Vote for The Runaways OR Joan Jett and The Blackhearts on rollingstone.com!
Rollingstone.com’s weekly poll asks, “Who Should Be Inducted Next Into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame? The Runaways and The Blackhearts are BOTH eligible, so I think we should give them some love. But be careful: you can only vote once, and only for one artist, so don’t spam them with both bands or the votes won’t count. If you vote for Joan, please remember to include The Blackhearts.
There are THREE ways to vote – but only vote once, and for only ONE artist or group!
Here’s the rest of the top 10, as chosen by Rollingstone.com’s readers:
10. Quadrophenia
9. School of Rock
8. The Commitments
7. The Doors
6. A Hard Day’s Night
5. Tommy
4. This is Spinal Tap 3. Almost Famous 2. The Wall 1. The Runaways
Movies about hugely famous bands struggle to turn a profit, so it’s unclear why anyone felt a movie about the Runaways would be a success. Granted, they hedged their bets by casting Kristen Stewart at the height of Twilight mania, but this was a tough sell. Most people forget this punk band even existed, and members Lita Ford and Joan Jett have had far more success in their solo careers. The film absolutely tanked, but that’s not because it’s poorly made. It’s actually pretty fun, even though it plays fast and loose with the facts. (We suspect this won the poll because a certain actress from the film has a lot of Internet-savvy fans.)
The Runaways are featured in TWO 2013 wall calendars. Check them out!
Jenny photographed and documented the punk scene from 1976 to 1980. Browse her site for pics other acts, and read her interviews. CLASSIC STUFF. Share her site link! –> http://jennylens.com/
Recently while driving down the road with my youngest son (25-years-old) the song ‘Tush’ by ZZ Top came on the radio. I mentioned to him how I liked Joan Jett’s version and we started talking about her. He had no idea she was in a band, The Runaways, prior to forming Joan Jett & The Blackhearts. So I told him about having all their albums, a few 8-tracks and seeing them live a couple times back in the day.
The next day I surfed online for some Runaways information to see what LPs were available on CD and came across the news that drummer and co-founder Sandy West had passed away on October 21, 2006 at the age of 47 of lung cancer. I had no idea. It was a sad moment because I instantly flashed back to a night in 1976 when Sandy took the time to talk…
Laurie McAllister, final bassist of The Runaways and also of The Orchids, passed away on August 25th due to asthma. I was out of town when I first got the news, so I apologize for not posting this sooner. My deepest sympathies go out to her family, friends, and fans.
The L.A. Times has a quote from Joan Jett about Laurie’s passing:
“I am so sorry to hear of Laurie’s passing,” Jett said in an emailed statement. “She was a good person and a good bass player. It was a great experience being in a band with her, as she was the last Runaways bass player before her own band, The Orchids, formed. I was still in touch with her and saw her last year at a show. It was as if no time had passed.
“My heart goes out to her family and friends, and most of all, to Laurie. Rock on girl.”
History for Hire’s Jim Elyea talked with Collectors Weekly about his work recently. He mentions The Runaways about half-way down:
Around a dozen people work for History for Hire. Each person specializes in a specific area. For instance, we had propped a show about the Runaways, the girl group in the ’70s, and as happened, Seiji Kobayashi is not only the head of our musical department but an enormous Runaways fan who went to see simulcasts of them when they went to Tokyo, which is a big part of the movie. So he actually went on set and helped with the instruments and tech advice, not only on the musical stuff but on Japan, too. He made these special paper fans for the girls in the audience, which was apparently really common to very traditional Japanese fans, and he put messages on them for the people on stage. Without Seiji, we never would’ve known about that.
Read the rest HERE. Fascinating stuff. Thanks to sadiehawk24 on the Joan Jett message board for the tip! And thanks to fellow Runaways fan Seiji Kobayashi for helping to make The Runaways such a beautiful film!
The Hip-O-Select website has The Runaways’The Mercury Albums Anthology for presale, and the package includes four Runaways temporary tattoos! And, at $29.98, buying it directly from Hip-O-Select is cheaper than both Amazon and CD Universe. Amazon and CD Universe don’t mention the tattoos, but that doesn’t mean they aren’t included.
Here’s a snippet of the write-up from Hip-O-Select:
Theirs was a story truly born on the streets of Hollywood and left for all to review in the annals of recorded music. The history of the Runaways, now coming to life again on the big screen (with Kristen Stewart in the role of Joan Jett), is one of discovery, strong determination, bravado, teen lust and what would later become, to some, “a can of worms.”
But what we have to reflect back on are four albums: The Runaways,Queens of Noise, Live in Japan, and Waitin’ For the Night. All 42 songs that were included on those original albums made for Mercury are contained on two CDs and available now from Hip-O Select.
