After putting much of Janet Jackson's classic catalogue on vinyl out this year, UMe keeps the party going with a whopping nine new digital EPs to celebrate this week's 30th anniversary of Janet Jackson's Rhythm Nation 1814.
The label is premiering nearly 100 rare and digitally unavailable edits, instrumentals and remixes spanning Rhythm Nation's incredible run of hit singles for more than a year. Seven tracks - "Miss You Much," "Rhythm Nation," "Escapade," "Alright," "Come Back To Me," "Black Cat" and "Love Will Never Do Without You" - all reached the Top 5 of the Billboard Hot 100, with four of them reaching No. 1. (Only three other albums - older brother Michael's Thriller, Bruce Springsteen's Born In The U.S.A. and Drake's Scorpion, come close, each notching seven Top 10 singles.) An eighth, promo-only single, "State Of The World," was issued in 1991.
This treasure trove of bonuses includes rare remixes from original album producers Jimmy Jam & Terry Lewis, Shep Pettibone, and British remixer CJ Mackintosh (whose work on "Escapade" gets its own extra EP); guest appearances by rapper Heavy D (on "Alright") and rock guitarists Nuno Bettencourt of Extreme and Vernon Reid of Living Colour (on two different versions of the shredding "Black Cat"); Spanish-language versions of yearning ballad "Come Back To Me"; non-LP B-sides "You Need Me" and "The Skin Game"; and even a megamix of hits from the album.
An album like Rhythm Nation - pulsating with dance energy, heart-thumping romance and no shortage of (sadly still relevant) social commentary on injustice, violence, race and equality - deserves a celebration like this. Some will doubtless covet a physical release (those Japanese CD singles, which these EPs replicate, are still pricey on the secondary market), but revisiting this work in any fashion is a gift in and of itself.
Each is available to stream or download at your preferred service below.
Miss You Much: The Remixes (A&M/UMe, 2019) (iTunes / Amazon / Spotify)
- Miss You Much (7″ Edit)
- Miss You Much (Mama Mix)
- Miss You Much (Slammin' R&B Mix)
- Miss You Much (Shep's House Mix)
- Miss You Much (Shep's House Dub)
- Miss You Much (Slammin' Dub)
- Miss You Much (7″ R&B Mix)
- Miss You Much (7″ House Mix)
- Miss You Much (7″ Slammin' R&B Mix)
- Miss You Much (That Bass You Much Mix)
- Miss You Much (Oh I Like That Mix)
- Miss You Much (Sing It Yourself Mix)
- Miss You Much (A Capella)
Track 1 from A&M single AM-1445, 1989
Tracks 2 and 11-12 from A&M 12" promo SP-12315, 1989
Tracks 3-6, 10 and 13 from A&M 12" single 390 465-1, 1989
Tracks 7-9 from A&M promo CD single 17917, 1989
Rhythm Nation: The Remixes (A&M/UMe, 2019) (iTunes / Amazon / Spotify)
- Rhythm Nation (7″ Edit)
- Rhythm Nation (12″ United Mix)
- Rhythm Nation (12″ House Nation Mix)
- Rhythm Nation (House Nation Groove)
- Rhythm Nation (12″ United Dub)
- Rhythm Nation (7″ CHR Remix)
- Rhythm Nation (7″ United Mix Edit)
- Rhythm Nation (7″ House Nation Edit)
- Rhythm Nation (LP Version)
- Rhythm Nation (7″ Instrumental)
- Rhythm Nation (Rhythm Mix)
Tracks 1-5 and 10 from A&M 12" single SP-12335, 1989
Tracks 6-8 and 11 from A&M promo CD single 17928, 1989
Track 9 from original album
Escapade: The Remixes (A&M/UMe, 2019) (iTunes / Amazon / Spotify)
- Escapade (The Getaway 7″)
- Escapade (We've Got It Made 7″)
- Escapade (The Good Time 7″)
- Escapade (Housecapade 7")
- Escapade (Shep's Good Time Mix)
- Escapade (Shep's Housecapade Mix)
- Escapade (The Getaway Dub)
- Escapade (Housecapade Dub)
- Escapade (Shep's I Can't Take No More Dub)
- Escapade (LP Version)
Tracks 1-4 from A&M promo CD single 18002, 1990
Tracks 5-9 from A&M 12" single SP-12352, 1990
Track 10 from original album
Escapade: The Remixes (Pt. 2) (A&M/UMe, 2019) (iTunes / Amazon / Spotify)
- Escapade (Hippiapolis Mix)
- Escapade (Hippiapolis In Dub)
- Escapade (One Nation Under a Rhythm Mix)
All tracks from Breakout U.K. 12" single USAF 684, 1990
Alright: The Remixes (A&M/UMe, 2019) (iTunes / Amazon / Spotify)
