The Soundtrack of my Life
by Kevin Naff
I’m not fully sure why I’m such a die-hard Janet fan. But as a rebellious teen, I identified with the themes she expressed in “Control.” The neighbours even called the police one night in 1986 when some friends and I were blasting that 45 too loudly on the turntable. We were the punk rock, alternative crowd, so when I showed up to the party with a Janet record and said, “y’all gotta hear this!” it was at considerable risk to my reputation. But the punk kids loved it — and then the police shut us down. I still have that 45 today.
As a gay teen, I identified with Janet as an underdog. The odds were certainly stacked against her — a young black woman trying to succeed in an industry dominated by powerful white men. That’s not to mention that in order for her to truly succeed, she’d have to do what her talented siblings could not, and step out of the considerable shadow of her legendary brother.
The late ‘80s were a frightening time. Every day brought news reports of the threat of nuclear war with Russia; the crack epidemic and exploding inner city violence; the devastation and fear of the AIDS plague and an uncaring, homophobic government; the growing threat of terrorism amid regular hijackings and car bombings that killed hundreds of U.S. Marines, among many others.
Enter Janet. On her sophomore album (which wasn’t really her sophomore album, but no one counted her first two records), the label wanted “Control Part II” and pop confections like “Escapade.” But Janet, clearly influenced and unnerved by the same news reports that I was, had a very different idea. She conceived “Rhythm Nation 1814” as a response to the myriad social ills plaguing the world and somehow managed to set it all to a danceable beat. It resonated with me and with millions of my late-teenaged contemporaries, longing for music that reflected the times but also gave us permission to dance and have fun, which wasn’t easy to do when gay men were dying in alarming numbers and no one cared.