The Godmother of Punk celebrates her 62nd birthday today. Joan Jett is an American rock guitarist, singer, songwriter, producer, and founding member of The Runaways, and the band Joan Jett & the Blackhearts. Her band scored the 1982 US No.1 & UK No.4 single ‘I Love Rock ‘n’ Roll’.
The Blackhearts had a string of hits that sealed her place in the rock pantheon and an inspiration to artists.
I feel like it’s my job to carry the torch.
Joan Jett
Born Joan Larkin, the singer took her mother’s maiden name Joan Jett after her parents’ divorce. She legally changed her name to Joan Jett in the 1980s.
They gave Jett her first guitar at 13. When her guitar teacher insisted on teaching her folk songs, she quit taking lessons and began teaching herself. In 2007, Rolling Stone magazine named her one of the top 100 rock n roll guitarists of all time.
While still in high school, Jett frequented Rodney Bingenheimer’s English Disco, a rock club on the Sunset Strip that showcased the glam rock and proto-punk Jett loved.
The club was a popular hangout for artists like Iggy Pop or the Gun Club, but also for underage girls. Runaways manager Kim Fowley later remarked the most popular drink at the English Disco was cherry cola. Fowley was a local producer, songwriter, and promoter.
She gave Joan Jett’s phone number to aspiring drummer Sandy West. West and Jett began jamming and writing music together shortly thereafter.
Bassist Jackie Fox, guitarist Lita Ford, soon joined Jett and West and keyboardist Cherie Currie, with whom Jett shared vocal duty. They signed the Runaways to Mercury Records and released their self-titled, Fowley-produced debut album in 1976.
The Runaways toured the world as an opening act for bigger bands like Cheap Trick and Ramones. While they were not especially popular at home, they found a devoted audience in Japan, where they outsold mega-groups like Kiss and ABBA. Their live album, recorded at Tokyo’s Wel City concert-hall went on to become one of the most imported albums in the US
The Runaways built a cult following, and they’re still recognized as an influential part of California’s punk scene They failed to break through both commercially and critically strained the band. Adding in critical disapproval, and creative differences, the band broke up on New Year’s Eve, 1978.
In 1979, the Germs asked Joan Jett if she would produce their album. The Jett-produced GI became a seminal album in the development of the Bay Area hardcore punk scene.
Ironically, it was a movie about the Runaways that paved the way for Jett’s solo career.
The Runaways were contractually obligated to perform in a movie about their life but broke up prior to filming. Jett, along with three actresses standing in as her Runaways bandmates, starred in We’re All Crazee Now!. Jett developed the music for the film with Eddie Laguna, the former guitarist for the Shondells, who would become Jett’s long-time collaborator.
Following the breakup of the Runaways, Jett went to England to concentrate on putting together a solo album. While there, she recorded several tracks with Steve Jones and Paul Cook, members of the Sex Pistols, including an early version of “I Love Rock ’n’ Roll.” When she returned to the US, Joan recorded further tracks with Clem Burke and Frank Infante, the drummer and bassist, respectively, of Blondie.
The Who gave Jett a hand by letting her use their recording studio under a “pay us when you can” arrangement.
Jett returned the favor in 2015, serving as an opening act for the Who’s 50th-anniversary tour.
Before her first album release, Jett put together her own band The Blackhearts, featuring Ricky Byrd, Gary Ryan, and Lee Crystal. A band called The Roll Ups played most of the tracks on that album. There was a lack of studios support for her solo work, with Jett rejected by 23 different record labels.
Activist Jett founded her own record label, Blackheart Records, in 1980. She became the first woman to own and operate her own independent label. Blackheart Records was home to a diverse variety of artists, among them hip hop pioneer Big Daddy Kane and thrashers Metal Church.
Originally released as a B-side to Jett’s cover of the Lesley Gore song, ‘You Don’t Own Me’, ‘I Love Rock ’n’ Roll’ reached Number 1 on the Billboard charts and was inducted into the Grammy Hall of Fame. The first copies of Jett’s solo album were sold after her concerts out of Eddie Laguna’s trunk.
The album was re-released by Boardwalk Records under the name Bad Reputation, to capitalize on the single’s success. The change annoyed Jett and Laguna.
It frustrated Jett about the title change, yet Jett has said that ‘Bad Reputation’ is her favorite of all the songs she has recorded. The song is VH1’s 29th best hard rock song of all time. They later used it as the theme song for the TV show Freaks and Geeks.
In 1988, Jett released the single ‘I Hate Myself for Loving You’ co-written with Desmond Child. The song featured a guitar solo from former Rolling Stones guitarist Mick Taylor. The song spent more weeks on the chart than ‘I Love Rock ‘n’ Roll.’, re-entering the Billboard charts in 2011.
By the late 80s, early 90s, Jett was embraced as a pioneer and role model for a new wave of feminist punk rockers. Riot grrrl bands like L7, Babes in Toyland, and Bikini Kill all cited her as an influence. Jett signed many Riot grrrl bands to Blackheart Records and produced Bikini Kill’s second album.
Edgeplay: A Film About the Runaways released in 2004. Expecting the documentary would focus on the interpersonal conflicts between the band members rather than the music, Jett refused to take part or to allow any of her songs used in the documentary.
Jett has covered artists as disparate as Sly and the Family Stone, Tommy James and the Shondells, and Bruce Springsteen.
Over 40 years since she first made her mark as a member of the Runaways, Joan Jett is still going strong with the Blackhearts. Their most recent album, Unvarnished, released in 2013 and reached the Billboard Top 50.
In 2014, Joan Jett joined the surviving members of Nirvana onstage for a performance at the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, standing in for deceased frontman Kurt Cobain. The performance was part of Nirvana’s induction ceremony to the hall.
In 2015, they inducted Jett into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame.
