"What You Get Is What You See" by Tina Turner

Song#:  3016
Date:  02/07/1987
Debut:  74
Peak:  13
Weeks:  14
Genre:  Pop, Rock



Pop Bits:  Turner's second single from her album Break Every Rule, "Two People," didn't set the Pop chart afire. It stalled at a minor #30 while only making the Top 20 at both R&B and AC. The results were unexpected and a better performing single was nearly imperative in order to keep sales of the album going. For a third single, this country-rock flavored track was selected. Like her previous two singles, this one was also written by Terry Britten and Graham Lyle. The good news was that the song performed better at Pop getting close to the Top 10. The bad news is that it failed to make any of the other charts (Rock, AC, R&B). The lack of a larger crossover hit played into album sales with Break Every Rule only being certified platinum. While not necessarily a failure, the amount was a significant drop from the five million that Private Dancer had sold.

ReduxReview:  This song probably should have been the LP's second single. If it had been supported with an interesting video, I think the tune would have gone Top 10. Still, it wasn't that great of a song. As I mentioned in previous posts, Break Every Rule was mostly the Britten/Lyle show and they did not bring their A-game. Besides "Typical Male," the album lacked good single candidates. There were tracks I certainly liked on the LP, but none of them would be considered hits. I think a bit more time was needed to find better material, but in the music business world, time is not a friend. So Graham and Lyle did what they could. Unfortunately, it was all fairly lackluster.

ReduxRating:  5/10

Trivia:  In total, eight songs would be released as singles from Break Every Rule. However, some were released to just a specific handful of countries. One of those was the David Bowie-penned track "Girls." On her massive breakthrough LP Private Dance, Turner covered Bowie's "1984," a song from his 1974 album Diamond Dogs. For Break Every Rule, Bowie decided to write a song for Turner and came up with "Girls." The tune would be released as a single in some European markets and it actually did well in The Netherlands where it reached #16. Not long after Turner recorded the song, Bowie recorded his own take on it for possible inclusion on his 1987 album Never Let Me Down. In fact, he did two versions - one in English and one in Japanese. Neither made the cut and were left off the album. However, they were used as b-sides to singles from the album.

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