Five Times When Michael AND Janet Jackson Had Hits At The Same Time
Yes, it’s true. Janet Jackson, one of Decades’ favorite artists, is amazingly pregnant with her first child at the age of 50. In order to celebrate this incredible occurrence, we at DC Clubbing have put together a list of five occurrences when both Janet AND her brother Michael had top ten songs that were popular at roughly the same time. For most of the eras when both Michael and Janet were releasing music, they oftentimes staggered releases so as to likely not step on each other’s toes. However both the “King of Pop” and “Ms. Jackson (if you’re nasty)” were such massive stars that they did have some overlapping hits. Here are those five times.
1987
Janet Jackson – Pleasure Principle – PURCHASE HERE
Amazingly the SIXTH single released from Janet’s third studio album Control, the very dance-able “Pleasure Principle” hit #1 on Billboard’s dance charts. The song’s lasting legacy may be that none other than Britney Spears referenced “Control’s” video in her performance in the video for her own 2000 hit “Stronger.”
Michael Jackson – The Way You Make Me Feel – PURCHASE HERE
This funky Quincy Jones production also bears a blues-meets-synth pop feel and was the third single from Michael’s 1987 mega hit album Bad. AllMusic reviewer John Erlewine notes about the song that “out of all of Bad‘s songs, ‘only three can stand alongside album tracks from [Jackson’s 1983 breakout album Thriller].’” “The Way You Make Me Feel” is counted alongside “Bad” and “I Just Can’t Stop Loving You” in that statement.
1987
Janet Jackson – Control – PURCHASE HERE
“Control” was produced by frequent Prince collaborators Jimmy Jam and Terry Lewis and is often pointed to as a perfect example of the “Minneapolis sound” that they were applauded for creating in pop music of that era. The song’s subject matter deals with Janet wanting to finally take control of her life, and, when released, was her biggest hit-to-date.
Michael Jackson – Bad – PURCHASE HERE
Amazingly, both Michael and Janet released two of their most iconic songs at roughly the same time. Bad is inarguably a pop/rock masterpiece of a jam, as funky bass guitars and magnificent synth-work highlight a jamming groove. The lead single from Jackson’s legendary seventh solo album, which to-date, has sold nearly 50 million copies worldwide.
1989
Janet Jackson – Miss You Much – PURCHASE HERE
“Miss You Much” was the lead single from Janet’s 1989-released album Rhythm Nation 1814. It was easily the song that best defined the summer and close of 1989, hitting #1 in September and staying in the Top 10 until December of that year. As far as the song’s legacy, it’s inspired everyone from Britney Spears and Pink to the Backstreet Boys, Akon and more.
Michael Jackson – Smooth Criminal – PURCHASE HERE
When the suit that you wear in the music video for a song is in the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame and positioned at a 45 degree angle to match one of your best non-dance and virtually imposible dance moves, you’re on another level of stardom. That’s the case for the seventh single from Michael Jackson’s album Bad, which hit Billboard’s Top 10 in January 1989.
1995
Michael AND Janet Jackson – Scream – PURCHASE HERE
By 1995, Michael and Janet Jackson had 55 global top 10 hits and seven platinum-selling albums between them. Therefore, an epic collaboration was in order. “Scream”’s music video cost a rumored $7 million to make, and had three separate premieres on on MTV, BET and the next evening on ABC’s “Primetime Live.” The production was a collaboration between Michael, Janet and Ms. Jackson’s frequent collaborators Jimmy Jam and Terry Lewis. A #1 single in 17 countries worldwide, it also topped American Billboard’s Dance charts.
2001
Janet Jackson – All For You – PURCHASE HERE
By 2001, it’s an easy-to-argue point that Janet Jackson had become a bigger pop icon of that moment than Michael. Proof of this comes in Janet’s lead single from All For You. This platinum-selling disco-funk jam zoomed to the top of the US Billboard Hot 100 and Dance charts, and was Janet’s 10th overall number one hit.
