CONTROL :: THE 20TH ANNIVERSARY

2006 marks the 20th anniversary of Janet's groundbreaking project "Control." The following threads are in celebration of the milestones reached by Janet with this album and its videos and singles. This is the album that made her a musical superstar in her own right and kicked off an impressive twenty years of successes, which led her to becoming the icon and music legend she is today. Legendary is a word reserved for a select few in the music industry, many seek it, though few earn it. If called upon a title to signal the destiny of one young talent, her path to such lofty heights can be summed up with three choice words: The Pleasure Principle.



The Pleasure Principle (1987)

With "Let's Wait Awhile" manning the hole on the singles front, Janet made good on her "promise" in the late spring of that same year. A full season had passed since she had released her last single. For months, she would be sequestered in various studios putting the finishing touches on Control's greatest show-stopper, "The Pleasure Principle." Unleashed in May of 1987, it was the sixth and final offering, in most territories, and made swift ascension up the U.S. charts, becoming her fifth R&B Number 1 (and Top 20 pop hit) in less than two years. With the tune, she became the first solo artist, male or female, to push five Number 1 R&B singles from one album -- adding yet another feather to her illustrious cap.

The legend of "The Pleasure Principle" is one that is triptych in its narration: bellied by a hard-hitting dance-funk single, anchored by its mammoth video and inimitable legacy.

Writer/producer, and fellow Time expatriate, Monte Moir collaborated with Janet on the single and, coincidentally, was the last to know of its release: "I found out through Billboard," he says. "It was a year and a half after the album had been out. I had been working with Terry Lewis and Jimmy Jam by then and we had parted ways. I didn't realize it was going to be coming out as a single at all, although I had known it was getting a lot of airplay and the clubs had been playing it a lot." The track was laid down long before Janet and Jam & Lewis had determined the direction of the project; Moir had submitted several songs, and "The Pleasure Principle" ultimately fit best, as its somewhat cryptic lyrics about getting out of a bad situation appealed to Janet.

Its title is in fact an allusion to Sigmund Freud's "Pleasure Principle," a psychoanalytic theory which postulates the human desire to seek pleasure and avoid pain.

The recording process was a quick and somewhat rushed venture due to time constraints at Jam & Lewis' newly built -- and fully booked -- Flyte Tyme headquarters in Minneapolis. Given the situation, Moir was impressed by the preparedness of Janet: "She came in and knew the song pretty much inside out," he says. "A lot of singers will come in and they don't study too much or do their homework or really get to know the song, and they'll be reading everything off the sheet."

Its video is set in a cavernous, multi-windowed warehouse. In it, the viewer bares witness to an impassioned Janet Jackson -- who is both confident and brooding. The film captures her as a 'go-for-broke' vigilante with a meditative spirit. What is remarkable about the clip is her tightly assembled dance repertoire -- co-conceived with Barry Lather -- and the series of acrobatic feats with which she executes. In one scene, Janet is high atop a platform, dwarfing the area beneath, performing to an imaginary audience when suddenly she launches into a high-aired backflip -- which, surprisingly, was not performed by a stunt double, but by Janet herself.



The video marks a distinct stylistic shift in the portrayal of a transforming solo artist on film; and captures how the medium could define a singular star. Its noted director was none other than Dominic Sena (Swordfish, Gone In 60 Seconds), who Janet built a worthy working relationship. He saddles up his cameras to capture the kinetic one-woman showdown.

The pathos of it all leaves one agog. The sheer voracity of her performance in the piece is at turns gallant and possessed. "She was really, really going for it," recalls Columnist/Disc Jockey Trevor Nelson. "She was somebody who was utilizing 99 percent of her talent, you could tell."

Part heroic, part deft-defying: it was as if Janet were attacking her invisible minions and countering the off-putting pundits of an earnest past; in turn, shattering the mirror of her former self and sizing up her own destiny in the pieces that lay before. Its blaring soundtrack became her sonic adrenaline as she writhed her bandaged palms and padded joints amidst the dust.

It is one of the premier videos of the visual music medium itself and remains one of the best solo artist performances ever captured on short film -- inspiring a generation of progeny [see "Legacy" addition below]. It was nominated for three MTV Video Music Awards in 1987-'88 and took home two: one for Best Choreography and a second for Best Cinematography.

As she snatches up her jacket and makes one final grip of strength in her wake, we can almost visualize the young entertainer walking out of the era that was Control into the figurative zone which would later house her illustrious and legendary twenty-plus year career. The line in which she sings, "I've got so many things I want to do before I'm through" could not have been much more of a glimmering flash of verisimilitude.

If any song ever greatly served to cement Janet's status as a pop megastar it was this one. The deal had been sealed. Miss Jackson was a masterful talent who could stand on her own two. And, who now had her peers following in her footsteps. Twenty years later it seems the thing of legend, but, at the time, just an exercise in preparation of the obvious.

