It's The Pleasure Princi-POLL -- ILM Artist Poll #103 -- JANET JACKSON Results Thread

9. THE PLEASURE PRINCIPLE (1987; 23 points; 2 votes) [tie]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Q-gu1KETjVY

9. THAT'S THE WAY LOVE GOES (23 points; 2 votes) [tie]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2b_KfAGiglc

aaaaaaaaaaaaa

thats the way love goes video is great. i really just wanted to kick it in that room with all those people, well mostly janet. really warm and inviting, good lighting. has aged really well i think.

I'm surprised "That's The Way Love Goes" is so low, it's such a moooood (also, J Lo)

I def love the vibe of that video but I also like other videos of hers better too idk

8. GO DEEP (1998; 25 points; 2 votes)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Xjs7Vwf3t_E

7. ESCAPADE (1990; 25 points; 3 votes)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UFX3gQHIroU

I discovered the "Go Deep" video going thru all her videos for this poll and I was blown away, I think it was my #2

The "Go Deep" video rules

All that Requiem for a Dream shoulder-cam tho.

Wow haven't thought about that "Go Deep" vid for like 20 years. Very fun, very late '90s

ahh man, the 'go deep' video. . . the things one forgets! i think that's one case where the video really sold the song for me. i was lukewarm on it as part of the album, but after seeing the video a few times, i reassessed and surmised that it's a solid groove.

6. IF (32 points; 3 votes)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BTSd4vqnMwo

5. When I Think of You (1986; 36 points; 3 votes)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EaleKN9GQ54

(Need to take an hour. Will come back then with the final four videos and launch into albums.

I didn't vote for videos and now I'm mad that "That's the Way Love Goes" was so low but I have nobody but myself to blame.

IF video TOO LOW

Wow, somehow I have...never seen that awesome Julian Temple-directed "When I Think of You" video! I'm a sucker for "one-shot" stuff (even/especially if it's easy to see some of the cuts)

yeah i hadn't either. amazing!

i cried when the cops arrested the old white guy instead of the street dancers at the end

lol I read that the wrong way at first

Haha, me too. Yeesh.

4. RHYTHM NATION (1989; 39 points; 3 votes)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OAwaNWGLM0c

how was that not #1!

(BTW, that's the single song video, not the VHS "LP" thing.)

Sorry, forgot to include 1 first-place vote for both "When I Think Of You" and "Rhythm Nation."

03. LOVE WILL NEVER DO (WITHOUT YOU) (1990; 47 points; 4 votes; 1 first-place vote)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=63zEDkg351c

02. ALRIGHT (1990; 48 points; 4 votes; 1 first-place vote)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=t8UidwWPin4

01. GOT 'TIL IT'S GONE (1997; 56 points; 4 votes; 1 first-place vote)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Bn6KpNLbUFk

what in the world

i think "love will never do {without you)" would have been my #1. so simple and beautiful - salt flats, bodies, light

I didn't give "Got 'Til It's Gone" it's first-place vote, but I absolutely endorse it in the top spot tbh.

And now for albums, which had waaaaay more participation.

https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/f/f4/Janet_Jackson_20_Y.O..png

09. 20 Y.O. (2006; 6 points; 1 vote)

https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/3/34/Janet_Jackson_Discipline.png

08. DISCIPLINE (2008; 7 points; 1 vote)

My big albums question: given all the stumping in the voting thread, can Damito Jo overtake a classic (All For You, janet., Control?) and make it into the Top 5?

i mentioned this in the voting thread, but 'got til it's gone' was such a huge moment for me and the video is burned into my memory. i didn't submit a videos ballot, but that would have been my #1 if i had.

hey! i was the one vote for discipline!

I suppose the fact I was one of the 3 who voted for remixes but didn't vote for albums reveals the type of Janet fan I am. Still excited for the tracks rundown and enjoyed the deep dive

But some of those 90s house remixes really are among the finest examples of the form

https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/c/c9/Janet_Jackson_-_Damita_Jo.png

07. DAMITA JO (2004; 63 points; 9 votes)

xp to or something: so, when this is all rolled out, you wanna share a playlist or recommend some good ones?

because i'm admittedly very ignorant on most of her remixes and would like to not be.

My big albums question: given all the stumping in the voting thread, can Damito Jo overtake a classic (All For You, janet., Control?) and make it into the Top 5?

Not quite, as it turned out ... but for a little while it got close.

i didn't vote for damita jo, but i did enjoy listening to it a few times. she's certainly got better albums, but it's way better than its reputation. like, its reputation would have one believe that it's not even listenable past a couple songs and that's really not the case.

https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/c/c6/Janet_Jackson_-_Unbreakable_%28Official_Album_Cover%29.png

06. UNBREAKABLE (2015; 82 points; 13 votes)

Xp to Austin

This was my ballot:

Miss You Much (Oh I Like That Mix)
Alright (CJ Mackintosh House Mix)
If (Brothers In Rhythm House Mix)
Nasty (Cool Summer Mix)
Throb (Morales Bad Yard Club)
That's The Way Love Goes (CJ FXTC Club Mix)
R&B Drunkie - Mark E
Escapade (Shep's Housecapade Remix)
You Want This (E Smoove's House Anthem)
Rhythm Nation (12" House Nation Mix)

All apart from the CJ Mackintosh House Mix of Alright are on Spotify, here's a link to the YouTube of that one:

https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=EaI954eZqdg

https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/2/2c/Janet_Jackson_-_All_for_You_%28album%29.png

05. ALL FOR YOU (2001; 110 points; 14 votes)

Of all the albums I came back to for review in this poll, I think All for You is the one that most pleasantly surprised me. So many songs that I had written off as B-minus Jam/Lewis/Jackson material, so many songs right up there with the peaks of the prior four studio albums.

