In fact, on this week way back in 1984 Tina topped Billboard's charts and boy was she in great company. The rest of the top ten was rounded out by the likes of Prince, Huey Lewis & the News, John Waite and Corey Hart. Back in 1984 we used to do the math to figure out when our favorite videos would be on. Admit it, you did it too. New videos were at the top of every hour and they repeated every four hours. If you watched in the morning before school then you likely knew that they same exact videos would be on the next day, just 12 minutes later because the schedule barely changed at all.
Do you remember the summer of Tina strutting in those fishnets with her bitty jean jacket and pretty epic wig? Of course you do because it was the year of the Jackson's Victory tour which we all fantasized about going to see. My friends and I all took turns leaving for the Jersey Shore and mailing each other post cards from Wildwood, as if we'd not actually see each other again in a matter of days. Then there were those white clunky shell necklaces and bracelets.
I think I wore three at a time because they were so cool and seemed to somehow prove that I had a life outside of Smalltown, USA. Ghostbusters was an absolute phenomenon and Beverly Hills Cop was a huge deal. Oh and my hair reeked of Salon Selectives. The smell is like a mash up of strawberry, cherry and god knows what else and if you're REALLY lucky you can find it to this day!
My dad was thrilled the year that Tina reinvented herself and came back. He had been a DJ for years and had an in-home studio that I would kill for now and he knew what a power house she actually was. While my local DJ's focused on how great she sounded after mentioning her great legs on the 45 of "What's Love Got to Do With It", dad always had a way of making me connect with the stripped down music, lyrics and the voice presenting it all to me. I'm also pretty sure that he appreciated Tina's fishnets too.
31 years ago this week, as Tina walked those legs right to the top of Billboard's Hot 100, where she stayed for three weeks, I was walking my little legs into 8th grade classes just like my daughter now. It makes me wonder, when she is my age and looks back on the summer before 8th grade, what will stand out in her mind?