cents and the bloodied clothes on her back, Turner had established a successful solo career everywhere but on vinyl. A record deal seemed impossible for a woman in her early 40s who hadn't charted a hit in ten years, despite gravity-defying performances that put artists half her age to shame. At the time, Rod Stewart and the Rolling Stones invited her along for guest spots on their tours and Turner regularly sold out shows in London and New York City. The reviews were rave and she tore through "Proud Mary" and "Honky Tonk Woman" with more vigor than three Ikettes combined. Though record executives routinely dismissed her as a "has been," the foresight of John Carter at Capitol Records, the genius of manager Roger Davies, and the resilience of Turner herself, created what is arguably the most dramatic comeback in the history of popular music. Two decades later, Tina Turner is an icon whose influence extends well beyond hit songs and sports arenas around the world.
There was only a distant hope of a better life for young Anna Mae Bullock as she worked the cotton fields in Nutbush, Tennessee. Singing with local musician Bootsy Whitelaw and watching the glamorous images in Hollywood movies were an escape for the girl whose face would fill the silver screen in two scenery-chewing roles many years later. After moving to St. Louis in the 1950s to live with her mother and sister, Anna Mae met Ike Turner. His Kings of Rhythm band held court in the city's vibrant music scene and was the band to see. Upon hearing Anna Mae sing B.B. King's "You Know I Love You," Turner convinced the aspiring singer to join his band and, a couple of years later, get married: the Ike & Tina Turner Revue was born.
The story of Tina's personal and professional life with Ike Turner really merits its own editorial space. The duo religiously churned out albums from 1960-1975 on nearly a dozen different labels while touring relentlessly and earning a spate of hits on the R&B and pop charts. "A Fool in Love," "Poor Fool," and "It's Gonna Work Out Fine" represent the best of their early hits on the Sue label followed by a pair of "live" albums on Kent and Warner Bros. Studio impresario Phil Spector sought Tina's dynamic stage presence and vocal prowess for the historic recording of "River Deep-Mountain High" in 1966. Though U.S. radio stations didn't warm to the tune, British audiences devoured it and brought the song to #3 on the U.K. singles charts.
By the early '70s, the Revue's popularity peaked with a Grammy-winning rendition of Creedence Clearwater Revival's "Proud Mary." Their smoldering renditions of "I Want to Take You Higher," "Come Together," and "I've Been Loving You Too Long" further solidified the band's rousing blend of rock and soul. Workin' Together (1971) and What You See Is What You Get: Live at Carnegie Hall (1971) caught Ike and Tina at the top of their game in the studio and onstage, respectively, while their appearance in Ghana for the Soul to Soul concert (1971) captured the Revue's mega-watt energy on film. Tina's autobiographical "Nutbush City Limits" marked the last Top 40 hit Ike and Tina Turner charted before Tina walked out on Ike after enduring years of his physical abuse. (TimeLife released the most thorough compilation of Ike & Tina Turner's work to date on its 2007 box set, The Ike & Tina Turner Story 1960-1975.)
Tina's solo career ostensibly began while she was still married to Ike. Of all things, a country album, Tina Turns the Country On (1974), marked the first of four records she recorded for United Artists. Acid Queen (1975) followed in the wake of Turner's scene-stealing role in the film version of The Who's Tommy but paled in comparison to the harder-edged rock of her screen performance. Following her divorce from Ike, Tina made the rounds of TV variety shows and established an extravagant Las Vegas act. Rough (1978) and Love Explosion (1979) were well-intentioned efforts to match Turner with the pop and disco sounds of the day but ultimately indicated that live performances were a better vehicle to sustain steady work as a solo act.
At the dawn of the 1980s, Tina's fortune began to turn with a change of management. Australian Roger Davies, who'd managed Olivia Newton-John, helped reinvent Turner's image as the rock singer she always longed to be. Hiring new musicians and dancers proved to be a smart move and reintroduced Turner to younger, more hip audiences. Though Richard Perry produced a couple of tracks for Tina on the forgettable Summer Lovers soundtrack (1982), it was The British Electronic Foundation's Music of Quality and Distinction (1982) album that caught the attention of tastemakers when Turner wrapped her raspy chords around a chilly version of The Temptations' "Ball of Confusion." The project's producers - Martyn Ware and Glenn Gregory - were enlisted for a follow-up single in 1983; Turner's guttural rendition of Al Green's "Let's Stay Together" was a bonafide hit in the clubs and her new label home, Capitol Records, demanded an entire album to build on the momentum of Turner's burgeoning profile.
