January 1986: Janet Jackson Releases "What Have You Done for Me Lately"

MARCH 13: AMERICAN BANDSTAND - Show Coverage - 3/13/86, Janet Jackson on the Walt Disney Television via Getty Images Television Network dance show "American Bandstand"., (Photo by Craig Sjodin/Walt Disney Television via Getty Images)

There's a recurring theme throughout the history of popular music: the quickly conceived, last-minute track that goes on to be a smash hit. Such was the case for Janet Jackson's breakout 1986 single, "What Have You Done for Me Lately."

Jackson was already a star, with scene-stealing turns on TV shows Good Times, Diff'rent Strokes and Fame. Her music career, however, had stalled. Her first two solo albums--Janet Jackson and Dream Street--had failed to capture the young artist's creative spark. Frustrated, she fired her manager-father, Joe Jackson, to employ one John McClain, the then-senior VP of A&R at A&M Records. One of his first orders of business would prove to be quite fateful and fruitful: connecting Jackson with producers Jimmy Jam and Terry Lewis, who'd recently been dismissed from Prince spin-off band, The Time, by Prince himself. They, like Janet Jackson, had a lot to prove.

RELATED: January 1983: Michael Jackson Moonwalks to #1 with "Billie Jean"

Jackson flew out to Minneapolis to record her next album, Control, with the pair, returning home to Los Angeles after they finished. When McClain wanted one more uptempo track, she went back to Minnesota to work on one more track Jam and Lewis had been working on. Upon her arrival, they cranked it up over the studio speakers.

"She was sitting outside in the lounge and said, 'Man, that's a funky track. Who's that for?' And we said, 'It's for you,' and she said, 'Oh, cool,'" Jam recalled to Songfacts. "I think she was very pleased when she heard the track."

The song was lyrically rewritten to reflect Jackson's then-recent annulment from James Debarge, as well as a case of harassment the singer endured from a group of men while recording in Minneapolis.

"They were emotionally abusive. Sexually threatening. Instead of running to Jimmy or Terry for protection, I took a stand. I backed them down," she told Rolling Stone in 1993. "That's how songs like 'Nasty' and 'What Have You Done for Me Lately' were born, out of a sense of self-defense."

Released on January 13, 1986, "What Have You Done for Me Lately" would debut at #95, quickly climbing the Hot 100 until it peaked at #4 on May 17, 1986. The song would effectively relaunch Jackson's music career, helping propel the Control album to #1, and making the singer one of the biggest and most influential acts in pop. The song's iconic music video was choreographed by Paula Abdul, who appears in the clip.

https://totally80s.com/ar...-me-lately

https://www.waxpoetics.co...interview/

Jimmy Jam and Terry Lewis have become synonymous with recording excellence

In part two of our interview, James Harris III breaks down his beginnings as a musician and shares his thoughts on his prolific recording career thus far.

by Chris Williams

So Terry and I go down the roster and, at the same time, we stopped at the same name and said “Janet Jackson.†He said, “You guys want to work with Janet?†And we said, “Yes, we would.†He asked us, “How many songs do you want to do? Three or four.†We told him, “No. We want to do her entire album.†He said, “You do?†We said, “Yes.†It was almost like he was asking us why. [laughs] At that time, she released two albums that really didn’t do anything on the charts. There are a lot of talented people, but certain names inspire ideas. And with Janet, Terry and I knew exactly what to do. We knew what was missing in her records. And obviously, the rest is history. It’s been well documented. Janet is an incredible artist. At the height of the whole Janet thing, John was a huge cheerleader for our first record with her. At that time, the joke with A&R people is they would ask you for one more record. No matter what you did, they would ask you for one more record.

I remember getting this call from John McClain, and he tells us, “Everything sounds great. You guys really killed this album. This is at least a double platinum record. This is amazing. But I still need this one record.†We asked him, “What one record do you need, John?†He replied, “I just need one record, man.†At the time, Terry and I were doing our own album. I remember when we were in our car, and we played some stuff we were working on for him. One of the tracks we put on for him to hear ended up becoming “What Have You Done for Me Lately.†When he heard the track, he exclaimed, “That’s the track I’m looking for. That’s the one!†We told him, “No. That is for our album.†He said, “You have to let me play this for Janet. No. Here is what we’ll do. You guys play it for Janet. If she likes it, let her have it. If she doesn’t like it, it can go on your album.†The next day we got to the studio, and she was sitting on the couch. We just turned the song on. She’s sitting on the couch, looks up, and gets this nasty look on her face, and asked, “Who is that for?†We said, “For you, if you want it?†She said, “I want it.†The song ended up being her first single and set the tone for all the records that came after it. So John was right about that. He had our utmost respect at that point. He already did, but he did after that, because he was absolutely right.

OldFriends4Sale said:

https://www.waxpoetics.co...interview/

Jimmy Jam and Terry Lewis have become synonymous with recording excellence

In part two of our interview, James Harris III breaks down his beginnings as a musician and shares his thoughts on his prolific recording career thus far.

by Chris Williams

So Terry and I go down the roster and, at the same time, we stopped at the same name and said “Janet Jackson.†He said, “You guys want to work with Janet?†And we said, “Yes, we would.†He asked us, “How many songs do you want to do? Three or four.†We told him, “No. We want to do her entire album.†He said, “You do?†We said, “Yes.†It was almost like he was asking us why. [laughs] At that time, she released two albums that really didn’t do anything on the charts. There are a lot of talented people, but certain names inspire ideas. And with Janet, Terry and I knew exactly what to do. We knew what was missing in her records. And obviously, the rest is history. It’s been well documented. Janet is an incredible artist. At the height of the whole Janet thing, John was a huge cheerleader for our first record with her. At that time, the joke with A&R people is they would ask you for one more record. No matter what you did, they would ask you for one more record.

I remember getting this call from John McClain, and he tells us, “Everything sounds great. You guys really killed this album. This is at least a double platinum record. This is amazing. But I still need this one record.†We asked him, “What one record do you need, John?†He replied, “I just need one record, man.†At the time, Terry and I were doing our own album. I remember when we were in our car, and we played some stuff we were working on for him. One of the tracks we put on for him to hear ended up becoming “What Have You Done for Me Lately.†When he heard the track, he exclaimed, “That’s the track I’m looking for. That’s the one!†We told him, “No. That is for our album.†He said, “You have to let me play this for Janet. No. Here is what we’ll do. You guys play it for Janet. If she likes it, let her have it. If she doesn’t like it, it can go on your album.†The next day we got to the studio, and she was sitting on the couch. We just turned the song on. She’s sitting on the couch, looks up, and gets this nasty look on her face, and asked, “Who is that for?†We said, “For you, if you want it?†She said, “I want it.†The song ended up being her first single and set the tone for all the records that came after it. So John was right about that. He had our utmost respect at that point. He already did, but he did after that, because he was absolutely right.

I love this.

ChocolateBox3121 said:

the 1980s into the early 90s were the last eras where performances were so interesting. After the early 90s into the 2000s they were extremely rare. And usually someone from the 70s or 80s whose putting it on.
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https://www.youtube.com/w...-dfacR2VTk

What Have You Done For Me Lately - Janet Jackson

Janet Jackson & Paula Abdul Rare Choreography Rehearsal Clip (1986)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=p66zcRwMDfA

Rare 1986 rehearsal clip of Janet Jackson & Paula Addul practicing the choreography and dance moves for Janet's upcoming music video for her first single from the Control album, the song "What Have You Done For Me Lately".