I just think people always had a soft spot for the baby of the Jackson Clan... I was always excited to hear something new from her... I can remember the first time I heard What Have You Done For Me Lately on the radio... you just knew it was Janet and Jody Whatley and Pebbles did make some noise in the 80's but Janet was on a different level after Control

banks said:

even i could tell that jaent was on a differnt level.. then jody, pebbles.. and i was just being boring during the mid 80's.....


you can look back and see old videos and hear old songs.. and conclude which was generally a hit, and which would generally more popular and bigger artist...

My take on it as a white punk rock guy in the 80s who didn't pay a lot of attention to mass media:

Michael Jackson was untouchably number one.

Janet Jackson was one more name up there trying to get MTV hits.

She was pretty big pretty fast, but nothing like 1990-92 when she had multiple songs on the charts. In terms of popularity, less than Whitney Houston, about on par with Jody Watley.

I was 11 in 1986 when 'Control' came out and she was huge with my friends, classmates...it was about 1987 when there was an explosion of pop/dance artists and they were all equally enjoyed...Taylor Dane, Expose, Lisa Lisa, and of course Jody Watley...they all led the charge...then came Karyn White and Paula Abdul who was bigger than anyone in 1989 then that fall 'Rhythm Nation' came out and it was undeniable that Janet was on top...

It was a fun time...not like now..maybe it's age but...everyone kind of had their own thing to bring to the table...even if they sounded alike or produced by the same people...(at the time LA Reid and Babyface and Jimmy Jam/Terry Lewis were the biggest producers) everyone had something unique...thats why most of us who grew up at that time look back with nostalgia.. pop/R&B..had some great stuff...

Whitney was our Striesand as well!

...

alphastreet said:

"Loved by everyone" is a really general term because, really, everybody can't all love the same thing, but I get what you're saying...

I interviewed many people who were "old enough" in the mid to late-'80s while researching for my Control :: the 20th Anniversary retrospective. I interviewed people in their mid 30s who were in high school at the time and black marching bands and cheerleaders performed to NASTY, WHYDFML etc. very frequently in 1986-88... it was just one of those BIG albums. To this day, if you say the iconic line "No my first name ain't baby..." many urban music fans will KNOW the ending to that line.

That said, yes, from 1986 to 1992 Janet was big in the "urban" (or black) scene. "Nasty," WHYDFML and Control were big songs at black youth/urban/inner city/whateveryouwannacallit clubs, roller rinks, sporting events and functions.

If you were "old enough" in 1986 or '87 you would hear "Nasty" at a function very easily in the inner city or in a black neighborhood (please keep in mind that the black experience is, and WAS NOT contained solely in the inner city, blacks were in the suburbs at this time, too -- in very large numbers).

Janet's Control used to be played and mixed frequently on KDAY 1580AM -- the first ever 24-hour rap format station in the United States -- based in the Crenshaw District of Los Angeles. Also, songs from the Control album were staples on BET's flagship music program Video Soul.

Also Janet appeared on Soul Train in 1986 when Control hit and there are clips of it floating around on YouTube.

It was a BIG "urban" or "black" or whatever, album. Yes.

Also Jody Watley was someone who was accused of "biting her style" -- same can be said of Karyn White. They did not influence Janet it was the other way around. Jody didn't predate Control, she came after it. Jody's eponymous album hit in March of 1987 (by the time Janet was on concluding sixth single from the Control album "The Pleasure Principle") and the big cuts off of that were produced by Andre Cymone, David Z, etc who all took cues from the Control sessions. Everything from Jody's hair to even the big hoop earrings with Janet's symbolic key were interpolated in Jody's style.

Also, Karyn White (and her whole camp) was heavily accused of biting off of Janet and Jam & Lewis not the other way around -- case in point "Secret Rendezvous" (the video is total RIP OFF Control-era Janet/Flyte Tyme wannabe). Same can be said for Shanice's debut That's how big an impact the Control album had on the black urban music scene.

By the time Rhythm Nation hit... That album was also everywhere and that was a huge POP album. Control was the groundbreaker, but RN1814 was the mega-pop album. In fact it was the #1 biggest selling album of 1990 as quoted by Billboard Magazine at the time.

I was 11 in 1986 when 'Control' came out and she was huge with my friends, classmates...it was about 1987 when there was an explosion of pop/dance artists and they were all equally enjoyed...Taylor Dane, Expose, Lisa Lisa, and of course Jody Watley...they all led the charge...then came Karyn White and Paula Abdul who was bigger than anyone in 1989 then that fall 'Rhythm Nation' came out and it was undeniable that Janet was on top...

It was a fun time...not like now..maybe it's age but...everyone kind of had their own thing to bring to the table...even if they sounded alike or produced by the same people...(at the time LA Reid and Babyface and Jimmy Jam/Terry Lewis were the biggest producers) everyone had something unique...thats why most of us who grew up at that time look back with nostalgia.. pop/R&B..had some great stuff...

