By playing pure and simple
rock & roll without making an explicit issue of her gender,
Joan Jett became a figurehead for several generations of female rockers.
Jett's brand of
rock & roll is loud and stripped-down, yet with overpowering hooks -- a combination of
the Stones' tough, sinewy image and beat,
AC/DC chords, and
glam rock hooks. As the numerous covers she has recorded show, she adheres both to
rock tradition and breaks with it -- she plays classic three-chord
rock & roll, yet she also loves the trashy elements (in particular,
Gary Glitter) of it as well, and she plays with a defiant sneer.
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By playing pure and simple
rock & roll without making an explicit issue of her gender,
Joan Jett became a figurehead for several generations of female rockers.
Jett's brand of
rock & roll is loud and stripped-down, yet with overpowering hooks -- a combination of
the Stones' tough, sinewy image and beat,
AC/DC chords, and
glam rock hooks. As the numerous covers she has recorded show, she adheres both to
rock tradition and breaks with it -- she plays classic three-chord
rock & roll, yet she also loves the trashy elements (in particular,
Gary Glitter) of it as well, and she plays with a defiant sneer.
From her first band,
the Runaways, through her hit-making days in the '80s with
the Blackhearts right until her unexpected revival in the '90s, she hasn't changed her music, yet she's kept her quality control high, making one classic single ("I Love Rock 'n Roll") along the way.
Jett was born in Philadelphia, PA; her family moved to Los Angeles when she was 12 years old. By the time she was 15, she had formed her first band and was performing around town.
Kim Fowley, a Los Angeles record producer, discovered the band at one of their gigs and became their manager; soon, he renamed the all-female group
the Runaways and secured them a contract with Mercury Records. The band released three albums that never had much commercial success in America, yet were very popular in Japan; the group was popular in both the Los Angeles
hard rock and
punk scenes, which led to
Jett's production of
the Germs' first record, (GI).
The Runaways group broke up in 1980 and
Jett moved to New York to begin a solo career.
Teaming up with producer/manager Kenny Laguna,
Jett independently released her self-titled debut album in 1980 in America, since no labels were interested in signing her. The record was a more traditional
rock & roll record than the punky
Runaways, yet it retained her previous band's defiant attitude. The record sold very well for an independent release, leading to a contract with Boardwalk Records, who reissued the album under the title Bad Reputation; it soon climbed to number 51 on the American charts.
Jett formed
the Blackhearts between Bad Reputation and her second album, 1981's
I Love Rock-n-Roll; the group included guitarist Ricky Byrd, bassist Gary Ryan, and drummer Lee Crystal. Released at the end of 1981,
I Love Rock-n-Roll became her greatest success, sending her into the Top Ten. Originally the B-side of an
Arrows single, the title track was an enormous success, spending seven weeks at number one in the spring of 1982. The follow-up single, a version of
Tommy James & the Shondells' "Crimson and Clover," went Top Ten as well; a single of
Gary Glitter's "Do You Wanna Touch Me (Oh Yeah)," taken from the Bad Reputation album, reached number 20 in the summer of 1982. Album, released in 1983, went gold yet had no hits that compared with either "I Love Rock 'n Roll" or "Crimson and Clover."
Jett starred in Paul Schrader's 1987 film Light of Day, which featured the Top 40 title song, yet she didn't have another Top Ten hit until 1988, when "I Hate Myself for Loving You," taken from the Up Your Alley album, hit number eight; the album became her second platinum record. After the album's success, her career had another slow period, with 1990's all-covers album The Hit List making it to number 36 and 1991's Notorious failing to chart. Between Notorious and 1994's Pure and Simple, a new generation of female rockers came of age and everyone from hard alternative rockers like
L7 to the minimalist,
riot grrrl punk rockers like
Bikini Kill claimed
Jett and
the Runaways as an influence. As a consequence, Pure and Simple received more press and positive reviews than any of her albums since the mid-'80s. In 1995,
Jett recorded the live album Evilstig with the remaining members of the Gits, a Seattle punk rock band whose lead singer, Mia Zapata, was raped and murdered in 1993.
Jett reunited with
the Blackhearts for the 1999 album Fetish, and in 2006
Sinner, a return to her
punk roots (and ten of whose 14 songs were found on the 2004 Japanese-only record Naked), came out. ~ Stephen Thomas Erlewine, All Music Guide
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