Home | Songs By Year | Songs from 1985
We Don't Need Another Hero (Thunderdome)
Buy We Don't Need Another Hero (Thunderdome) now from AmazonFirst, read the Wikipedia article. Then, scroll down to see what other TopShelfReviews readers thought about the song. And once you've experienced the song, tell everyone what you thought about it.
Wikipedia article
"'We Don't Need Another Hero (Thunderdome)'" is a 1985 song by American singer and actress Tina Turner. It appeared in the 1985 film 'Mad Max Beyond Thunderdome', which starred Turner and Mel Gibson, and is written by Terry Britten and Graham Lyle. On the heels of Turner's multiplatinum album 'Private Dancer', the song was released as a 7" single, an extended version was released as a 12" single and on the film's soundtrack album. In the UK, a shaped picture disc was also released. The power ballad received a Golden Globe nomination for Best Original Song and a Grammy nomination for Best Female Pop Vocal Performance in 1986. As songwriters, Lyle and Britten received the 1985 Ivor Novello award for Best Song Musically and Lyrically.Lister, David, 'Pop ballads bite back in lyrical fashion', The Independent, May 28, 1994
Recording
Turner was backed by a choral group from King's House School in Richmond, London. One of the choir members who appeared on the record, Lawrence Dallaglio, became famous as a rugby union star and captain of the England national team.
Chart performance
"We Don't Need Another Hero (Thunderdome)" became one of Tina Turner's biggest worldwide hit singles. The single peaked at number two on the US 'Billboard' Hot 100, behind only "St. Elmo's Fire (Man in Motion)" by John Parr. It reached number three in the UK and reached number one in Canada, Australia, West Germany, Poland, Spain and Switzerland.
Music video
The accompanying music video for "We Don't Need Another Hero" features Turner dressed in her Aunty Entity costume from the film, a heavy chain mail gown. As several spotlights shine on her, she proceeds to sing atop a platform while various scenes from the movie are interspersed. In the last portion of the video, Turner is accompanied by a children's choir and Tim Cappello, her tour saxophonist, percussionist and keyboardist at the time. The music video received an MTV Video Music Award nomination for Best Female Video.
Versions and remixes
* Single Version 4:16
* 7" instrumental 4:41
* 12" Extended Mix (Soundtrack album version) 6:07
* 12" Dub Mix (Soundtrack instrumental version) 6:30
Charts
Weekly charts
Year-end charts
Certifications
Cover versions
In 2004, Canadian singer Jane Child recorded a cover of the song, titling it "Beyond Thunderdome (We Don't Need Another Hero)" for the album 'What's Love? A Tribute to Tina Turner'.[ Allmusic - 'What's Love? A Tribute to Tina Turner']
In 2007, Finnish supergroup Northern Kings covered the song on their debut album 'Reborn'.
In March 2016, Seal and Jencarlos Canela performed a cover of the song during the Fox television special 'The Passion'. It was sung in the story where Pontius Pilate (Seal) is torn at sentencing Jesus (Jencarlos) to death; the lyrics were amended to remove the reference to 'Thunderdome', which was replaced with "the love we know".
References
Category:1985 singles
Category:1985 songs
Category:Film theme songs
Category:Tina Turner songs
Category:Number-one singles in Germany
Category:Number-one singles in Switzerland
Category:Number-one singles in Australia
Category:RPM Top Singles number-one singles
Category:Mad Max music
Category:Songs written by Graham Lyle
Category:Songs written by Terry Britten
Category:Songs written for films
Category:Rock ballads
Category:1980s ballads
Category:Pop ballads
Category:Capitol Records singles
Buy We Don't Need Another Hero (Thunderdome) now from Amazon
<-- Return to songs from 1985