Whitney was our Striesand as well!

...

I was 11 in 1986 when 'Control' came out and she was huge with my friends, classmates...it was about 1987 when there was an explosion of pop/dance artists and they were all equally enjoyed...Taylor Dane, Expose, Lisa Lisa, and of course Jody Watley...they all led the charge...then came Karyn White and Paula Abdul who was bigger than anyone in 1989 then that fall 'Rhythm Nation' came out and it was undeniable that Janet was on top...

It was a fun time...not like now..maybe it's age but...everyone kind of had their own thing to bring to the table...even if they sounded alike or produced by the same people...(at the time LA Reid and Babyface and Jimmy Jam/Terry Lewis were the biggest producers) everyone had something unique...thats why most of us who grew up at that time look back with nostalgia.. pop/R&B..had some great stuff...

Whitney was our Striesand as well!

...

VANITYSprisonBYTCH said:

I agree

banks said:

Yeah...there was alot of 'Paula or Janet' rivalries among us fans at the time....they were both so huge...it was a friendly rivalry as most of us loved them both...it was all in the fun of it.

Madonna, MJ, Prince...were our trifecta of royalty...and remain possibly the last true great pop/rock ICONS in life.

I miss that time...it was fun.




..
[Edited 10/3/07 12:19pm]

Was Janet Jackson loved by everyone among the urban crowd and/or teenagers from the 86 to 92 period?

Or were there people who thought Jody Watley, Karyn White, Pebbles and the like shit all over her?

And were they more into MJ or JJ in this time period? Or both?

VANITYSprisonBYTCH said:

Yeah... That truly was an amazing time to be a fan of music
[Edited 10/3/07 12:38pm]

Was Janet Jackson loved by everyone among the urban crowd and/or teenagers from the 86 to 92 period? Or were there people who thought Jody Watley, Karyn White, Pebbles and the like shit all over her? It seems to me like people thought there were better female artists than her in the 90's, though they were all licking her behind during the Janet. album.

And were they more into MJ or JJ in this time period? Or both?

alphastreet said:

Hella YEAH she was HELLA big among the urban crowd, In every black family, there was a Janet fan... My older sister (who is 3 year younger than Janet) loved her... My other sister was more a Whitney fanatic. For millions of black girls, she was an example, she was a very successful and very young black artist (don't forget that it was still new to see black artists selling 5,6 or 7 million albums), she was like our Madonna... She was trully an Icon for the young generation.

I don't think we loved her the way we love Beyonce. Janet's appeal has to do with her tomboy style. Black girls in inner cities could easily relate to her because of her tomboy style. She wasn't classy like Whitney.

I think, It also explains the success of TLC.

Jody Watley, Karyn White, Pebbles never came close.

To be honest I've never been a fan of Janet Jackson (she is a really poor singer ), but during the RN1814, she was the shit !!!!!
I think people have always questioned her singing skills, but to be honest nobody cared. Because we loved the way she danced.

Concerning her popularity between MJ or JJ, I trully believe that during the Rythm NAtion era, she was definitely more popular than MJ among young african americans, simply because her music was so... BLACK, FUNKY... She gave us what we wanted, up tempo and funky tracks with strong basslines.

She also could appeal to both male and female audiences. Black men really respected her for her dancing skills, black girls adolized her for her success.
[Edited 10/3/07 13:21pm]

banks said:

you guys stop bragging... but atleast we (people born during the 80's) have Ipods and technology...

Michael still ruled in the late '80's. I don't think Janet surpassed him until she released "Design of a Decade". It wasn't that her greatest hits package was all that - it was good, but that was when MJ really started his troubles, IIRC.

Michael still ruled in the late '80's. I don't think Janet surpassed him until she released "Design of a Decade". It wasn't that her greatest hits package was all that - it was good, but that was when MJ really started his troubles, IIRC.

RodeoSchro said:

I guess you're talking about the US! In Europe though Janet never surpassed Michael! She always was his little sister! She did have a good run especially in the UK in the 90ies, she played in the Wembley Arena 3 times on her Janet tour and twice on the Velvet Rope tour, but she never got close to Michael! Michael basically ruled until '97!

And as for the other artists alphastreet mentioned... huh!? Never heard of them!

RodeoSchro said:

Janet started to surpass Michael after Rhythm Nation. She really BLEW UP during the Rhythm Nation era. When she did "janet.", she EXPLODED. All of this was prior to Design of a Decade.

You must remember that MJ had started to decline in popularity around the time when Dangerous came out. That was about the time when the first round of allegations of child molestation came about. It was also around that time when he turned completely WHITE. Not to mention the Black or White video where people were in an uproar over the panther segment.

MJ's popularity didn't start to increase (again) until after the Oprah interview.