blackleatherbookshelf | Entries tagged with the runaways

Don't Hate Yourself for Loving Her
4 Out Of 5 Stars

Joan Jett is a true rock and roll survivor. After the crash of The Runaways, who were often derided as some kind of stunt/joke from Kim Fowley, she rose from the ashes, got rock impresario Neil Bogart to sign her, and released "Bad Reputation." While it was the second album, "I Love Rock and Roll" to really make the breaks happen, Joan rose from the ashes and has kept her career going into the next century. This two disc Greatest Hits anthology is a super way to find out just how (and why) she never went down without a fight.

First off, she dusts off a couple of Runaways tracks, "Cherry Bomb" "School Days" and "You Drive Me Wild" show that The Runaways were perfectly capable of turning out decent rock songs, and Jett takes them over with authority. She's had a knack for doing that from the start, as her choice selection of cover songs has always shown. Here you get "Do You Wanna Touch," "Crimson and Clover," "Everyday People," "AC/DC" (the Sweet song, not the band, although her version of "Dirty Deeds" could have fit nicely), and her explosive version of a song Bruce Springsteen handed over to her, "Light Of Day." Oh yeah, and an obscure song from a band called The Arrows, "I Love Rock and Roll." OK, so we've established that Jett has eclectic tastes in rock artists, but what about her own songs?

"Why should I care about a Bad Reputation?" she barked out on her debut LP. Indeed, she rocks without giving a darn about what the world thought of her. She mixed hard rock, punk energy and glam, sometimes in the same song. There's a direct line from "Do You Wanna Touch" to "I Hate Myself for Loving You." You can't deny the kiss off of "Fake Friends." Or a subversive sense of humor by recording "Love Is All Around" (the theme to the Mary Tyler Moore show) and punking it up. Jett proves she can still cook with a pair of songs from 2006's "Sinner," one of which is a gas of a redo of The Replacements' "Androgynous."

"Greatest Hits" has 21 songs between the two CD's, so there's not much to quibble about (and I am guessing Epic records kept control as very little of those years are represented). But for an enduring talent of Joan Jett's caliber, you'll get your money's worth from this set.

Ch...Ch..Ch..Ch..Cherry...BOMB
2 Out of 5 Stars

What might have been a decent sex and drugs and rock and roll movie turns into an utter snoozeout within its first 60 minutes. "The Runaways," based on Cherie Curie's book and executive produced by Joan Jett and Kenny Laguna might as well have been called "Cherie and Joan" for all the depth it gave the rest of the band. Poor bassists Vickie Blue and Jackie Fox are replaced by "Robin." Lita Ford, who did have a successful solo career post Runaways, is portrayed minimally, and then as a shrill, jealous harpy. Like Lita, Sandy West becomes a background figure who is mentioned only when Kim Fowley introduces her to Joan near the beginning of the movie. Then, in almost insulting fashion in the movie's epilogue, only Jett, Curie and Fowley's status gets mentioned.

While "The Runaways" does feature the band's best known songs (albeit re-recorded), it really shorts the band overall. There's way too much time spent on druggy hazes and a lesbian subplot when a bit more interest in the band might have made this more entertaining. It also allows Michael Shannon, playing Kim Fowley like a glammed up Dennis Leary, to steal the show. It's curious to note that, as profane and ludicrous as Fowley is made out to be in the film, in real life he was allegedly even worse. Like most sharks, he smelled blood money in the water and exploited it at every turn.

Fortunately, in real life Joan Jett survives the band's breakup, which is where the story concludes. Which also is a highlight of the movie; Kristen Stewart does a terrific job as Joan Jett, even down to the singing. Dakota Fanning at least washes her goody-goody away as Cherie, but her part is written to poorly to allow her to stand out. Watch this (if you must) for Stewart and Shannon, and then listen to the The Best of the Runaways: 20th Century Masters - The Millennium Collection. Just don't take the DVD as history.