Tina Turner has always been a wonderful interpreter of songs and sometime in 1984 or 1985, she started covering Bruce Springsteen's "Dancing In The Dark". It must have been short lived as there are very few recordings available. However, one of them happened to be in Japan from 1984. Sadly the person who put it up on YouTube disabled the embedding link, but you yourself can catch the performance at this link.
I've always felt this is one of Springsteen's most underrated tunes and no matter how many times I hear it or how dated the keyboard sound on it, it makes me smile. A ode to lonliness and the need for human touch has never sounded as fun. There is a haunting solo version Bruce pulled out a handful of times on his 1992 tour where it was just him and his electric guitar {Link here}. For many this was the way the song should have been recovered and it wouldn't have been out of place on an album like The River. Alas it wasn't meant to be and Bruce went on to selling 30 million records and singles from Born In The USA. His revved up and revamped performances of the song beginning in 2002 are epic in concert and whenever he and the E Street Band tear into it, it proves to be an enthralling moment that proves that while rock n' roll may not be able to solve the world's problems, it allows you to dance your problems away for a little while and in the end, that's all we can ask of music.
Tina Turner performing "Dancing In The Dark"
"Dancing In The Dark" E Street Style from 2002 in Barcelona below...
"Dancing In The Dark"-Subtle, stark and alone in 1992
