Even though she’s grown up in the spotlight, the world will finally get to know Janet Jackson through her A&E/Lifetime documentary project, Janet. The first two installments air Friday (Jan. 28) and cover her life as the younger sister of the Jackson 5 to when she broke out on her own with 1986’s Control and 1989’s Janet Jackson’s Rhythm Nation 1814, per Billboard. Janet’s success on those two landmarks albums is due in no small part to Jimmy Jam and Terry Lewis.
“The two records that Janet had done [1982’s Janet Jackson and 1984’s Dream Street] were both well-produced records,” Jimmy told Rolling Stone in 2015, “but we always felt they actually had none of her in it. It was just her showing up and singing. … We knew that Janet had a lot of attitude and a lot of feistiness just from watching her as a kid on the different TV stuff she did. Let’s create music that has that kind of attitude and let her run with it.”
The results speak for themselves. Control launched Janet’s struggling career, reached No. 1 on the Billboard 200, and gave Janet her first Hot 100 No. 1 with “When I Think Of You.” Since then, Janet has worked with Jimmy Jam and Terry Lewis extensively, with their last collab being 2015’s Unbreakable. So, who exactly are these two production maestros?
Jimmy Jam & Terry Lewis Are A R&B Songwriting/Producing Team
Jimmy Jam and Terry Lewis are one of the most successful writer-producer duos of the 1980s. Together, they’ve written 41 Top 10 hits in the U.S. and, according to the Songwriters Hall of Fame, “has more Billboard No. 1 hits than any other songwriting/production team in history.” In addition to their work with Janet, the two have written/produced songs for the Human League (“Human”), George Michael (“Monkey”), Boyz II Men (“On Bended Knee” and “4 Seasons of Loneliness”), Mariah Carey (“Thank God I Found You,” featuring Joe and 98 Degrees), Mary J. Blige (“No More Drama”), and Janet’s brother, Michael Jackson (“Scream,” with Janet Jackson). Both Jimmy Jam and Terry Lewis were inducted into the Songwriters Hall of Fame in 2017.
They’re From Minneapolis
James Samuel “Jimmy Jam” Harris III (b. Jun. 6, 1959) and Terry Steven Lewis (b. Nov. 24, 1956) are two of Minneapolis’s favorite sons. The two met while they were teenagers. “We were in a program called Upward Bound, and it was at the University of Minnesota,” Jimmy told ASCAP. “We both were in junior high school at the time, so it was like a summer program.” One day, Jimmy walked through the dorms when he peeked into an open door. Terry was “just blasting Kool & the Gang and playing the bass part along with Kool. I just remember thinking, “Ooh, that dude’s cool, whoever he is,” because I didn’t know him. His vibe was just very cool.”
“I remember finding Jimmy in the lunchroom playing the piano with a couple of girls around him. I said, ‘Aw, cool! He can play the keyboard!'” Jimmy joined Terry’s band to play the Upward Bound dance, and the two would continue to play together in a group called Flyte Time. However, that group would undergo some major changes, courtesy of Prince.
They Were Once Fired By Prince
Under the eye of Prince, Flyte Time transformed into The Time in 1981 and paired the group with his protégé, Morris Day. Morris Day and The Time reached success with songs like “The Bird,” “Cool,” and Jungle Love.” However, in 1982, Jimmy and Terry – who had begun writing songs and producing albums on their own – missed a San Antonio concert due to a freak blizzard in Atlanta. The legend is that Prince fired them for it, but the “Purple Rain” singer would deny that he was the one who pulled the trigger.
“I’m playing the bad guy,” Prince told Rolling Stone in 1990, “but I didn’t fire Jimmy and Terry. Morris asked me what I would do in his situation. You got to remember, it was his band.”
However, in the years since their termination, Terry and Jimmy have said The Purple One was the one who gave them their pink slips. They also have credited him for sharing his knowledge. “We learned that Prince is a genius,” Jam told Rolling Stone. “The studio experience overall couldn’t have been a better learning opportunity because he was very unorthodox, but it was very spontaneous. Prince was always the most prolific, always the quickest, and he was totally self-contained. He could engineer, write it, play it, he could do pretty much everything and do it efficiently. It was a great lesson to me, and a valuable lesson, on how to record.”
They Are Best Known For Their Work With Janet Jackson
“After we were released from the Time — so graciously by Prince — our plan was to do a Jam & Lewis album,” Terry Lewis told Variety in 2021. “We fell in love with [Tabu Records founder and legendary executive] Clarence Avant when he brought us in to do the S.O.S. Band, and allowed us to create as we saw fit. Anything he wanted us to do was a joy, we could develop any creative motif we chose. Then Janet came along, we began working with her, and stayed sidetracked.”
Janet’s success kept Jimmy and Terry busy. She returned to them for Control’s follow-up, 1989’s Janet Jackson’s Rhythm Nation 1814. “The idea for “Rhythm Nation” was you can dance, but we can also do something more intelligent,” Jam told Rolling Stone. “The blueprint for doing that is always Marvin Gaye’s What’s Going On album, which is my favorite album of all time. That was the spirit in which Rhythm Nation was done.”
The duo also worked with Janey on 1993’s janet., her first album to debut at No. 1 on the Billboard 200. It’s best known for the number-one singles “That’s The Way Love Goes” and “Again,” as well as the risqué cover-art. “If someone says, ‘What’s your favorite Janet song,’ that’s the one,” Jam says of “That’s The Way Love Goes.”
Jimmy & Terry Sometimes Clashed With Janet
Jimmy and Terry worked with Janet on 1997’s The Velvet Rope, 2001’s All for You, 2004’s Damita Jo, and 2006’s 20 Y.O. They weren’t involved in Janet’s 2008 album, Discipline, but reunited for 2015’s Unbreakable.
As Janet’s 2022 documentary shows, per Billboard, the three of them are all strong-willed when it comes to making music. When recording “You Need Me,” Janet loses her temper after seeing the producers laughing. “What are you laughing about? Tell me what’s wrong, Jimmy,” she demands. “You’re sitting there laughing and I’m trying to get this right. You’ve got to tell me something, ’cause it’s like I keep singing this over and over, and you’re not telling me what I need!”
“There’s no energy! You can hear that sh– and the way that sounds! Ain’t no energy on the song!… You’re the singer, all you’ve got to do is sing!” he snaps back. However, in the present day, the three recognize that this was just part of the creative process.