Celebrating the 40th Anniversary of Control!

To all my fellow fans of Janet…

This memorable album was released on February 4, 1986.

This is an image of the cover art for the album *Control* by the artist Janet Jackson. Copyright A&M Records.

Janet’s collaboration with the songwriters and record producers Jimmy Jam and Terry Lewis resulted in an unconventional sound: a fusion of Rhythm and Blues, Rap vocals, Funk, Disco, and synthesized percussion of that established Jackson, Jam and Lewis as the leading innovators of contemporary R&B. The distinctive triplet swing beat utilized on the record is a precursor to the New Jack Swing genre. Control became Jackson's commercial breakthrough and enabled her to transition into the popular music. It became one of the foremost albums of the 1980s and contemporary music. The album has been praised by critics as both an artistic feat and as a personal testament of self-actualization. Following its release, Control became Janet's first album to top the Billboard 200.

Source: Wikipedia.org

Control was a main topic of conversation surrounding music and entertainment for all of us seventh-graders during the Spring and early-Summer of that exciting year. A couple of years before, I became a fan of “all things music”, especially its performance, including the related visual aspects. Arguably, it is the performance, the show, that transforms a musician into a “star”. Janet is a superstar, one of the few artists that dominated music, fashion, and dance. She is generational talent and reminded us all that a lady can be “the one in control”.