openentrance – What's Really Going OnWhat's Really Going On

Ike Turner is set to perform September 2nd at the Big Muddy Blues Festival, but St. Louis Mayor Francis Slay has turned down a request to make Sept. 2 “Ike Turner Day.”

Cathy Smentkowski, an aide to Slay, said that when the request “was brought to the mayor’s attention, he did not feel comfortable issuing it.” She declined to elaborate.

I’m guessing she didn’t elaborate so she could get back to the meeting room and finish laughing.

Could it have been the accusations of him abusing his ex-wife Tina that made the mayor feel uncomfortable? Or maybe it was because he spent 17-months in jail for a drug conviction back in 1990.  Or maybe Mayor Slay knew if he wanted to continue to be taken seriously as a politician he had to say no to this.

Scott M. Hanover, a manager at Thrill Entertainment Group, which represents Ike Turner, said it was a “shame” that Turner’s troubled history still follows him.”People are living in the past,” Hanover said. “They don’t know the man I know. This ain’t 1962.”

Now I know Ike is considered legendary in the music game to many, but I want to know who all was sitting in the room when somebody decided it would be a good idea to ask for Sept 2 to be ‘Ike Turner Day!’