I first saw Joan Jett play as part of the opening act for The Police in Charlotte, North Carolina, back in the early 1980s. I was instantly enthralled. She came out on stage sporting a black leather jacket, blasting badass guitar riffs and belting out husky vocals, and I've loved her ever since. The specific songs hardly mattered -- campy and clever rock and roll, descendents of Chuck Berry compositions but more rough and ready -- no, it was her attitude that caught fire, a mix of primal hard rock with a punky disposition. She blew Sting and The Police away through sheer bravado.
Jett, originally from Philadelphia (as Joan Marie Larkin, 9/22/1958; she changed her last name to Jett, her mother's family name, after the latter's divorce), took off for California as a teenager and leapt into the music scene with The Runaways, a then-rare all-women band. After detonating "Cherry Bomb," she eventually came to fame fronting Joan Jett and the Blackhearts. "I Love Rock and Roll" shot to the top, as I remember well. In addition to recording her own songs and producing other bands, she's done a lot of fun covers like "Roadrunner" (Modern Lovers), "Crimson and Clover" (Tommy James and The Shondells), "Do You Wanna Touch Me? (Oh Yeah!)" (Gary Glitter, recently in big trouble in Vietnam), The Mary Tyler Moore Show theme song ("Love is All Around"), and AC/DC's camp classic, "Dirty Deeds Done Dirt Cheap."
Early in the Jett trajectory, during a brief lull at Mardi Gras in New Orleans, my friend Bill and I saw her do a live performance of "Bad Reputation" in the wacky-concert-snippets-movie Urgh! A Music War (1981), at the exact same time when I was completely smitten with Debby Harry of Blondie, at the Beat Exchange, a music club on the fringe of the French Quarter. I'm still a delighted fan of both these heartbreakers.
These days, Joan Jett is still kicking out the jams. She supports the troops and keeps life hopping with a show on SIRIUS Satellite Radio:"Joan Jett’s Radio Revolution
Saturdays 3 pm - 7 pm ET
Rebroadcast Sundays 7 pm - 11 pm ET
The ultimate "Grrrrl Rocker" brings her brand of no holds barred Rock 'n' Roll to the Underground Garage. She's joined in the studio by her manager, Kenny Laguna (a character in his own right). Her fiery personality makes this one of the most incendiary shows on the air...anywhere!!!"
On top of that, she's on tour. A link to her official website.
Today's rune: the Blank Rune (ah, mystery!)
Roadrunner, roadrunner -- with the radio on . . . . .
8 comments:
Erik,
Speaking of The Police, how about a sequel to this blog entry about them? I just heard "Don't Stand So Close to Me" on 93.1 and it brought back lots of good memories about great music from my teenage years.
Love the women in your blog. You're a rocking guy! xo, Gloria
Thanks for the comments! Steve, I will do a post on The Police soon! Good idea. Here's to rockin' and other music (including jazz)
~~Erik
You should buy this shirt. Available at Bust.com
If your looking for 2005's answer to the police, try Grand National. They have some songs that really remind me of the Police, starting with Cherry Tree.
I'd rather listen to Joan Jett than The Police any day.
Hey Erik, do you remember a Detroit band called The Rockets? They were some kick-ass rockers. None of their material ever made it to CD. I remember seeing them in concert along with The Kingbees. Both acts were very memorable. --Jim
Oh goodness! Joan Jett! I absolutely LOVE when she sang I Love Rock and Roll. I have it burned on one of my cd's somewhere entitled "Car Jams"!!!! great post today
Thanks to the second cycle of commenters, too! Jason, that's hilarious (the WWJJD shirt)& the band looks good. Jim, love the names of those two bands -- they may have been beofre I moved here? In which case, Detroit Girl would know them. Kiss-ass rock sounds good to me. Here's to that and "Car Jams" -- cheers, E'
p.s. "kick ass rock," let me amend. Not quite sure what "kiss ass rock" would be :-> Maybe the "Ballad of the Green Berets."
Post a Comment