Ken Russell's Tommy Knew Exactly How To Utilize The Talents Of Tina Turner
The Who's "Tommy" is one of the most groundbreaking concept albums in rock and roll history, and is considered by many to be one of the best albums ever written. After its debut in 1969, "Tommy" has been adapted in a variety of different mediums, including a ballet, an opera, a restructured work for the London Symphony Orchestra, a Broadway musical, and most notably, the cinematic rock and roll masterpiece by Ken Russell. Four years before directing "Tommy," Russell put out the controversial religious horror erotica, "The Devils," which /Film's Chris Evangelista rightfully described as "a punk rock freakshow disguised as a period piece." Considering the story of "Tommy," Russell was the perfect director for the job.
The story follows a young man named Tommy (Roger Daltrey) who after witnessing his mother's lover murder his father (in the original album, the father kills the lover), disassociates from reality. He's surrounded by sadistic neighbors and relatives and is in desperate need of escapism, which he finds in the form of playing pinball. Tommy becomes an internationally lauded pinball player, inspiring people from around the globe. Theatrical productions often feature the tagline, "a story of hope, healing, and the human spirit," which is true, but leaves out how ungodly weird things get. Elton John plays the Pinball Wizard in four-and-a-half foot-high boots! Eric Clapton runs a Marilyn Monroe cult! Keith Moon plays a pervert! Jack Nicholson plays a doctor who tries to bang Tommy's mom! Former "Jesus Christ Superstar" leading man, Paul Nicholas, plays an S&M punk biker! Oliver Reed and Ann-Margaret are here too! This movie is NUTS.
But there's one bit of celebrity casting that shines above them all — Tina Turner's take on the Acid Queen.
Who is the Acid Queen?
"The Acid Queen" is a song written by Pete Townshend specifically for The Who's rock opera album "Tommy." In the original recording, Townshend sang the lead vocal, but Turner completely changed the song forever when performing it in character for Ken Russell's film adaptation. The song is about the titular Tommy's parents' attempts to try to cure his disabilities. His parents are willing to try just about anything, which includes leaving him in an eccentric drug den with the self-proclaimed "Acid Queen," who loads him up with hallucinogenic drugs and performs the number in a sexually provocative manner. She hopes that by freeing his mind and inspiring him to liberate his body, he'll somehow be "fixed."
Townshend said in the book "The Who by Numbers," that the song is "not just about acid: it's the whole drug thing, the drink thing, the sex thing wrapped into one big ball [...] She represents this force."
The role in the film was originally offered to The Rolling Stones frontman, Mick Jagger, but he refused unless he was able to sing three of his own songs. Mick Jagger turned down a role unless he got to be the center of attention? Color me shocked! Fortunately, his rejection led to the casting of Tina Turner, who completely made the song (and role) her own in an incomparable performance. The Acid Queen may have been unsuccessful in assisting Tommy, but Turner's rendition of the song has become the definitive version. She recorded a version of the song on her eponymous Acid Queen album in 1975, her single before her departure from the Ike & Tina Turner Revue in 1976.
For the record, f*** Ike Turner.
This girl will put him right
The casting of Tina Turner is inspired, but it's her commitment to the role that pushes the character into a movie musical icon. The Acid Queen is not just a drug maven, she's also an unpredictable sex worker. The camera pushes in and out on Turner's face in unnatural ways with lenses that warp her appearance, and she hams up every last bit of it. The role was her first in any feature film, and it's likely that her erratic, brilliantly excessive delivery led to her casting in "Mad Max Beyond Thunderdome." Much of the Acid Queen scene is washed with red lighting and red costuming, with Turner donning a vibrant red lip over her mega-watt smile. Once the LSD hits, Turner is like a freight train off the rails in the best ways possible, serving as Tommy's guide down Alice's rabbit hole to Wonderland.
The visuals are out of control, Turner's voice terrorizes the Who's original music with power, and Roger Daltrey's titular character is flooded in the psychedelic number with a setting that would make Terry Gilliam proud. At one point, Turner holds up a massive syringe like something out of "Repo! The Genetic Opera" before her assistants place her in a highly-reflective suit of armor and she spins into oblivion. When things finally snap back into reality, Turner's Acid Queen trembles with a painful smile plastered across her face, twitching rapidly like the end credits of Ti West's "Pearl." Every second she's on screen is absolutely hypnotic, and her scene completely steals the movie.
Merry Clayton, Patti LaBelle, and Bette Midler have all gone on to do their own renditions of Acid Queen, but no one has or ever will do it like Tina Turner. May she rest in peace.