The Runaways: The Mercury Albums Anthology, from Hip-O-Select, comes out on March 16th, but you can now preorder it at Amazon HERE or CD Universe HERE.
It’s a two-disc set, and CD Universe has the track listing — this is going to be AWESOME: Continue reading →
This book isn’t really a memoir or biography. Blackheart Records was kind enough to set us straight in a comment on the About page:
From Blackheart Records:
Hello – I wanted to set something straight. The Joan Jett book is NOT a memoir, but rather a photo book of Joan Jett through her career, designed by Todd Oldham. Its going to be absolutely beautiful but definitely not a memoir, autobiography, or anything of the sort.
Thank you!
The Amazon description was a little misleading, but I’m still excited for this!
~
Joan Jett and the folks at Blackheart Records have announced today that an autobiography of sorts, written by Joan Jett herself with Todd Oldham, will be published on April 15, 2010, and is available for preorder at Amazon. The book will cover Joan’s time with The Runaways and her solo career.
Cover of the Joan Jett book, Ammo Books
From the description at Amazon:
Product Description
Rock ‘n’ roll goddess Joan Jett holds a beloved place in the world of music. She started her first band, The Runaways, at age fifteen and has blazed a trail that has inspired and thrilled her fans to this day. AMMO Books is proud to release this loving tribute to Joan that covers all aspects of her career and passions — from the behind-the-scenes story of forming The Runaways to her years of touring with her band Joan Jett and the Blackhearts. JOAN JETT features many never before seen photos and ephemera covering the multi-decade career of a real rock ‘n’ roll icon. Written in Joan’s own words, this smart and insiring story is a must read. A thoughtful introduction written by renowned indie rocker and Riot Grrrl Kathleen Hanna brings context to this exciting title.
About the Author
Joan Jett is a revered songwriter, musician, and American icon. In keeping with her pioneering spirit, she went on to be the first woman to start her own independent rock label, Blackheart Records. The Joan Jett and the Blackhearts Greatest Hits compilation will be released in March 2010. A film based on The Runaways starring Dakota Fanning, and Kristen Stewart as Joan Jett, will be released on March 19, 2010.
This is the first that I am hearing of this, and I don’t think the other Jettheads knew about it either. I’ll find out after I post this on the message board. I’m guessing that they didn’t make a huge deal out of this before now because they didn’t want to overshadow Cherie Currie’s book, Neon Angel: A Memoir of a Runaway, which comes out on March 16th and is also available for preorder on Amazon.
2010 is definitely a great year to be a Jetthead!
See Todd Oldham and Joan Jett making an ottoman on Todd’s Handmade Modern show back in 2005:
Warnings: 1) I cuss in this post. A lot. 2) It’s heavy on the emo. 3) It’s long.
As excited as I am for The Runaways movie, there are certain unpleasant facts surrounding the making of the film that I’d rather not deal with.
Unpleasant fact #1: Jackie Fox and Lita Ford did not want this movie to be made.
Unpleasant fact #2: Cherie Currie and Lita Ford still do not like each other.
As a fan of The Runaways, Joan Jett, AND Lita Ford, my plan was to keep the peace and not address these facts. I cloaked myself in positivity and hoped it would be enough to shield me from the elephant in the room.
Want to know where The Runaways recorded “Cherry Bomb” and what kind of equipment they used? On January 1st, Mix Online examined the history of the song with Runaways manager Kim Fowley and some of the people who helped bring it to life in the studio. The article also talks a bit about Kim’s history in the music business before The Runaways.
“Here’s your headline,” says musical genius Kim Fowley, who occasionally refers to himself in the third person. “‘Kim Fowley and the Runaways recorded “Cherry Bomb” in a store room on purpose. We didn’t have an equipment list. We barely had equipment. But we had a plan.’ Then everybody reads it, and this will be the best article you’ve written in 10 years.”
…
Fowley’s credit list also includes The Byrds, Warren Zevon, KISS, the Hollywood Argyles, Frank Zappa’s Mother’s of Invention, Cat Stevens, Alice Cooper, Jonathan Richman, BTO, The Germs and Nirvana, to name a handful of the acts that have capitalized on Fowley’s songs, productions and his keen, intangible sense of what music the public wants. And he says he knew he had something great from the moment he met Joan Jett, whom he has called the “musical child of Keith Richards and John Lennon.”
“Teenaged girls with guitars,” he states. “We knew it from the day it started. And we were in a hurry. It only took 17 weeks for the band to form, rehearse, play, learn songs and get a deal with Mercury Records, with no demo.”
Born to be Jetthead 