For all my UK people, this new Janet documentary starts in 10 minutes on BBC4! Looks like it's gonna be a good one.

The synopsis says:

"The life and career of the pop star, from her first taste of fame on US sitcom Diff'rent Strokes to a recording career that has seen her sell more than 65 million albums worldwide. Janet discusses the difficulties she has faced in controlling her creative and personal life, including her troubled relationship with father Joe and her collaborations with influential R&B producers Jimmy Jam and Terry Lewis. Featuring contributions by Jackie Jackson, Deborah Allen and Estelle"

And remember, it's part of a series too, next week is Prince!

http://prince.org/msg/8/371032 <+++ someone posted this already

I'm viewing the History channel.

the show before it was brilliant too. great clips of 80s TOTP with chaka, doug e fresh, timex social club, cameo, etc

unique said:

the show before it was brilliant too. great clips of 80s TOTP with chaka, doug e fresh, timex social club, cameo, etc

Where are you watching this???

The documentary just finished.

WOW.

Not only a great Janet documentary - but one of the best music documentaries I've ever seen, period. And as y'all know I make music documentaries myself so I know a thing or two about them.

It covered all the points you'd want it to, never staying on any one too long. Every point had the right amount of focus, nothing ever dragged, every interviewee clip was in the right place and saying the right things, they used the right archive footage, they had a great balance of insiders (Jimmy Jam, Jackie Jackson, etc) as well as music journalists, and Janet herself.

Bravo BBC. Can't wait for Prince next week.

Hope somebody ripped it and is uploading it for y'all non-UK folks.

[Edited 11/18/11 15:06pm]

Militant said:

The documentary just finished.

WOW.

Not only a great Janet documentary - but one of the best music documentaries I've ever seen, period. And as y'all know I make music documentaries myself so I know a thing or two about them.

It covered all the points you'd want it to, never staying on any one too long. Every point had the right amount of focus, nothing ever dragged, every interviewee clip was in the right place and saying the right things, they used the right archive footage, they had a great balance of insiders (Jimmy Jam, Jackie Jackson, etc) as well as music journalists, and Janet herself.

Bravo BBC. Can't wait for Prince next week.

Hope somebody ripped it and is uploading it for y'all non-UK folks.

[Edited 11/18/11 15:06pm]

I hope so too.

I enjoyed the documentary. It was great how they conveyed just how much Janet has achieved over the years. It was really sweet when she said she doesn’t consider herself as legendary. Such a refreshing change to all the ego-inflated celebrities you get these days professing their legendary status after a year. It was good they took it right up to date with the recent World Tour and kudos to those fans at the Royal Albert Hall

I also agree the programme beforehand was a treat – great classic tracks. I’m also enjoying the Detroit documentary currently showing – BBC four is really excelling itself at mo – credit to them.

[Edited 11/18/11 16:32pm]

Oh how good to hear. I recorded it so I'll watch it later. Can't wait for the Prince one too.

Timmy84 said:

unique said:

the show before it was brilliant too. great clips of 80s TOTP with chaka, doug e fresh, timex social club, cameo, etc

Where are you watching this???

in my bedroom

I was given various links to stream it live, but none of them worked. Maybe it will be put online soon?

Part of a review from this morning:

"How do you forge a pop career in the shadow of the biggest pop star on the planet? What is perhaps forgotten about Janet Jackson is that not only did she pull this off, but for a while she actually overshadowed her older brother. But this documentary doesn’t really dig deep enough, in that it never even begins to answer the question: how did she remain so - relatively speaking - level headed and grounded while growing up in this most famous and, some would suggest, dysfunctional of families?

Maybe the answer lies in the fact that she spent most of her formative years as an observer rather than a participant in the fame game. While it could hardly be called normal to be, at five years of age, sitting down with your breakfast cereal to watch your brothers in their own Saturday morning cartoon series, it was certainly preferable to having your childhood stolen from you in the way that Michael claims his was.

However, we were told that Janet used music as self therapy, putting into her lyrics whatever she was going through at the time whether it was reaching for independence, breaking up with a lover, or just telling those nasty boys to back off. British singer Estelle best summed up the young body-popping pop star: “Still being cute and sweet but having that look in her eye that said, Not having it, not having it.” Although other talking heads included brother Jackie and Fame’s Deborah Allen."

