Jody Watley - Larger Than Life (1989)

Love me some Jody, OP.

She blows away Janet on every level. She was a fabulous part of the 80's

I love that album.

I love Jody and this album but let's be honest, worldwide Janet was nowhere near the commercial stratosphere of Whitney and certainly not Madonna.

Janet was extremely big for a bit in the US but was a blip in many internNational markets.

For instance, the worldwide Chartmasters website just listed the biggest selling female, albums and singles artist per year worldwide and Janet was never the top selling female, not even for ONE year. Even Cyndi Lauper was for 1983

Whitney was for 1985, 1987, and 1992.

Madonna was the #1 selling female artist worldwide for 1984, 1986, 1989, 1998 and 2005

[quote]She blows away Janet on every level

Jody is great. She’s wonderful, even, but she is no Janet Jackson. Her debut album, much like Paula Abdul’s, Karyn White’s, Pebbles’s and Vanessa Williams’s debuts, was made possible by the overwhelming breakout success of Janet’s CONTROL. These women’s albums were the direct result of record companies seeing how CONTROL had blown into the stratosphere and deciding they had to have a piece of that.

It is a very good album. Jody had a good run, but should've had an even better one.

Another pop music thread ruined by Janbot and its haters

[quote]Janet was extremely big for a bit in the US

Big for a bit? Are you naturally daft or just willfully stupid? Janet Jackson ruled the pop charts from 1986-2001. Every album was an event—each one bigger than the last. She didn’t even get her biggest first week sales in the US until 2001’s ALL FOR YOU. She preceded Beyonce, Rihanna and every other mega successful new gen pop and R&B princess, all of who have name-checked her as the living legend that she is.

You can tell just how iconic Janet is amongst her haters when she gets a nod 2 posts deep into a thread thats not even about her.

Jody once graciously acknowledged the Janet comparison by admitting that they both "talked quite a bit" in their songs but otherwise were very different. It was very true. Jody was a fully-formed artistic and visual persona when she debuted. Jody was a style icon out the gate in 1986. Janet was a chubby girl still finding herself until the "Love Will Never Do Without You" video in 1990.

Love Watley. Loved how her name was always flashed in her videos.

[quote]Janet was a chubby girl still finding herself

A chubby girl who was the youngest artist since little Stevie Wonder to land a #1 Hot 100 single (“When I Think of You”), the first (and only) woman to have 7 top 5 singles from a single album, the first woman with 5 consecutive #1 albums, the first woman to debut a single in the top 10 of the Hot 100, and the only black artist with a #1 album in each of the last four decades.

I thought this thread was about Jody Watley. Anyway, loved still a thrill.

Good album; What 'cha Gonna Do for Me is another good one on it. Her follow up album Affairs of the Heart has some nice songs on it as well, though the dance songs are not as strong as her first two albums.

Another thread ruined by BOTH Vadgbot and Janbot.

You're both annoying as fuck, and no one gives a shit about who is the lesser has been.

[quote] Good album; What 'cha Gonna Do for Me is another good one on it.

Yeah that was a good one too. She opened her live show with that one and it was electrifying.

[quote]Paula Abdul’s, Karyn White’s, Pebbles’s and Vanessa Williams’s

With the obvious exception of Abdul, all superior vocalists to Janet...Jody definitely had a better voice than Janet.

R16 I'm actually not Vadgebot, Whitney is my fave, whom I also mentioned

But Janet has never been on the same international level of Madonna, NEVER, even now Madonna makes a FORTUNE from her tours, Janet can only wish to be that big of a has been. LOL

And she's certainty never been in the international level of Queen Whitneu, whose Bodyguard soundtrack is the 4th biggest selling album of all time worldwide

Of all time!

The Makeover from 2005 is a must have. Jody at her artistic best.

If Jody Watley and Taylor Dayne had been the premiere female pop singers of that era, the field of music would be radically different today. And for the better.

I loved the song I want you. I remember it when I was little.

R21 instead it was Madonna, Whitney, Celine and Mariah in the 80s and 90s and in Madonna's case into the early 2000s.

