entertainmentdissected

Janet Jackson- who’s struggling on the charts and with career relevancy- recently kicked off her 2008 Rock Witchu Tour in Vancouver. (photo courtesy of Associated Press) 

Pop music- by and large- is a young person’s game. Once an act approaches a certain age- let’s say 40, for U.S. purposes- it becomes more of a challenge to stay relevant among the youth crowd that awaits the latest Rihanna or Beyonce single with baited breath. Fifty-year-old Queen of Pop Madonna has been facing such challenges for years, and nearing-40 Mariah Carey may experience a similar test.

One veteran female who has been struggling with relevancy and success over the last several years is Michael Jackson’s baby sister, Janet, who turned 42 earlier this year and currently is in the midst of a 21-date U.S. road attraction, entitled The Rock Witchu Tour. Thus far, reviews have been generous- and that couldn’t have come at a better time for Ms. Nasty, as her latest album, Discipline, is her lowest-selling record since her first two albums (neither of which reached 500,000 in U.S. shipments).

Discipline spent a mere 14 weeks on Billboard’s Top 200 Albums chart, and spawned a top 20 single with “Feedback”- though that entry spent just two weeks inside the top 40 on Billboard’s Hot 100 survey- a far cry from the glory days, when a Janet Jackson single was expected to shoot to the top of the charts and hang around there for some time. On a positive note, “Feedback” was her first visit to the top 20 hit in seven years- that also was the last time she reached the top 10.

So, what the heck happened to the woman who once scored five, six, seven top 10s from one album? For starters, she no longer is in her more viable 20s or 30s, and ageism, unfortunately, runs rampant in the USA. In the late 90s, Cher scored a worldwide No. 1 smash with “Believe” at the age of 52- but hasn’t had a notable hit since- and “Believe” was her first top 10 USA hit since 1990. Madonna can sell millions of albums outside the USA and score huge radio hits- but not in her homeland(her 2005 top 10 “Hung Up” got no further than No. 42 in radio airplay).

Aside from blowing out more than 40 candles a year on her birthday cake, there also was Janet’s little boobie flash during the 2004 Super Bowl, when Prince of Pop Justin Timberlake ripped off part of Janet’s costume, revealing her pierced bare breast in the process. The FCC had a field day, as did much of the nation, and Janet- disappointingly- apologized for the snafu. The album released shortly thereafter- Damita Jo- failed to hit No. 1 and sold less than one-third of its predecessor’s 3 million-plus copies in the United States.

Whatever effect Nipplegate (as the media tastefully coined it) had on Janet’s career cannot really be gauged, because, in all honesty, the problems started before that. All For You, released in 2001, may have spawned a big chart hit in its title track (spending 7 weeks at No. 1), but the album represented a decline in quality for Ms. Jackson. Starting with 1986’s breakthrough Control, continuing through 1989’s socially conscious Rhythm Nation 1814 and 1993’s sexy janet., and culminating with 1997’s thought-provoking The Velvet Rope, Janet was one of pop’s reliable artists- there wasn’t a dud among those four recordings.

However, 2001’s All For You wasn’t as strong, and kicked off a reversal of fortunes- four consecutive works that didn’t come close to approaching the greatness of her best work. And, in turn, the chart numbers and sales suffered. Damita Jo’s follow-up, 20 Y.O., also failed to hit the top and sold even worse (it’s also worth noting that longtime collaborators Jimmy Jam & Terry Lewis were absent from Discipline, and didn’t play as large a role on the prior two). And while Discipline was her first No. 1 album since 2001, it disappeared from the charts quicker than you can say wardrobe malfunction.

Aside from the age challenge, Nipplegate and declining quality, another problem is that Janet’s last four albums haven’t really meant anything. The prior four albums all resonated in part because there were important messages, woven in with the fun pop. Witness:

* With Control, Janet was an independent woman long before Destiny’s Child told you to throw your hands up at em. She called out all relationship-slacker guys with “What Have You Done For Me Lately,” and  demanded respect with “Nasty” (which featured the mantra, “No my first name ain’t baby, it’s Janet; Miss Jackson if you’re Nasty”). And on top of all that, she promoted abstinence with “Let’s Wait Awhile.”

