"Better Be Good to Me" is a song written by

Mike Chapman Michael Donald Chapman (born 13 April 1947) is an Australian 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 Quatro ...

and

Holly Knight Holly Knight (born 1956) is an American songwriter, musician, and singer. She was a member of the 1980s pop rock groups Spider and Device, and wrote or co-wrote several hit singles for other artists, such as " Rag Doll", " Obsession", " Love Is ...

, recorded by singer

Tina Turner Tina Turner (born Anna Mae Bullock; November 26, 1939 – May 24, 2023) was a singer, songwriter, actress, and author. Dubbed the "Honorific nicknames in popular music, Queen of Rock 'n' Roll", her vocal prowess, raspy voice, and electrifyin ...

for her solo studio album ''

Private Dancer ''Private Dancer'' is the fifth solo studio album by singer Tina Turner. It was released on May 29, 1984, by Capitol Records and was her first album released by the label. After a challenging start to her solo career after divorcing Ike Turner, ...

'' (1984) and released as a single in early September 1984. The song was originally recorded and released in 1981 by

Spider Spiders (order (biology), order Araneae) are air-breathing arthropods that have eight limbs, chelicerae with fangs generally able to inject venom, and spinnerets that extrude spider silk, silk. They are the largest order of arachnids and ran ...

, a band from

New York City New York, often called New York City (NYC), is the most populous city in the United States, located at the southern tip of New York State on one of the world's largest natural harbors. The city comprises five boroughs, each coextensive w ...

that featured co-writer Knight as a member. Turner's version peaked at No. 5 on the ''Billboard'' Hot 100 in the US and No. 6 on the then-

Hot Black Singles The Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs chart ranks the most popular R&B and hip hop songs in the United States and is published weekly by ''Billboard''. Rankings are based on a measure of radio airplay, sales data, and streaming activity. The chart had 100 po ...

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. Performers * Huey Lewis & Th ...

in 1985, it won Best Rock Vocal Performance, Female, one of four Grammys awarded to Turner's ''Private Dancer'' album at that ceremony. The song was also included on the Miami Vice soundtrack, and the 2024

Paramount Pictures Paramount Pictures Corporation, commonly known as Paramount Pictures or simply Paramount, is an American film production company, production and Distribution (marketing), distribution company and the flagship namesake subsidiary of Paramount ...

film '' IF'', during which the main characters sing and dance to the track inside the official music video.

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 US and UK in the 1970s and early 1980s, including several international record c ...

is credited as a writer but he was not even in the country when it was composed. Chapman included Chinn's name because of a partnership arrangement the two men had made, even though the partnership was unraveling. Knight was appalled but did not argue with Chapman. Chinn's writing credit gave him one-third of all royalties from the song.

Music video

In the

video Video is an Electronics, electronic medium for the recording, copying, playback, broadcasting, and display of moving picture, moving image, visual Media (communication), media. Video was first developed for mechanical television systems, whi ...

, 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 blonde hair. Towards the end, a man (

Cy Curnin Cyril John Curnin (born 12 December 1957) is an English singer-songwriter who serves as the lead vocalist for the new wave band, the Fixx. He has released five solo albums: ''Mayfly'' (2005), ''The Returning Sun'' (2007), ''Solar Minimum'' (20 ...

lead singer 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'' ...

) 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 him 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 (also of the Fixx), perform on the ''Private Dancer'' album.

Personnel

– lead vocals, background vocals * Rupert Hine – bass guitar, keyboards, percussion, programming, background vocals * Jamie West-Oram – guitar * Trevor Morais – drums *

– 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