Janet Jackson 'What Have You Done For Me Lately?'

Chart Peak: 3
YouTube

Charted on 18th March, moved slowly at first and then raced to No. 3 by 29th April. 'Lately' was followed into the Top 20 by 'Nasty' and 'When I Think Of You'.

Possibly the most noteworthy new arrival on Now 8, the second most successful member of the Jackson family was not an overnight success in the US, let alone here. Her only Top 100 success before this was the unlikely duet with Cliff Richard on 'Two To The Power Of Love', and even that only got to 83. Only when she reportedly defied her father's wishes and started working on her third album with Minneapolis-based producers Jam & Lewis did her fortunes change. Ironically, though, the breakthrough single was inspired by the end of her short-lived marriage to James DeBarge; it seems her father was right about him if nothing else.

This sound became ubiquitous, perhaps too ubiquitous for its own good, but rarely has it sounded as good as it does here, a combination of funk, soul and synthpop that works partly by contrasting Jackson's peppy vocal against the mechanical backing track. There's a twist of humour amid the exasperation and the middle eight comes in at exactly the right moment. It's as close as she and dare I say it anyone in her family ever came to a perfect pop song.

Also appearing on: Now 26, 38, 39, 40, 41, 49, 53 (with Beenie Man)
Available on: Design Of A Decade 1986/1996

Janet Jackson 'Got Till It's Gone'

Chart Peak: 6
YouTube

Janet scored a No. 6 smash with 'Got 'Til It's Gone' in late September '97... This cool cut features inspired sampling of Joni Mitchell's 1970 hit 'Big Yellow Taxi' and the cool rap of Q-Tip from A Tribe Called Quest.

The first of her hits officially credited without her surname, possibly due to estrangement from the Jackson family, although the cover here uses her full moniker for recognition. Most published charts gave Joni Mitchell a co-credit, thus giving her only her second UK hit single as a performer.

Whatever the actual reason, at the time I perceived the lack of a surname as a sign of arrogance and another reason not to like Janet Jackson, a singer I'd never warmed to. Indeed under my 1997 mindset it was even worse for her to sample an acknowledged classic song for her own inferior single and as a result I never even contemplated liking this. Imagine my surprise on finding , over 15 years later after all the hype has died down, that this is actually quite enjoyable. Admittedly, my attitude to sampling has changed over the years and I'm probably keener on Q-Tip than I was back then (I never really paid much attention to him in the 1990s) but I've also come to some sort of accommodation with Janet. I wouldn't say I liked her, much less that I was a fan, but I did buy a best-of album for 50p because there were enough songs I could listen to. This track's not on there, and since it's not an airplay fave these days it was almost new to me. I'm not that interested in the song itself, but I rather like the melding of different elements - folk-rock, hip-hop and a reggae beat and the luxurious, bass-heavy production. It sounds a bit harsh to say that I was ignoring Janet Jackson on her own song, but it's kind of true. At least I liked something in it though.

Also appearing on: Now 8, 26, 30, 39, 40 [with BLACKstreet], 41, 49, 53 [with Beenie Man]
Available on: The Velvet Rope [Explicit]

Janet Jackson 'Whoops Now'

Chart Peak: 9

YouTube

'Whoops Now' is the 6th hit single from the 10 million plus selling Janet album... It flew into the UK Top 10 on release and looks set to become one of her biggest British hits.

Actually, they miscounted: 'Whoops Now' and its double A-side partner 'What'll I Do' became the seventh UK single release from the album. In the event, the single only climbed one position from its entry point of 10 before starting to decline - hardly an atypical run by mid-90s standards, of course but it seems that a littl more was expected of it. Maybe the fact that the album had been in the shops for approximately 22 months by this point might have depressed sales a little.

As a song itself, 'Whoops Now' is actually quite catchy, one song I can remember quite liking at the time. It's a retro number, placed at the end of her album (as a hidden track in some territories) and offers a more light-hearted sound than the rather insistent I-am-making-a-statement mood of a lot of her songs. In fact, it's easy-going almost to a fault, slipping down so easily it's hard to notice the difference between verses and choruses. And as often happens when listening to a pastiche some twenty years later, it has a bit of a weird effect now, neither quite one thing or the other. A lot of Jackson's music has a slightly hermetic atmosphere around it for me, as if she's not quite prepared to let the listener in, but is performing behind glass for us, and for all its charm there's still an element of that here that leaves this a track to enjoy rather than love.

Also appearing on: Now 8, 26, 38, 39, 40 41, 49, 53 (with Beenie Man)
Available on: The Best

Janet Jackson 'That's The Way Love Goes'

Chart Peak: 2
YouTube

International superstar Janet Jackson stormed back into the UK chart in May '93 with this cool, dance cut which peaked at No.2.

So, this song is by most definitions her biggest hit: it's the closest she's come to a solo Number One in Britain (she also peaked at 2 in a duet with Luther Vandross) and its eight weeks at the top of the US chart are a record not only for her but for her entire family. And yet I don't remember the song at all. As I've been saying all along, 1993 is a bit of a blank period for me, but I managed to forget it even in the time between originally listening to the tape and looking up the YouTube video yesterday. And I've forgotten how it goes again since then.

While I'm actually listening to it, this is a pretty enjoyable track, a typically slick Jam & Lewis production with the intriguing addition of backing vocals pitched down on the chorus. Jackson herself is in fine voice too, I must admit, and it slips down easy. A bit too easy, frankly. The only other problem is the forced "relaxed" video, which looks like it's been choreographed to within an inch of its life, and features a pre-fame Jennifer Lopez

That concludes Now 26, an album that hasn't been anywhere near as bad as I feared. In fact there's remarkably little crap on there, but rather a lot of mediocrity.

Also appearing on: Now 8, 38, 39, 40, 41, 49, 53 (with Beenie Man)
Available on: Janet

Janet Jackson 'I Get Lonely (TNT Remix edition)'

Chart Peak: 5

YouTube

At the time, I seem to remember seeing the video for the original version of this track, and probably hearing that on the chart rundowns too. Indeed, I don't think I'd ever encountered this mix before, but presumably it was popular enough somewhere to get the nod here. Mind you, although I remember this record existing it didn't make very much of an impact on me at the time and it seems a bit forgotten now: it peaked only one chart position lower than the previous year's 'Together Again', but it lasted less than half as long on the chart. This seemed like the tail-end of the era when a new Janet Jackson album seemed like an event, though she did indeed have several hits after this.

Coming back now one thing I can definitely say for this mix (by Blackstreet) is that it's something of an improvement over the slightly dated (for 1998, I mean) Jam & Lewis production. Better still, Teddy Riley has for once resisted the temptation to smother it all with vocoders. The song itself, co-written by the producers with Jackson and her soon-to-be-ex-husband, is less impressive. But then it's not exactly my scene and in this company it actually feels quite likeable. Anyway, I was never fond of 'Together Again'.

Also appearing on: Now 8, 26, 38, 39, 41, 49, 53 (with Beenie Man)
Available on: The Best [original version?]