Happy 19th birthday to Janet's "If"

The second single off 1993's "janet." was released 19 years ago today, topping the Billboard dance charts and going to the top 5 of the Hot 100 and R&B charts. The iconic video clip depicted voyeurism and sexual desire in an Asian club/bordello.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VNePu_ywJkQ



• Janet who?

• The woman with more Billboard awards than MJ, Whitney, Madonna and Elvis.

• Ooh, a Billboard award. Those are so prestigious!

• Billboard didn't start giving out awards until years after Elvis' death, so it isn't really accurate to include him in that list.

• You're right. Her Oscar and Emmy nominations are much more prestigious!

• They are, actually. They show your status at radio. You know, the thing used to transmit an artists music. They have them in cars, and even make portable ones.

• Very powerful song, like passionate sex for the ears with Janet's voice layered everywhere. Nobody could touch Janet when this vid came out. Still some of the sexiest choreography ever created, thanks to the fabulous Tina Landon.

• What has she done for us lately?

• [quote]You're right. Her Oscar and Emmy nominations are much more prestigious! You said it! And that's Emmy win--for her Velvet Rope HBO special.

  http://oi49.tinypic.com/etiis7.jpg

• Your smooth and shiny feels so good against my lips sugar I want u so bad i can taste your love right now baby

  %3B%29

• I used to love this song back in the day but I do feel like it hasn't aged well. This was a club anthem back in the day but it almost feels like a slow jam now. It's too slow and ponderous.

• "If" dance rehearsals. Note Jennifer Lopez is part of Janet's dance troupe. She had left the troupe before the video was filmed.

  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XS89yoRFHyg

• Part 1 of an MTV special from the set of "If" where Janet and her dancers maul the sexy actor/comedian Bill Bellamy

  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5ZCWCHp66l8

• Does this remind anyone else of 4th grade?

• This was back in the prime days of MTV video premieres. There was always such a buildup to a new video debuting. I went nuts when this video came out, and I was 14 years old. It was SO sexual. I ran out and bought the album.

• I was in 11th grade when this came out. I remember Janet said that Virgin wanted "If" to be the first single from "janet." instead of "That's the Way Love Goes".

• r11 that was the pretty much the idea behind janet. when it came out, for her to be more sensual and groovy...this was the sexy anthem to follow That's The Way Love Goes

• I loved the remix of "If", maybe there were a few of them but there was one that really was the jam.

• Sexy, deep-voiced asian DJ Theo Mizuhara was in "If".

  http://files.myopera.com/alohazzz123/blog/Toru.jpg

• i'm just curious - who do DLers think has bigger career- janet or whitney?

• Is this the one, R18? This is the TNT mix, one of my faves.

  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=e5lCzrXpDWA

• A good remix

  http://www.youtube.com/watch%3Fv%3De5lCzrXpDWA

• R20, Whitney was a total singer. Best voice of anyone from her generation. Janet is an entertainer. A performer. She GIVES a show. I will say that Janet's mark on the newer crop of pop performers (male and female) is obviously more indelible than Whitney's as well. I guess it depends on what you mean by "bigger career", a woman who has the biggest soundtrack album ever, or a woman whose mark can be seen whenever you flip on MTV. Whitney even covered Janet's "Control" in concert in the late '80s. Janet has been known to say that if she could sing like Whitney, she'd be singing around the house, in the supermarket, etc. Both women were very fond of one another.

  http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-nxjGARz4PqM/TzrMaMLZHWI/AAAAAAAAk5k/9eWQcGTUvQ4/s1600/6a0105349ca980970c0168e7491656970c-500wi.jpg

• r21 is inside my brain

  r22

• Kelly Clarkson covered Janet's "If" on tour a couple of years ago.

  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XMtwY0ezETQ

• [quote]woman who has the biggest soundtrack album ever, or a woman whose mark can be seen whenever you flip on MTV. You obviously haven't watched MTV in about 15 years.

• And she looks better than MJ, Whitney, Madonna and Elvis....especially Madonna...

• LOL I agree, R27. I remember when she was on Anderson Cooper's show a few months ago, he could hardly contain himself (and we all know which way he leans...)

  http://oi45.tinypic.com/23mdma.jpg

• Janet now sings If I Could Turn Back time....

• R29 is showing his true yellow colors (or should I say green?)

• You were in the 4th grade, R14? I was still in my father's nutsack. *forever young

• [quote] "If" dance rehearsals. Note Jennifer Lopez is part of Janet's dance troupe. She had left the troupe before the video was filmed. However she **WAS** in the video for 'That's The Way Love Goes' the first single off the album

  http://www.youtube.com/watch%3Fv%3DEcG_5Fav-pk%26feature%3Dfvst

• She sure was, R32. Jennifer said that Janet's "Pleasure Principle" video was what inspired her to get into show biz.