Madonna and Whitney have SINGLE albums with The Immaculate Collection and the Bodyguard soundtrack that outsold Jody's and Taylor Dane's ENTIRE careers

If Jody had followed "Larger Than Life" with a dance-oriented project she may have had continued commercial success. However, she opted for a more laidback R&B vibe with "Affairs of the Heart" which had moments but nothing like her first two albums. She didn't regain her footing as a dance artist until 2001's "Midnight Lounge." By then it was too late -- she was older with diminished name recognition and momentum.

Junior Vasquez's remix of Jody's If I'm Not in Love is fantastic. And VERY 90s.

I don't know if I'd call Larger Than Life one of the great albums of the 80s.... but I really liked it, and Jody Watley in general. She comes up on my Spotify playlist with her 2000s and up music, and that is pretty good too, although she's not popular like she once was. I enjoyed her best of the R&B/Dance diva (sorry Janbot!). I don't care if she sold less, she was more interesting and so were her songs.

LOVED Jody Watley when I was a kid in the late 80s. Her songs still hold up.

My favorite song of hers was "Still a Thrill"..I remember hearing it all the time. I'm surprised it only made it to #56 on the Hot 100.

...where are my keys?

For R28:

Love it, r29 and r30! Yes, she had some great videos. "Still A Thrill" still looks fantastic!

I agree about "Lifestyle." Love that one.

Jody should've had a longer career. Fantastic dance-pop sound.

[quote][R21] instead it was Madonna, Whitney, Celine and Mariah in the 80s and 90s and in Madonna's case into the early 2000s.

No, darling. Janet took the reigns in 1986 and didn’t let go for a very long time. Five consecutive #1 albums, a bevy of hits on various Billboard charts, several world tours, many innovative videos, a slew of honors, awards and industry records, an Oscar nom and a couple of #1 movies took her all the way into the new millennium. In fact, she and Mariah were considered the top two female artists of the ‘90s. Meanwhile, Madonna couldn’t even get a #1 album stateside after LIKE A PRAYER until 2000’s MUSIC 😂.

But you tried it.

[quote]With the obvious exception of Abdul, all superior vocalists to Janet...Jody definitely had a better voice than Janet.

No. And none of them had the superior harmonies that Janet’s songs have either.

Is R33 Janbot? If I FF its post and hit IGNORE will it be gone forever?

I remember vaguely that Jody was incensed when Karyn White hit the scene sporting a similar style to her own.

I'm glad OP brought this up. What happened in the very early 90's that made pop dance music extremely unpopular overnight? In the late 80's and 1990, there was so much great dance pop that was being produced and was really popular. Jody Watley was a big one. But there was also Belinda Carlisle, Taylor Dayne, Debbie Gibson, Roxxette, Lisa Stansfield, Martika, C&C Music Factory, Blackbox, Expose, Sheena Easton, the Pointer Sisters, Gloria Estafan, Wilson Phillips, the Cover Girls, Cathy Dennis (who had one hit, but should have had more), etc. etc. The explanation everyone gives is that grunge and gansta rap took hold of pop music in 1991 and 1992. But there has to be more than that. What happened in 1991-1992 that changed the pop music, MTV and Top 40 scene. And not for the better. It became way less gay.

R37 how can you not mention the BIGGEST dance/pop artists of that time, Madonna and yes in the US anyway, Janet Jackson.

Shep Pettibone's sound was EVERYWHERE during that time

R38, I left out Madonna, Janet and Whitney because they continued to have hits well into the 90s. They were dance pop icons, so they weren't all that affected by the 1991-92 dance pop purge.

Jody got that big British John Taylor dick back in the day.

Years ago in a gay bar I saw a drag queen lip sync a Jody Watley song and her movements were so unintentionally humorous that I still remember it to this day.

Her porn star sister Midori got some primo white dick too. Here she is getting banged out by Randy West.

[R25] Junior never remixed “If I’m Not In Love”. The mix that everyone played back in 99-2000s was by Eddie Baez. One of my favorite remixes ever.

Jody Watley back in the day. She's 59 now.

I mean Sal Dano. Not Eddie Baez. Sorry was thinking about Whitney’s “Love will save the day”

The Jodester used to be a Soul Train dancer back in the dizz-ay.