* Taking a cue from Marvin Gaye’s “What’s Going On,” Janet got political with Rhythm Nation 1814. With the title track, she asked us to consider how we live and tackle the world’s injustice; “Black Cat”addressed drug abuse; and “Livin’ in a World (They Didn’t Make”) showed how our children will end up suffering for their parents’ mistakes.

* Janet drew upon Gaye for more inspiration when she followed Rhythm Nation with janet. Like Gaye’s What’s Going On-Let’s Get It On transition, Janet went from political concerns to the joy of sexual pleasure. janet. oozed sexiness, but also had some serious moments- the call for African-American female equality in “New Agenda,” for instance.

* The Velvet Rope- which some saw an Janet’s Erotica (a reference to Madonna’s 1992 sex-themed LP) showed Janet tackling domestic abuse (”What About”), sexuality and prejudice (”Free Xone”), AIDS (though making no mention of the disease in the lyrics of the empowering, uplifting anthem “Together Again”), lesbianism/bisexuality in her cover of Rod Stewart’s ‘Tonight’s the Night,” and so on.

And that’s where the importance came to an abrupt halt. All For You probably succeeded as it did on the strength of Janet’s catalog, not because it was a viable recording- but the catalog couldn’t help the three albums to follow. That’s not to say there weren’t some decent tracks among the lot- just not enough to entice fans of Janet’s best work.

Though Discipline currently is nowhere near the Billboard 200 (dropping below 1,000 units a week in sales recently), Janet is on the road supporting the album with Rock Witchu, her first tour in seven years. And upon viewing of performance clips posted on YouTube, the tour showcases yet another problem that has plagued the Janet cannon for some time.

No one can dispute that the choreography from Janet’s video repertoire- especially that from 1986-1994- was sharp, influential and some of the best out there. However, she hasn’t let much of it go- she consistently trots out the same moves/routine for “The Pleasure Principle,” “Miss You Much,” “Rhythm Nation,” “Escapade,” “If,” etc. etc. It’s understandable to a degree that dance moves are so closely identified with a song, that it’s tough to imagine a performance without them (heck, brother Michael also is a prime offender of choreography recycling). But, aside from the diehard fans, people seeing the same routine again and again may be feeling a little too much deja vu. Fans may go to the concert and enjoy themselves, but while that’s happening, Janet is squandering any opportunity to move forward, move with the times, or even ahead of them.

What Janet is doing right with this latest tour, however, is abandoning some elements that had been present in the last few: she’s not staging songs like she had been doing (for instance, she’s axed the whimsical setting, cut out the acoustic guitar player and stool props during the ballads section, and changed up some of the ever-present medleys she’s famous for; maybe that was result of fan feedback she sought prior to tour rehearsals. She even- FINALLY- dipped way back into the vault and performed a medley of three songs from her first two albums, her first-ever acknowledgment of the pre-Control era in concert.

Catering to the diehards’ suggestions and ideas is a nice gesture- it’s helping those longtime fans appreciate her more and possibly creating a buzz as the tour reaches new cities. But, whether the Rock Witchu Tour is the beginning of a reversal of Janet’s recent fortunes remains to be seen. Overcoming radio’s resistance to 40-plus acts may be too much of an obstacle for her to overcome- possibly, if she collaborates with a younger star (a la Madonna’s calculated duet with Justin Timberlake on the top five smash “4 Minutes”), then perhaps she can squeeze out some decent radio airplay, and, in turn, sales. (Janet actually teamed with Timberlake on his debut solo effort, but it wasn’t a single release; she then hooked up with rapper Nelly on 2006’s “Call on Me”- but that was little more than a rehash of Nelly’s own smash “Dilemma,” and it stalled at No. 25).

However, if Janet wants any real shot at regaining relevance (and, not to mention, having a shot at consideration for the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame), she must make a creative comeback- no ifs, ands or buts about that one. If not for her, then for us- because there’s little else more upsetting in the entertainment biz than not having a Jackson crank out great work. And right now, Janet looks to be the only shot we’ve got.

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