009: Janet Jackson - Control (1986)
“When I finally make up my mind that I want to do something, it’s never been hard for me to do.”
--Janet Jackson
We’re sorry, Miss Jackson. For nearly two decades, Janet Damita Jo Jackson was one of the world’s most reliable hitmakers, but her reign came to a complete halt after the Super Bowl XXXVIII halftime show and its infamous “wardrobe malfunction.” After a stunning career spent deliberately pushing boundaries, somebody else took it a step too far and she suffered the consequences.
However, her legacy of pop masterpieces and powerful feminism was never forgotten. She kept living her life, putting out terrific albums, and never relinquishing control. Janet may have been less visible for a while there, but she never truly went away - and now that she’s been nominated to the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame for the third time, we’re going to do whatever we can to make sure she gets in, including making sure all our listeners know how excellent Control is. We hope you enjoy this as much as we do.
Miscellany
We talked about the murder of Janet Jackson’s career after that pivotal Super Bowl, but at the time of recording we hadn’t yet heard who the killer was. Turns out it was Les Moonves, former CEO of CBS Corp., who allegedly spent quite a lot of his time harassing, assaulting, and otherwise mistreating women.
Speaking of the Super Bowl, it’s worth noting that Janet has never been invited to perform at halftime again, but Justin Timberlake, whose career suffered no visible damage after he exposed a woman’s breast on live television, was at Super Bowl LII in 2018. Amanda couldn’t help noticing that his show included several women who were evidently only there as props for him to grope.
The two songs in front of “Nasty” on the Billboard charts were “Sledgehammer” by Peter Gabriel and “Invisible Touch” by Genesis. There was apparently no defeating the Genesis juggernaut that week.
Mr. Heckles (and the diner owner in the video) was played by Larry Hankin, a wonderful character actor with quite an extensive resume. He’ll always be Mr. Heckles to us, though.
Amanda made the stupidest remark of this entire podcast to date when she said that “You Can Be Mine” doesn’t have enough bass. Turns out all you need is headphones and there is a ROCKIN bass line in there. She is very embarrassed.
Other links
What did critics think of Control when it was released? (Spoiler: they were positive but confused.) (Splinter)
Vote for Janet to be inducted in to the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame!
Janet Jackson speaks about abuse at the Global Citizen Festival in September 2018 (MSNBC)
Les Moonves was obsessed with ruining Janet Jackson’s career (Huffington Post)
The Unbreakable Janet Jackson, Forgotten Pop Feminist (Jezebel)
Attention, Rock Hall of Fame: Janet Jackson’s Time Has Come (Forbes)
Hot Sundae - Go For It (YouTube)
Mr. Heckles assists Walt and Jesse - a.k.a. “YEAH, BITCH! MAGNETS!” (YouTube)
What happens to the nasty boys? (Hark! A Vagrant!)
Discord & Rhyme’s Control playlist (Spotify)
Music videos
Discord & Rhyme Roll Call
Rich Bunnell (host)
Phil Maddox (moderator)
Mike DeFabio
Amanda Privacy Control Rodgers
Control tracklist
Control
Nasty
What Have You Done For Me Lately
You Can Be Mine
The Pleasure Principle
When I Think of You
He Doesn’t Know I’m Alive
Let’s Wait Awhile
Funny How Time Flies (When You’re Having Fun)
Other clips used
Janet Jackson:
Rhythm Nation
Don’t Stand Another Chance
Love Will Never Do (Without You)
Empty
Son of a Gun (I Betcha Think This Song is About You) - feat. Carly Simon
Made for Now
Others:
Cardiacs - R.E.S.
Death - Scavenger of Human Sorrow
Jean-Jacques Perrey - The Elephant Never Forgets
“Weird Al” Yankovic - Polka Party
Sharon Jones & the Dap-Kings - What Have You Done For Me Lately?
Yes - Owner of a Lonely Heart
Igor Stravinsky - The Firebird
Funk Inc. - Kool is Back
Club Nouveau - Lean On Me
Lost Boyz - Renee
Camp Lo - Coolie High
Michael Jackson - The Lady in My Life
Songs we mentioned but didn’t clip
Janet Jackson - Alright
Ween - Pink Eye - On My Leg
Justin Timberlake - Rock Your Body
Prince - Let’s Go Crazy
Autechre - Dael
KMFDM - Killing
KMFDM - Don’t Blow Your Top
Kraftwerk - The Robots
Ministry - Just Like You
Nine Inch Nails - Closer
New Kids on the Block - You Got It (The Right Stuff)
“Weird Al” Yankovic - The White Stuff
Toto - Africa
Peter Gabriel - Sledgehammer
Genesis - Invisible Touch
P.O.D. - Youth of the Nation
Joni Mitchell - Big Yellow Taxi
Gary Numan - Cars
The Pointer Sisters - I’m So Excited
Hot Sundae - Go For It
Mariah Carey - Vision of Love
Madonna - Take a Bow
Salt-n-Pepa - Let’s Talk About Sex
Louis Fonsi, Daddy Yankee, Justin Bieber - Despacito
Bruno Mars feat. Cardi B - Finesse
Bell Biv DeVoe - Poison
Madonna - Crazy for You
Björk - Hunter
Carly Simon - You’re So Vain
Band/album personnel
Janet Jackson – vocals, background vocals, keyboards, bells
Melanie Andrews – background vocals
Troy Anthony – saxophone
Jerome Benton – vocals
Spencer Bernard – synthesizer, guitar
Geoff Bouchieiz – guitar
Mark Cardenas – synthesizer
Roger Dumas – drums, programming
Jimmy Jam – synthesizer, percussion, piano, drums, vocals, background vocals
Jellybean Johnson – guitar, vocals
Lisa Keith – background vocals
Terry Lewis – percussion, vocals, background vocals
John McClain – executive producer
Monte Moir – synthesizer, guitar, drums
Nicholas Raths – acoustic and 12-string guitar
Gwendolyn Traylor – background vocals
Hami Wave – background vocals
Credits
“Discord & Rhyme (theme),” composed by the Other Leading Brand, contains elements of:
Amon Düül II - Dehypnotized Toothpaste
The Dukes of Stratosphear - What in the World?? ...
Faith No More - Midlife Crisis
Herbie Hancock - Hornets
Kraftwerk - Autobahn
Talking Heads - Seen and Not Seen
Janet Jackson - Nasty (this episode only)
You can buy or stream Control and other albums by Janet Jackson at the usual suspects such as Spotify, iTunes, YouTube, and Amazon. Follow Discord & Rhyme on Twitter @DiscordPod for news, updates, and other random stuff. Follow Rich @zonetrope, Amanda @MagneticInk67, and Phil @pamaddox. Special thanks to our own Mike DeFabio, the Other Leading Brand, for production, editing, and his extensive knowledge of recording techniques. See you next album, and be never nasty.