Pleasure Principle/Janet Jackson

You might think I’m crazy but I’m serious

Black t-shirt tied at the waist? Check. Hoop earrings? Big old belt? Yup. Black Guess? Jeans? Not quite but they were good fakes, had the triangle tag on the back and everything. Soccer cleat looking sneaks? Oh yes. Hand me downs from a cousin. I was missing the knee pads but I cut up some of my step dad’s tube socks and slid them over my knees. For the jean jacket I substituted an orange velvet bolero jacket with a multicolored rhinestone collar which made me think of Prince and was therefore the coolest. Not a practical choice but it would be discarded soon enough. I cleared all the furniture in the living room and got to work.

Of course, I eventually learned the choreography stone cold and this routine got 13 year-old me a scholarship to dance camp (yes, gag now please). Dancing in tight jeans is hard but Janet never makes it look anything but powerful and right. You can barely catch what she’s saying, she wanted him to love her, thanking him for the ride…nowhere. Doesn’t matter what the words are, this video makes it crystal clear what’s going down. Those outstretched arms, the furious angles of her torso and legs, the eyes-closed lapses; it felt so good but this is not worth continuing. Bye.