Michael Jackson – You Rock My World – PURCHASE HERE
Here’s the answer to the trivia question of “when did Jay Z, Chris Tucker and the ‘King of Pop’ collaborate on a remix?” Released in 2001, Invincible was Michael’s last album of original material, and the original version of “You Rock My World” was arguably the last “huge” hit of Jackson’s life.
Lady Gaga Is The Best Pop Star Of The 2000s/2010s
Slated for release on October 21, Joanne is the recently announced album from Lady Gaga. A return to more club-ready music is expected from Joanne as compared to Cheek to Cheek, her 2015 Grammy Award winning duet album of jazz standards alongside Tony Bennett. Gaga’s easily one of pop music’s most outstanding artists, statistically the best selling artist in popular music in the past decade, and maybe the best pop star of the past 15 years.
What is it that makes Lady Gaga so successful? Well, it’s simple. As a singer and songwriter, she knows her way around words and phrases and always finds just the right ones to say for any specific moment. Furthermore, her performances are amazing in a manner that oftentimes is directly related to another amazing pop song. As well, producers that she’s worked with in the past do something similar too. Many of Gaga’s biggest hits have strong similarities to other pop hits, but are just different enough where they can stand apart, oftentimes greater than the song that influenced their creation.
In looking at Lady Gaga’s five biggest hits AND the songs that they’re similar to in some way, the reason why Lady Gaga is the best pop star of the 2000s and 2010s.
1. Bad Romance – released in 2010, nearly 30 million overall sales worldwide – PURCHASE HERE
Sounds Like: “Sweet Dreams” by The Eurythmics – PURCHASE HERE
“Bad Romance” is the lead single from The Fame Monster, which was Gaga’s second major label album release in 2010. It was debuted at Alexander McQueen’s show at Paris Fashion Week in 2009 and won two Grammy Awards in 2011. As compared to its sound-alike, “Sweet Dreams” also hit #1 in America. However, whereas “Sweet Dreams” was a top 10 single in 15 countries, “Bad Romance” was impressively a #1 single in 20 countries worldwide.
2. Poker Face – released in 2008, nearly 15 million overall sales worldwide – PURCHASE HERE
Sounds Like: “Rhythm Is A Dancer” by SNAP – PURCHASE HERE
“Poker Face” was the second overall single released of Lady Gaga’s career and is from her debut album The Fame. The song was covered by everyone from Chris Daughtry to the trio of Kanye West, Common and Kid Cudi, and was even performed on an episode of American Idol. As compared to it’s sound-alike, “Rhythm Is A Dancer” was a #1 single in 11 fewer countries than “Poker Face,” amazingly enough America being one of the countries where Gaga hit the top and SNAP did not.
3. Just Dance – released in 2008, nearly 12 million overall sales worldwide – PURCHASE HERE
Inspired By: “Let’s Dance” by David Bowie – PURCHASE HERE
“Just Dance” was Lady Gaga’s first overall mainstream single, and like “Poker Face,” is from her debut album The Fame. Both in the video and the branding for the song, she’s featured wearing lightning bolt makeup over her left eye, in homage to David Bowie. As well, then-breakout R & B superstar Akon was paired with Gaga in order to give hear a broader appeal to the urban demographic. As compared to the song it’s influenced by, Bowie’s 1983 hit was actually a number one in five more countries than Gaga’s debut single and has sold just as many singles, too.
4. Born This Way – released in 2011, nearly nine million overall sales worldwide – PURCHASE HERE
Sounds Like: “Express Yourself” by Madonna – PURCHASE HERE
“Born This Way” was Lady Gaga’s first release from her 2011 released album of the same name. The song is meant to serve as an empowerment anthem for the global LGBTQIA music community, and Gaga herself describes it as a personal “freedom song.” In later years, the song’s title has also doubled as the inspiration for her Born This Way Foundation that supports “the wellness of young people, and empowering them to create a kinder and braver world.” As compared to the song it sounds like, “Express Yourself” only went 1x platinum and was a number one single in five countries worldwide, which means that “Born This Way” is statistically 8x more popular as a seller and 5x the success that “Express Yourself” was as a number-one single.
