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.
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)
Tracks
- Steamy Windows 4:05
- The Best 5:30
- You Know Who (Is Doin You Know What) 3:46
- Undercover Agent For The Blues 5:20
- Look Me In The Heart 3:43
- Be Tender With Me Baby 4:17
- You Can’t Stop Me Loving You 4:01
- Ask Me How I Feel 4:47
- Falling Like Rain 4:04
- I Don’t Wanna Lose You 4:21
- Not Enough Romance 4:04
- Foreign Affair 4:28
Singles
The first highly successful single was The Best, a rock song originally released by Bonnie Tyler in 1988. The song became Tina Turner's anthem and was also used as the theme tune for the New South Wales Rugby League in Australia. Steamy Windows was the second single, including remixed dance versions from Justin Strauss. Tina used the track as the opening number at her tour in 1990. I Don’t Wanna Lose You was a single in Europe only and Look Me In The Heart was released in England and America. The wonderful title track Foreign Affair was again only a single in some European countries. The last release was the slow rock ballad Be Tender With Me Baby, used as the encore at the Foreign Affair Tour.
The Best: August 1989 / Europe: #3 / Germany: #4 / Australia: #4 / UK: #5 / USA: #15
Steamy Windows: November 1989 (Germany, USA) / February 1990 (UK) / UK: #13 / Germany: #29 / Europe: #31 / USA: #39 / Australia: #34
I Don’t Wanna Lose You: November 1989 (UK) / February 1990 (Germany) / Europe: #4 / UK: #8 / Germany: #38 / Australia: #59
Look Me In The Heart: February 1990 (USA) / July 1990 (UK) / USA: #8 (A/C), UK: #31
Foreign Affair: May 1990 / Germany: #35
Be Tender With Me Baby: October 1990 / UK: #28
Tour
The Foreign Affair Tour was announced as a world tour, but reached only European countries with concerts in the biggest stadiums, breaking the record for a European tour that was previously set by The Rolling Stones. Roger Davies suggested to work with dancers again and Tina asked her last backing girls with Lejeune Richardson (a former Ikette) and Annie Behringer to join her. The concert from the Estadio Olimpico in Barcelona was released on home video.
Opening Night: April 27, 1990 / Antwerp (Belgium)
Closing Night: November 04, 1990 / Rotterdam (Netherlands)
Regions: Europe
Concerts: 120+
Visitors: 3 Mio.
Promo
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. For R&B radio stations in North America, the track „Undercover Agent For The Blues“ was released as a promotional single.
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Deluxe Edition
In 2021, the album was released as a Deluxe Edition, which features the original album fully remastered for the first time, a collection of B-sides and remixes, a previously unheard demo of the classic track The Best and Tina's iconic concert from Barcelona in 1990, as well as the six music videos from the album’s singles fully restored to HD.
Design: Darren Evans
Release: July 16, 2021
Label: Rhino / Parlophone
Format: 2 Vinyl (white) / 2 CD / Digital / Box (4 CD, 1 DVD)
Video
The Foreign Affair video compilation features all concept music videos from the album. All of them were reissued on the Simply The Best video collection in 1991 and once again as remastered versions on the Foreign Affair (Deluxe Edition) in 2021.
Do You Want Some Action! features a concert from the Olympic Stadium in Barcelona, Spain from October 1990. In 2021, it was remastered and re-issued on DVD as part of the Foreign Affair (Deluxe Edition).
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
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.