- Alright (7″ Remix feat. Heavy D)
- Alright (7″ R&B Mix feat. Heavy D)
- Alright (7″ House Mix)
- Alright (7″ House Mix feat. Heavy D)
- Alright (12″ R&B Mix feat. Heavy D)
- Alright (12″ House Mix feat. Heavy D)
- Alright (House Dub)
- Alright (LP Version)
Tracks 1, 3 and 4 from A&M promo CD single 17981, 1990
Tracks 2 and 5-7 from A&M 12" single SP-12351, 1990
Track 8 from original album
Come Back To Me: The Remixes (A&M/UMe, 2019) (iTunes / Amazon / Spotify)
- Come Back To Me (7″ I'm Begging You Mix)
- Come Back To Me (I'm Begging You Mix)
- Vuelve A Mi
- Come Back To Me (The Abandoned Heart Mix)
- Come Back To Me (LP Version)
- Come Back To Me (Instrumental)
- Vuelve A Mi (Castilian)
- The Skin Game - Part I
- The Skin Game - Part II (Instrumental)
Tracks 1-2, 6 and 8-9 from A&M 12" single 75021 2345 1, 1990
Tracks 3-4 from A&M promo CD single 75021 7939 2, 1990
Track 5 from original album
Track 7 from A&M Japanese CD single PCCY-10131, 1990
Black Cat: The Remixes (A&M/UMe, 2019) (iTunes / Amazon / Spotify)
- Black Cat (Video Mix/Short Solo)
- Black Cat (Video Mix/Long Solo)
- Black Cat (LP Version)
- Black Cat (feat. Vernon Reid)
- Black Cat ("3 Snaps Up" 7″)
- Black Cat (Funky 7″)
- Black Cat ("3 Snaps Up" 12″)
- Black Cat (Funky 12″)
- Black Cat ("3 Snaps Up" Dub)
Tracks 1 and 5-9 from A&M 12" single 75021 2348 1, 1990
Tracks 2 and 4 from A&M promo CD single 75021 7972 2, 1990
Track 3 from original album
Love Will Never Do (Without You): The Remixes (A&M/UMe, 2019) (iTunes / Amazon / Spotify)
- Love Will Never Do (Without You) (Single Version)
- Love Will Never Do (Without You) (Work It Out 7″ With Intro)
- Love Will Never Do (Without You) (U.K. Funky 7″)
- Love Will Never Do (Without You) (The Love 7″)
- Love Will Never Do (Without You) (Work It Out 7″)
- Love Will Never Do (Without You) (Shep's Work It Out Mix)
- Love Will Never Do (Without You) (U.K. Funky Mix)
- Love Will Never Do (Without You) (Shep's Love Mix)
- Love Will Never Do (Without You) (The Work It Out Dub)
- Love Will Never Do (Without You) (The Love Dub)
- Love Will Never Do (Without You) (Shep's Original 7″)
- Love Will Never Do (Without You) (A Capella)
- The 1814 Megamix (Alright/Escapade/Rhythm Nation/Miss You Much/Black Cat)
- You Need Me
Tracks 1-2, 5-7 and 9 from A&M 12" single 75021 2346 1, 1990
Tracks 3, 8, 10 and 12 from A&M double 12" promo 75021 7447 1, 1990
Track 4 from A&M promo CD single 75021 7444 2, 1990
Track 11 from A&M Japanese CD single PCCY-10164, 1990
Track 13 from "Black Cat" U.K. 12" single - A&M 390 572-1, 1990
Track 14 from "Miss You Much" single - A&M 390 445-7, 1989
State Of The World: The Remixes (A&M/UMe, 2019) (iTunes / Amazon / Spotify)
- State Of The World (United Nations 7″)
- State Of The World (State Of The House 7″)
- State Of The World (Third World 7″)
- State Of The World (LP Version)
- State Of The World (State Of The House 12″)
- State Of The World (United Nations 12″)
- State Of The World (United Nations Dub)
- State Of The World (United Nations Instrumental)
- State Of The World (Third World Dub)
- State Of The World (Third World Instrumental)
- State Of The World (Make a Change Dub)
- State Of The World (World Dance Mix)
- State Of The World (State Of The World Suite)
Tracks 1-2 from A&M promo CD single 75021 7514 2, 1991
Tracks 3 and 5-13 from A&M double 12" promo 75021 7523 1, 1991
Track 4 from original album
Stefano says
Pity they forgot one important track: the original B-side of Escapade, which is the instrumental version. In master quality only available on the Japanese 3 inch CD single.
smirkdj says
physical release please,cd box!
Scott says
Agree. I made a similar comment on Facebook and got completely useless (and clueless) replies that they were already released on CD (in the 90s) and that I could probably find them on eBay but they would be expensive. Gee thanks, Captain Obvious!
gwynogue says
No CDs 🙁
Only MP3s 🙁
Sadly, that's the state of the world today...
Pieter De Wagter says
You can buy WAV/FLAC @ https://www.qobuz.com/