Скачать или смотреть Justin Friello - COVID COVERS #15 - "Together Again" - Janet Jackson

In another episode of "Songs From Albums I Owned At Far Too Early An Age", here's an incredible track from Janet Jackson's 1997 album, "The Velvet Rope". I was already a huge fan of Janet by the time this record was released, as I'd been listening to her previous self-titled record for years. But when I heard this song for the first time on the radio, I became truly obsessed. I would have my parents call radio stations to request it (even though I owned the album at home). I even choreographed a dance to it in my bedroom.

I do, however, have one very specific memory attached to this song. When my elementary school's talent show rolled around in the spring of 1998, I was busy learning a solo tap routine (choreographed by my dance teacher, not myself, as my earlier statement might have led you to believe). I learned, however, that a group of four very popular 5th graders were planning on performing a dance number to this song. (Also, maybe it was just because I was SO short for my age, but I remember them all being very tall and very pretty. And it's true that into high school they remained some of the tallest and prettiest girls. Their names were Alana, Stefanina, and then that's where my memory runs out.) One day, before school began, I went up to them (because of course they hung out with each other all the time) and told them I'd heard of their song selection and that I loved that song. I also showed them some of what I was doing in my routine (which, for the record, included two Russian split jumps; my mother has a VHS of this somewhere). I'm not sure if they were actually impressed, or if they were placating me. It think it was a mix of the two, I was quite popular throughout the school in my own right; not bad for a third grader. Anyway, the talent show came and went. Their dance was everything you'd expect from a group of four very tall and popular fifth graders. My dance was also well received, with one fifth grade teacher later petitioning my mother for me to be in her class when it was time, based on the quality of my performance alone. There's a lot to be said for having positive childhood memories to equip you with just enough narcissism to launch you into a career in the performing arts. I'm truly grateful.

I lost all of my gigs and my day job because of the COVID-19 outbreak. Please consider making a donation to support the creation of more content by donating directly to my Venmo (details below).

COVID COVERS is a series of videos where I perform songs I've never performed live. Most songs in this series are songs I've just learned in quarantine.

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