5. Paparazzi – released in 2009, nearly five million overall sales worldwide – PURCHASE HERE
Sounds Like: “Take My Breath Away” by Berlin – PURCHASE HERE
“Paparazzi” was Lady Gaga’s last official release from The Fame, her debut album. The club-ready take on a pure-pop ballad is highlighted by Gaga’s vocals bearing a strong quality to those of Queen lead singer Freddie Mercury. Interestingly enough, “Paparazzi’s” producer Rob Fusari gave Stefanie Germanotta the name “Lady Gaga” as an ode to Queen’s 1984 song “Radio Ga Ga.” As compared to the song it sounds like, Berlin’s Top Gun soundtrack anthem “Take My Breath Away” was a number one hit in more countries worldwide, but Gaga’s single has been an infinitely greater seller overall.
The Undefeatable Britney Jean Spears
A 17-year old girl who’s an ex-Mickey Mouse Club Mouseketeer is dressed up in a 13-year old’s schoolgirl uniform and cast in an instantaneously iconic music video. This same teen then releases three albums that would go on to sell 70 million copies, go on three world tours and have acting roles in three globally-released films by the time she was 21. If I then told you by the time this teen was 25 that this one-time child superstar of superstars would be shaving her head, living as a divorced single parent and “going crazy,” it could almost be expected. However, as she nears 35, and after nearly two decades of recording music, Britney Spears has evolved past being a girl, is now completely comfortable as a woman, and is impressively on her way to being a superstar yet again.
For as much as we at Decades love to talk about how cool the ‘90s are, it’s this 2000s era pop priestess who likely deserves as much love as we give the ‘90s. To showcase just how cool Britney is, there’s a very real arc between Britney Spears and Elvis Presley that isn’t just tied to performing in Vegas. This linkage showcases just how massive of a star she is. Similar to Spears, Elvis did the following:
- released three iconic albums and had roles in three films before his 21st birthday
- had four consecutive #1 albums
- after eight consecutive years of releases had a stress and pressure-induced recording hiatus
- has an undeniable mystique attached to his career that is tied to a generation of kids and teenagers loving his visuals as much as they loved his music
2016 finds Britney Spears releasing her ninth studio album Glory while also in the midst of her third year of her Las Vegas performance residency at Caesar’s Palace. What’s interesting is that for an artist that so many have believed to be in “decline,” let the record show that Spears has released four albums since 2007, done two limited tours, released perfumes via Elizabeth Arden, been active as a charity contributor and also is raising two children aged 10 and 12, respectively. Though her last Billboard #1 single was 2011’s “Hold It Against Me” and she’s removed from an era of having four consecutive number one albums, the idea that Spears ever “fell off” could be argued to be completely wrong. If anything, Britney’s the 21st century’s ultimate pop music survivor.
Since Britney’s Vegas performances haven’t been publicly aired, her magnificent Elvis ‘68 Comeback Special-similar performance was recently alongside G-Eazy at MTV’s 2016 Video Music Awards. These are the same VMAs where in 2007, her performance of “Gimme More” signaled to the world that her life was in possibly falling apart in front of our eyes. Regarding her performance of “Make Me,” Billboard noted that it was a “subdued victory for Spears” that “checks off another box on her way to a revived career — not just as a pop superstar who once was, but as a pop superstar who still is.”
In 2011, Entertainment Weekly summed up Britney Spears’ career as “an American institution, as deeply sacred and messed up as pro wrestling or the filibuster.” As well, when artists like Nicki Minaj say that Spears’ success drives them because “once you keep at whatever it is you’re doing, people may not like you, people may not love you, but they will have to respect you at the end of the day. And that respect is all that matters,” the need to see Britney Spears excel is not just an expectation, but a necessity.
At Decades, we’re proud of Britney’s ability to endure and excel. We’ll be playing tons of her music in celebration.
How Lil Wayne Changed The Music Industry Forever
With three tweets on September 3, Lil Wayne announced what may be his retirement from recording music. In believing his announcement to be based in truth, it’s time to acknowledge why he’s easily one of popular music’s most game-changing artists and likely to get a ton of spins at Decades. In taking rap music from being driven by the radio, pop charts and concerts to being pushed by the internet and the club, he opened the door for the future of music and changed the industry forever.
