Madonna or Tina Turner?
Two of the longest-lasting, bestselling female performers of all time: But which one do you prefer and why?
Josh Slocum recently did a great takedown of Madonna. He attended one of her shows and noted how Madonna had declined with age, and had never progressed beyond her family issues. Madonna, despite all of her money and success, is still trapped in the past, and as she ages, it becomes more and more clear that she will never move beyond it.
Madonna or Tina Turner?
Josh’s post got me thinking about another superstar from the 80s: Tina Turner. Tina’s solo career truly began with 1984’s “Private Dancer” album. By that point, Madonna had also released the “Like a Virgin” album, and her career also began taking off in a big way. So we had two gifted performers whose careers accelerated in the early 1980s at roughly the same time.
The two women were also competitors of a sort back in the 80s, though there were some distinct differences in their music. Tina came from a blues, soul, and rock and roll background, while Madonna was always a pop tart whose music never had the soul power of Tina’s. Tina was also obviously older than Madonna and had been around much longer in her professional relationship with Ike Turner.
If I had to choose between the two, Tina would come out on top. Her voice and her music always appealed more to me than Madonna’s. There was a grittiness to Tina and her voice, even in her pop songs, that Madonna completely lacked. Tina could pull off the pop songs, but in a way that Madonna could never do. Tina could sing the sweet ballads and the pop ditties, but you always knew that her rock and roll energy was lurking under the surface, just waiting to explode if needed in the song.
That is not to say that I did not enjoy some of Madonna’s songs back in the 80s, but I felt then that much of her music was disposable, as she morphed from one trend to another. I felt back in the 80s that Madonna would not last, and would quickly fade away, unlike Tina who hit rock bottom and then clawed her way to the top and had long-lasting success until the end of her life.
I admit that I was wrong about Madonna, she has lasted far longer than I thought she would, and she is still here as I write this article. Yet I do not have a single Madonna song on my phone. Not one. But I have a bunch of Tina’s albums and still listen to them regularly, depending on which playlist I have on when I’m out driving around.
Is it just me, or do others feel the same way about Tina versus Madonna? Try as I might, I just cannot warm up to Madonna’s music the way I can with Tina’s. There’s nothing inherently wrong with Madonna’s songs, but when I hear them, I don’t feel anything. Madonna’s music has always been fluff to me, enjoyable at times but quickly forgotten. But the opposite is true with Tina’s music.
For me, Tina’s music always had a stamp of authenticity rooted in life experience that Madonna’s music totally lacked. When I listen to Tina’s music, I get the sense that she’s been there and back again in terms of the difficulties we all face in life. It’s not so much the actual lyrics of the song, either; it’s how she sings those lyrics and the feeling of connection with the listener.
I just don’t get that with Madonna. Except for the song "Vogue,” I don’t even remember much in the way of exceptional lyrics in any of Madonna’s songs, nor do I hear her voice conveying anything personal to me in how she sings those lyrics. If anything, her presentation to the listener sounds enjoyable at times but also impersonal and forgettable. I can’t relate to Madonna in the same way that I do to the vibe from Tina’s songs.
Madonna or Tina: Live performances
But what about live performances? Note that it would be impossible to compare all of their performances. Both women have decades of performances of various quality, so there is no way to comprehensively compare their live concerts.
Madonna was always an excellent dancer, no doubt about it, but so was Tina in her own way. Here are a couple of notable performances for you to view that highlight some differences between the two women.
Here’s Tina doing “Proud Mary” back in 1988 in Rio:
And here’s Madonna doing “Vogue” in a live performance in 2008:
These two performances contrast delightfully, and they spell it all out for me. I find Madonna’s stage presentation, sound, and dancing to be empty, and rather depressing to watch. There’s nothing there, but cheesy movements wrapped around a reasonably decent pop song. I also find the colors of Madonna’s outfit and her dancers to be blasé and tedious to look at, and the performance itself bores me with its lame attempt at sexual subversion.
But Tina? Wow! The red dress, the sultry and slow beginning of “Proud Mary,” and then the moment when she kicks it all into high gear and she and her band take off like a rocket shooting into space! Tina is zooming all over the stage and singing “Proud Mary” without missing a beat. A glorious performance, packed with passion and energy! 🔥🔥🔥
I’m sorry, Madonna fans; I really am, but your girl isn’t in the same league as Tina. She wasn’t back in the 80s, and she isn’t now if you compare the two of them at similar ages in their careers. That’s not to say that Madonna isn’t talented in her own, limited way, but Tina blows her and her dancers off the stage in terms of raw energy and soul power.
Here’s Tina’s entire performance in Rio in 1988:
Having said all of that, I understand that some people prefer Madonna to Tina. If you are one of them, then more power to you. So much of a person's music preferences are subjective and personal, and that is certainly the case with my preference for Tina. Her voice, her dancing, her outfits, her band, and her overall persona just appeal to me far more than anything Madonna ever did.
Another reason I prefer Tina is that she knew when the show was over, and she simply went back to ordinary life. She didn’t need to run around showing her boobs and ass off to people. In other words, Tina had class, and she was not a narcissist. Madonna, alas, never stopped needing an endless amount of attention, and kept showing her ass and boobs off publicly, when she wasn’t on the stage, long after she should have stopped.
Now, I want to leave you with something special. Back in 1985, Tina performed at the Grammy Awards. And what did she do? She performed solo, with no band, no dancers, and nothing behind or around her. She walked down a flight of stairs and utterly commanded the stage, in a way that few performers then or now could do.
Be honest, Madonna fans, could your girl pull this off? I doubt it.
Here is Tina at the 1985 Grammy Awards:
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Not a huge fan of Tina Turner, but Madonna is awful. The only things good that came out of her career were the Weird Al parodies.
Tina Turner.
Two men enter, one man leaves!