35 years ago today, Janet Jackson released ‘The Pleasure Principle’ as the sixth single from her iconic breakthrough album, ‘Control’. It was the only song on the album without any input from Jimmy Jam and Terry Lewis.
Joni Mitchell’s ‘Big Yellow Taxi’ is mentioned in the lyrics, which Janet went on to sample in ‘Got Til It’s Gone’ on ‘The Velvet Rope’ album in 1997.
‘The Pleasure Principle’ became Janet’s fifth #1 on Billboard’s Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs chart, and her third #1 on the Hot Dance Club Songs chart.
The song’s music video has often been cited as an inspiration by many younger artists, and won ‘Best Choreography’ at the 1988 MTV Video Music Awards.
The music video has been remastered in HD on YouTube, alongside a number of others from her legendary videography.