R41, years ago in Ohio, I saw a "performance" of Laura Branagan's version of "How Am I Supposed to Live Without You." It was very dramatic. And not in a good way. As I recall, he and his evil brother (yes they were actual brothers) were really evil to a few friends of mine.

It was in Columbus, OH, by the way. I think both of their names started with the letter "G".

I still like to crank this joint...

Did female dance/pop really get taken over by grunge though?

I mean female dance/pop artists ALWAYS seem to be the most popular globally

The biggest selling female artists (albums and singles combined) worldwide year by year from 1983-1999

1983 Cyndi Lauper

1984 Madonna

1985 Whitney Houston

1986 Madonna

1987 Whitney Houston

1988 Tracy Chapman

1989 Madonna

1990 Mariah Carey

1991 Enya

1992 Whitney Houston

1993 Mariah Carey

1994 Mariah Carey

1995 Alanis Morrissette

1996 Celine Dion

1997 Celine Dion

1998 Madonna

1999 Britney Spears

Jody opened the door for all the bitches AFTER her (except for Amy, of course).

Jody's first two albums were great but her biggest obstacle was her ego the more successful she became. She let her then husband/producer Andre Symone get in her ear, convince her she was on Madonna's level, and went to MCA with him making all sorts of outrageous demands while recording her third album. The label basically said hell no to all of it and stopped promoting her outside of R&B and Dance - hence why she still charted respectfully at those formats but only managed one top 40 hit. After the fourth CD, "Intimacy," ( highly underrated by fans in my opinion) did even worse she cut her losses and left MCA. A quickie stint as an independent for her "Affection" album convinced her to return to a major label, Atlantic, but Jody went back to making the same old superstar demands. The Atlantic brass eventually tired of it too, scrapping the "Flower" album stateside and barely releasing it overseas as essentially a tax write off. Jody at least got some nice royalties from Destinys Child cover of "Sweet Sixteen."

It's a shame as Watley had the best chance after Madge or Janet to transcend the mostly faceless dance diva crop of 1987-1991 but her demanding behavior towards those who could have helped her did her no favors. When I was working in A&R I proposed around 2000 picking her up for an imprint at Universal and it was a firm no from the powers that be -several of whom had worked with her in the 80's - citing her behavior as an obstacle.

Grunge, Rap and New Jack became dominant in the early 90s. Dance pop unfortunately was overshadowed by it.

R50, I'm talking about what was played on the radio in the US in those years. Suddenly we went from "Everybody, Everybody" to the crap being vomited out by Dr. Dre, Snoop Doggie Dog, etc., and all of this awful hip-hop dance music like "Daisy Dukes" "Who Let the Dogs Out," "Everybody Catch the Train," etc. There was no actual dance pop being played -- aside from Ace of Base for a year or two and Madonna, Whitney, Maria, etc. -- So what happened. Grunge and the Gin Blossoms music that followed were terrible.

Macarena!

Though I was a fan of hers while she was with Shalimar, I fell in love with her and her music upon the release of her debut CD and video as a solo artist- Jody twirling around in designer crinolines and the now infamous "Watleys" . . .

r52 that makes sense. I love Jody but she has a huge ego. And she comes off very bitter. Especially about Shalamar. Which is a shame because she went on to bigger success on her own after Shalamar.

But I will always respect Jody for her achievements. She has always been an ally to the gay community, great music.

Long before it became the norm of female singers with rappers, Jody was doing it back in the day.

"Friends" was written in part about messy queen Jermaine Stewart who used to be a long-time friend of Jody Watley.

Stewart had his own track named "Jody."

Stewart (whose biggest hit was "We Don't Have to Take Our Clothes Off") is long rumored to have infected Magic Johnson with HIV.

Not sure if Watley and Stewart fully reconciled before his death.

r58 interesting. I always wondered who Friend was aimed at.

Does she still tour?

I'd love to see her live.

This performance from the Red Hot and Blue album was always pretty amazing! 😎👍

I still listen to this track and Lisa Stansfiekd’s “Down In The Depths”. Both are stand out covers!

