TINA: Album (Studio)

Foreign Affair (1989)

Tina Turner - Foreign Affair - Album

Foreign Affair is the seventh studio album from Tina Turner and was a huge success in Europe with six hit singles, reaching multi-platinum status in 14 different countries. It was also Tina’s first #1 album in the UK where it topped the charts in it’s first week. It's much more R&B influenced than it's predecessors, with four songs written by Tony Joe White. On some songs, Tina is credited as a co-producer for the first time since she went solo. At her Foreign Affair Tour in 1990, she performed most of the songs live, available on the Do You Want Some Action! home video from 1990. Maybe it was intended to release also the song „You Can’t Stop Me Loving You“ as a single, because Tina promoted it beside the official singles at several TV-Shows and specials like The Best on German language television and Viva El Espectaculo in Spain.

For promotion, Capitol Records released a 4-track Cassette Sampler with selected songs and an additional Radio Interview. Initially only intended for promotion, a special limited edition passport package was released for retail in November. In 2021, Rhino Records released a Deluxe Edition, which features for the first time the original album fully remastered, a collection of B-sides, remixes and a previously unheard demo of the classic The Best as well as Tina’s iconic concert from Barcelona in 1990 and all music videos.

Photographer: Peter Lindbergh / Herb Ritts
Design: Glenn Sakamoto
Clothes: Azzedine Alaïa / Michael Schmidt
Release: September 1989
Label: Capitol / EMI
Format: Vinyl / CD / Cassette / Digital
Charts: Germany: #1 / UK: #1 / USA: #31 / #1 in Denmark, Switzerland, Austria, Finland, Norway, Sweden / Australia: #15
Certifications: UK: 5x Platinum / Germany: 3x Gold, 2x Platinum / USA: 1x Gold
Grammy: Best Female Rock Vocal Performance (Nomination 1990)

Tina Turner - Foreign Affair - Album
    Side A
  1. Steamy Windows 4:05
    2. Written by Tony Joe White / Produced by Dan Hartman / Single in 1989
  2. The Best 5:30
    3. Written by Holly Knight, Mike Chapman / Produced by Dan Hartman, Tina Turner / Single in 1989
  3. You Know Who (Is Doin You Know What) 3:46
    4. Written by Tony Joe White / Produced by Dan Hartman
  4. Undercover Agent For The Blues 5:20
    5. Written by Tony Joe White, L. White / Produced by Dan Hartman / Promo in 1989
  5. Look Me In The Heart 3:43
    6. Written by Tom Kelly, Billy Steinberg / Produced by Dan Hartman / Single in 1990
  6. Be Tender With Me Baby 4:17
    7. Written by Albert Hammond, Holly Knight / Produced by Dan Hartman / Single in 1990
    Side B
  1. You Can’t Stop Me Loving You 4:01
    2. Written by Albert Hammond, Holly Knight / Produced by Dan Hartman
  2. Ask Me How I Feel 4:47
    3. Written by Albert Hammond, Holly Knight / Produced by Dan Hartman, Tina Turner
  3. Falling Like Rain 4:04
    4. Written by David Munday, Sandy Stewart / Produced by Rupert Hine
  4. I Don’t Wanna Lose You 4:21
    5. Written by Albert Hammond, Graham Lyle / Produced by Roger Davies, Graham Lyle, Albert Hammond / Single in 1989
  5. Not Enough Romance 4:04
    6. Written by Dan Hartman / Produced by Dan Hartman
  6. Foreign Affair 4:28
    7. Written by Tony Joe White / Produced by Roger Davies, Tony Joe White / Single in 1990
Tina Turner - Foreign Affair - Album

Billboard - November 11, 1989

The Saleable Promo - Originally intended for promo distribution only, a special CD „passport“ packaging version of Tina Turner’s Capitol album „Foreign Affair“ has had a run of 22,000 on a onetime basis only for sale at retail. The equivalent list for the CD is about $5 over the regular CD price. The first 500 of the promo passport CDs, an idea of Bill Burks, VP of artist and product development, were sequentially numbered. Capitol parent EMI companies in Germany, France, Austria, Finland, Holland, and Norway have also made the special CDs available for retail use.

Tina Turner - Foreign Affair - Album

Billboard - October 14, 1989

The Affair Has Begun The Album Foreign Affair / Debut #1 in the U.K., Germany, Denmark, Switzerland / On the Billboard Pan-European Chart / 1.1 Million Shipped Outside the U.S. the first week of Release / Shipped Gold in the U.S. the first week of Release / Platinum in Canada first week / The Single The Best / Already Top 5 in 12 Countries Internationally … and continues with the New European Single Steamy Windows

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