1989 No. 1, The Soundtrack To Janet Jackson's Famous Chair Routine, Hit The Top 37 Years Ago Today

On October 16, 1989, "Miss You Much" by Janet Jackson was about halfway through its four-week run as the No. 1 song in the United States. The first single off of the blockbuster "Rhythm Nation 1814" LP, "Miss You Much" was how Jackson reintroduced herself to the world three years after the "Control" album cycle concluded. One thing hadn't changed: Jackson still had some impressive dance moves she was ready to share, most notably the chair dance that would become part of her repertoire, introduced with two backup dancers in the "Miss You Much" music video. While she won the best music video Grammy for the song "Rhythm Nation," the chair dance from "Miss You Much" is memorable in its own right.

A tightly structured synth-pop march with chants and succinct drum machine beats, "Miss You Much" was a proof of statement of the "Rhythm Nation 1814" album. Embracing a positive and unified militaristic look, sound, and feel with both the LP and single, "Miss You Much" was as hard and relentlessly propulsive as it was a giddy love song. It was also the first of seven Top 5 hits and the first of four No. 1s from "Rhythm Nation 1814," preceding the equally energetic "Escapade," "Black Cat," and "Love Will Never Do (Without You)." But with a month spent at the top of the Hot 100, "Miss You Much" was by far the biggest.

A truly collaborative work between Janet Jackson and her preferred production and songwriting duo, Jimmy Jam and Terry Lewis, "Miss You Much" was the first song even considered for "Rhythm Nation 1814," the LP that would follow 1986's "Control," a classic album with a lot of hit singles. The pair operated out of Flyte Tyme, a studio complex in Minneapolis. The moment Jackson arrived for work, Jimmy Jam was tinkering with an incomplete backing track. Jackson jumped right in on a keyboard and immediately devised the layer of synthesized strings that recur throughout the song. 

Jimmy Jam had some lyrics in mind, including the song title and chorus "Miss You Much." Remembering that his girlfriend had sent him a letter and amusingly signed off with "miss you much," they incorporated that into the song of the same name about how distance from a new crush is absolutely unbearable.