R56 I was all about the dance moves from ‘Lookin’ For A New Love’ as a kid. It was fairly slow & easy but I could still never get it down to a groovy sexy art like Jody did.

No one ever credits her with “hasta la vista, Baby”; they all think Arnold said it first.

Same here r61. Jody and Lisa were the two highlights on that album.

Jody has some new singles out. They're worth checking out.

at the time I was really into Jody Watley, Karyn White, Sheena Easton, Vanessa Williams.

The last time I saw her was on that reality show about the L.A. gym in a high rise run by some power lesbian trainer. She was one of their celeb clients.

I'm now on a Jody Watley listening kick, thanx to this thread.

Me too! Still A Thrill is playing right now.

I'm listening to Some Kind of Lover as we speak!

Girl has gained a lot of weight. Call Jenny Craig. They have the new Rapid Results plan.

R60, here is Jody’s tour schedule for 2018:

June 23 Danvers MA Yacht Club July 8 Alameda County Fair July 21 Sycuan Casino El Cajon CA July 22 The Greek Theatre Freestyle Festival August 5 Albany NY Empire Plaza August 12 TBA August 26 The Fox Theater Atlanta GA with Peabo Bryson and Stephanie Mills Sept 2 Yoshis Oakland Sept 28 TBA Nov 11-18 80s In The Sand Dominican Republic Punta Cana Resort Colors of Christmas Tour Dec 3-17

[quote] Jody's first two albums were great but her biggest obstacle was her ego the more successful she became. She let her then husband/producer Andre Symone get in her ear, convince her she was on Madonna's level, and went to MCA with him making all sorts of outrageous demands while recording her third album. The label basically said hell no to all of it and stopped promoting her outside of R&B and Dance - hence why she still charted respectfully at those formats but only managed one top 40 hit.

That's not the story I heard. MCA wanted her to work with outside producers (not just her husband Cymone) and Cymone was not having it. Also Watley wanted to distinguish herself from all the copycat come-up divas mentioned at r37 with a more "mature" sound. MCA was prepared to give her a big push because she was then the only artist at the label poised to have multi-platinum cross-genre success. Watley and Cymone came up with "Affairs of the Heart" which had zero crossover potential. MCA moved on.

It sucked like anything I did after Physical.

I wouldn’t go see her perform now. Too old/fat.

Like you’re doing any better in the “too old/fat” categories R74

When I see this thread I think of Dixie Whatley a character on an old TV show In Living Color.

yes, r75 but I don't do concerts where people pay $ to see me perform on stage. what a loser you must be.

Dixie Watley was a reporter for Entertainment Tonight.

R77: embittered fattie

^^^^She's so far beyond that now. No cosmetic surgery, no implants, no fillers. All natural. Jody is maturing proudly and gracefully while still making great music 40 years into her music career. She's raised her children to adulthood and now only performs to secure a comfortable retirement and to have something to leave children and grandchildren.

Her children -- by Leon Sylvers III and Andre Cymone -- are beautiful and featured in her "Sanctuary" video.

Her cover of Borderline came on my playlist while I was reading this thread so I took it as a sign to comment. I had her videos on VHS (gah) in the 90s and remember I dug them out to watch with a friend sometime around 2000, and what really struck me was how way ahead of the game she was with her style. A bunch of those looks in Real Love were everywhere five years on, and most were barely dated ten years later. And she rocked a flared leg better and much before anyone did.

Plus she tapped Fosse's Sweet Charity choreography for inspiration in the "I Want You" video way before Beyonce ever did in "Get Me Bodied," and much more subtly.

R81 Jody covered Madonna's Borderline?

Here, r82

Glad that there are other Jody fans on DL. I was in middle school in the late 80s and I wore her debut album out. Her follow-up was just as good.

Yes, r81. Jody's visual persona and videos were her calling card. In Style, Rihanna, Solange and SZA are all direct exponents of Watley. 30 years later, the videos for "Still A Thrill" and "Real Love" can stand alongside anything since.

Jody's songs from back then are much better than anything Rihanna's ever done.

I recently watched the 'Real Love' video. I had no idea it was directed by David Fincher.

[quote]In Style, Rihanna, Solange and SZA are all direct exponents of Watley.

