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Ike
By Avery | December 14, 2007
At what point should one act, or set of acts, define a person? I’m thinking specifically of Ike Turner. For the most part, people know Ike as a wife beater. I would even go so far as to say that many people know him primarily as a wife beater, to the exclusion of his prodigious musical talent. All because of that movie.
Now don’t get me wrong, I’m not sayin that domestic abuse is okay, or downplaying its significance, but I am sayin that Ike the musician doesn’t get the credit that he deserves because all most people know about is Ike the wife beater. Juxtapose that with Miles Davis, who was also known to beat his companions, or James Brown, for that matter. Is Ike more known as a wife beater because he was lesser-known as a musician in the first place, or because the beatings he delivered appeared on the screen and became pop cultural icons?
Topics: Everwhatever, Music |
December 14th, 2007 at 3:26 pm
Ike’s caricature as a coke-addled wife beater was immortalized by What’s Love Got to do With it?. But I believe as a musician, he had as much name recognition and stature as James Brown, and (maybe) more than Miles Davis.
December 15th, 2007 at 6:24 am
His rep isn’t helped by msm. NY Post headline: “IKE BEATS TINA TO DEATH.” See? That’s their thing with Ike and they’re not lettin it go.
December 15th, 2007 at 11:34 am
In Ike’s case, who he beat was more famous than he was. If those other guys were beating up women, we don’t know their names.
I grew up in the same neighborhood with the Turners, by the way.
December 15th, 2007 at 6:48 pm
well, i know one of the women miles used to beat was cicely tyson, but i think you have a point in that tina got to be more famous than ike, but to a certain extent, i think that may be because of the movie itself.
December 15th, 2007 at 9:35 pm
You know… when the azz whuppings were going on (in the 70s), the average person saw Ike and Tina as a singular entity. Of course back then, the average person didn’t know the half of their private lives.
Tina reinvented herself in the 80s with the help of some Brit Pop producers. In the interim period between the time she left Ike and struck it big as a solo act, her career was a trivia question. At least she’s honest enough to explain without Ike, there never would have been a Tina.
December 19th, 2007 at 6:48 pm
i might be dating myself, but i’ve never seen the movie and i thot the stuff about ike’s beatdowns was common knowledge. i mean, it’s like we don’t need a movie to tell us JFK ‘hit’ marilyn monroe, right?