No artist was more celebrated than Tina Turner upon the release of Private Dancer in 1984. The album sustained the attention of radio and the record-buying public for more than 24 months, with singles like "Better Be Good to Me" (Pop #5), "Private Dancer" (Pop #7), "Let's Stay Together" (R&B #3) and the chart-topping "What's Love Got to Do With It" dominating the airwaves and MTV. Private Dancer showcased the full range of Tina's vocal talents and her industry peers (finally) took notice. When Diana Ross handed Tina Turner the "Record of the Year" Grammy for "What's Love Got to Do With It" at the 1985 ceremony, it symbolized the achievement of an artist who persevered despite numerous obstacles and dismissive misanthropes.
Coupling a sold-out concert tour, Tina Turner scored another hit with "We Don't Need Another Hero," the theme to Mad Max Beyond Thunderdome (1985) in which she starred at Aunty Entity opposite Mel Gibson. The role earned her an NAACP Image Award for Best Actress in a Motion Picture. Her steamy appearance with Mick Jagger at Live Aid and participation in U.S.A. for Africa's "We Are the World" kept Turner's smiling visage in public view for all of 1985.
As the ‘80s continued, Tina Turner released three more albums of voltaic pop-rock: Break Every Rule (1986), Tina Live in Europe (1988) and Foreign Affair (1989). Though still a concert draw in the U.S., wracking up hit singles like "Typical Male" (Pop #2) and "The Best" (Pop #15) along with gold and platinum albums, her commercial base flourished more in Europe with audiences that hadn't ever abandoned Turner during the lean years of her career. South American fans also expressed their appreciation when Turner performed in front of 184,000 people at Maracanã Stadium in Rio de Janeiro: a world record.
The 1990s proved no less fruitful, though Turner took more of a well-deserved break between recording projects. Simply the Best (1991) offered a concise overview of her ‘80s career while the soundtrack to the film What's Love Got to Do With It (1993) featured the Top 10 single, "I Don't Wanna Fight." Starring Angela Bassett as Tina and Laurence Fishburne as Ike in Oscar-nominated turns, the film was based on Turner's candid autobiography I, Tina (1986), which revealed the extent of Ike Turner's physical abuse during their marriage. Though Turner was a consultant for the film and coached Bassett on some of her trademark gestures, she expressed little interest in seeing the film having "lived it". (Capitalizing on the renewed interest in Turner's life story, Capitol Records released a career-spanning 3-CD box set in 1994, unimaginatively titled Collected Recordings: Sixties to Nineties.)
Her dramatic theme to the James Bond film Goldeneye (1995) set the stage for the Wildest Dreams (1996) album, which included covers of John Waite's "Missing You" and "Unfinished Sympathy" by Massive Attack, as well as songs by Sheryl Crow, the Pet Shop Boys, and Brenda Russell, and vocal contributions from Sting and Barry White. Despite Turner's strongest album in years, the album failed to crack the Top 40 on the Billboard 200. More successful was Twenty Four Seven (1999) and the corresponding tour, billed as Turner's "last." At 60 years old, she'd been performing virtually non-stop for 40 years, outliving the lifespan of countless pop confections. More than any other performer, Tina Turner had earned the right to hang up her spiked heals and mini-skirts. Though Turner hasn't recorded a full-length of album of new material since Twenty Four Seven, she's been far from inactive, lending her distinctive voice to the music for The Lion King (1999), Aida (1999), Brother Bear (2003) and projects by Santana (Ultimate Santana, 2007) and Herbie Hancock (River: The Joni Letters, 2007).
As the new millennium's progressed, Tina Turner's role as an icon has kept her at the forefront of popular culture. All the Best (2004) offered yet another overview of Tina Turner's solo career with the obligatory three new songs plus previously released duets with Bryan Adams and Eros Ramazotti. The set debuted at #2 and gave Turner her highest charting album to date. The following year, she was a recipient of the Kennedy Center Honors and was named one of 25 "Legendary Women" by good friend Oprah Winfrey.Later that same year, Turner was named "Woman of the Year" in the U.K. for her enduring contributions to music. Fellow musician Joan Armatrading presented Turner with the award.