Yes, except...

....

....

....

I’m beginning to hate Janet fucking Jackson from the troll who is stinking up this thread with singer THAT HAS NOTHING DO WITH JODY WATLEY.

Start your own thread troll.

Don’t hate. It’s just that when you throw out comments like those girls are direct exponents of Jody Watley style-wise, I think it best to correct you in a subtle way.

Fuck your condescension troll....about Janet Jackson, a washed up has been, no less. Who never could sing.

Okay it’s time to block you. Because you contribute nothing of value. Get a real obsession....Janet is just...laughable.

Come on let's keep this thread on topic with the fabulous Jody.

Interesting explanation of why her career suddenly petered out upthread. I had always assumed it was just the huge changes in the music industry in the early 90s, but I didn't know about her wanting to go in a different direction with her third solo album. The executives at her label didn't think the third album was "pop" enough so they didn't promote the singles on Top 40 radio. Interesting.

[quote]about Janet Jackson, a washed up has been

If Janet Jackson (a living legend) is a washed up has-been (she’s not), then Jody Watley must be a cafeteria lady.

I wonder how Jody felt about the fact that her sister did hard core porn.

Arnold gets all the credit for "hasta la vista, baby" but yes Jody did it first, as was mentioned upthread. Jody said it in "Looking For A New Love," which came out in 1987 and Arnold didn't say it until "Terminator 2" which wasn't until 1991.

Unlike Janet, Jody sang to original music not just ripping off older established songs and laying new lyrics over them.

Perfection

She was certainly getting into more ballads on the 3rd album Affairs of the Heart, like this one.

That wasn't me, r92. By now you must know the level of hostility that exists towards Janet at DL. EVERYONE will come for you if you keep inserting Janet into every discussion.

[quote]Unlike Janet, Jody sang to original music not just ripping off older established songs and laying new lyrics over them.

Such a lazy retort. Janet is hardly the only artist who has used samples in her music, and plenty of her hits don’t even have samples.

Jody is still doing it. Her latest single -- a tranquil cover of Bob Marley's "Waiting In Vain."

R102, you just have to accept that Janet is an unoriginal POS when it comes to music.

[quote][R102], you just have to accept that Janet is an unoriginal POS when it comes to music.

No, you have to accept that Janet is a multiplatinum selling icon with a bevy of hits under her belt. Original ones.

Janet is one fat, ugly, has-been POS who ripped off songs from the Supremes, Sly & The Family Stone, Joni Mitchell, Carly Simon, etc... to build a "career."

Jody never had to resort to such foolishness.

R70 = Body Shaming Nazi who should get back to licking his shit off of a hitchhikers dick.

I feel like the fineness of Andre Cymone should be mentioned

[quote]Janet is one fat, ugly, has-been POS

Compared to the way Jody looks today, Janet is a 10+. I love Jody, but let’s be honest here. As for somebody being a has been, they don’t get more hasbeen than Jody.

Hey r109

START YOUR OWN THREAD ABOUT THAT NO TALENT JANET JACKSON

Jesus, you are most annoying Aspie troll since the God’s Own Country.

OMG. Yes, the Janet troll is working my nerves and I'm very patient. Janet is totally diminished by the need to inject her into every fucking discussion. Jody Watley is fierce and minding her own damn business.

[quote] I feel like the fineness of Andre Cymone should be mentioned

Yes. Jody was smitten. For some reason, HE did not want the fact of their marriage made public. She didnt reveal they were married until after they'd divorced.

[quote]START YOUR OWN THREAD ABOUT THAT NO TALENT JANET JACKSON

No talent with an Oscar nom, over 100 million records sold, a laundry list of landmark industry achievements, awards, trendsetting videos...

....And bankrupted state fairs, endless cancellations, no music label will touch her, Uber/giveaway scandal, refused to refund money to fans for cancelled shows, married/"pregnant" at 50/cancelled shows/divorced/hinted at spousal abuse, fake pregnancy, slapping teenage girls, giving up her child to her sister to raise, shitty sales and shitty music, and shitty videos, yeah R113 she's known for lots.

ima millennial....who is this person Jodi?

