She's joined in the studio by her manager, Kenny Laguna (a character in his own right). The ultimate "Grrrrl Rocker" brings her brand of no holds barred Rock 'n' Roll to the Underground Garage. She supports the troops and keeps life hopping with a show on SIRIUS Satellite Radio: These days, Joan Jett is still kicking out the jams. I'm still a delighted fan of both these heartbreakers. 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."Įarly 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 Love Rock and Roll" shot to the top, as I remember well.
After detonating "Cherry Bomb," she eventually came to fame fronting Joan Jett and the Blackhearts. Jett, originally from Philadelphia (as Joan Marie Larkin, 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. She blew Sting and The Police away through sheer bravado.
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 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. I first saw Joan Jett play as part of the opening act for The Police in Charlotte, North Carolina, back in the early 1980s.
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