Ah, the 80’s. The golden age of MTV, big hair, programmed drums, and padded shoulders.
In 1986, while enjoying a year of freedom before entering law school, I watched more MTV than probably was healthy. I had missed much of what happened in music while an undergraduate and was making up for lost listening hours and then some. At the time, Janet Jackson was 20 years old and had already released two albums, but to my ear had not come close to reaching the heights that her brothers, Michael most notably, had achieved. But my view of Janet changed dramatically when I heard her new track “What Have You Done for Me Lately” produced by Jimmy Jam and Terry Lewis.
Ah, the 80’s. The golden age of MTV, big hair, programmed drums, and padded shoulders.
In 1986, while enjoying a year of freedom before entering law school, I watched more MTV than probably was healthy. I had missed much of what happened in music while an undergraduate and was making up for lost listening hours and then some. At the time, Janet Jackson was 20 years old and had already released two albums, but to my ear had not come close to reaching the heights that her brothers, Michael most notably, had achieved. But my view of Janet changed dramatically when I heard her new track “What Have You Done for Me Lately” produced by Jimmy Jam and Terry Lewis.
Released as the lead single from her third album, Control, the song reached # 4 on the Billboard Hot 100 and was certified gold by the RIAA. The beat, and the vibe that Janet creates around it, are absolutely infectious, and the visual for the track showed that Janet was the whole enchilada: She could sing, she could dance, and she was charming. So step back 30 years and enjoy! And wish Janet a happy 50th birthday.
By Robb Patryk