"Better Be Good to Me" is a song written by
Mike Chapman
Michael Donald Chapman (born 13 April 1947) is an Australian-American record producer and songwriter who was a major force in the British pop music industry in the 1970s. He created a string of hit singles for artists including The Sweet, Suzi ...
,
Holly Knight
''Ilex'' (), or holly, is a genus of over 570 species of flowering plants in the family Aquifoliaceae, and the only living genus in that family. ''Ilex'' has the most species of any woody dioecious angiosperm genus. The species are evergreen o ...
, and
Nicky Chinn
Nicholas Barry Chinn (born 16 May 1945) is an English-American songwriter and record producer. Together with Mike Chapman he had a long string of hit singles in the UK and US in the 1970s and early 1980s, including several international number- ...
, recorded by
Tina Turner
Tina Turner (born Anna Mae Bullock; November 26, 1939) is an American-born Swiss retired singer and actress. Widely referred to as the "Honorific nicknames in popular music, Queen of Rock 'n' Roll", she rose to prominence as the lead singer o ...
for her solo record ''
Private Dancer
''Private Dancer'' is the fifth solo studio album by Tina Turner. It was released on May 29, 1984, through Capitol Records and was her first album released through the label.
After several challenging years of going solo after divorcing Ike T ...
'' (1984) and released as a single in September 1984. The song was originally recorded and released in 1981 by
Spider
Spiders ( order Araneae) are air-breathing arthropods that have eight legs, chelicerae with fangs generally able to inject venom, and spinnerets that extrude silk. They are the largest order of arachnids and rank seventh in total species ...
, a band from
New York City
New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the List of United States cities by population, most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the L ...
that featured co-writer Knight as a member. Turner's version was successful in the
United States
The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territorie ...
and peaked at No. 5 on the
''Billboard'' Hot 100 and No. 6 on the
then-Hot Black Singles charts. At the
27th Annual Grammy Awards
The 27th Annual Grammy Awards were held on February 26, 1985, at Shrine Auditorium, Los Angeles, and were broadcast live in the United States by CBS. They recognized accomplishments by musicians from the year 1984.
Award winners
Record of the ...
in 1985, it won
Best Rock Vocal Performance, Female
The Grammy Award for Best Female Rock Vocal Performance was an award presented at the Grammy Awards, a ceremony that was established in 1958 and originally called the Gramophone Awards, to female recording artists for works (songs or albums) conta ...
, one of four Grammys awarded to Turner's ''Private Dancer'' album at that ceremony.
Music video
In the
video
Video is an electronic medium for the recording, copying, playback, broadcasting, and display of moving visual media. Video was first developed for mechanical television systems, which were quickly replaced by cathode-ray tube (CRT) syste ...
, Turner is seen performing the song on stage, wearing a black leather jacket and black skin-tight, knee-length leather pants, with leopard print high heels and spikey blond hair. Towards the end, a man (
Cy Curnin
Cyril John Curnin (born 12 December 1957, Wimbledon, England) is a singer/songwriter and musician and is the lead vocalist for the new wave music group, the Fixx. As a songwriter, he has co-written over a dozen songs that have appeared on the ' ...
of
the Fixx
The Fixx are a rock band from London, England, founded in 1979. The band's hits include "One Thing Leads to Another", "Saved by Zero", "Are We Ourselves?", and "Secret Separation", each of which charted in the Top 20 of the Billboard Hot 100, ...
) appears on stage and grabs Turner's arms. She looks him in the eyes and sings the words, "Why can't you be good to me?", then pushes the man away. At the end of the video, Turner disappears under the stage in a puff of smoke. Both Curnin and the guitarist in the video,
Jamie West-Oram
The Fixx are a rock band from London, England, founded in 1979. The band's hits include " One Thing Leads to Another", " Saved by Zero", " Are We Ourselves?", and " Secret Separation", each of which charted in the Top 20 of the Billboard Hot ...
(also of the Fixx), perform on the ''Private Dancer'' album.
Personnel
*
Tina Turner
Tina Turner (born Anna Mae Bullock; November 26, 1939) is an American-born Swiss retired singer and actress. Widely referred to as the "Honorific nicknames in popular music, Queen of Rock 'n' Roll", she rose to prominence as the lead singer o ...
– lead vocals, background vocals
*
Rupert Hine
Rupert Neville Hine (21 September 1947 – 4 June 2020) was an English musician, songwriter and record producer. He produced albums for artists including Rush, Kevin Ayers, Tina Turner, Howard Jones, Saga, the Fixx, Bob Geldof, Thompson Twins ...
– bass guitar, keyboards, percussion, programming, background vocals
*
Jamie West-Oram
The Fixx are a rock band from London, England, founded in 1979. The band's hits include " One Thing Leads to Another", " Saved by Zero", " Are We Ourselves?", and " Secret Separation", each of which charted in the Top 20 of the Billboard Hot ...
– guitar
*
Trevor Morais
Trevor Morais (born 10 October 1944) is an English drummer who has been a member of several notable groups such as Faron's Flamingos, Rory Storm and The Hurricanes, The Peddlers, Quantum Jump and the Elkie Brooks backing band. He is also a ses ...
– drums
*
Cy Curnin
Cyril John Curnin (born 12 December 1957, Wimbledon, England) is a singer/songwriter and musician and is the lead vocalist for the new wave music group, the Fixx. As a songwriter, he has co-written over a dozen songs that have appeared on the ' ...
– background vocals
Versions and remixes
*7-inch edit – 3:43
*Video edit – 4:05
*Album version – 5:10
*Extended 12-inch Remix – 7:47
*Extended 12-inch Remix (early fade on ''Private Dancer'' EMI Centenary Remaster) – 7:03
Charts and certifications
Weekly charts
Year-end charts
Certifications and sales
References
{{DEFAULTSORT:Better Be Good To Me
1984 singles
Tina Turner songs
Songs written by Nicky Chinn
Songs written by Mike Chapman
Songs written by Holly Knight
1981 songs
Grammy Award for Best Female Rock Vocal Performance
Capitol Records singles
Song recordings produced by Rupert Hine
Dance-rock songs