And That’s All.
A shorter entry today. It’s time for one of my all-time favorite arena rock songs! And a fantastic duet.
I love songs that make me melt. Bryan Adams tends to do this to me. But if you add Tina Turner to the mix? Magic.
“It’s Only Love” was the seventh and final single from Bryan Adams’s brilliant album Reckless, released November 5, 1984. The album has no real tricks to it, it’s just a solidly written and composed mainstream rock album with a legendary string of hit singles, including “Summer of ’69” and “Heaven.”
But even from the opening power chords, and a few seconds later when the melody starts, you’re in a song that satisfies pop and metal fans alike.
And then Tina arrives. This is only six months after she released her comeback album, Private Dancer. She was at the top of her game. She didn’t have to do a high-profile collaboration with a hot young rock star. She did it because she wanted to.
And their chemistry in this song is epic. In the official video, filmed live in Birmingham, England in 1985, Tina Turner starts out by describing how she recorded this song with this guy from Canada. She pauses. “He’s, uh, really cute, you know?” Her lower lip shifts. She calls him out on stage, and the song starts.
I call your attention to the 2:43 mark of the music video, embedded below for your viewing pleasure. Bryan Adams was 25, and Tina Turner was 46. She was literally the Queen of Rock and Roll, a legend, freshly off her smash comeback. Her lust is so intense that at 2:47, he gives her a side glance with his eyes, begging her to stop, immortalized on film. But their chemistry was real; you can’t fake that. Like another oddly matched pair many years later—Snoop Dogg and Martha Stewart—these two definitely fucked. I have no proof, but I know. But Tina Turner and Bryan Adams actually make much more sense.
Their musical chemistry, maybe as a result of the above, was also special. Tina Turner caused Bryan Adams to reach more deeply into his rocker soul. You can hear the growl in his voice in this video, which Tina literally inspired him to do. Plus, “It’s Only Love” is already a pretty great love song.
It’s just one of those moment-in-time things that I wish I were there for. Watch the video, and then save the song to one of your playlists. It’s only love, and that’s all.