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I spent some of last night reading Dan LeRoy’s informative little 33 1/3 book on the Beastie Boys’ Paul’s Boutique, and this line leapt out at me re. secret Paul’s sampling/production guru Matt Dike: “‘All Matt ever wanted to do was to make millions off of music so he could stay home and do drugs,’ recalls graphic artist Eric Haze, a friend of both Dike and the Beastie Boys. ‘And that’s what he did.’” Naturally this slacker sentiment immediately spoke to the lazier side of me, but replace “do drugs” with “listen to Jam and Lewis productions,” the big, bright, and synthy legos that my early infatuation with pop music was built with. (The block rockin’ side Rick Rubin wasn’t responsible for anyway.) While Janet’s Control is certainly their most lauded effort commercially, it has one too many Vaseline-y soft-focus seventh grade slow jams among the zinging drum stabs and thrown ‘bows to be the best album ever. But from the mish-mash of ’80s pop-art signifiers recycled for the shopping mall that make up the sleeve to the sassy sneer of the scrub-dissing spoken intro to “What Have You Done For Me Lately,” it might be the best thing ever?
The only correct answer is “yes,” by the way, but here’s the “shoulder pads and shapeless sweaters meet checkered cabs and newsies” video for “When I Think Of You” to sway your vote.
Janet Jackson – “When I Think Of You” [YouTube]
You KNOW how I voted.
“when i think of you” is a perfect song.
Do the “shoulder pads and shapeless sweaters” really win over the zoot suits and Heavy D guest-rap from the video for “Alright” off of Rhythm Nation? Methinks not.
@maura: A perfect perfect PERFECT song. The whole instrumental break building up to that steadily paced “When – I – think – of – YOU!” = untouchable.
Just a little geek note, but I didn’t see any cuts in that clip at all. Not one. There were a couple spots where a pole could have masked a wipe, but from the way the video was shot I’d guess that they intentionally did it in 1 take. This is something that people make a huge deal of now, like “Look at my edgy art clip we did in one take how cool is that?” but Janet was doing it in her videos back in the day and didn’t make any big deal over it.
I was obsessed with this period in Janet’s career until I realized how similar all of these songs were. Now I feel deceived and used. Still, “Control” never loses its potency, and “Pleasure Principle” remains one of my favorite Janet tunes, fast or slow.
@deejayqueue: I was going to say the exact same thing! There is one definite cut however, when the photog says “smile” and takes the pic more dancing sailors appear. Otherwise though, yeah, this is definitely shot in a “1 take” style and I love it.
One of the first times I knew I was going to become a music nerd bigtime was when I got so frustrated at the huge popularity that Janet got with Rhythm Nation 1814 in my early college days. That’s a great album too, but c’mon! Control was and has proven to be much more solid over time.
Janet should have never got involved with You, Me and Dupri. I think that’s the reason her last couple of albums have been so weak.
I grew up obsessed with the Rhythm Nation album, but over time I’ve come to realize that Control is her masterpiece. On a sidenote, Sharon Jones does a damn fonky cover of “What Have You Done For Me Lately?”
About 80-percent of “Control” was very much mid-80’s pop at its best – speaking as a fan of Masonna and Nurse with Wound. “When I Think of You” alone has the greatest synth stabs, even better than those on Trevor Horn’s early 80’s productions. I’m telling you, vintage Janet is some of the best music to dance to after guzzling five beers.
Pleasure Principle laid the groundwork for so many industrial dancey songs from the early 90s, I’ve thought while drunk…
meh.
Oh brill! I bought this album on vinyl a few months back and thought it was going to have to be my dirty little secret. When I Think of You is my jam.
Correction: Both Rhythm Nation and Janet outsold Control by two million, according to [riaa.com]
@chachwitablog: There are a number of cuts when there is a set change that can’t be maneuvered by the camera setup they have: at 1:26 when Jackson goes inside, at 1:47 when she goes outside, at 2:45 when she goes into the club, at 3:20 when the photographer takes a picture, and at 4:16 when the cop shows up.
@DENNISOBELL
I’ve never understood the excitement over The Velvet Rope either. Too many sleepy tracks and “message” songs. A good example of when an artist forgets why anyone liked them in the first place.
Great post! It reminded me of a casserole my Mom used to make called tunafish and macaroni. It was like the best thing ever!!! But then I moved in with my Dad and he made one but it had velveeta, green peppers, and onions in it too, and that became the new best thing ever!!! So weird, but every time I have to visit Stereogum and Pitchfork to find out about any music these days, I ultimately come back here for sentimental reasons and think about comfort food from my broken home. Thanks Idolator!!!
I was outraged in 2003 when that big Rolling Stone Top 500 Albums list included, no shit, The Velvet Rope, but not Control. That shit just ain’t right.
It’s a subtle difference, but the album mix of this song–which begins with the isolated piano notes and doesn’t have that egg-timer mechanical drum–is EVEN BETTER. Totally incandescent.
Thank you, thank you, thank you, Jess. I’ve now spent the entire day listening to “Control” and “When I Think Of You,” with a little “Miss You Much,” The Time, and Sheila E. thrown in for good measure. It was time to move on to a new guilty pleasure anyway… my partner was getting sick of Rilo Kiley’s “Breakin’ Up” on endless repeat.
Sharks! Jets! And yes, while an impressive feat of choreography and camerawork, there are about five *obvious* cuts in there.