In October 2008, Turner embarked on her first tour in eight years while Captiol issued yet another career-spanning compilation entitled TINA! The set featured two new tracks, "I'm Ready" and "It Would Be a Crime," and debuted at #61 on the Billboard 200.
In an age where stars are created by "voting" and the talent of artists is dizzyingly cross-marketed, Tina Turner remains a rare individual. No amount of record sales or critical acclaim can accurately reflect the gift that Turner has brought to listeners over the past five decades. She inspires and astounds with a remarkable voice and infectious energy. She is the embodiment of soul. She is, simply, the essence of music's transcendent power.
Anna Mae Bullock, better known as Tina Turner, whose career spans over 50 years, is 73 years old today! So let's all say Happy Birthday to Ms Turner!
Of course she was married to one Ike Turner, whom she later revealed abused her during the course of their marriage, in her autobiography, I, Tina, a book that become the basis of the 1993 film about her life, What's Love Got To Do With It - loosely based.
And on account of today's celebration of the birthday of the star whose life is at the center of that film, I thought I'd dig up some related trivia; yes, I'm sure some of you likely already know all of this, but for those who didn't know before today, now you do.
First, I should note that the film was a critical smash, scoring a 97% rating on Rotten Tomatoes, and earning bothAngela Bassett, and co-star Laurence Fishburne, Oscar nominations (neither won). It wasn't a huge commercial success, although it did well enough, relative to budget.
And now for a few interesting Did You Know?...
- Turner herself refused to be fully involved in the making of the film, telling an interviewer, "Why would I want to see Ike Turner beat me up again? I haven't dwelled on it; it's all in the past where it belongs." Although she did help Angela Bassett with her transformation into Tina Turner.
- Apparently almost every black actress in Hollywood at the time was considerd for the part: Halle Berry, Whitney Houston, Robin Givens, Pam Grier, Vanessa L. Williams and Janet Jackson to name a few.
- Laurence Fishburne was said to have turned down the role of Ike Turner five times; and it was only until he learned that Angela Bassett was going to play Tina Turner, that he changed his mind.
- Charlie Murphy (Eddie's brother) is said to have auditioned for the role of Ike Turner.
- Jenifer Lewis originally auditioned to play Tina Turner, but ended up playing Tina's mother in this film, even thought she's only two years older than Angela Bassett, who played Tina.
- Angela Bassett was injured while filming the first spousal abuse sequence. She is said to have fallen off the back of a sofa, put her hands out to reduce the impact, and suffered a fracture on her right hand. Needless to say, she only did that stunt fall once.
- Vanessa Bell Calloway, who plays Jackie, the friend and former Ikette who shares Buddhism with Tina, was wary of chanting Buddhist words because of her strong Christian faith. Director Brian Gibson is said to have instead instructed her to mouth the words silently during taping, and then he added the words with a voice double in post-production.
- While Angela Bassett didn't actually sing Tina Turner's songs, Laurence Fishburne actually sang Ike Turner's parts.
- Ike Turner said that certain scenes of abuse depicted in the film didn't happen, as revealed in his own autobiographyTaking Back My Name. Specifically, the scene where he beats and rapes Tina in their home studio, and the scene where he confronts her backstage with a handgun. But as noted earlier, the film is loosely based on Tina Turner's autobiography, meaning certain parts of it (several actually) were "fictionalized for dramatic purposes."
I end with that note, adding that it speaks to what I suppose we'd refer to as artistic license/creative license, when it comes to films based on real-life events, and people; so, yes, just as parts of this film were fiction (it happens more than you'd think when it comes to biopics and films based on real-life events... for "dramatic effect," as they say), if you were OK with that fact, then you really should also be OK with parts of current films based on real-life events and people, being fictionalized as well. Of course I'm referring to the Zoe Saldana/Nina Simone project, on which director Cynthia Mort has taken some creative liberties in the telling of that story.
Is there a line that shouldn't be crossed, and if so, where is it?
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. After conducting exclusive interviews with more than one hundred current and former Secret Service agents, Kessler reveals their secrets for the first time.
