"What You Get Is What You See" is a song by recording artist

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 ...

from her album ''

Break Every Rule ''Break Every Rule'' is the sixth solo studio album by Tina Turner. It was released on September 5, 1986, through Capitol Records in the US. It was the follow-up to Turner's globally successful comeback album, ''Private Dancer'', released two ye ...

'' (1986). The 12" single included three versions of the song, the Extended Dance Mix, the Extended Rock Mix and a live version recorded in London in November 1986. A different live recording of the song was later used as the opening track on Turner's 1988 album '' Tina Live in Europe''. She also included it in her 2009 live album ''

Tina Live ''Tina Live'' is a live album and video album by Tina Turner, released on September 28, 2009, in Europe by Parlophone and on October 13, 2009, in the United States by Manhattan Records. The tracks were recorded at the GelreDome in Arnhem Arnh ...

''. It was recorded during Turner's hugely successful 50th Anniversary Tour. The track is from the March 21, 2009 live show at the

GelreDome The GelreDome () is a football stadium in the city of Arnhem, Netherlands. It is one of the largest and most modern stadiums in the country, built from 1996 to 1998 at a cost equivalent to €75 million, that opened on 25 March 1998. The stadium ...

Arnhem Arnhem ( or ; german: Arnheim; South Guelderish: ''Èrnem'') is a city and municipality situated in the eastern part of the Netherlands about 55 km south east of Utrecht. It is the capital of the province of Gelderland, located on both banks of ...

, Netherlands. The music video for the song was directed by

Peter Care Peter Alan Care (born 28 April 1953) is an English director of music videos, commercials and film. He has directed music videos for Cabaret Voltaire, R.E.M., Bruce Springsteen, Roy Orbison, Depeche Mode and New Order, amongst others. Biograp ...

Background

The song was written by the

Terry Britten Terence Ernest Britten (born July 1947) is an English-Australian singer-songwriter and record producer, who has written songs for Tina Turner, Cliff Richard, Olivia Newton-John, Status Quo and Michael Jackson amongst many others. Britten (along w ...

and

Graham Lyle Graham Hamilton Lyle (born 11 March 1944, in Bellshill, Lanarkshire, Scotland) is a Scottish singer-songwriter, guitarist and producer. Between 1970 and 1997, he co-wrote 18 British Top 40 hits, 9 Billboard Hot 100, ''Billboard'' Hot 100 entrie ...

team and was notably different from the three previous singles that they had written for Turner, "

What's Love Got to Do with It What's Love Got to Do with It may refer to: *Tina Turner: ** "What's Love Got to Do with It" (song), a 1984 song by Tina Turner ** ''What's Love Got to Do with It'' (1993 film), a biographical film about Tina Turner ** ''What's Love Got to Do with ...

", "

We Don't Need Another Hero "We Don't Need Another Hero (Thunderdome)" is a song written by Graham Lyle and Terry Britten, and recorded by American singer Tina Turner. It appeared in the 1985 film ''Mad Max Beyond Thunderdome'', which starred Mel Gibson and Turner. On the h ...

" and " Two People", as it was an up-tempo

country A country is a distinct part of the world, such as a state, nation, or other political entity. It may be a sovereign state or make up one part of a larger state. For example, the country of Japan is an independent, sovereign state, while the ...

-tinged rock track. The song was originally to feature a guitar solo by

Eric Clapton Eric Patrick Clapton (born 1945) is an English rock and blues guitarist, singer, and songwriter. He is often regarded as one of the most successful and influential guitarists in rock music. Clapton ranked second in ''Rolling Stone''s list of ...

, but Clapton's contribution was accidentally recorded an octave too low; Terry Britten ultimately played the guitar solo himself. Tina Turner said in an interview that "What You Get Is What You See" is her favorite song from the album.

Versions and remixes

* Single edit – 3:57 * Album version – 4:31 * Extended Dance Mix – 6:28 * Extended Rock Mix – 5:56

Personnel

* Tina Turner – lead vocals *

Nick Glennie-Smith Nickolas Glennie-Smith is an English film score composer, conductor, and musician who is a frequent collaborator with Hans Zimmer, contributing to scores including '' The Rock'' (nominated for the Academy Award for Best Sound), the 2006 histori ...

– keyboards *

– programming, guitars, bass *

–

mandolin A mandolin ( it, mandolino ; literally "small mandola") is a stringed musical instrument in the lute family and is generally plucked with a pick. It most commonly has four courses of doubled strings tuned in unison, thus giving a total of 8 ...

Charts

Weekly charts

Year-end charts

Covers

The song has been covered many times including by Canadian country music group Straight Clean & Simple and a single for the band taken from their 1992 album ''Iron Lady''. It was also covered by Scottish / Irish country artist

Lisa McHugh Lisa McHugh (born 16 August 1988) is a Scottish pop and country singer. She was born in Glasgow, Scotland to Irish parents. Her father is from Castlederg in County Tyrone and her mother is from Falcarragh, County Donegal. In June 2010 she mov ...

. Her cover appears in her 2014 album ''A Life That's Good''.

In popular culture

"What You Get Is What You See" was popular in Australia, where in 1989 it was used in a campaign for the

New South Wales Rugby League The New South Wales Rugby League (NSWRL) is the governing body of rugby league in New South Wales and the Australian Capital Territory and is a member of the Australian Rugby League Commission. It was formed in Sydney on 8 August 1907 and was ...

. They later used the Tina Turner song "

The Best Best or The Best may refer to: People * Best (surname), people with the surname Best * Best (footballer, born 1968), retired Portuguese footballer Companies and organizations * Best & Co., an 1879–1971 clothing chain * Best Lock Corporatio ...

" in another campaign.

References

{{Authority control 1987 singles Tina Turner songs Songs written by Graham Lyle Songs written by Terry Britten 1986 songs Capitol Records singles Country rock songs