I'm surprised this song was never a single.

I'm surprised this song was never a single. I wonder if it was released to radio back in 1982-83? This song is too hot. That groove is electric and Janet's vocals have a certain energy especially in the part when she says, "talk is cheap*! action speaks*! Louder than words, yeah, yeah."

Definitely has a new wave vibe to it and could easily be played next to some early '80s Bowie, Prince, Adam Ant, J. Geils Band, etc. This was one of the better songs from her pre-Control days.

What are your thoughts?

I'm surprised this song was never a single. I wonder if it was released to radio back in 1982-83? This song is too hot. That groove is electric and Janet's vocals have a certain energy especially in the part when she says, "talk is cheap*! action speaks*! Louder than words, yeah, yeah."

Definitely has a new wave vibe to it and could easily be played next to some early '80s Bowie, Prince, Adam Ant, J. Geils Band, etc. This was one of the better songs from her pre-Control days.

What are your thoughts?

JANFAN4L said:

Er....yes it was! #58 in January, 1983.

VoicesCarry said:

You must've just now gotten this information from elawoo over at the Xone, like me.

Yeah, I have the vinyl single too. This was my first true favorite funky Janet song.

JANFAN4L said:

Nope. I did put this together, after all: http://www.cravingjanet.c...istory.htm

OK, so a single exists. Ultra rare. Can someone get a .gif or .jpg up now? Pleeasee.

From elawoo at the Janet-Xone

JANFAN4L said:

It's not ultra-rare. You can find the vinyl pretty cheap on eBay (there are a few up right now).

Here's a HQ scan of the US 7'' release.

.....Nonetheless, at the age of sixteen, she released her debut album simply called Janet Jackson though the teenager protested that her last name shouldn't be on the cover. Produced by soul singers Angela Winbush, Rene Moore and Leon Slyvers of the famed Slyvers family music group, the album reached #6 on the Billboard R&B album charts, and spent 45 weeks in the Top 50 and hit #63 on the Billboard Pop albums chart.

The album held 3 Top 20 Billboard R&B singles "Young Love" (#6), "Say You Do" (#15) and "Come Give Your Love To Me" (#17). Two of the singles - "Young Love" and "Come Give Your Love to Me" went as high as #64 and #58 on the Billboard pop charts respectively.

The CD sold over a quarter million copies in the US. Billboard Magazine gave Janet the distinction as being the tenth biggest-selling R&B artist at the end of 1982 while the debut album was given the distinction of being the tenth biggest-selling R&B album of 1983.

dream street

I guess this is the single that's utlra-rare.

"Love And My Best Friend / The Magic Is Working" (Released in Brazil only)

You'd figure since she performed it on Diff'rent Strokes, it would've been domestically released.

JANFAN4L said:

Nope. I did put this together, after all: http://www.cravingjanet.c...istory.htm

VoicesCarry said:

Cravingjanet has helped me out immensely when I was doing research on Janet's singles releases, specifically which 7" edits are on which configurations. I stumbled upon the site accidentally and only afterward realized that it was VoicesCarry. I sent him the bubbling under chart info a few months back. I think I can also fill in the missing U.S. singles debut dates since I have all the Joel Whitburn Billboard books which lists chart debut dates for singles.

This song was an awesome single I rarely knew existed until recently. I'm glad it was embraced by radio in 1982-83. This song is too hot. That groove is electric and Janet's vocals have a certain energy especially in the part when she says, "talk is cheap*! action speaks*! Louder than words, yeah, yeah."

Definitely has a new wave vibe to it and could easily be played next to some early '80s Bowie, Prince, Adam Ant, J. Geils Band, etc. This was one of the better songs from her pre-Control days.

What are your thoughts?


EDIT: per new information in thread. Thanks, people.
[Edited 6/10/05 9:48am]

sextonseven said:

That would be great, Sean! I'm currently working on a format that will collect all sales and chart info available for each single/album. I'll send you a link to a sample preview.

VoicesCarry said:

Cravingjanet has helped me out immensely when I was doing research on Janet's singles releases, specifically which 7" edits are on which configurations. I stumbled upon the site accidentally and only afterward realized that it was VoicesCarry. I sent him the bubbling under chart info a few months back. I think I can also fill in the missing U.S. singles debut dates since I have all the Joel Whitburn Billboard books which lists chart debut dates for singles.

sextonseven said:

Sexton, that's awesome. I'd love to see all that once it's collected and goes live.

Can anyone share their memories of this song when it was out? Did you hear it at clubs? On the radio, etc.?

What TV shows did she perform this on?

JANFAN4L said:

Heard it alot on the radio back then....
She performed it on American Bandstand too....

funkpill said:

I haven't been able to catch that performance yet.

I read that this song got a lot of clubplay in L.A. during 1982-83.

She performed this song (and others from her debut) at Crenshaw High School when she was just coming out. My half-sister told me that some of the kids in the audience were being disruptive/booing -- probably because she was just starting out -- this was four years before she was JANET JACKSON . LOL.