Despite being an acclaimed child actress and star of Good Times, Diff'rent Strokes, and Fame, Janet Jackson was expected to enter music. In 1982, she released her self-titled debut album, producing her first top 10 R&B hit "Young Love". Two years later, Janet followed up with Dream Street, also producing the top 10 R&B hit "Don't Stand Another Chance". For her third release, John McClain of A&M Records suggested Janet work with an up-and-coming producers Jimmy Jam and Terry Lewis to produce her next album. Desperate to take control of her own musical vision, flew to Minneapolis to meet with the production duo in hopes of recording what would become her breakthrough album. Janet adapted to the hustle and bustle of Minneapolis, and found inspiration from past experiences that would later resonate into the theme of the album. Satisfied with Jimmy and Terry, Janet recorded what would be her breakthrough album, Control.
Give us this day our daily Control
And forgive us our dragging of the uninformed
As we forgive those who stan for the abominable lessors
And lead us not into asking what she's done for us lately
But deliver us from classic me with a modern twist
For thine is the Pleasure
And the Principle
And the soundtrack to independence, forever
Amen.
Courtesy of Night Senses of Pulse Music Board #HomagePaid
25 Years of Control
Released: February 4, 1986
US Sales - 5x platinum (should be 6 or 7x platinum)
Worldwide sales - 14,000,000+
Billboard 200: #1 (2 weeks) 106 weeks total
Top R&B/Hip-Hop Albums: #1
Year End Charts:
#6 Biggest Selling Album of 1986
#5 Biggest Selling Album of 1987
Singles:
Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Singles & Tracks: #1 (2 weeks)
The Billboard Hot 100: #4
Hot 100 Airplay: #8
Hot Dance Music/Club Play: #2
Hot Dance Music/Maxi-Singles Sales: #1
RIAA - Gold
Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Singles & Tracks: #1
The Billboard Hot 100: #3
Hot 100 Airplay: #5
Hot Dance Music/Club Play: #2
Hot Dance Music/Maxi-Singles Sales: #6
RIAA - Gold
Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Singles & Tracks: #3
The Billboard Hot 100: #1 (2 weeks)
Hot 100 Airplay: #1 (2 weeks)
Hot Dance Music/Club Play: #1
Hot Dance Music/Maxi-Singles Sales: #3
RIAA - Gold
Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Singles & Tracks: #1
The Billboard Hot 100: #5
Hot 100 Airplay: #4
Hot Dance Music/Club Play: #1
Hot Dance Music/Maxi-Singles Sales: #2
RIAA - Gold
Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Singles & Tracks: #1
The Billboard Hot 100: #2
Hot 100 Airplay: #4
Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Singles & Tracks: #1
The Billboard Hot 100: #14
Hot 100 Airplay: #13
Hot Dance Music/Club Play: #1
Hot Dance Music/Maxi-Singles Sales: #8
UK: #59
Awards
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American Music Awards
1987 - Favorite Soul/R&B Female Video Artist
1987 - Favorite Soul/R&B Single - Nasty
1988 - Favorite Pop/Rock Video - When I Think Of You
1988 - Favorite Soul/R&B Video - When I Think Of You
Billboard Awards
1986 - Top Black Artist of the Year (combined albums + singles)
1986 - Top Pop Singles Artist
1986 - Top Dance Sales Artist
1986 - Top Club Play Artist
1986 - Top Black Singles Artist
1986 - Top Pop Singles Artist - Female
1986 - Top Black Single
1986 - Top Black Album
Soul Train Awards
1987 - Female Album Of The Year
1987 - Best Music Video - What Have You Done For Me Lately
1988 - Best Music Video - Control
Edison Awards
1987 - Album Of The Year
MTV Video Music Awards
1987 - Best Choreography in a Video - Nasty
1988 - Best Choreography in a Video - The Pleasure Principle
Radioscope Awards
1986 Radioscope Award for Best Female Vocalist
BPI Sales Awards
1986 - What Have You Done For Me Lately - Silver Award - Won
1986 Control - Silver Award - Won
DMC DJ Awards
1986 - Best Female Vocalist
Records
Control is the first album by a female to produce 5 top 5 singles.
Control is the first album by a female to produce 6 top 40 hits on the Billboard Hot 100.
Control is the first album to have each of its singles peak in each of the top 5 slots on the Billboard Hot 100.
At age 19, "When I Think Of You" made Janet the youngest artist to hit #1 on the Billboard Hot 100 Singles chart, since Stevie Wonder, making Janet the youngest Black female to reach #1 on the chart.
"When I Think Of You," also made Janet and Michael Jackson the ONLY siblings in history to have #1 hits on the Billboard Hot 100.
Control received a record twelve nominations from the American Music Awards - a record that remains unbroken 25 years later.
Control made history when 5 of its singles reach #1 on the Billboard Top R&B/Hip-Hop charts.
Other Noted achievements
Control is also Included in Vibe's 100 Essential Albums of the 20th Century
#58 Biggest selling album of US BMG Music Club
"Nasty" ranked as VH1's 45th Best Songs of the Past 25 Years
"What Have You Done for Me Lately" was ranked by Blender Magazine as the 341st top song in their "Top 500 Songs of the 80s-00s (2005)" publication
The Guardian (UK) ranked Control one of the 1000 Albums You Must Hear Before You Die
Slant Magazine ranks Control as one of the 50 Essential Pop Albums
Pause & Play inducted Control into their "Albums Inducted into a Time Capsule, One Album per Week"
"Nasty" was ranked by VH1 as the 45th Greatest Song of the 80s
The Rock & Roll Hall of Fame named Control (#86) as one of the 200 Definitive Albums of All Time.
