![]() ![]() The band was ahead of its time in many ways, with its hard-rock sound emerging during an era when disco music was king. The final line-up included Jett on guitar and vocals, Sandy West on drums, Cherie Currie on lead vocals, Jackie Fox on bass guitar and Lita Ford on guitar. Jett started her musical career as a teenager, forming her first serious band, the Runaways. "I learned to scream from Marc Bolan of T. There, she found inspiration from the glam rock stars of the day. Moving to Southern California, Jett began frequenting a popular youth club known as Rodney Bingenheimer's English Disco. Her passion for music began early, and she received her first guitar at the age of 14. Jett was born Joan Larkin on September 22, 1958, in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. Her early career was portrayed in the biopic The Runaways. She went on to become one of the most influential women in rock recording hits like "I Love Rock 'n' Roll" founding Blackheart Records and producing Riot Grrrl acts Bikini Kill and L7. Thankfully though, "Joan Jett And The Blackhearts' Great Hits" contains none of said Bikini Kill-inspired output (with the exception of a decent but inferior live version of "Cherry Bomb" featuring L7), which makes it the one to get if you are in the market for a thorough overview of the hit-making period of her career.Joan Jett is a singer, songwriter and producer who entered the music business as a teenager in the punk-pop band The Runaways. And par for the course, interest in Jett's modern post-grunge material as well as her more radio-friendly back catalogue necessitated the profitable best-of. It wasn't until the '90s uprising of all-female grunge and punk bands cited her tenure with the Runaways as an influence that Jett's tough core made a comeback and won her a new legion of fans. However, as the '80s passed and her fierceness softened, Jett's popularity fluctuated. Now fully developed as a valid rock 'n' roll frontwoman with a distinctive glam and punk edge, Jett entered her most commercially successful cycle with a run of classic singles including "Bad Reputation," "I Love Rock 'N' Roll," "Crimson & Clover," "Do You Wanna Touch Me (Oh Yeah)" and "I Hate Myself For Loving You", all of which charted within the pop Top 20. Jett's rather savvy move of ensuring that she was the focal point by hiring three competent yet faceless men was not only confirmation that gender was of no importance to her, but that she was as much a businesswoman as a rock star. Upon generating interest and proving her rock chick credentials to previously reluctant labels, Jett signed a record contract and, in keeping with rock 'n' roll tradition, hired a backing band, whose name - The Blackhearts - would be officially appended to her own. After achieving huge popularity in Japan, the Runaways crashed and burned due to poor marketing, '70s rock excess and interpersonal conflicts, freeing Jett to pursue other projects, namely joining forces with Kenny Laguna to independently release her first solo record. Jett's rebel-girl persona, magnetic stage presence, defiant sneer and punk rock attitude prevailed and she later took over as lead vocalist. Among these streetwise progeny was rhythm guitarist and songwriter Joan Jett, who modelled herself after Suzi Quatro. ![]() One of the first to receive significant hype was The Runaways, a group of musical amateurs in their mid teens whose sleazy, jailbait image and Svengali-like management proved both beneficial and detrimental. Prior to the Riot grrrl movement, all-female rock bands did not have a wide scope, nor were they political or feminist. ![]()
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