- JANFAN4L

[...to be continued - Next "The Conclusion"]

Chart Activity - Peak Positions
The Billboard Hot 100: #14 (debuted 5/23/87 - 18 weeks on chart)
Hot 100 Airplay: #13
Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Singles & Tracks: #1 (1 week) (debuted 5/23/87 - 17 weeks on chart)
Hot Dance Music/Club Play: #1 (2 weeks) (debuted 5/9/87 - 10 weeks on chart)
Hot Dance Music/Maxi-Singles Sales: #8
ARC Top 40: #10
UK: #24 (debuted 6/13/87 - 5 weeks on chart)
Belgium: #15
Holland: #15
South Africa (sales chart): #8

[ all chart info courtesy of http://www.cravingjanet.com ]





:::
song: written by monte moir
video: directed by dominic sena

Previous thread in series: Let's Wait Awhile

BREAKDOWN: SCENE-BY-SCENE

View the FULL video here :: MTV.com / Music Video Codes

Click here for BLOOPERS from the "Pleasure Principle" video :: http://www.simonemaurice....opers.html


Injuries
Look closely at the palm of Janet's left hand. You will notice that an adhesive bandage covers a cut she sustained while filming this video. If you sharpen the resolution of this image, you'll also see the redness of the fresh cut. But, in true Janet style, instead of discontinuing filming, opting to have it brushed over or cut out, she displays it to the camera in all of its painful, dirty glory[!] Ouch, indeed.



The Chair Sequence
This sequence appears effortless in the final version seen on screen, but behind the scenes it was an entirely different story. Janet fell on her face[!] many times in order to achieve this -- not to mention the countless sessions in the performance studio. A clip of bloopers of the chair sequence can be seen here :: http://www.simonemaurice....opers.html



The Back-Flip
In a heroic moment from the video, you'll notice that Janet is seen executing a back flip off of a platform onto the hard flooring of the warehouse. Keep in mind, she did NOT use a stunt double. The way the scene was shot, it looks as though she did not fully attempt the full back flip. Quite the contrary, Janet has stated in interviews that she did in fact do the full back flip and the landing you see her make (plus, the final expression on her face) is a genuine one.



Attention to Detail
Notice the intricacies of the choreography in this particular sequence. Every movement is swift and detailed. Also, in the video, pay very close attention to her feet, you'll notice that they move in tandem with the beat of the film soundtrack and are not off-step in the slightest.

R&B/pop artist Mya performing a vigorous 'dance tribute' of The Pleasure Principle for Janet Jackson at her MTV ICON ceremony in 2001.


LEGACY

The echoes of this video and single are still felt today by a virtual who's who of popular entertainers ranging from Aaliyah and Usher to Britney Spears, Missy Elliott and Destiny's Child. Janet's "The Pleasure Principle" was a pioneering and transformative exercise in pop music and its reverberation was felt in the arenas R&B, dance, hip hop, urban and, most especially, pop. It greatly changed and influenced the aesthetics of the pop female (and male) artist, further ushering in an era of highly stylized, intricately choreographed entertainers with videos to match.


Here are just two brief examples of the song's impact. Bare in mind there are many others.

Karyn White, "Secret Rendezvous" (1989) :: video : Yahoo! Launch / Music Video Codes
Genre: R&B / Dance
Producer: L.A. Reid & Babyface
Catalog#: 9 21292-0
Pay attention to the opening beat of this song and how closely it mirrors Janet's. In the video, notice the key-like earring in her earlobe. The video is a 1989-ized version of Janet's singular dancing, but far less ferocious. Also, L.A. & Babyface's groove in this tune exhibits a Jam & Lewis panache (all the way down to the backing band and keyboards in select scenes). There are far more examples in the R&B arena that mirror the ethos of "The Pleasure Principle," but Karyn White's is the most readily transparent.


Britney Spears, "Stronger" (2000) :: video : Yahoo! Launch / RealOne Player / Windows Media
Genre: Pop
Producer: Max Martin & Rami
Notice the structure of the self-empowered lyrics and its theme. Also, pay close attention to the solo chair sequence. Although Janet used no special effects to achieve her dance sequences, like Britney does heavily, there is definite illusions to the heroic video/song, revamped for a pop/MTV TRL generation circa 2000.

MISCELLANEOUS FACTS ABOUT "THE PLEASURE PRINCIPLE"


A picture of the Brazilian edition of The Pleasure Principle 12" vinyl maxi-single released in 1986. This is one of the many pressings of the single available on multiple continents. More information can be found on many of the released editions (including rare pictures) at http://www.cravingjanet.c...nciple.htm

- Janet's "The Pleasure Principle" was also nominated for Best Female Video at the 1987-'88 MTV Video Music Awards.