Here's a rsbulous remix R115

For R115

Jody reminded me of Whitney in the 80s in that part of her impact was her stunning looks. But while Whitney was just straight-up classically beautiful, Jody was uniquely gorgeous--she looked like a cool mash up of Diana Ross and Grace Jones.

This is her as a teenager on the Soul Train line:

R114 didn’t catch word of Janet’s critically-lauded tour complete with sold out shows.

Jesus, this joker again ^^^

Janet Jackson sucks ass.

I recall you did the same thing when George Michael....injecting that hag where she didn’t belong and was not wanted. Your schtick gets real old.

Tell me, Aspie troll with the Janet Jackson fixation....is Data Lounge the only way you have of interacting with people? Because it’s the only explanation of why your bothering people, endlessly, about a subject they don’t want to hear about.

JanBot... turning hordes of people off Janet Jackson one post at a time.

[quote] ima millennial....who is this person Jodi?

She was Solange before Solange.

In a way, I think Jody was a bit ahead of her time. I liked her push into more R&B and house with her third and fourth album. I think Intimacy is one of her best albums. "When a Man Loves a Woman" is one of the best things she ever did, a powerful hip-hop song that is both catchy and thoughtful.

Interesting that both Mariah and Jodyworked closely with David Morales who produced and remixed some of their songs.

[quote]I recall you did the same thing when George Michael....injecting that hag where she didn’t belong and was not wanted. Your schtick gets real old.

I was not the first person to mention Janet in this thread, sweetheart. I am, however, going to defend her to the hilt whenever one of you pinheads tries to come for her. As for George Michael, I have no idea what you’re talking about. They’ve met, and there was a track on an unreleased album of music that George was supposed to release years ago that was supposed to have Janet’s vocals on it, but...

Speaking of George Michael, Jody actually did record a duet with him....

Yes, and it’s one of my favorite tracks from that album.

A little known song by Jody that was released as a single back in 95 called 'Affection':

"Affection It don't matter if you're young or old It don't matter if you're straight or gay Everybody needs to feel loved"

Hmm, was JanBot banned? All the Janet posts seem to have been removed.

So glad to see Jody love here on DL! As a teen in the late 80s, she was one of my favorites. Her first two solo albums were fantastic, great pop music, and still hold up well.

I played the hell out of Jody's first album. Definitely preferred her to True Blue-era Madonna or Control-era Janet. Always wondered why "Still a Thrill" wasn't a bigger hit.

r130 I thought Jody's late-80s dance music was even better than Madonna's (and I was a fan of hers as well).

Why would janbot lie about Janet being the youngest artist since Stevie wonder to have a #1 billboard hot 100 hit.

All hit #1 after Stevie wonders first #1 hit and before Janet Jackson.

Gary Lewis-18

Lulu-18

Michael Jackson-11

Donny osmond-14

Shaun Cassidy-18

Andy gibb-19

r130 Still a Thrill is such a jam. I also wonder why it wasn't a bigger hit on the pop charts. It was a hit on the R&B and dance charts, though.

I bought her remix dance album in the early 90s. The one where she was in jeans and a yellow top on the cover and played the hell out of that cassette tape.

Jody wrote "Still A Thrill" intending for it to be a duet with Grace Jones. The duet part never worked out but she sings it in her "Grace Jones" voice.

[quote]Hmm, was JanBot banned?

Nope.

She should be

Bumping this thread out of love and respect for our trailblazing artists who brought us so much joy. Many now depend on live performance for their livelihood. Coronavirus is wreaking havoc on live entertainment. Who knows when we'll be able to see our favorite performers live again.

Jody Watley's music has been in heavy rotation during my lockdown. It is pure joy and fabulousness. I hope Jody and family are safe and healthy. I look forward to supporting her when she is back on the road.

I’m jealous she shagged John Taylor from Duran Duran.

Loved Jody back in the day. She deserved the Best New Artist Grammy she won.

[quote] I’m jealous she shagged John Taylor from Duran Duran.

Not to pull focus from Jody but you should know EVERYONE shagged John Taylor. Check out his autobiography "In The Pleasure Groove."

R141 everyone but me!

Little Richard gives Jody her Grammy...eventually.