2/20/2023 0 Comments Joan jett i love rock n rollEventually, after a spate of good reviews and some buzz in Europe, Boardwalk Records in the U.S. labels passed on the record and it was released in Europe only. Joan Jett combined the tracks she’d cut in England with new ones featuring Blondie’s Clem Burke and Frank Infante, among others. That didn’t establish her as an actress, but one positive aspect of the experience is she hooked up with producers Kenny Laguna (Jonathan Richman, Greg Kihn, Bow Wow Wow) and Ritchie Cordell (writer of many of Tommy James’ hits, as well various bubblegum groups in the ’60s), and they offered to produce her first solo album. By summer she was back in L.A., producing an album by the punk band The Germs and starring in a not particularly memorable film based on the brief career of The Runaways called We’re All Crazy Now. Jett traveled to England the following spring and cut some tracks with former Sex Pistols Steve Jones and Paul Cook, but only a single in Holland resulted from the sessions. Critically lambasted from the get-go, they never really rose above being a novelty act, but they did get to do a cool tour opening for The Ramones in 1978! on New Year’s Eve 1978-79, the group played what turned out to be its final performance, in San Francisco. The Runaways made a couple of mediocre albums that few people bought, but at least they got the thrill of touring for a few years, enjoying the rock ‘n’ roll lifestyle and seeing the world. Though lingerie-clad singer Cherie Currie became the group’s focal point, and lead guitarist Lita Ford was the only one with much previous band experience, Jett distinguished herself early on as someone who was serious about music and songwriting. Fowley had imagined the group as a sort of female Ramones, and many of their early gigs were on the punk/new wave circuit-for instance, their New York debut in 1976 was at CBGB’s on a bill with Television and Talking Heads. When she was just 15, Jett met Kim Fowley at the Starwood club, and he enticed her to form The Runaways, which he both managed and produced. Rex, David Bowie, Slade and hard-rocking Suzi Quatro, who is all but forgotten now but was influential on a generation of girls who wanted to plug in and play electric guitar. She loved the early ’70s glam scene, with the theatrical make-up and platform shoes-her idols were T. She was a bit of a wild child and had trouble fitting in at her new school, so it’s not too surprising that she fell in with a fast crowd that frequented various Hollywood rock ‘n’ roll clubs. A native of Philadelphia, she moved to Baltimore while still in grade school and then, at age 12, to Southern California. Still, The Runaways turned out to be just an early stepping stone for guitarist/singer/songwriter Joan Jett. Sunset Strip rock Svengali Kim Fowley sprang them on an unsuspecting world. But everyone treated them like a joke, and as a concept-glam-tramp rock?-the group seemed doomed to failure from the moment in 1975 when. They put on a high-energy show that had the place rockin’, and the girls were easily more proficient on their instruments than most of the punk bands that were springing up like weeds in the Bay Area at that time. Actually, The Runaways were pretty good the night I saw them in a San Francisco club in 1977. Joan Jett turns 40 this September, a milestone that seems almost unimaginable to anyone who still remembers her at 17 strutting the stage, all rock star poses and crunching power chords, as a member of L.A.’s beloved/derided jail-bait group, The Runaways.
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