OK here's a Youtube link thanx to a fan from Janet-Xone.

http://www.youtube.com/us...ovbhe2#p/u

Wow Jimmy surprised me with why he and Terry haven't worked with Janet since Damita Jo

ABeautifulOne said:

Wow Jimmy surprised me with why he and Terry haven't worked with Janet since Damita Jo

Yeah that was quite a revelation.

can't watch this just yet. spill the beans, what did they SAY?

datdude said:

can't watch this just yet. spill the beans, what did they SAY?

During sessions of the album, according to Jimmy, Janet apparently didn't feel like she could write songs for the album (remember she was starting to work with other producers like Kanye, Rich Harrison and BAGGE) and she and Terry apparently had an argument over who was to write the songs, she told Terry that he should write the songs and Terry shouted "what?!" and Janet told him that she wasn't feeling like she couldn't put her all into the music. So this led to a slow breakup between Janet and them. I think they only produce one or two songs with her for Damita Jo and20 Y.O. before she split from them (and Virgin Records) completely. I also think Jermaine Dupri also affected sessions. Jimmy talked a great deal about Dupri's involvement in Janet's life at the time and that also led to some problems.

Timmy84 said:

datdude said:

can't watch this just yet. spill the beans, what did they SAY?

During sessions of the album, according to Jimmy, Janet apparently didn't feel like she could write songs for the album (remember she was starting to work with other producers like Kanye, Rich Harrison and BAGGE) and she and Terry apparently had an argument over who was to write the songs, she told Terry that he should write the songs and Terry shouted "what?!" and Janet told him that she wasn't feeling like she couldn't put her all into the music. So this led to a slow breakup between Janet and them. I think they only produce one or two songs with her for Damita Jo and20 Y.O. before she split from them (and Virgin Records) completely. I also think Jermaine Dupri also affected sessions. Jimmy talked a great deal about Dupri's involvement in Janet's life at the time and that also led to some problems.

somebody on the xone put it on youtube but i didnt see none of this stuff, it was all cut out. i hope i can find the complete docu.

lowkey said:

Timmy84 said:

During sessions of the album, according to Jimmy, Janet apparently didn't feel like she could write songs for the album (remember she was starting to work with other producers like Kanye, Rich Harrison and BAGGE) and she and Terry apparently had an argument over who was to write the songs, she told Terry that he should write the songs and Terry shouted "what?!" and Janet told him that she wasn't feeling like she couldn't put her all into the music. So this led to a slow breakup between Janet and them. I think they only produce one or two songs with her for Damita Jo and20 Y.O. before she split from them (and Virgin Records) completely. I also think Jermaine Dupri also affected sessions. Jimmy talked a great deal about Dupri's involvement in Janet's life at the time and that also led to some problems.

somebody on the xone put it on youtube but i didnt see none of this stuff, it was all cut out. i hope i can find the complete docu.

The uploader skipped a good part in the "final part".

I watched it last night.

I thought the production of the doc wasn't that great. I mean the voiceover woman was really dull and monotonous, and they kept showing the same 30 seconds of video clips more than once, rather than just carrying on with other clips. I didn't get why they had to do that at all.

I always dislike the way anyone talking about Janet saying she had to "save" Michael by "helping" him on 'Scream' - that theory only makes sense to Americans as MJ was and always had been much bigger than her at all times outside the US. It was also only 3 1/2 years between Dangerous and HIStory, not 5.

Michael aside as I always split hairs when anyone mentions him in a documentary, I enjoyed how comprehensive it was for her albums up to All For You... impressed that they got Janet for a sit-down interview too - imagine if they got Prince for next week! I doubt it

lowkey said:

Timmy84 said:

During sessions of the album, according to Jimmy, Janet apparently didn't feel like she could write songs for the album (remember she was starting to work with other producers like Kanye, Rich Harrison and BAGGE) and she and Terry apparently had an argument over who was to write the songs, she told Terry that he should write the songs and Terry shouted "what?!" and Janet told him that she wasn't feeling like she couldn't put her all into the music. So this led to a slow breakup between Janet and them. I think they only produce one or two songs with her for Damita Jo and20 Y.O. before she split from them (and Virgin Records) completely. I also think Jermaine Dupri also affected sessions. Jimmy talked a great deal about Dupri's involvement in Janet's life at the time and that also led to some problems.

somebody on the xone put it on youtube but i didnt see none of this stuff, it was all cut out. i hope i can find the complete docu.