MOJO (UK) lists Control under "MOJO 1000 - The Ultimate CD Buyers Guide"
"Nasty" was named by Rolling Stone Magazine the #79 Greatest Song Of Rock & Roll History
Eggen & Kartvedt (Norway) listed Control in "The Guide to the 100 Important Rock Albums (1999)"
Control was named by OOR (Netherlands) as the 58th greatest album of the 80s.
Control is ranked by Rolling Stone as the 28th Greatest Album of the 80s
Uncut (UK) published "The 100 Greatest Singles from the Post-Punk Era (2001)" listing "Nasty" at number 100
Why "Control" Is Important
According to Janet's biography, "Control" brought Janet into the collaborative mix of Jimmy Jam and Terry Lewis: a relationship that created a musical fusion of pop, r&b, soul, dance, jazz, rock and rap that continues today." Control is the quintessential coming-of-age album. It has set the standard for artists declaring independence, and its often referenced as the album that defines an artist finally coming into their sound and form. From declaring independence and taking life by the horns, to practicing abstinence and empowering women, the album chronicles the life of a young girl's transition into womanhood. Control announced the arrival of a new R&B star, no longer in the shadows of her famous brothers, but coming into her own. Janet was edgy and boastful, yet so timid and vulnerable. Control was an instant smash in the U.S. and around the world, selling a staggering 14 million copies.
In his 2006 work, The New Blue Music, musicologist Richard J. Ripani noted that "Control" was responsible for bridging the gap between R&B and rap music. Ripani highlighted that "Control is important to the development of R&B for a number of reasons. The primary producers of Control, Jimmy Jam, Terry Lewis, and Jackson herself, crafted a new sound that fuses the rhythmic elements of funk and disco, along with heavy doses of synthesizers, percussion, sound effects, and a rap music sensibility." By the time Control had launched Janet to superstar status, other producers such as Teddy Riley used Control as a template to create a sound for other R&B artists of the late 80s. Riley's use of the Control template later evolved into what would become New Jack Swing of the late 80s and early 90s. Sean "Diddy" Combs also used the Control album as a template for creating the sounds of his artists such as Mary J. Blige, The Notorious B.I.G, and TLC. From that, artists such as Keith Sweat, Michael Jackson, MC Hammer, Boyz II Men, EnVogue, Mary J. Blige, TLC, and Paula Abdul all have Janet to thank for giving them a sound to use to enjoy success.
The videos from the Control album are among the first videos from a female artists to feature full-choreography. The videos became the template for females who incorporated dance routines into their videos. "Nasty" is said to be the video that brought older brother Michael Jackson to tears.
The Legacy of Control
Thanks to @AlexWilder's twitpic account for finding this pic
25 years after its release, Control continues to be the stanard for artists finding themselves artistically and musically, and continues to rest on its pedestal as one of the most influential albums of all time. Upon its release, Billboard stated, "Control is a better album than Diana Ross has made in five years and puts Janet in a position similar to the young Donna Summer's — unwilling to accept novelty status and taking her own steps to rise above it." Three years later, The New York Times suggested Control was responsible for the careers of Jody Watley, Paula Abdul and Neneh Cherry. Other acts influenced by the Control album include Pebbles, Sharon Byrant, Vanessa Williams, and Karyn White.
While being awarded Billboard's "Artistic Achievement" award in 1995, Billboard noted that Control was held as one of the landmark releases of the past 20 years. In 1998, singer Toni Braxton praised Control for being the album that made children of preachers feel comfortable embracing their femininity and sexuality. In 2007, Jay-Z likened Rihanna's Good Girl Gone Bad album to Control in that Rihanna has found her voice and her sound the way Jackson did 21 years ago. The following year, during the R. Kelly trials, defense counsel Sam Adam Jr. stated, "That's how you gotta talk with those people," he said. "They know Janet Jackson: They know she had that famous song, 'What Have You Done for Me Lately?' They understand." Former editor-in-chief of Vibe magazine, Danyel Smith told ABC in an 2009 interview that Control was quietly one of the most significant albums of the last 25 years cementing Janet as her own person.
In itself, "What Have You Done For Me Lately" has become a notorious American statement, having been quoted by everyone from president Barack Obama to comedian Eddie Murphy. International pop icon Beyonce Knowles featured the spoken dialogue at the beginnig of the song on her 2009 I Am...world tour. The famous "LatelyBass" preset on the Yamaha TX81Z (used extensively on house and techno songs of the late '80s and '90s) was based on the bass tone of "Lately", and subsequently named after it as well. Similarly, Janet's most quoted lyric, "No my first name aint baby, it's Janet. Ms Jackson if you're nasty" became a mantra for the empowerment of women to protest the objectification of women in pop culture, and society. One reviewer of Control paralleled the ubiquitous catchphrase to that of Aretha Franklin's "Respect" as songs that empower women of all backgrounds.
Christina Aguilera stated she grew up being mesmerized by videos from Control including "What Have You Done For Me Lately" and "When I Think Of You". Britney Spears peformed the song during her "Baby One More Time" Tour in 1999. Singer/actress Jennifer Lopez also stated "Pleasure Principle" video was one of the two videos that encouraged her to pursue a career in entertainment ("Alright" being the other). The video also features Janet employing a 50's style microphone as a prop in her choreography. The same concept can be found in R&B singer Ciara's music video "Promise". Rapper Nas listed "Control" as one of his Top 10 favorite videos on BET's Top 25 Video Countdown. There are reports international pop icon Whitney Houston sang the same song during a concert in 1988.
Courtesy of Rocket Love of Pulse Music Board