Jam & Lewis: “The technology is the inspiration”

Perhaps most famous for igniting the career of Janet Jackson, Jam & Lewis pioneered a sound all of their own then gifted it to a list of artists that reads like the pop and soul Who’s Who. Deeply technical, heavily electronic, but always shot through with a live funk and R&B feel, J&L creations dip toes in many genres and ace all of them. Now, after 35 years of helping artists to become household names, the daring duo are finally stepping forward to put their name on the cover. Jam & Lewis: Volume 1 is brand new brace of unmistakable J&L tracks, made with some of their favourite collaborators including Mary J Blige, Boyz II Men, Babyface, Toni Braxton, Mariah Carey and more.

So what took you so long?

Well, the origin of the album was when we were fired… or rather we were ‘freed from’ The Time. We started working on our own tracks around the same time we started working on the album with Janet [Jackson]. When we thought we were done with the album John McClain who was the A&R person at A&M records came up to listen to everything and we played him ‘The Pleasure Principle’, ‘Control’, ‘Nasty’, and he said ‘Yeah, sounds good… but I just need one more’. And we said ‘Nah we got enough’. So we hopped in the car to go get something to eat and Terry pops in a cassette and says ‘Listen to this. This is from our album’ and about the third track in John goes ‘THAT’s the one I need for Janet!’ And we’re like ‘What?’. So the next day in the studio we played the album for Janet. And she says ‘I love that, who’s that for?’ And we said ‘Well… it’s for you if you want it’ and she said ‘I want it!’. And she got it. That was ‘What Have You Done