the woman behind the 'superwoman'

sometimes, you discover artists that no one else seems to know about. one day, in my german class at school, we had to name our favourite artist. it was 1990 so the most popular answers, and most acceptable if you wanted to escape the scorn of your peers, were 'soul ii soul' or 'de la soul'. and so it went, all around the room. it must have been riveting for the teacher, although he used to play a banjo, so its likely every response was alien to him.

several brave souls ventured 'new kids on the block' (shouldn't admit to that one) and 'madonna' (so passe by 1990) and a couple of geeks, keen to display 'underground' music knowledge, smugly named some obscure 60s bands and impressed no one. then someone said 'karyn white' and the room fell silent. i didn't have the inclination to let the rest of the class know that i also knew and liked karyn white, i just listened to the person's explanation with interest. 'you know, she did that song 'superwoman' but the rest of her stuff is nothing like that. oh, i don't know...she's kind of like janet jackson'. fair enough.

karyn, was a young vocalist in the powerhouse tradition who worked with la and babyface and also jam and lewis over the course of her career, and married terry lewis in 1992. she was a session singer discovered by jazz fusion artist jeff lorber in 1986. he asked her to sing lead on two tracks for his new project 'private passion' that was to feature soul vocalists singing over his jazz-funk compositions. 'facts of love' and 'true confessions' proved the perfect showcase for karyn's talent and paved the way for a solo deal.

my classmate was right. karyn's eponymous debut in 1988 in a way, did fill the gap between janet's 'control' and 'rhythm nation 1814' albums. most people remember it for enduring ballad, 'superwoman', a staple of easy listening radio playlists to this day. but the truth is that the album was far less pop and more classic r&b than that song would suggest, or that janet would have attempted herself.

the singles released from 'karyn white' were far more ubiquitous in the US, who were switched on to r&b far earlier than the UK where it remained a specialist genre, or subgenre of dance, until the late 90s. nevertheless, they did ok over here and I can remember her second album and lead single 'romantic' being greeted enthusiastically on tv-am. both a blessing and a curse.

'ritual of love' was handily split into a 'dance me' side and 'romance me' side, if you bought the cassette. which a lot of people still did in those days. this concept has been nicked by many other artists, especially for their greatest hits albums. with her third album 'make him do right', karyn continued to have moderate success but never really broke through.

over the years, sharing flats and cd collections, precious few people have ever heard of karyn white. but they all remember 'superwoman'. aaargh! don't get me wrong, i love the song but it was an obvious hit and a calculated move, not what she should be remembered for.

ten karyn white songs that I prefer to 'superwoman' - download here

facts of love
music by jeff lorber, vocals by karyn white. this track introduced the world to her talents, at the age of 20.

the way you love me
listen about halfway through - did karyn pioneer the speed-singing style destiny's child and wyclef claimed to invent on 'no no no'? beyonce....you never learn do you?

secret rendezvous
should have been much bigger than it was, this was late 80s syncopated r&b at its best. one for the bedroom and the dancefloor.

don't mess with me
out-sassing control-era janet was always going to be tricky, but karyn has the vocals and attitude to pull it off.

family man
karyn finds out her man has a wife and kids at home. she won't be the last...and this is the way to deal with it.

not thru being with you
in between her first two albums, karyn hooked up with michael jeffries for this uptempo club smash.

romantic
remix of one of her biggest hits, the first single from second album 'ritual of love'. less percussion, more bass.

the way i feel about you
remix of the other big hit from 'ritual of love'. should have been the start of bigger things.

how i want you
one of many great slow jams from 'ritual of love'. worthy of a place on any 90s 'do me baby' playlist.

one heart

sweet ballad that stays just the right side of saccharine. probably written with terry lewis in mind...shame it didn't work out.

miss jackson if you're nasty

ok, let's get this out of the way first. janet jackson is not the best singer in the industry. but the standard appears to have now been set by artists who employ rampant melisma and the technically brilliant yet incredibly unappealing christina aguilera.

janet's breakthrough was in 1986 with the 'control' album produced by jimmy jam and terry lewis, previously members of prince's group, flyte time. no vocal gymnastics necessary, this album was anchored by janet's confident delivery and the precedent set by electro funk/soul such as shannon's 'let the music play' and cherrelle's 'i didn't mean to turn you on'.

the album was short - 8 tracks - but it was a crash course in being a young woman in 1986 and beyond. female assertion at a time when destiny's child were trying to colour inside the lines at elementary school (subject to age verification, cough). janet instructed young girls to take control, cut family ties, kick your boyfriend into touch and make him wait for it.

these were ideas that resonated with my pre-teen group, and even more so with the teenage community, who appreciated further reinforcement of the guidance from girls' magazines like just seventeen and mizz on dealing with sex. in 1986, the media didn't dare portray 12 year old girls getting pregnant and carrying on happily with their lives in the way coronation street and eastenders would have us believe is possible in recent years. they put out messages about safe sex and waiting until you were older, because society had a spiralling aids epidemic to combat before it even dealt with teenage mums. janet, in her own way, made it cool to say no.

hmm. twenty years ago, no one went online to find that 21 year old janet was in the process of divorcing first husband james debarge, whom she had married at 18. i've listened to the 'control' album differently since the 2005 claims that they in fact had a baby during their short marriage. back then, you got your info from magazines like smash hits and the one-off interview with parky or terry wogan, and so precious few people even realised she had been married.

of course, its entirely possible that some of the bitterness and icy resolve that made 'control' such a great album was a reflection of the fact that janet's first two albums, released in 1982 and 1984, flopped. actually they contained some great tracks but failed to inspire, the first merely reflecting the waning disco sound and the second lyrically damper but equally funky as 'control', let down by an ill-advised duet with cliff richard. yes, that's cliff richard.

by the time janet followed up her successs with 'rhythm nation 1814' in 1989, social consciousness was the order of the day and this album's title track remains the only credible plea for unity to date. almost making up for several self-indulgent cheesefests unleashed by her brother.

in the 90s she trod the safer, summery r&b route, to great effect, then lost her way slightly in the 00s by failing to live up to the standards she set for herself. however, in today's gossip and scandal obsessed culture, surfacing rumours of an 80s baby with then teenage husband james debarge and that wardrobe malfunction have ensured her profile remains high regardless.

and you know you want to look that good when you hit 40. so here is some lesser known janet, enjoy!

top 10 lesser known janet tracks - download here

making love in the rain
the first collaboration with jazz artist herb alpert released in 1987 , this is a sultry chillout track in a similar vein to 'funny how time flies'.

diamonds
the second, and better known herb alpert track, following a similar path to the upbeat 'control' numbers.

he doesn't know i'm alive
quintessentially 80s and often overlooked 'control' track. ok yes, i used to sing this into a hairbrush.

one more chance
1993 b side to 'if' from the 'janet' era. probably left off due to the proliferation of slow jams making the album.

pretty boy
cool electro funk from the 1984 'dream street' album. production-wise, a preview to things to come.

don't mess up this good thing
janet was too young, and jumped on too late to be a disco pioneer. but this standout track from her self titled debut in 1982 was a taste of what might have been.

where are you now
mid-tempo remix of a melancholy 'janet' track, made sunnier for the 'janet:remixed' album by nellee hooper.

70s love groove
'janet:remixed' track originally on the 'you want this' single. similar to 'any time, any place'.

you need me
included on the re-released cassette version of 'rhythm nation 1814'. a 'miss you much' clone (never a bad thing).

accept me
mid-tempo grower released as a b side to 'every time' from 'the velvet rope'.