• R21, the remix I liked was different but thanks for introducing me to yours, I love it!

  R18

• Whoa Janet, quite a load of racial stereotyping in that video.

  Asians-%20inconvenient%20to%20whites%20AND%20blacks

• What do you mean, R35? I saw no one eating sushi or doing karate chops.

• Immortal song and video

• Celebs praise the One and Only...

  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gdPLb4QZuk8

• I saw this cover in a store today. She still looks great. I really like the minimal look she's been doing in lately.

  http://fefesiriano.files.wordpress.com/2012/07/331.jpg

• It's her new make-up guy Preston Meneses. He doesn't beat her face to kingdom come the way her old make-up artist, Fran Cooper, used to.

• My favorite from that album was 'You Want This'.

  http://www.youtube.com/watch%3Fv%3DZ2Wv3DcgAWs%26feature%3Drelated

• Her vids tended to be overblown and pretentious. Most likely to hide her weak vocals. You are forced to watch the hypersexed choreo and overall vid concept. After all, vocally, there was no "there" there.

• [quote]You were in the 4th grade, [R14]? I was still in my father's nutsack. Too bad he didn't stick around.

• One of my favorite videos from her. I have no natural rhythm, so it took me months to do the shoulder blade dance in the breakdown. I was in the 7th grade when that video came out and I remember whenever Michael, Janet, or Madonna were releasing a video, what a huge deal it was. Their videos were events. [R41] "You Want This" is another favorite of mine.

• R42 is a VERY hypocritical Madonna.

• Another classic 'janet.' album video

  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jnWPmk76PcU

• I guess R42 was asleep from 1985-1994 during the height of Madonna's fame...

  Pot%20meet%20kettle

• No one said Madonna WASN'T pretentious. Just that Janet WAS. This isn't a Madonna thread, but a Janet thread.

• L-O-V-E this "That's the Way Love Goes/If" medley from the 1993 MTV Music Awards. Janet was the last performer of the night. She OWNED that mutha.

  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IwzEvWePlXQ

• Thanks for posting that r46. Janet was so sexy back then. I haven't heard that song in a long time.

• You're welcome, R50. I liked the R. Kelly Mix version of "Any Time, Any Place" as well. The video was cut a bit differently and showed slightly more suggestive scenes.

• Too bad she looks like a freak now complete with my nose

• R18, I had a cd with 6 IF remixes that I played non-stop. The house version with the horns was great. Wish I could find those songs.

• A freak? I think not.

  http://instinctmagazine.com/images/stories/blogs/jhigbee/january2012/janetanderson.jpg

• I think she looks fabulous here in Sydney from last year.

  http://www.youtube.com/watch%3Fv%3Do-QRt9syBQk%26feature%3Drelated

• Janet looked great on Anderson.

• Always loved this one, so groovy. It is amazing how many good sounds Jam and Lewis could cram into one track. Id like to think that some of Janet's lesser known songs would be instant number ones today, since pop music is so lacking right now.

  http://www.youtube.com/watch%3Fv%3DWHH4lUufn4s

• Wasn't one of her backing dancers named "Buckwheata" or something?

• Another great one from 'janet.' A definite missed opportunity as a single.

  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gHkw_qFYZVA

• I think you mean "Bucky", R58, which was the nickname for Janet dancer Shawnette Heard. Here's the rarely-seen clip for "What'll I Do", the Johnny Daye cover from the 'janet.' album. It was realeased with "Whoops Now" as a Double-A side in the UK and Japan.

  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CoIGfFw-qTc

• 'Velvet Rope' and 'All for You' were far and away her best work.

  http://www.youtube.com/watch%3Fv%3DjWd9IgPktA4%26list%3DUU_f09Vv3Z3OpaL_SSalb36g%26index%3D10%26feature%3Dplcp

• .

  http://www.youtube.com/watch%3Fv%3DAPrrAhzMOFA

• Awesome "big band" era-sounding track from the 'janet.' album, Funky Big Band. The lyrics speak of Harlem and it's famed Lenox Lounge.

  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=roGmTapFrYU

• r23, don't forget one of Whitney's earliest hits, 'How Will I Know', was written for Janet.

• 1 of the sexiest songs... I was singing and dancing to this when I was under 10 lmao...

• tune!! thread closed.

• Here's a really sexy remix to the classic "If"

  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UYebKk2_FT8

• Cyndi Lauper, Cyndi Lauper, Cyndi Lauper.