Aretha

I had this album back in 1986.

I've always grouped Aretha Franklin and Tina Turner together. Both are a little older than my parents, and both were singers who were popular in the old days and made comebacks in the mid 1980s. I've always preferred Tina Turner. She has more good songs and less awful songs. Even back then, Aretha's duet with Annie Lennox made me cringe. Probably the lamest song and song title ever. I don't even want to say it.

Tina, on the other hand, did a cover of Prince's "Let's Pretend We're Married", and her follow-up to Private Dancer, Break Every Rule had even better songs on it: "Typical Male", "What You Get Is What You See", and "Two People". She even had some good B-sides- "Don't Turn Around" and "Havin' A Party". Plus Turner recorded one of my favorite songs ever, "Total Control, a Motels cover that came out on the We Are The World album.

I liked Aretha's "Jimmy Lee" and her version of "Jumpin' Jack Flash", but I think her best song from the 1980s is her duet with George Michael, "I Knew You Were Waiting (For Me)".

Anyway, I remember reading the cassette sleeve and seeing that Andy Warhol did the cover, but back then, that name meant next to nothing to me, though I knew who he was and could recognize his picture and some of his paintings (I grew up with People magazine).