Jam & Lewis
Producers Jimmy Jam and Terry Lewis have been feted all week long at Stylus, as they're the second inductees into our Hall of Fame (and I've been tempted to link to pretty much all of the content, as it's been excellent), and today the special Singles Jukebox devoted to some of their hits goes up. Weirdly enough, the two blurbs they didn't use from me were for my two favourite songs from the selection:
Cherelle – "I Didn't Mean To Turn You On": I'm not sure this would work at less than full length; you really need all seven minutes of hypnotically sing-song chorus and increasingly compelling synth squiggles. For producers with such a recognizable style throughout most of the 80s and 90s, Jam and Lewis manage to wring an awful lot of songs out of it without ever feeling like they're treading water. I can't decide whether Cherelle is being sincere or this is the sort of song than would inspire O'Neal's “Fake”, but it is utterly irresistible in any case, one big long sinuous chorus. [9]
Janet Jackson – Someone To Call My Lover: The inanity of that “he'll drive a funky car” line (and most of the rest of the chorus) aside, this is a nearly ideal summer single, something even my nineteen-year-old rockist self could realise. The acoustic guitar may be swiftly be becoming overused in this kind of R'n'B single but Jam and Lewis use it right (courtesy of America's “Ventura Highway”, apparently) – witness the way the beat starts out by darting around it and then by the midsection they're perfectly blended. The candy-coated video helped advance the proper vibe, but really, if you're listening to this and not picturing sunshine you may be the Grinch. Janet's voice doesn't even really sound like her (at least not as I was used to her), but all they really needed was a singer who could sound like she was smiling the entire song through, and she knocks that one out of the park. [8]
And of course, if you like the sound of the songs on the Jukebox, there's always the associated Stycast...
Cherelle – "I Didn't Mean To Turn You On": I'm not sure this would work at less than full length; you really need all seven minutes of hypnotically sing-song chorus and increasingly compelling synth squiggles. For producers with such a recognizable style throughout most of the 80s and 90s, Jam and Lewis manage to wring an awful lot of songs out of it without ever feeling like they're treading water. I can't decide whether Cherelle is being sincere or this is the sort of song than would inspire O'Neal's “Fake”, but it is utterly irresistible in any case, one big long sinuous chorus. [9]
Janet Jackson – Someone To Call My Lover: The inanity of that “he'll drive a funky car” line (and most of the rest of the chorus) aside, this is a nearly ideal summer single, something even my nineteen-year-old rockist self could realise. The acoustic guitar may be swiftly be becoming overused in this kind of R'n'B single but Jam and Lewis use it right (courtesy of America's “Ventura Highway”, apparently) – witness the way the beat starts out by darting around it and then by the midsection they're perfectly blended. The candy-coated video helped advance the proper vibe, but really, if you're listening to this and not picturing sunshine you may be the Grinch. Janet's voice doesn't even really sound like her (at least not as I was used to her), but all they really needed was a singer who could sound like she was smiling the entire song through, and she knocks that one out of the park. [8]
And of course, if you like the sound of the songs on the Jukebox, there's always the associated Stycast...
