Synopsis

Set inside London's ornate Rivoli Ballroom, Tina Turner portrays a weary taxi dancer who performs for paying customers while imagining a more glamorous life beyond the dance floor. The video moves between staged ballroom routines and fantasy sequences inspired by ballet, the can-can, and traditional Japanese dance. Turner's commanding presence contrasts with the character's emotional exhaustion, giving visual form to the song's portrait of a woman who turns intimacy into a service while remaining personally detached.

Factoids & Trivia

• The video was filmed at the Rivoli Ballroom in Crofton Park, London, a venue known for its period interior and polished dance floor.

• Choreography was created by Arlene Phillips, whose work helped shape the video's shifts between ballroom dancing and stylized fantasy performance.

• Turner plays a taxi dancer rather than presenting the song as a straightforward nightclub performance. Taxi dancers were paid to dance with customers, a profession that closely matches the song's transactional point of view.

• Contemporary coverage noted that the production had no backstage changing rooms at the Rivoli. Turner and the crew reportedly used four large film trailers parked outside the venue.

• Mark Knopfler wrote the song after deciding it did not suit Dire Straits. He had originally regarded it as a song for a woman, and Turner recorded it with musicians associated with Dire Straits.

• The recording features a guitar solo by Jeff Beck, adding a prominent rock accent to the song's restrained, jazz-tinged arrangement.

• The video was later restored from the original 35mm film for the 40th anniversary edition of the album, released in 2025.