Songoftheday 3/4/17 - Now be it thick as a milkshake or thin as a cornflake, I love you to death but I ain't pressed with a heartbreak...
from the album Rhythm Nation: 1814 (1989)
Billboard Hot 100 peak: #4 (one week)
Weeks in the Top-40: 12
Today's song of the day is from Janet Jackson, whose classic album Rhythm Nation: 1814 had spun off a pair of #1 pop hits with "Miss You Much" and "Escapade" along with a #2 ranking with the title track. The fourth release from the album was the uptempo new jack swing-ish "Alright". Written by Janet with producers Jimmy "Jam" Harris and Terry Lewis (with sampling credits for James Brown and the BT Express' sax player Carlos Ward), the frolicking dance-pop track didn't have a big message, but that wasn't the point. And with the single version, rapper Heavy D made a cameo that gave him a wider audience and still remains miles above the cut and paste rap "features" on pop singles today. In the Soul Train Award-winning video, the party just held on, this time in a streets of a Hollywood movie set, with swing king Cab Calloway, tappers the Nicholas Brothers, and even dance legend Cyd Charisse in on the fun, with the result of a nine minute extravaganza that many call her cinematic triumph...
Janet Jackson - Alright (long version) by welcomeback
"Alright" became the fourth top ten pop hit from Rhythm Nation in June of 1990. The song also climbed to #2 on Billboard's R&B chart for a week. The 12" club remixes topped the dance chart for two weeks, her eighth in a row (including all so far from the album). Internationally, the single made the top ten in Canada (#6), and was a top-40 hit in Ireland (#14), the UK (#20), New Zealand (#28), Belgium (#29), and the Netherlands (#35). "Alright" was nominated for two Grammys, losing R&B Female Vocal to Anita Baker's Compositions album and R&B Song to MC Hammer's "U Can't Touch This".
(Click below to see the rest of the post)
Here's Janet on her Rhythm Nation tour in 1990...
...and again in 1994 for the Jackson Family Honors on TV...
And finally, the house mix from Shep Pettibone that helped it top the dance chart...
Up tomorrow: Funny rap collective get their camel groove on.
Comments