Second Chances

Rising Up To Meet Your Dreams & Tina Turner's Leather Jacket

I still can’t quite believe it myself, but one of my mother’s dearest friends, Jules, just sent me Tina Turner’s bolero leather jacket made by the great Azzedine Alaïa. That’s it pictured above, just casually lying on my dressing table. As someone who firmly believes in the idea that ephemeral traces are left behind and imbue things and places and even people, holding Tina’s jacket in my hands feels like the closest I will ever get to a religious experience. My daughter understands. When I sent her a picture she replied with “Well if that ain’t a sign from Tina to keep hangin’ in there I don’t know what is. Incredible”. I also believe in signs, so that’s the message I’m going to choose comes with Tina’s jacket. In fact I’m going to take all the lessons I have learned from Tina, from listening to her, watching her and reading her story, and I’m going to think about them, the way if you are a religious person you might reflect on your Bible stories. Tina said a lot of very wise and indelible things, and it’s not hard to find them plastered around the internet or written in her books. Here are some of my favourites, that I choose to listen to and live by:

“I believe that if you’ll just stand up and go, life will open up for you.”

“I’m self-made.”

“You take your problems to a god, but what you really need is for the god to take you to the inside of you.”

“Sometimes you’ve got to let everything go—purge yourself. If you are unhappy with anything… whatever is bringing you down, get rid of it. Because you’ll find that when you’re free, your true creativity, your true self comes out.”

“The future belongs to those who believe in the beauty of their own dreams.”

“At every moment, we always have a choice, even if it feels as if we don’t. Sometimes that choice may simply be to think a more positive thought,"

Jules was on the road (and in hotels and planes and backstages) with Tina for many, many years. This is not the first item of Tina’s clothing I’ve been gifted by her. You see Jules understands the secrets that are held inside leather or silk or even polyester, from one wearer to another… and she understood what it would mean for a young singer with a slight Tina Turner obsession to own a pink rubber zip up mini dress that belonged to Tina Turner. Unfortunately, there is a sad ending to this story and it passed through my hands. You can read the whole story here and an excerpt below….

I squeezed myself into it but it was pretty obscene, even for me, who at that point was reasonably shameless about accidentally flashing my knickers if a dress I loved was dangerously short. I went out in it a couple of times but I felt like a cheap human sausage and finally had to face the fact that even though the dress was by a famous designer and belonged to my beloved Tina Turner, it was not doing me any favours.

But I got a second chance. I’m obviously a very lucky person, and it’s not something i take lightly. I think the Universe (or Jules) wanted me to have something of Tina’s and I’m gonna treat it right this time. It fits me like it was made for me. But I have set myself a mental challenge. I want to learn how to do the Pony before I wear it. I have often attempted my own bastardized uncoordinated version of it on a dancefloor, but my times on a dancefloor have gotten fewer and far-betweener, so I’m also going to take the gift of Tina Turner’s leather jacket as a sign that I need to rise up to meet my dreams, and master the Pony before I’m put out to pasture. I need to listen to the signs around me. To transform in the best of ways and in all the ways that bring me joy.

Frank Sinatra has said he learned everything he needed to know about singing from listening to Billie Holiday. Its obvious Mick learned everything he needed to know about moving onstage from Tina Turner, even if he won’t admit it.

Tina tells this story “Mick showed up at the dressing room I shared with our dancers and said in his unmistakable voice: ‘I like how you girls dance.’ Well, we had seen him strutting on stage with his tambourine and thought he looked a little awkward. So we pulled him in and taught him how to do the Pony, our signature prancing footwork. Mick caught on fast but found it difficult to do certain steps. He obviously kept practising as when we watched him doing a little bit of the Pony during his next show, we thought: ‘Well, that’s good.’ Not that he ever gave us credit for his new fancy footwork. To this day, Mick likes to say: ‘My mother taught me how to dance.’ OK fine – but I know better.” (from My Love Story, by Tina Turner)

About the origins of the moves, Tina said to Oprah “I always had long legs. When I was young, I used to think, 'Why do I look like a little pony?'“

I’m going to put this amazing little skit here between Ann Margret and Tina Turner, just because its one of my favourite pieces of video on earth, and the only philosophy I subscribe to.

We open on Ann Margret and Tina all dressed in long white dresses, prim and proper, fanning themselves in soft focus and talking about how wonderful it is to relax. Ann Margret says ‘You and I know there’s more than doing two shows a night, rehearsing eight hours a day, and running for planes…. can’t you just picture yourself relaxing like this all the time?’ Tina replies ‘You mean all the time? No more staying up late?’

Ann Margret ‘No more smoke filled nightclubs’

Tina Turner ‘No more recording sessions?’

Ann Margret ‘No rehearsals’

Tina Turner ‘No planes?’

Ann Margret ‘No trains’

Tina Turner ‘No dancing?’

Ann Margret ‘No singing’

Tina Turner ‘No working?’

Ann Margret & Tina ‘No way!’

It’s the most joyful 9mins 17 you might ever spend in front of a screen, and a glorious ode to friendship and performing.

Strong is one of the first words that comes to mind when we think about Tina. But Tina has said that she didn’t necessarily want to be ‘a strong person’. I read a comment online from another survivor of domestic abuse who said that being called strong feels like you’re being told you’re really good at being punched in the face. It doesn’t mean anything.

What she has said, and often, is that she’s ‘self made’. She gave herself a second chance. Tina is all about transformation. Forward motion and stillness, choosing kindness, hope and optimism, “brightening the cosmic masterpiece of artwork that is our world”.

Tina Turner at 19, back when she was still little Annie Mae Bullock, but she knew exactly what she was capable of

I love this example she gives. “Jazz music itself is an example of changing poison into medicine. African Americans created jazz, a great medicine for people’s hearts, out of the poisonous experience of slavery. Jazz developed from African culture, gospel music, and blues to lift up the spirits of oppressed people, and now it brings joy to people the world over.”

Even in thinking about her own death, she is imagining a beautiful transformation taking place “This is what I want in heaven… words to become notes and conversations to be symphonies”. God, how beautiful is that. I’m sure she’s made it happen.

Tina by Peter Lindbergh

Keep hangin’ in there, and if you need something to change, as Tina told herself over and over when she left Ike in the middle of the night, barefoot and terrified, with 36c in her pocket, ‘The way out is through the door’.

Lo x