SHORT TAKES : Inspired by Michael, Janet Says

NEW YORK —  Janet Jackson, the baby of the musical Jackson clan, says brother Michael is a role model, but sister LaToya is not.

“Michael and I are the closest in the family, between all my brothers and sister,” Janet told Rolling Stone magazine in its upcoming issue. “He said that out of everyone in the family, we’re the two that think the most alike.”

Janet, whose “Rhythm Nation 1814” has sold almost 3 million copies, said she wants to sell as many records as her multi-platinum brother.

“When ‘Thriller’ came out, I was so envious. I was so happy for him, but it was like, ‘Why can’t that be me?’ That’s what inspired me,” she said.

She found no inspiration, only puzzlement, in sister LaToya’s semi-nude appearance in Playboy magazine.

“It didn’t seem like the LaToya that I knew, the LaToya that I know,” she said. “She said it was something she needed to do. . . . It’s like, I understand, but why that?”