- The black T-shirt Janet wears has a bunch of mixed-up symbols. There is no real linguistic significance to them. Surprisingly, the symbols do not have any discernible meaning. It could very well be a designer item or an exclusive creation made just for Janet.

- An eight-minute official remix of "The Pleasure Principle" called "The Sunday Principle" and remixed by Sunday League, appears on the UK double cd "DMC presents The Commercial Collection 238" (DMC238).



[Courtesy of http://janet-forever.com/...index.html ]

- The video mix of The Pleasure Principle was mixed by Shep Pettibone.


- "The Pleasure Principle" was re-released in 1996 in the U.K with new mixes to coincide with the promotional push of the Design of a Decade package.

- Download DJ BC's "Real Love Real Pleasure Real Principles" for free at http://www.djjayr.com/janet.html (it is part of the Re-Design of a Decade unofficial mix compilation)

~ JANFAN4L, 2006.

Very nice and congratulations on all your hard work then and now, and how it all paid off considering the number of people who always tuned in. This WAS your best installment ever, just like you had promised.

Bet'cha can't wait three years from now when you get to cover "RN1814".

it. Favorite Janet song, video, dance, remix. You name it. The video reminds me of being little, and catching the clip on MTV. I probably wanted to see 'Who's That Girl' instead, but it caught my eye (and ear).

19 years later, and it's still one of my favorite songs of all time. Plus, I don't think Janet's ever looked as good as she did in that video.

I loved the shit outta this song & knew EVERY DAMN MOVE of choreography of the video I still love it - if the video came on today it would stop me in my tracks

Plus her weave was PHAT!!!

I always wondered if that was really her doing the backflip too

That ass

It's the ninth wonder of the world imo!

I always wondered what her shirt said....
I think this video is her "Thriller"

I didn't see Maya's thing - was she any good or did she fuck it up?

misty water colored memories...

lovely. these have been a JOY to read.

you should totally press on with the series and do rythym nation...

CalhounSq said:

Mya did a nice job, given the HUGE task she had before her (I mean, c'mon, where's the backflip and chair sequence, eh?) but I think P!nk (who did "Miss You Much" -- and said that was the "hardest she ever danced in her life for anything," and you could tell she was out of breath! ) and Usher all gave healthy renditions as well. Nothing like Janet, but worthy all around.

It was shown quite frequently on the Much Music channel in Canada and USA in 2002-'04. The video clips I used for this thread were pulled from it. You can see more here :: http://caps.roxcafe.org/usher01.htm

Haven't it seen it much (or heard of anyone airing it) since then.

If you have the "All For You: DVD edition" there is a bonus disc with a full performance of "All For You/You Ain't Right (Instrumental)" at the MTV ICON Ceremony.

.
[Edited 3/30/06 10:06am]

What a thread!

Wow, this thread has a lot more info than the other anniversary threads. The best single from 'Control' deserves it.

JANFAN4L said:

GREAT thread
That single is hard to find. I was lucky and found the "When i think of you" 1996 UK single for $1 on ebay though

Icicle said:

Which one? There are two of those.

sextonseven said:

Track list:

Deep Dish Chocolate City Mix

Deep Dish Quiet Storm Dub

Dished Out Bums

Heller and Farley Project Mix

Junior Trackhead Joint

I LOVE THIS SONG!!!!!

PleasurePrinciple said:

YOUR SCREEN NAME IS LIVING PROOF*!!!!

PleasurePrinciple said:

me too , madonna could never do something like this

JANFAN4L said:

By far the best thread in this series JANFAN4L.

I'm certainly gonna miss reading these Control single tributes. Just one more to go...

Why wait another three years to start on the RN1814 one?

Yeah...I'm being greedy.

BTW, I know I've said it before, but THANK YOU. You seriously need to get your shit published. Janet would be proud if she read all of this.

Jesus This thread was good. I just saw the clip where she fell on the ground..I REWOUND that thing like 4 times

The Title, The Dance, The Look, everything about that song and video is hott. Both versions are awesome. Effortless.

And I wish Monte and her would work again!

Damn, Jan. Your posts are amazing. Great stuff on this classic song and killer video. Probably my favorite. It's a shame that's one of few songs from that part of her career not to go top ten on the Billboard pop chart, even though it's one of her most memorable and probably most requested live (although it's often scarficed, isn't it).

Cool thread.

But two things...

1) You should list the links for all the previous threads like this.
2) You wasted a pic that could've been used for J with Mya??

Other than that..these were THE days.

squiddyren said:

Thanks! Oh, mannyyy people have asked me to do it and I will say that I won't stop at Control, that's for sure.