Same here.

https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/e/e6/Janetperiod1993.png

04. janet. (1993; 114 points; 15 votes)

https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/f/ff/Janet_Jackson_-_Control.png

03. CONTROL (1986; 181points; 22 votes; 8 first-place votes)

One from each of her four imperial-phase albums plus "Love Will Never Do" as the bridge between the '80s and '90s eras.

holy shit Empty at #5

She's selling her wedding dress? If it's a marriage that ended acrimoniously, I guess so, but still strikes me as a little unseemly.

(If the money is earmarked for charity, obviously very different.)

That's a surprisingly great list / write-up. Nice to see some thoughtful coverage of more recent tracks e.g. "Rock With U", "Should've Known Better", "The Great Forever".

Agreed.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UNh8c-yi7bI

<3

I HOPE I'M NOT BEING TOO CRASS HERE

. . . but those are cock rings.

(seriously tho, very cool video)

guys the 4-part Janet documentary that just aired on Lifetime is very good. I am constantly pinching myself that she’s sitting there on camera talking about her life

SO much vhs footage <3

I missed it but hope to see it at some point. Saw folks commenting elsewhere that she chooses not to discuss various things especially controversial ones.

well yeah, she’s calling the shots- she’s so private, there’s no way she’d agree to do it at all unless she had a say on what goes in & what doesnt

they address mj somewhat but it’s brief & very much the party line as far as the family is concernex

don’t go in expecting a hbo deep research independent investigation bc its def not that. there’s a reason it’s on Lifetime

the fact that she’s saying anything at all about anything is the selling point

Entirely coincidentaly I've had the Control Remixes album on perambulation rotation and have been massively enjoying (among the rest) The Pleasure Principle (Shep Pettibone Long Vocal Mix).

yessss!

i had a whole Janet dance party yesterday after watching all 4 doc episodes :D

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VmZGQ0xT0zg

been vibing to this so hard the past week
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nT28f3lY-MY

A really great one.

57 today. Played "Escapade" for a grade 7 class. Either too apathetic to raise a hand (a real possibility with this class) or indicative of how much things have changed: no response to "Anyone know her music?"

I appreciate this specific effort because "Escapade" is godhead, but I'm curious ... do you let your students get cracks at picking media to share?

What do they think about Madonna? Janet Jackson has an amazing catalog of hits, but she's never been anywhere near the dominant personality of, say, Madonna. Further factor in the fallout from the Super Bowl and subsequent semi exile, and maybe that explains why she has less resonance with really young people?

Genuinely didn't realize that "If" was earmarked as the first single. I think the swap worked in both songs' favor:

that's the way love goes, indeed. pic.twitter.com/TkJIWxBDz4

— Mike Servito (@mikeservito) May 15, 2023

I agree with that

do you let your students get cracks at picking media to share?

Well, they're not my students--I'm just in as a supply. When I had my own class, we did lots of stuff where they picked something for an assignment. But for Today in History, then and now, I pick whatever song/film clip I want to play.

I'm sure most know at least something about Madonna. (I also suspect a few in here know at least something about Janet Jackson. They're just not the most forthcoming class.)

My first choice, by the way, was "Love Will Never Do Without You." Looked at the video...nope.

The irony is the best way to connect them with Janet would probably be through the history of YouTube, but of course that is not appropriate for school.

LET'S GO

I appreciate the effort to expose students to film and music that aren't part of their daily diet, but on the other hand if a teacher had shown my 7th grade class a video of, say, Cleo Laine on her 57th birthday I'm not sure any of us would have had a lot of context to respond. But who knows what stimuli will stick with them in the future.

I get that, obviously. Her last Top 10 single seems to have been 2001. I started teaching in 1991--it would have been like me showing them something from 1969 then.

I don't think the Cleo Laine analogy is particularly apt, though; Janet Jackson has a lot more to do with they music they listen to (if they do...) then Cleo Laine had to do with the music you listened to in grade 7. (At least that's my guess.) Anyway, you either show them or you don't; to me, the exposure is much better than deciding "They won't be interested in this" preemptively. (Also what keeps the job fun for me.)

But who knows what stimuli will stick with them in the future.

That's it. By and large, when I've run into students years later, the two things they'll remember from their year with me are these Today in Historys and going for ice cream at the end of the year. They certainly don't remember me trying to pretend like I knew something about science.

About time!

https://www.udiscovermusic.com/news/janet-jackson-janet-album-deluxe-anniversary-editions/

I can't believe I only placed "Throb" 40th on my ballot!