For all the talk about Whitney Houston, the members could be doing the same here, too. Next #1: Your Smile - Rene & Angela Week ending March 15, 1986 1 week This one of the better mid-80s ballads. I don't expect most of this forum to like it.
Never heard this one before. They were hugely successful on the R&B charts for a 2-year period but never crossed over to the pop charts. Those late-'80s keyboards still sound dated, and not in a charming way, either. Meh. Inoffensive. But if I want mellow mid-'80's, I'm gonna reach for sophistipop every time. Sade farted out better songs than this.
Never really heard this one, either . . . but the sound is quintessential '80's for sure. In Britain, they had a few minor hits, but I wonder how many confused them with Renee & Renato of "Save Your Love" fame. Or Rene & Rene ("Angelito," 1964; "Lo Mucho Que Te Quiero (The More I Love You)," 1969). I have the feeling, with this outfit, we'll be hearing a lot from at least one half in the future.
I recall reading in Arnold Shaw's Honkers and Shouters that the royalties from the Walker song went to the writers of the song recorded by Hines/Eckstine for quite some time. Honkers and Shouters is also a good read on the period "by someone who was there."
But, you have to admit that it is a quality recording, at least a lot better than the usual pack of R&B ballads we got in the 80s.
And, so it begins! New #1: What Have You Done For Me Lately - Janet Jackson Week ending March 22, 1986 2 weeks And, just trying some promotion: @pablo fanques @Jmac1979 @Oatsdad @The Slug Man @Steve Mc @bartels76 @Yam Graham @SITKOL'76
Solid entry to her chart dominance. Independent of what her famous brothers were up to as well. Still sounds great!
Who would have guessed the queen of the Minneapolis Sound would end up being Janet Jackson? Michael's kid sister manages to out-protégé any of Prince's direct protégés with the help of former collaborators Jam & Lewis. I actually loved this one right from the start - has a nice clean spare sound that harks back more to '83 and '84, but the beat is very '86. Totally Prince-inspired but doesn't sound anything like a ripoff of one specific Prince track to me, more like another planet in that purple universe. It's just an amazing, herky-jerk dance beat. And Janet can't really sing well, but she multitracks great and she's the best sexy sly talker since Diana Ross. So it's like The Supremes meet Purple Rain. The video is amazingly cheap - one set, shot like a sitcom, clearly a ton of money wasn't dumped into this thing from the label or from the Jackson clan, but the choreography from baby Paula Abdul (who's there in the background) is absolutely iconic and made the Laker Girl a rising star (at least on the video choreography front) overnight. So many great and memorable dance moves in this one, many of which make me chuckle now but they were fierce at the time and I still love them. Important to note that Janet's dance style was affiliated with but also distinctly different from her brother's, and I've always thought she rapidly eclipsed him thanks to shots like this (and the fact she pumped out much better dance tunes). His videos were more overblown and epic, but I thought she ultimately had better practical moves. Surprisingly Janet wouldn't break big in the UK and even much of Europe for several years, but after this she was an American giant for well over a decade, competing right up there with Madonna, Whitney, Mariah and her brother, and with a career as a major chart act that would far outlast Prince's. The Control album is a lot of fun even if it's not the smartest thing ever made. Still, it's brighter than Whitney's or Mariah's stuff, with "Lately" being one of its more cutting - and for that matter lasting - pieces. The spoken intro is hilarious, true and iconic, and it's the first - and probably best - of many male takedowns Janet would spin onto the charts. Used to go to dinner almost every night Danced until I thought I'd lose my breath Now it seems your dancin' feet are always on my couch Good thing I cook or else we'd starve to death Ain't that a shame? The little Jackson girl could dish out a mean, funk-tinged slice of poppin' dance music. After this, I always thought her brother was at best only her equal on his subsequent effort, and beyond that second-rate in comparison. We talked over on the pop thread about how the mid-'80s is when women seemed to suddenly take over the pop charts. Well, here's another reason why. This is wild, I swear!
Great post! I love it! And, i'm sure that there was a part of Michael that was really pissed off that his kid sister became some major competition. But, their albums were spaced far enough at first that he had nothing to worry about. But she still upstaged him. And, at least she wasn't weird. It also must have sucked to be Jermaine.
Yeah I meant that her sound wasn’t trying to mimic them. It would have been easy for her to obviously but I always felt she had her own sound right from this point on. Maybe similar to Jody Watley but nothing like MJ or the five. Jam/Lewis was definitely the right way to go
I think her rise destroyed Jermaine's career. She was so much better than him. Although I loved "Do What You Do", and they actually spent a bundle on the video for that, which starred Iman. It plays less like R&B and more like sophistipop though. Which was kind of an odd space for Jermaine to head into. It's very Stevie Wonder as well. I didn't realize it at the time.
The problem with Jermaine was always that he was too laid back, easy-going, smooth. That didn't work in a time when the audience wanted radical and brash sounds, and that included the disco and the 80s eras. He struck gold like four times, but that was it. his style is too cautious.
Ironic, since wasn't Jermaine a huge p***y hound who shagged like a million groupies? Or am I getting him confused with one of the other Jackson brothers? Maybe he thought the laid-back stuff pulled more chicks?
I heard both Jacksons' songs. As for "What Have You Done For Me Lately?," in the UK it made #1 on the Melody Maker chart, and #3 on Gallup's "official" chart (the forum that brought all their charts to the fore is offline at this time, so I can't tell you at this time how it charted in NME).
I forgot this one and a couple of other early Janet singles actually did OK in the UK, but mostly she was scraping around the Top 20 after this for several years - nothing like her chart dominance in the US. Oddly she was noticeably bigger in the Netherlands during this period than in the UK. That's odd, because the Dutch took a lot of their cues from UK radio.
What a comeback from the overbaked, underwritten Around The World In A Day. Killer melody, slammin' beat and just enough accompaniment. The video is equally incredible - stripped down, sexy, funny, and some of the finest dancing of any '80s video. All of it is iconic. Probably on my shortlist of the ten best #1 singles of the decade. Lead single from the even more eclectic than Around The World In A Day LP Parade, which unlike its predecessor actually works and is an amazing piece of art. Purple Rain gets all the attention, but this is probably my favorite Prince LP.