Control (A capella - video)
What Have You Done For Me Lately
Nasty
Don't Stand Another Chance
When I Think of You (Extended Mix)
Young Love
You Can Be Mine
Say You Do
Control
Lets Wait Awhile
Funny How Time Flies
Diamonds
The Pleasure Principle
Nasty (Cool Summer Mix)

Jimmy Jam and Terry Lewis onstage.
Paula Abdul and Tina Landon as backup dancers.
Fall 1897.
Co-headline with Bobby Brown.

Could ya see it?

She did a few one-off shows with three or four song sets. I think JackieBlue saw one.

Brown in 87 was no headliner.

LittleBLUECorvette said:

He could have easily been a CO Headliner. Don't Be Cruel came out in 86 and had hit after hit.

badujunkie said:

Don't Be Cruel came out in '88

oh shit! yall are right!

ok - LUTHA!

badujunkie said:

Totally different audiences. 87, her best bet would be Morris Day.

If I remember correctly, her record company didn't feel she was ready to tour. If you look at the Control video, I can see what they meant. She wasn't groomed enough. By the time the RN tour came around, she was 1000% better than she was during the control era.

Bobby Brown


Janet did a few concert shows to support the album. Supposedly, that was when the running man (dance move) was first performed.

daPrettyman said:

I think she was still doing her version of the WBD when Control came out

daPrettyman said:

Actually, her performances would suggest otherwise. It's moreso that it was not standard for artists to tour after only one hit album back then.

Well, look who it is in a 1983 issue of Billboard magazine!

daPrettyman said:

( Centric shows this episode)


She was born this way.

bboy87 said:

Marion Barry, oh snidap.

LittleBLUECorvette said:

and Donnie muthafuckin' Simpson

Tina Landon didn't become Janet's back-up dancer till the RN1814 era. I don't think Paula was ever Janet's back-up dancer, just a choreographer.

But it would've been cool if she had a Control tour with performances like this -

midiscover said:

VoicesCarry said:

You missed one word....one HIT album!

I think she could have done a tour with someone like Maze or the Budweiser Superfest, but she crossed over REALLY BIG when WITOY and LWAW. Those songs were so big for her at the time. Therefore, she had to go on tour with a crossover act.

trueiopian said:

U sure tina isn't in the WHYDFML video?

bboy87 said:

Aww T4p!

Her Control interviews are so cute! Have read one when she talks about throwing a grape out the window?

Janet was out in 1897? Man, there's truth in Black Don't Crack, then!

And it would have been very awkward to hear her bubble gum stuff next to the great production on Control. She was smart to wait until RN1814 and build a better selection of songs.

midiscover said:

She wasn't groomed for a tour. There is a major difference between a tour and a television performance.

I really believe that is part of the reason that JJ did the RN longform video. A&M wanted to get her accustomed to learning multiple routines and performing them all at once. Before she did this, she would learn a routine and after the show was over, she didn't have to remember it.

trueiopian said:

I remember people criticising her for this performance. They kept saying she was trying to be like Prince.

daPrettyman said:

Janet is a dancer. Routines, moves, etc. all come naturally when she hears the music. So remembering moves wasn't the problem.She probably didn't feel ready to venture out on a world tour. A&M also believed her next album would be bigger (they were right) so they waited for the next one. And the RN longform videos were all a part of the concept of the album. It's not like all the RN videos were performed in one day!

midiscover said:

I didn't say it was....I think u are misunderstaing what I'm trying to say. I'm not saying that Janet couldn't do it, I'm just saying she wasn't ready. Remember, she was barely 20 at the time when Control hit it big.

Tours are gruelling on a person's body. Janet was not prepared for it at 20. She wasn't used to learning a routine and performing a show night after night for 3 or 6 months. She had to grow into all of that. She also had to learn how to keep her body in performance shape.

Janet's show was not the typical grab a mike and sing tour. It was full of dancing. Janet danced well, but she was not a dancer that could sustain night after night. Hell, almost every performer that does this type of show has a HARD time completing the tour without delays.

Didn't Gaga just cancel some dates because of exhaustion?

trueiopian said:

You're wrong on both counts.

Paula, as most all choreographers, was in Janet's videos. She was in "What Have You Done For Me Lately?" and was one of Janet's girlfriends in the theater for "Nasty". Tina Landon was also in "What Have You Done For Me Lately?" as a backup dancer. She became closer to Janet by the time RN1814 came out, but she was around as early as 1986.

Janet's choreographer for the RN1814 videos, Anthony Thomas (who was like 6'5 or something) was in, and choreographed, "Miss You Much", "Rhythm Nation", "Escapade", "Alright", and "Black Cat", and probably choreographed "Love Will Never Do (Without You)" as well.

Tina Landon took over as chief choreographer for the janet. album, and was in the videos as well. Same goes for her job, and appearance, in The Velvet Rope videos.

Edit: PS Yes a Control tour w/ those moves would have been great, but most all that choreographer and ideas were more fully realized in the RN1814 tour, so people got to see them live anyway.


.
[Edited 1/25/10 23:16pm]

ernestsewell said:

I haven't watched the RN video collection in a while, but I think Tina was part of the choreography for LWNDWOY

midiscover said:

daPrettyman is right. She wasn't groomed for a tour yet. (Prince wasn't either his first few outings - remember him turning his back on the audience for the course of the show?)

Janet isn't a dancer by nature. Sure she has rhythm, but it was Paula Abdul who really gave her some moves. Look at Janet's appearances from her first two albums, and she's very robotic, and "white girl" in her dancing. It was when Paula Abdul made her shake her butt that she started to find her groove when it came to dancing. Anthony Thomas also pushed Janet's limits with his amazing choreography for the RN1814 videos. Tina pushed it even more with sexier moves when the janet. album came out. Watch her videos. You can see her growth as a dancer over those three albums alone, compared to her first two.

Anyone can "remember moves", but to nail a move and have a natural groove is totally different. I'd have to disagree with the conjecture of "didn't feel ready to venture out" yet. Every artist wants to get out there, but she also knew she really had one GREAT album to run with, so tight and well-knit television appearances and videos were the natural course for the Control album. Every record company wants, and believes, the next album will be bigger. Her first two albums weren't that huge of sellers, and she went relatively unnoticed as a singer. Control put her on the map, and RN1814 solidified her as a bonafied force in the industry.

daPrettyman said:

You may very well be right on that. That sounds correct. The moves are sexier, and now that I think about it, they are more Tina-fied.

LittleBLUECorvette said:

Yep, he wasn't anything until 1988 when his second solo album came out (the first one didn't even chart or rank a Gold status - although I think it sold just enough to be certified Pewter). Bobby's Don't Be Cruel success went well into 1989, and by that time, "Miss You Much" was hitting radio and the album was ready to drop and blow the fuck up.