Janet’s Control

For the next installment of the Off The Record project, we are staying in the 80s for another memorable album cover- Janet Jackson’s “Control”. The album went to #1 in 1986 and sported a very memorable red cover. It even ranked #28 in Rolling Stone Magazines “Top 100 Albums of the 80s”. We decided it would be a great addition to the project and enlisted Suyin to help us out.

The Original

The cover features Janet in a black outfit – complete with 80s shoulder pads. Her hair is piled up high and swept to the side. I loved the clean red background and the gold squiggly lines add a nice graphic element. It was a fun cover to try and reproduce because it has such a unique style. The only issue was finding the right model and getting the right hair.

Control 2014

The model was one of my son’s classmates. I’ve known her since she was little and thought she would make a great Janet. She had the perfect look for this image.

Julie Spero and Suyin

Once again, hair guru Julie Spero managed to get that big, 80s hair- but still make it look nice. From there, the image just sort of came together.

The layout was straight-forward enough – it was just a matter of getting the lines to work with the underlying image. It took a few tries to get it right, but it finally worked out.

The enormous “Janet hair” combined with Suyin’s wonderful expression, really made for a fantastic cover. I can’t wait to see this one hanging in the show. It should really jump off the wall!

Who Is Next?

We still need a few more spots to round out the project. If you’ve been thinking of an album cover, let me know. Time is running out!