The way he put it was that Janet went in to the studio and said "you write the lyrics", which took him aback as she was always so personal with writing her own lyrics before. I think the quote was "if you don't have anything to write about then why are we making an album?"

[Edited 11/20/11 4:07am]

I enjoyed how the docu specified that she was, for a time, thee biggest pop star. Biggest recording contracts. Hottest videos. Bidding wars from several record companies. I also enjoyed seeing Jimmy, even though I could tell the Youtube videos left some of it out.

SEANMAN said:

I enjoyed how the docu specified that she was, for a time, thee biggest pop star. Biggest recording contracts. Hottest videos. Bidding wars from several record companies. I also enjoyed seeing Jimmy, even though I could tell the Youtube videos left some of it out.

Anybody got a different link for the whole documentary yet? I'd really like to see the part that was left out. Overall, I thoght the doc was well done and I learned facts I didn't know before. Looking forward to the Prince doc.

purplethunder3121 said:

SEANMAN said:

I enjoyed how the docu specified that she was, for a time, thee biggest pop star. Biggest recording contracts. Hottest videos. Bidding wars from several record companies. I also enjoyed seeing Jimmy, even though I could tell the Youtube videos left some of it out.

Anybody got a different link for the whole documentary yet? I'd really like to see the part that was left out. Overall, I thoght the doc was well done and I learned facts I didn't know before. Looking forward to the Prince doc.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/iplayer/episode/b017gssb/Janet_Jackson_Taking_Control/

http://tinyurl.com/mizzjackass

ABeautifulOne said:

Wow Jimmy surprised me with why he and Terry haven't worked with Janet since Damita Jo

???

Jimmy and Terry have production credits on every song on "20 YO" and writing credits on almost all of them too.

That bit where Jimmy spoke about asking Terry to write the lyrics, it didn't seem to me like they had a fight, just Janet wasn't in a creative space and Jimmy wondered what was the point of making an album if she didn't feel like she had anything to write about.

I just watched the documentary - i recorded it from friday night.

It was ok - but I thought they rushed the last bit of her career - not mentioning 20YO or Discipline. Could have been maybe 10 minutes longer.

But I really liked the comparisons of RN1814 to What's going on.

A bit too much Michael at the beginning for my liking.

Militant said:

ABeautifulOne said:

Wow Jimmy surprised me with why he and Terry haven't worked with Janet since Damita Jo

???

Jimmy and Terry have production credits on every song on "20 YO" and writing credits on almost all of them too.

That bit where Jimmy spoke about asking Terry to write the lyrics, it didn't seem to me like they had a fight, just Janet wasn't in a creative space and Jimmy wondered what was the point of making an album if she didn't feel like she had anything to write about.

Yeah lol but still it makes you wonder how much production they actually did on "20 YO".

Timmy84 said:

Militant said:

???

Jimmy and Terry have production credits on every song on "20 YO" and writing credits on almost all of them too.

That bit where Jimmy spoke about asking Terry to write the lyrics, it didn't seem to me like they had a fight, just Janet wasn't in a creative space and Jimmy wondered what was the point of making an album if she didn't feel like she had anything to write about.

Yeah lol but still it makes you wonder how much production they actually did on "20 YO".

You can definately hear the Jimmy/Terry vibe in songs like "Take Care" and "Enjoy", two of the standout tracks on 20 YO.

SEANMAN said:

Timmy84 said:

Yeah lol but still it makes you wonder how much production they actually did on "20 YO".

You can definately hear the Jimmy/Terry vibe in songs like "Take Care" and "Enjoy", two of the standout tracks on 20 YO.

Yeah that was obvious lol

SEANMAN said:

Timmy84 said:

Yeah lol but still it makes you wonder how much production they actually did on "20 YO".

You can definately hear the Jimmy/Terry vibe in songs like "Take Care" and "Enjoy", two of the standout tracks on 20 YO.

Take Care was the best song on 20YO besides that everything else was disposable... Enjoy was okay... To be honest, if Jimmy and Terry had not have said they were apart of DJ, 20Y0 Disciplin I would have NEVER thought they participated.. her music for those albums including All 4 U was not good at all

The fact that she didnt even want to write at all on DJ speaks volumes

Thats my only beef with Janet.. its sad how as socially conscience of a artist she was her material turned so generic and she stopped taking risks... Hopefully with the new album she is inspired and puts out more creative material.

[Edited 11/20/11 15:57pm]