There’s video footage of Lil Wayne getting turnt in New York City nightclubs at the age of 13. Southern rap broke all of the industry’s established rules, but in Lil Wayne being signed to Cash Money at 13 and earning millions of dollars as a rapper by 16 by being featured on Juvenile’s “Back Dat Azz Up,” B.G.’s “Bling Bling” and releasing his own single “Tha Block Is Hot,” Lil Wayne arguably broke them best. Weezy was already well along his way to iconic status long before he could vote, drink or drive. However, let’s be clear that part of what makes Wayne a superstar is that it’s highly likely he was already doing two of the three activities listed long before his 18th birthday.
By the time Wayne was 21, he was four albums and 11 released singles into his solo career and releasing the Mannie Fresh-produced single “Go D.J.,” which was his second top 10 rap release. Between 2005-2008, Wayne’s output continued to be significant to the point where amazingly enough, he had sold nearly 10 million singles without ever having any of them crack Billboard’s Top 10.
Between the release of his albums The Carter II and The Carter III, Wayne released seven internet-only mixtapes. The thus appropriately nicknamed “Mixtape Weezy” released some 150 tracks on non-mainstream album material in three years, songs that became classics to a new generation of music consumers who were more likely to download music on the internet for free than to purchase an album in a retail store. Amazingly enough, Wayne’s biggest selling album was 2008’s The Carter III, the one that came after his mixtape-driven hiatus, but as a testament to his internet-driven fame, it’s only sold just under four million copies since its release.
Prior to Lil Wayne’s success, one could look to a rap artist’s own albums and find all of their most iconic moments. However, Wayne’s mold-breaking extends to here as well, as he’s unquestionably the king of the “guest appearance on another rapper or DJ’s club hit or remix.”
From 1999’s already discussed “Back Dat Azz Up” and “Bling Bling” to DJ Khaled’s “I’m So Hood,” “I’m On One,” and “We Takin’ Over,” Chris Brown’s “Look At Me Now,” will i. am and Britney Spears’ “Scream And Shout,” Fat Joe’s “Make It Rain” and Jay Sean’s “Down,” Lil Wayne has always appeared to be an artist who had multiple hit songs everywhere at the same time. As well, it always appeared as if these singles were all aimed at being as supremely turnt up in the club as humanly possible. In fact, if you head out to Decades soon, we’re quite certain that in the club’s hip-hop friendly room that you’ll be hearing all of these aforementioned hits, possibly sometimes one after the other.
In looking at the future of where rap is headed, it’s possible that the success of artists like Wayne’s protege Drake and Chicago-based star Chance the Rapper is directly related to what Lil Wayne accomplished. Drake’s 2015-released collaborative album with Future was originally released as an internet-only mixtape, and is filled to the brim with club-ready heaters. Also, Chance the Rapper does not have a mainstream record deal, and the idea that he’s ONLY wanting to put out free internet mixtapes has made Grammy change it’s tune about nominating and awarding music that’s been released for free.
Whether or not Wayne returns is anyone’s best guess. However, his legacy is absolute and certainly worthy of celebration.
On that note, Decades is opening soon.
Throwback Thursdays at Decades
DCClubbing Presents:
Throwback Thursday’s
Decades
Every Thursday
Decades • 1219 Connecticut Ave NW • Washington, DC
Throwback Thursday’s at Decades! Come party with us at DC’s only Multi-Level Retro Nightclub!
The night kicks off at 10 PM with the best hits from the 2000’s, 2010s, 80s, 90s, hip-hop from all eras and more blasting through the world class Funktion One sound system available on all four floors. Drink specials aplenty, games, three DJs, multiple VIP areas and more!!!
2000’s Floor: DJ RI5E
2010’s Floor: BENNY C
Decades Of Hip Hop: ENFERNO
Age Requirement and Dress Code:
Open to ages 18+, Proper ID and Attire is Required.
Guys: Dress Smart – No Timberlands, No sneakers, No T-shirts, No grungy or athletic clothes Keep it classy!
Decades
1219 Connecticut Avenue NW Washington DC 20036
For more info call/table reservations: 202-271-1171.
