Songoftheday 6/28/21 - I'm feelin' fine 'cause in time I'll be out tonight, I'm startin' now makin' sure I look fine tonight...

 

 

"Go Deep" - Janet Jackson

from the album The Velvet Rope (1997)

Billboard Hot 100 peak: ineligible to chart

Billboard Hot 100 Airplay peak: #28 (one week)

Weeks in the Airplay top-40: 16

 

Today's song of the day comes from Janet Jackson, whose exquisite sixth album The Velvet Rope had already scored a trio of top-40 pop radio hits with the Joni Mitchell-sampling "Got 'Til It's Gone", the downtempo groove of  "I Get Lonely", and the #1 hit "Together Again". The fourth offering to radio was the midtempo song "Go Deep", written by Janet with co-producers Jimmy Jam and Terry Lewis. In this one she sets her sights on going out and grabbing herself some pleasure with no worry about the future, something her immense gay fanbase could relate to, especially in the title. The lyrics were innocent enough for radio to give it a go...

Since "Go Deep" wasn't released as a retail single in the U.S., it wasn't able to place on Billboard magazine's official Hot 100 pop chart (just like "Got Til It's Gone"). However the track got enough mainstream radio love to place in the top-40 of the airplay component of the tally in October of 1998. The song just missed the top ten on their R&B Airplay chart at #11, while the remixes by the likes of Masters At Work helped it spend a week at #1 on the Dance Club Play list. Internationally, the single went all the way to #2 in Canada and #10 in Iceland, and reached the top-40 in the UK (#13), New Zealand (#13), Belgium (#15W), France (#22), and Australia (#39).  

A fifth song from the album, the ballad "Every Time", made the top ten in Belgium (#2) and Iceland (#5), and made the top-40 in New Zealand (#34) and the Netherlands (#38), but only "bubbled under" the American pop Hot 100 at #125. Janet will be back to this series.

(6/10)

(Click below to see the rest of the post)

Here's the "Thunder Mix" from Masters At Work that helped "Go Deep" top the dance chart...

Next up, Janet live on her Velvet Rope tour behind the album...

Up tomorrow: Madge puts an emphasis on leaving...