523 Hello Janet Jackson - What Have You Done For Me Lately ?

Chart  entered :  22  March  1986

Chart  peak : 3

Number  of  hits : 41


Here  we  have  our  third  girl  in  a  row  and  a  controversial  one. I  got  a  lot  of  stick  on  Popular  for  trashing  her  as  a  weak-voiced  dancer  who  sells  her  name  and  image  to  the  top  producers  of  the  moment  but  I'm  still  inclined  to  stick  by  that.

Janet  was  born  in  1966  making  her  the  youngest  of  the  Jackson  clan. She  started  out  as  a  teenaged  actress  with  roles  in  Diff'rent  Strokes  and  one  season  of  Fame   but  her  father  arranged  a  record  deal  for  her  with  A &  M   in  1982  when  she  was  16. Her  first  single  that  summer  was  "Young  Love " a  completely  unexceptional  disco  number  written  by  Rene  Moore  and  Angela  Wimbush  that  fails  to  stand  out  from  older  contemporaries  like   Evelyn  King  or  Sharon  Redd.  She  appeared  on  Soul  Train  looking  cute  and  chubby  but  professional. It  reached  64  in  the  US  but  did  nothing  here.

Her  debut  album  "Janet  Jackson"  came  out  in  September  1982  to  underwhelming  reviews  although  it  reached  number  63 in  the  US.  The  follow-up  single  "Come  Give  Your  Love  To  Me"  is  interesting  only  in  having  overtly  rock  elements  a  year  before  her  brother's  Beat  It  , the  song  itself  is  a  tuneless  bore. It  reached  number  58.  The  third  single  "Say  You  Do"  credits  Moore  and  Wimbush  but  it's  a  carbon  copy  of  big  brother's  Don't  Stop  Till  You  Get  Enough  with  Janet  trying  to  sound  as  much  like  him  as  possible ; I  guess  he  wasn't  going  to  sue  her. That  and  a  fourth  single  , the  upfront  electro  disco  of  "Don't  Mess  Up  A  Good  Thing " ( the  pick  of  the  four )  failed  to  make  the  chart.

The  lead  single  for  her  next  album  "Don't  Stand  Another  Chance"  came  out  in  August  1984. It  was  written  by  her  brother  Marlon  ( who  also  produced ) and  synth  player  John  Barnes. Her  brothers  provide  backing  vocals  on  the  track. Unsurprisingly,   it  parades  the  same  muscular   rock /funk  hybrid  sound  as  their  contemporaneous  Victory  album  but  it's  rubbish, trying  to  bludgeon  its  way  into  your  consciousness  by  hammering  the  title  home  with  repetition.

The  album  "Dream  Street"  came  out  shortly  afterwards. Janet's  father-manager  Joe  hedged  his  bets  by  splitting  writing / production  three  ways  between  Marlon, Prince  acolyte  Jesse  Johnson  and  famed  disco  duo  Giorgio  Moroder  and  Pete  Bellotte. The  latter  pair  produced  the  mechanical  "duet"   "Two  To  The  Power  of  Love  " with  Cliff  Richard   whose  presence  made  it  the  obvious  choice  for  lead  single  in  the  UK. An  utterly  generic  synth-based  power  ballad  it  bubbled  under  but  failed  to  make  the  Top  75.  The  other  singles  were Johnson's  "Fast  Girls "  a  competent  imitation  of  his  former  master  and  the   Italians'  title  track , a  moody  synth  pop  number  about  the  perils  of  fame-chasing  in  Hollywood  that  would  be  quite  good  if  Janet  had  a  voice  capable  of  expressing  any  emotion  other  than  a  child's  desire  for  sweeties.  The  release  of  the  album  coincided  with  her  stint  on  Fame   but  even  generous  exposure  on  the  programme  couldn't  stop  it  falling  well  short  of  the  Top  100  and  she  looked  set  for  a  mediocre  career  in  her  brother's  shadow,


Things  changed  dramatically  that  same  year  when  Janet  eloped  with  singer  James  DeBarge  and  got  married. DeBarge  had  drug  problems  and  they  were  together  for  less  than  a  year  but  the  experience  changed  her  whole  perspective. She  cut  the  umbilical  cord  and  dispensed  with  her  family's  services  altogether.  She  put  herself  in  the  hands  of  A  & M's  John  McClain  who  engaged  Jimmy "Jam"  Harris  and  Terry  Lewis  to  produce  her  next  album. They  were  formerly  with  The  Time  and  had  already  enjoyed  success  writing  and  producing  for  the  S.O.S. Band.

"What  Have  You  Done  For  Me  Lately"   was  the  lead  single, released  at  the  beginning  of  1986. It  was  originally  written  for  a  different  singer  but  Janet  claimed  it  and  re-wrote  the  lyrics  to  convey  a  message  to  DeBarge. They  are  a  bit  clumsy  but  get  a  pro-feminist  message  across  that  men  can't  settle  into  lazy  and  neglectful  self-indulgence  once  married. The  unfunky  title  is  punched  out  in  a  staccato  chorus. Musically , it  of  course  owes  a  lot  to  Prince  with  a  brutalist  beat  , taut  rhythm  and  sparse  keyboard  motifs. Jam  and  Lewis   couldn't  turn  base  metal  into  gold  and  Janet's  vocal  lines  are  pinned  to  the  bass  line  and  kept  low  in  the  mix. That  didn't  stop  it  being  an  enormous  hit , reaching  number  4  in  the  US .