How Do You Remember The "All For You" Era

[Private Dancer]

How well do you remember the All For You era? Was it huge or seemed not huge at all? What do you remember from it? Any special memories?

[🇯🇲 dollybaby 🇯🇲]

I was 13 at that time. I would say that it was a pretty good era for her and a great time to be a Janet fan. Her videos were still being played on TV, and her music was still being played on the radio. This was also when MTV had honored her as an "Icon" as they did a special on her. I remembered so vividly that when it had first aired, there was a blackout in my neighborhood so I had missed the first half of it. I was so pissed.

I also remember her being mentioned in J-14 magazines. I still have those articles.

[Deleted]

It was big ("All For You" was her second biggest Hot 100 hit in terms of weeks at #1) but very short-lived compared to her previous 4 albums. The main period of success pretty much came and went in about 6 months compared to the multi-year campaigns and hit after hit from the earlier hit albums. 

[Private Dancer]

I think 9/11 had something to do with the shortness of the era...usually she is always doing 2 or 3 years max on an era

[Deleted]

Nov 10, 2021 17:30:56 GMT -5 Private Dancer said:

I think 9/11 had something to do with the shortness of the era...usually she is always doing 2 or 3 years max on an era

I'd say "Son Of A Gun" killed the era. Should have been "Come On Get Up" with a remix for Urban radio since they could have dramatically remixed it and still had it count as the same single for Billboard chart purposes at the time (or even released something else from the album). I doubt "Son Of A Gun" would have been a hit 9/11 or not. It became her least successful full-fledged single in almost 20 years at the time.

[Deleted]

I was an infant, so I have no recollection of it. Still, I did hear a few of the tracks while doing the 2001 Rankdown last year.

[irice22]

It was huge for sure. I was expecting "Someone To Call My Lover" to be way more remembered than it seems to be. That song was EVERYWHERE.

If I remember correctly, "All For You" was added to every pop station on the panel in its first week which was was unprecedented at the time.

[Dreams]

I only remember hearing the song "All For You" on the radio a lot. That's it.

[Private Dancer]

Nov 10, 2021 18:32:56 GMT -5 irice22 said:

It was huge for sure. I was expecting "Someone To Call My Lover" to be way more remembered than it seems to be. That song was EVERYWHERE.

If I remember correctly, "All For You" was added to every pop station on the panel in its first week which was was unprecedented at the time.

STCML being everywhere...I'm suprised

[Private Dancer]

Another thing that suprises me is the fact that All For You had higher audience impressions than Surivor by Destiny's Child. All For is obviously the better song

[cjay]

started off BIG, but fizzled 6 months after release. Overall, a good era for her.

[divasummer]

I remember when “All For You” came out the young girls I taught in dancing wanted to dance to it for the recital along with some of the dance steps from the video.
“All For You” felt and was huge at the time and I believe had a wide audience age wise.
She was still considered cool but becoming legendary as well.
I went to one of her dates in Boston for the tour.
The concert was very good.
I never understood why they released “Son Of A Gun” as the 3rd single though. I did like it but used to giggle at some of Carly Simons parts.
It pretty much killed the era.
I would have went with “Come On Get Up” which she opened with on the date of the show I went to.
It is probably my least favorite album of hers out of the big 5.
However “All For You” the single is still a favorite till this day.
Plus there was the added bonus of them putting “Doesn’t Really Matter” on there to because I didn’t own it at the time.

[degen]

Considering how much Janet did even a year prior to the album release, i think the era was successful, especially for an act that started in the 80s. She proved she could score hits going into her 3rd decade. For me the “All For You” era began long before the album. In the year 2000 she released “Doesn’t Really Matter” and starred in The Klumps. In the beginning of 2001 she was honored with the MTV icon special, leading to the immediate success of “All For You.” It may have not been as big as her previous eras but she was still relevant for an artist who was basically a veteran at that point.

[Soulsista]

It was big out of the gate. I still remember when "All For You" debuted on the Hot 100 way up at #14 and thinking she was gonna have a huge hit on her hands (and this was after Billboard had allowed airplay-only song to chart, so its impact was immediate). Then came MTV Icon and the album release, and it looked like the era would at least be on par with The Velvet Rope as far as longevity. Of course, that didn't happen- little did any of us know at the time that "Someone To Call My Lover" would be her last trip into the Top 10 of the Hot 100.

[Ling-Ling]

That album era was weird. "All For You" was massive. "STCML" was a perfectly solid follow-up chart wise. She got wrapped up in the tour fairly quickly and 9/11 happened and the third single got pushed back for months (not to mention they made a horrible choice with SOAG). I still find it strange that even after an underperforming single, they wouldn't make an attempt to push a fourth. This was Janet "cash cow" Jackson after all. Everything was pointing to COOGU getting a push, there were even remixes commissioned. And then everything just stopped. There were rumors that Virgin halted all promo on AFY after Glitter flopped and the Mariah buyout, they were looking to cut costs all around.

Either way, it was a multiplatinum album with some big hits. So commercially successful, but it's a fairly forgettable era/album IMO.

[The Black Bird]

The AFY video was everywhere, you just couldn't escape it. Great memories.

The choice of SOAG as the third single fits the late 2001 music scene imo. Urban leaning songs were IN at radio at that time. Jlo was having huge success with I'm real and the follow up singles, I guess they just felt a more urban single was needed. COAGU was very bubblegum pop.

[back2blk]

I didn't pay attention to the charts back then (I still kinda don't, compared to y'all), but the AFY and Someone to Call My Lover videos were EVERYWHERE this era. And they were so good. The era, at least from its promo and launch felt so big.

[Carlitoz]

I remember it short unlike previous eras. It started BIG with AFY coming from the success in the previous year of DRM. Didn't MTV do some kind of tribute or something and she performed AFY? Can't recall. I do remember STCML also received significant attention. And I do remember SOAG was the beginning of the end for that era. I did like the song though, still do.

[leonagwen]

It's 2021, and you're talking about an era 20 years ago?

[Private Dancer]

Nov 13, 2021 10:28:40 GMT -5 leonagwen said:

It's 2021, and you're talking about an era 20 years ago?

Yes, and what about it?

[irice22]

Nov 13, 2021 10:36:47 GMT -5 Private Dancer said:

Nov 13, 2021 10:28:40 GMT -5 leonagwen said:

It's 2021, and you're talking about an era 20 years ago?

Yes, and what about it?

It's actually cool for people trying to gain perspective of a time they may not have been alive or a preteen for. In fact, I'd encourage more threads like this.

[Private Dancer]

Nov 13, 2021 17:15:33 GMT -5 irice22 said:

Nov 13, 2021 10:36:47 GMT -5 Private Dancer said:

Yes, and what about it?

It's actually cool for people trying to gain perspective of a time they may not have been alive or a preteen for. In fact, I'd encourage more threads like this.

Exactly! Im trying to see did the era seem huge to others because it's not talked about a lot.

[daneeis]

I turned 7 during the All For You era. While I don't recall the era, I remember its three singles well.

I grew up watching Janet Jackson's music videos on BET/MTV, listening to her songs on the radio, watching her on Good Times and Poetic Justice, and hearing about her relationship with JD in the media. For some reason, I never really got into her. I have just been a casual fan of her music. Yet, I became a huge fan of her contemporary Mariah Carey. This thread made me wonder why I wasn't a bigger fan of hers.