Monday, February 08, 2016

Celebrating CONTROL (and noting a few who ignored it)

Last week, we offered "Still Ms. Jackson 30 years later" about the 30th anniversary of the release of Janet Jackson's CONTROL album.


janetj


Reader Eddie H. notes, "You were first out of the gate!  In the days that followed I saw a lot of ink on this one of a kind, classic album.  Still it wasn't really enough.  This album is as much a classic as The Beatles' SGT. PEPPER'S LONELY HEARTS CLUB BAND or Dusty Springfield's DUSTY IN MEMPHIS."

We agree.

And so do a lot of you who also took the time to e-mail about your love for the album.

Like Eddie, Bernice T. noted that there was other coverage and asked if we could provide a link to some?


Sure.

Here's BILLBOARD from last week, CNN, THE ROOT, THE LOS ANGELES TIMES, MTV, VIBE, FUSION, JEZEBEL and OUT MAGAZINE.


That's not a complete listing.

If you're wondering why we ignored NPR's coverage, it's because . . . there was none.

So-so White NPR can wax on -- and this includes the increasingly embarrassing Ann Powers -- about this and that male guitar band but they refuse to note the very real accomplishment and landmark that is CONTROL.


Well ROLLING STONE -- at least ROLLING STONE noted the anniversary, right?

Wrong.

They ignored it despite declaring on their Janet Jackson summary page:


Then John McClain, an A&M executive and family friend, suggested that Jackson work with Jimmy Jam and Terry Lewis of the Time. Collaborating with these musician/writer/producers, Jackson recorded her breakthrough album, 1986's Control, which topped the pop and R&B album charts and spawned numerous hits: "What Have You Done for Me Lately" (Number Four pop, Number One R&B), "Nasty" (Number Three pop, Number One R&B), "When I Think of You" (Number One pop, Number three R&B), and, in 1987, "Control" (Number Five pop, Number one R&B), "Let's Wait Awhile" (Number Two pop, Number 1 R&B), and "The Pleasure Principle" (Number 14 pop, Number One R&B).



Even sadder, SPIN ignored the anniversary.

Why is that sadder?


SPIN put Janet on the cover first and did so for the best real-time reporting on CONTROL.

jj