The crisp and breezy conclusion to Control. The best song on the album that’s not one of the great ones (‘Nasty’, ‘What Have You Done for Me Lately’, ‘The Pleasure Principle’, ‘When I Think of You’) or one of the shit ones (‘Control’, ‘You Can be Mine’, ‘He Doesn’t Know I’m Alive’, ‘Let’s Wait Awhile’). It is a perfectly poised confection that redeems the end of the record.
Jam & Lewis & Janet: this is supposed to be the combination that sent them all into the stratosphere, but I often prefer the things J&L did with Change, Cherelle, SOS Band and Cheryl Lynn, and I also like the 1982 non-J&L Janet Jackson album a lot. Rhythm Nation was launched on a well-drilled dance routine and severe pyrotechnics but now sounds static and self-regarding. janet. is just a mess.
JJ’s main flaw as a performer is that she can’t act, but she also can’t stop acting. Her records are a bit like Made in Chelsea or something: an artificial re-enactment of her actual life that leaves both reality and fiction suspended, but she’s not even any good at doing it. In this song the act is more charming than anything else, because her attempt to sound seductive in French is hysterical. By their account, J&L loved this theatrical aspect, all the little giggles and sighs and improvisations, but it actually undermines the pristine surface of their productions: the blank canvas of Cherelle works better.
At its best (see Para. 1) the combination of J&L&JJ is the perfect marriage of Paisley Park and the Jackson Estate, so maybe it's time for padraig and Patty to resolve their bitter feud on the sweet uplands of Control.
P.S.
It also pricked my ears because I loved the way it was sampled on this otherwise ropey track that I used to own and mainly liked for the JJ hook:
And this by Camp Lo, which I loved completely: